Archived press release

Cap reforms fail to tackle key issues of environment, food quality, diet and health

16 July 1997

Reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy [CAP] [1] will fail to produce the necessary vital changes to the quality of food and farming methods to restore public confidence in food.

Pete Riley, Agriculture Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:
"The measures announced are designed to reduce the CAP budget and enable European farmers to sell their produce on the world market by removing price subsidies. They will do little to move farmers away from intensive agricultural practices using agro-chemicals and towards sustainable forms of farming which produce high quality, safe food without damaging the environment".

FOE welcomes moves to reduce the overall CAP budget, the continued support for agri-environment measures and the moves to reduce price support, but believe the reforms will mean business as usual for most farmers as they try to maximise yields through further intensification and enlargement of farms.

The failure to increase support for organic farming or to encourage a shift to more sustainable mixed farming systems are a major concern to FOE.

Pete Riley continued:
"The reform proposals recognise public concern over food quality and safety, and the need to protect the environment, but fail to make their connection with intensive farming methods. The NHS bill for diet-related illness is rising and the water companies have had to invest heavily to strip out agro-chemicals from drinking water. The proposals do little to encourage the production of food free from pesticide residues".

FOE points to the progress made in switching to sustainable, organic farming in some EU member states such as Austria, Germany, Italy and Sweden [2], as models which the European Commission could promote in every member state.

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Pete Riley said:
" 'Organic' seems to be the word that no-one in the Commission dare mention.It only appears in the last paragraph of the proposal as an example of a fringe agri-environment measure. FOE believes that organic farming should be moved into the mainstream of European agriculture. The public is demanding food they can trust and a diverse rural environment: Organic farming on a far wider scale can deliver this and provide secure rural employment as well." [3]

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The reforms to the EU Common Agricultural Policy were included in Agenda 2000 published by the European Commission on 16th July (Chaper Three). The document was produced in preparation for the expansion of the EU to include countries from eastern Europe.

[2] Government policies in Austria and Sweden have encouraged farmers to make the transition to organic farming . Between 1985 and 1996 the number of organic farms in Austria increased from 500 to 10144 (28% of the agricultural land); in Germany from 1597 to 5864 (16.3% of the land), in Italy from 600 to 7219 (20.1%) and Sweden from 150 to 3000 (8.3%). In the UK there are 715 organic farms occupying 2% of the land.

[3] Estimates from Europe indicate a significant increase in the labour requirements fro organic farms compared to intensively farmed holdings - 10-50% higher in Austria, up 30%in Denmark and up 19% in Germany.

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Last modified: Dec 2008