Esta es la versión HTML de un fichero adjunto a una solicitud de acceso a la información 'The conference on CAP post-2013'.



 
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: 
ƒ  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.  
ƒ  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.   
ƒ  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.    
ƒ  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 


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.