FoodDrinkEurope position on the Commission proposals on the CAP towards 2020
FoodDrinkEurope requests that the CAP measures more explicitly address the need for productivity and production growth in both pillars, while protecting EU productive potential and safeguarding natural resources, such as soil and water.
In its 2010 Communication, the Commission identified three challenges: Food security, environment and climate change, territorial balance. FoodDrinkEurope welcomed this approach.
In the current proposals, FoodDrinkEurope believes that the food security challenge is not sufficiently addressed: The primary objective of an EU agricultural policy should be to ensure sustainable agricultural production which in turn will help secure food production for European consumers whilst contributing to global food security.
Security of supply as a key objective
The European food and drink industry plays a vital role in the European economy , notably in rural areas where processing plants are mainly located close to places of agricultural production. European food and drink industries rely on access to adequate quantities of agricultural raw materials that correspond to specific quality criteria and that are competitively priced. Considering that they process 70% of EU agricultural raw materials, the policy orientations developed in the CAP towards 2020 will be pivotal in securing the availability of agricultural raw materials.
Despite this key role, the food and drink industry disappointingly notes that it has not been considered in the impact assessment of the proposed measures. Industry would have expected the impact assessment to address the needs of the industry.
