Corporate Europe Observatory1. Should we be surprised? VDL set up a Strategic Dialogue to advise her on agriculture, but her Commission then ignored the advice and presented an empty Vision on Agriculture.
No Vision Left | Corporate Europe Observatory
European agriculture and food policies are once again at a crossroads, and at the centre of heated debate. In September 2024 Ursula von der Leyen launched the report of the ‘Strategic Dialogue (SD) on the Future of EU agriculture’ which would serve as a basis for new policy, the Vision on Agriculture for von der Leyen’s new Commission. But research shows we are back on the same old track of a strategic monologue, with ‘no vision left’.
2. Ursula von der Leyen rushed through a radical reform of the Common Agricultural Policy ( #CAP ) as we know it, which according to leaks will transmorph into a new National & Regional Partnership Fund (NRPF), leaving it up to EU member states how to spend it. What will be left for farmers?
3. It will be the EU member states dealing with billions of taxpayers money and no longer Brussels, meaning that they decide to what extent their farmers can still count on income support. Other policies on the urgently needed greening can easily vanish and support for climate can also melt away.
4. This comes after the simplification of agri-rules in 2024 & another round 2025 whereby environmental and climate related conditions to payments are being scrapped to cut ‘red tape’. This followed farmers protests that did NOT primarily target green rules, but their general economic situation.
5. Now cutting funds for greening agriculture and leaving it to member states is a recipe for further ecological disaster, and will make more farmers suffer. Powerful agribusines lobbies are driving national as well as EU politics.
Nemo_bis 🌈@corporateeurope *If* indeed the total funds for the CAP are going down (I'll believe it when I see it), why is this "a recipe for further ecological disaster"? The CAP is essentially a #FossilSubsidies scheme, which props up a very energy-intensive and carbon-intensive industry which would be best left to die. Therefore, any reduction in funds should directly translate to a reduction in emissions. (Unless it's compensated by national budgets.)
Hi, @nemobis ! The total funds of CAP have gone down indeed. The only part that remained ringfenced is the worst one, the area-based payments (although with a CAP for the first time). Regarding the more environmental schemes, this is now all under member state flexibility, so you can imagine what will happen, a race to the bottom.
See also the reaction of Via Campesina: https://www.www.eurovia.org/press-releases/farmers-reject-disastrous-budget-proposal-for-multiannual-financial-framework-and-cap/

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You can’t let the whole sector just ‘die’ without stimulating a transition. That is what the agribusiness lobby groups try to avoid, public support for a just and fair food system:
CAP vs Farm to Fork | Corporate Europe Observatory
The EU’s current model of agriculture directs billions in EU taxpayers’ money to fuel climate change, destroy biodiversity, and even undermine farmers’ livelihoods. While the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is approaching a key vote, freedom of information requests show that farmers and agribusiness lobby group Copa-Cogeca, along with pesticides and food industry giants, are doing their best to stop the CAP reform from aligning with the new Farm to Fork strategy of the Green Deal.
@corporateeurope Thanks for the references! Your article has a broken link https://commission.europa.eu/sites/default/files/food-farming-fisheries/key_policies/documents/ext-eval-biodiversity-final-report_2020_en.pdf .
Where is the evidence that ViaCampesina's proposals help with decarbonisation? Your own report says the environmental provisions of the CAP don't work. What's the chance that cutting 60 G€ from the CAP would actually reduce carbon emissions more?
The sector will not suddenly die. Some farm lands may be abandoned, but that's a good thing. (This needs payment caps to avoid land/subsidy hoarding.)
@corporateeurope In general I agree with "ensure that payments go to individuals who
actually carry out agricultural activity" but not with "Support the sustainability of farms", "providing quality food" and any business-related goal. Can you imagine the Commission deciding what's "quality food"? It would need to be #vegan but it would never be.
I also see no evidence the Commission is able to monitor those "sustainable and agroecological practices"; support for livestock is counterproductive.
@corporateeurope I would replace the entire CAP with something like SURE. A wage support system for individual farmers who meet a few criteria easily verifiable without paperwork. Remove the profit pressure and most of the problems will go away.
Add an employment insurance contribution to be paid by the largest agribusinesses. If distributors don't pay fair prices, it goes up.
To reduce chemical inputs, add an EU-wide carbon tax on them, paid at the source (by importers or manufacturers).