EU is not abandoning the Farm to Table strategy, it will be adjusted

The European Commission is not going to completely abandon the Farm to Fork strategy, which was the agri-food component of the flagship policy of the European Green Deal.

This was stated by Geis Silthaus, Director for Sustainable Development (AGRI.B) of the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) of the European Commission, during the discussion platform “Ukraine’s European Integration in the Agricultural Sector: How to Stay in the Mainstream of Changes in the EU”.

According to him, the goals of the Farm to Fork strategy remain important for the EU, and further movement in this direction is planned. Although there is a lot of talk about simplifying norms and regulations, in particular, regarding environmental requirements.

“Last year’s simplification package included a clause that affected the environmental aspect of the policy, which was the requirement that 4% of arable land should be kept unproductive. We took this control away from small farmers. Now the question is that farmers should be involved in maintaining biodiversity, the landscape, but at the same time EU member states should provide incentive schemes for farmers so that they can allocate more agricultural land for biodiversity. This is not a condition, but an incentive,” says Geis Silthaus.

He adds that the approach to organic production has also changed, where the goal is to increase the area under organic farming to 25%. The European Commission has ambitions to support the organic sector more than before, which is why funding has been increased to support organic farms.

“We really want the organic sector in the EU to grow, but for this to happen, people need to buy organic products. We have an action plan that takes into account all stages of the organic sector. And with this strategy we want to focus on the market aspect, because we believe that in this way we can achieve the objectives of the Farm to Fork Strategy in a better way,” Geis Silthaus notes.

He adds that the European Commission is currently preparing another simplification package, which will be ready by the end of April. The document will contain fewer modifications to agricultural policy and will focus on reducing the burden on farmers, in particular in the environmental sphere.

“In order to reduce the burden of legislation on farmers, another simplification package will be prepared at the end of 2025. But at the same time, we do not need to reduce the norms and objectives of the policies, but should do so in a more sensible way. In particular, this package for the organic sector provides for the facilitation of biocontrol for products,” Geis Silthaus noted.

Tags: EU