{"id":23695,"date":"2024-06-06T12:32:10","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T10:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carnisostenibili.it\/?p=23695"},"modified":"2024-06-06T12:36:27","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T10:36:27","slug":"european-agri-food-the-road-to-competitiveness-sustainability-and-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carnisostenibili.it\/en\/european-agri-food-the-road-to-competitiveness-sustainability-and-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"European agri-food: the road to competitiveness, sustainability and resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite the European agri-food sector’s social, economic and environmental importance, it has been increasingly marginalised in recent years, especially by the European institutions. Many stakeholders in the EU’s agri-food sector are calling for concrete commitments from the next decision-makers to ensure this does not happen again after the next European elections.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span><\/span>agri-food sector<\/b><\/span><\/span> deserves a <\/span><\/span>prominent place on the European political agenda<\/b><\/span><\/span>. In recent years, we have witnessed the criminalisation of farmers, growers, researchers and, more generally, all those <\/span><\/span>involved in the agri-food sector<\/b><\/span><\/span>, who have often been unfairly blamed for the <\/span><\/span>climate and health crises<\/b><\/span><\/span>. This has led to the implementation of environmental policies that have hit hard at their work and investment in the sector, neglecting its <\/span><\/span>fundamental role in the livelihoods of EU<\/b><\/span><\/span> citizens and millions of people worldwide who depend on European agricultural products.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The climate crisis is undoubtedly a challenge for humanity, but <\/span><\/span>the answer cannot be to penalise a sector that feeds the world<\/b><\/span><\/span>. On the contrary, the agri-food sector deserves a prominent place on the European political agenda because it can solve sustainability problems. It is with this conviction that the COMPETERE<\/a> “Think Tank” launched “<\/span><\/span>I pledge<\/b><\/span><\/span>“, the programmatic document <\/span><\/span>“Eu Agri-food: Driving Competitiveness, Sustainability and Resilience. Strategic Policy Guide for 2024-2029”<\/i><\/span><\/span>, which was sent to the candidates in the European elections to strengthen and give more value to the European Union’s agri-food supply chains. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Current policies, driven by a <\/span><\/span>European Commission<\/b><\/span><\/span> too often influenced by <\/span><\/span>ideology and emotion<\/b><\/span><\/span>, embrace environmental and health ideals without scientific basis. These policies have ignored the value of the <\/span><\/span>experimental method<\/b><\/span><\/span> of science and neglected the importance of <\/span><\/span>balanced sustainability, which reconciles economic, social and environmental needs<\/b><\/span><\/span>. The result has been <\/span><\/span>counterproductive “green” policies<\/b><\/span><\/span> that have worsened the socio-economic situation without significantly improving <\/span><\/span>biodiversity<\/b><\/span><\/span> or reducing the impact on the <\/span><\/span>climate<\/b><\/span><\/span>. Moreover, these policies have indirectly strengthened the economies of competing countries such as <\/span><\/span>China, India, the US<\/b><\/span><\/span> and some <\/span><\/span>Gulf states<\/b><\/span><\/span>, to the detriment of Europe. The consequences are visible: the desertification of the countryside, <\/span><\/span>the closure of farms<\/b><\/span><\/span>, the relocation of many food businesses outside the European Union, and consumers being forced to choose lower quality or more expensive food, often from abroad.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Some #EU #GreenPolicies have affected the #AgriFood and #investment sectors, neglecting their fundamental role in the #livelihood of millions of people. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

It, therefore, calls on future Members of the European Parliament and the European Commission to commit themselves to promoting and achieving ambitious goals for agriculture, business and health.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This includes <\/span><\/span>increasing the productive capacity<\/b><\/span><\/span>, resilience, and efficiency of European agri-food chains so that Europe can become and remain a world leader and protect its ‘key products’ through export agreements and global deals. <\/span><\/span>Promote a European food security and self-sufficiency plan<\/b><\/span><\/span>, eliminating waste by redistributing food for reuse in other parts of the food chain and <\/span><\/span>combating all forms of counterfeiting and deception of consumers<\/b><\/span><\/span>, ensuring that European agri-food excellence does not suffer from unfair competition from imitation products.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Strengthen the ability of citizens to make informed choices<\/b><\/span><\/span> in favour of a balanced diet by promoting correct information and maintaining the <\/span><\/span>Mediterranean diet<\/b><\/span><\/span> model as the main reference for nutrition education, thanks to its proven beneficial effects on both physical and mental health. This is to promote the well-being of citizens and <\/span><\/span>reduce diseases such as obesity<\/b><\/span><\/span>, an invisible pandemic with very high costs for European national health systems. This is all the more important given <\/span><\/span>the failure of previous policies to combat obesity<\/b><\/span><\/span>, such as the use of <\/span><\/span>dissuasive labelling<\/b><\/span><\/span> or the artificial increase in the price of certain foods, which have not led to a more balanced diet or better nutritional education.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The revision of the #EULegislation on #AnimalWelfare should preserve #competitiveness, to avoid resorting to lower #QualityFoods. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Taxes on food and drink are also regressive measures that should be discouraged<\/b><\/span><\/span>, as they create new inequalities by significantly reducing the purchasing power of <\/span><\/span>poorer households<\/b><\/span><\/span>, ultimately reducing their ability to access quality food. For this reason, <\/span><\/span>the revision of EU animal welfare legislation should also preserve competitiveness<\/b><\/span><\/span> to prevent consumers from resorting to lower-quality food.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In all this, it is essential to support businesses by <\/span><\/span>reducing red tape and administrative burdens<\/b><\/span><\/span>, facilitating their transition to more advanced production systems, <\/span><\/span>investing in research and innovation, regenerative agriculture and technologies<\/b><\/span><\/span> (AI and IoT) that improve productivity and efficiency, and mitigating the impact of climate change accordingly.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Will the next <\/span><\/span>public decision-maker<\/b><\/span><\/span> in Brussels be willing to make such a commitment and support in a balanced and transparent way <\/span><\/span>one of the most important sectors for European society, the economy and the environment<\/b><\/span><\/span>? We hope so, and we join those asking to sign this “Pledge<\/a>“<\/span><\/span>, as many actors in the European agri-food supply chains have already done.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite the European agri-food sector’s social, economic and environmental importance, it has been increasingly marginalised in recent years, especially by the European institutions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[677],"tags":[6052,6057,6055,6053,6054,6056],"class_list":["post-23695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment-sustainability-en","tag-agrifood-supply-chain","tag-competere-en","tag-eu-agrifood-driving-competitiveness-en","tag-eu-animal-welfare-legislation","tag-eu-environmental-policies","tag-pledge-en"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t