Sustainable farming is the future. Europe must embrace it, not roll back progress. This is the message today from Europe’s socialist family as it condemns the EPP’s continued attacks on green farming.
Today, media reports that the European Commission president is expected to push forward with controversial proposals to revise CAP legislation to water down environmental conditionalities, specifically on crop rotation and fallow land.
This revision means fewer protections for Europe’s nature – which is already facing huge challenges from climate change – and represents a further step away from the sustainable farming models that offer Europe true food security.
PES Secretary General Giacomo Filibeck said:
“Just four days ago, the European Environment Agency warned that heat and drought are a critical risk to crop production in Europe, in the south but also elsewhere.
“To deliberately undermine sustainable farming is to deliberately undermine our long-term food security. We cannot grow food in dead soil. A push to axe environmental protections now is totally irresponsible.
“You cannot negotiate a pause with climate change, so conservatives should stop trying to do so because they feel under pressure and lack real policy solutions.”
Earlier this week, the European Environment Agency released its Climate Risk assessment highlighting the risk of climate change on food security. It warned that risks from heat and drought to crop production are already at a critical level in southern Europe, but countries in central Europe are also at risk. Prolonged droughts that affect large areas pose a significant threat to crop production, food security and drinking water supplies.
Last month, the PES strongly criticised conservative attempts to make nature restoration a scapegoat for farmers’ struggles and for spreading far-right propaganda on the European Green Deal.
