Ref. Ares(2010)548534 - 31/08/2010
Ref. Ares(2020)3014573 - 10/06/2020
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Directorate L. Economic analysis, perspectives and evaluations
L.1. Agricultural policy analysis and perspectives
Brussels, 24/08/2010
DG AGRI L.1/
D(2010)
Summary of proceedings of the Conference on the public debate "The CAP post
2013",
Brussels, 19-20 July 2010
The Conference was opened by Commissioner Cioloş welcoming the great interest
shown in the public debate. For the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament
respectively, S. Laruelle indicated that the CAP post 2013 is an important priority for the
Belgian Presidency, and P. Di Castro stressed that the CAP is not only a sectoral and
territorial policy but concerns all EU citizens.
The debate kicked off with the views of EU citizens on agriculture and the CAP as
expressed in Eurobarometer surveys and contributions to the public debate, followed by
presentations from representatives of civil society, before opening the discussion to the
floor.
In-depth discussions took place in four parallel workshops. The first day the focus was
on future challenges, whereas on the second day the corresponding workshops dealt with
proposals on how to manage the identified challenges:
The participants in
Workshop 1 – Food security agreed on the importance of
food security; its definition proved nonetheless more problematic (quantity,
quality and safety of food, consumers/producers, EU/global). Key issues for the
future include the pressure on resources and effects of climate change on
production, how to manage increased volatility in the markets, the need to
innovate and improve competitiveness, and consumption patterns (e.g. demand
for meat). A balanced approach was deemed necessary in relation to
liberalization, the environment, and the role of trade in ensuring food security.
Workshop 5 – The future role of the CAP in maintaining food production
capacity in the EU considered that agricultural production is the CAP's core
business, although lately much focus has been devoted to the discussion of food
vs. non-food production, and looked in particular at areas of vulnerability (such
as water, climate change, human capital). As regards possible adaptations to
policy tools, the discussion centered around the importance of direct payments in
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maintaining production capacity, the future role of insurance instruments and
competition rules, and the need to better factor in consumer preferences.
Starting with the different role of farmers / non-farmers and large / small farmers,
the discussion in
Workshop 2 – Future of rural society evolved to recognize the
different situations in rural areas and the need for a territorial approach. Most
important were considered the need to empower local communities, and to ensure
equity in opportunities in terms of access to information, services and markets.
To these ends rural development policy can have an innovative role. Building on
this finding of rural diversity,
Workshop 6 – The future role of the CAP in
maintaining the vitality and making the most of the diversity of rural society
emphasized the importance of a strategic approach with tangible area-specific
targets that reflect the broader EU policy goals, as well as the need to simplify
rules in order to improve access to funds, to better coordinate the different
policies, and to promote rural/urban dialogue. All in all, diversity was deemed an
asset for rural areas and the CAP.
Workshop 3 – Environment and provision of public goods by agriculture
focused on environmental public goods and the role of farmers as managers of
ecosystems. Farmers must respect environmental legislation, but should also be
given incentives for the delivery of environmental goods that go beyond
mandatory requirements. Win-win approaches should be sought for modernizing
farming towards environmentally friendly practices. For the participants in
Workshop 7 – The future role of the CAP in preserving the environment and
ensuring sufficient provision of public goods by agriculture the CAP has an
obvious role to play, with both pillars delivering public goods in a
complementary manner, though it was felt that we cannot rely solely on the CAP.
What is necessary for the future is to set priorities, and to promote training,
advice and capacity building.
Workshop 4 – Quality, diversity, health spanned a wide range of topics. The
participants saw quality as strongly linked to diversity, given the wide range of
preferences of consumers. There were calls for a Common Food Policy to
promote nutritious food (e.g. school fruit) and to better enforce safety rules, with
divergent views on the level at which minimum mandatory standards should be
set and on the extent to which the market alone can provide diversity.
Workshop
8 – The future role of the CAP in promoting the quality and diversity of food
supply considered that it should be possible to bring together "people, planet and
profits". The CAP already has a variety of tools to promote quality products, such
as GIs, organic, mountain etc.. The role of innovation was again highlighted, for
instance seeing organic production as a laboratory. Promotion was seen as a
question of educating all actors in the production chain and consumers and
communicating on the added value of EU products also abroad. Finally, producer
organizations were considered to enhance recognition of farmers as real partners
in the chain and facilitate the contact with consumers.
The Conference rapporteurs (see attached conclusions of
and
)
pointed out the high expectations of EU society for maintaining a strong CAP that
responds to the need of food security and remunerates the public goods provided by EU
agriculture operating in a global context (when, what and how to best pay for public
goods were left as open questions). The rapporteurs also noted the growing importance
attached to health issues and to the diversity of EU agriculture and regions, and stressed
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the importance of finding new criteria for the distribution of direct payments, and
continuing with agricultural adjustment and land and forestry management measures in
rural areas. On this basis, agriculture and rural areas would enhance their positive
contribution to Europe 2020.
Both in the plenary sessions and in the workshops there was lively participation from the
floor contributing a wide range of perspectives on the challenges ahead and the
objectives of the CAP post 2013, at times going beyond the remit of the Conference (for
example discussing the rights of farm workers and the role of the EU in the world). There
was a general recognition of and strong support for the important role of the CAP in the
future.
Building on the common view of the future challenges emerging from the Conference,
Commissioner Cioloş pled in his closing speech for striking the right balance for a
sustainable and competitive agriculture with an important territorial dimension. For the
future he advocated a strong two-pillar CAP that is capable of meeting the challenges
(globalization, food, environmental, economic, territorial), that is simple and
understandable for EU citizens, and a policy that is anchored in the diversity of European
agriculture and regions.
The public debate concluding with the Conference will now feed into the
Communication on the CAP post 2013 to be presented in November 2010.
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