Policies for the Future of Farming and Food in the European Union

Published by:

FARM-D

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Online Location

https://www.oecd.org/publications/policies-for-the-future-of-farming-and-food-in-the-european-union-32810cf6-en.htm

Publication date

09/10/2023

Language:

English

Type of Publication:

Studies

Focus Region:

Europe

Focus Topic:

Agricultural Value Chains / Agri-Businesses

Institutions / Organizations

Author

OECD Agriculture and Food Policy Reviews

Organization

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Policies for the Future of Farming and Food in the European Union is part of a series of studies that apply the OECD Agro-Food Productivity-Sustainability-Resilience Policy Framework (PSR), an evidence-based approach to assess if the policy environment is conducive to achieving sustainable agricultural productivity growth and increased resilience. To date, the PSR Framework has been applied to reviews of Australia, Brazil, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, Estonia, the European Union, Japan, Korea, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, and the United States.

Reconciling agro-food productivity, sustainability and resilience is a challenge common to all countries, while also unique to a country’s specific context and objectives. Following an evidence-based analysis and an international comparison of performance indicators, PSR reviews offer customised recommendations that aim to improve agriculture and food systems policies.

The European Union’s diverse agro-food sector is at a critical juncture, confronting climate change and successive global crises while addressing the triple challenge facing food systems: ensuring food security and nutrition, providing livelihoods for actors in the food chain, and improving environmental sustainability. The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is also at a crossroads, increasingly expected to deliver on broad food systems objectives that go beyond the agricultural sector.

This review analyses how EU policy instruments and interventions in place until 2022 have enhanced the productivity, sustainability and resilience of the EU’s food and agriculture sector. Further, it explores the potential of the CAP 2023-27 to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal. The proposed recommendations focus on bringing innovation into the centre of the agricultural policy strategy, redesigning payments and regulations, and strengthening data strategies, as well as adopting new approaches to deliver environmental services.