Conference on the future of CAP after 2013

European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Ciolos hosted the conference on the future of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) post-2013. The conference was attended by over 600 stakeholders in Brussels on 19 and 20 July, marking the end of the public debate launched in April. The public debate was reported to have received more responses than any other consultation. A total of 5,700 responses from individuals, stakeholders and research institutes were received.

The conference provided a platform for presenting the results of the public debate and for exploring in more depth some of the issues raised and possible solutions so as to feed into DG AGRI’s drafting of the Commission’s concrete proposals for a future CAP, due to be published in the form of a Commission Communication in mid-November 2010.

The debate around the future of the CAP focused on the provision of public goods, i.e. that public funds should be spent on the provision of public goods and not merely direct payments to farmers. It was also highlighted that the CAP of the future needs to take a more territorial approach that addresses the diversity of environmental, social and economic situations in different regions of the EU-27 and the benefits of adopting a territorial approach for achieving this without renationalising agriculture policy.

EPHAC was invited to present at the workshop in Workshop 4 - Quality, diversity, health. The purpose of this workshop was to explore in depth issues around Nutritional quality, diversity and hygienic quality of food, animal welfare, new features of demand, accessibility and adequacy of supply, distance between producers and consumers, supply and marketing methods. EPHACs presentation focused on including health and sustainability in a systematic manner in the Common Agriculture policy. A CAP that addresses sustainable growth, healthy workforce and equitable access to healthy diets, and how farming and food systems affect the health of EU citizens in terms of environment, social and economic determinants was highlighted in the presentation.

Several presentations on the closing day highlighted the burden of obesity and chronic disease. Bertrand Hervieu, one of the two conference rapporteurs a member of the French Academy of Agriculture stressed the need for CAP that ensures nutritional quality, accessibility to healthy diets for all and called for a Common Food and Agriculture Policy with better integration between policy areas.

Commissioner Ciolos emphasised that the current two pillar structure was likely to remain, although the content and structure of both pillars may be changed significantly.

For more information:

A video recording of the plenary presentations and discussions is available here

EPHA related articles
 THE CAP Post-2013 – Summing-up conference on the public debate
 EPHA position on the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy
 Securing a CAP for the Future - securing also health?
 EP hearing on the future of the CAP after 2013
 Eurobarometer on the Common Agriculture Policy