This month marked the end of the Strategic Dialogue on the future of EU agriculture, an initiative first announced by President of the EU Commission Von der Leyen at her State of the Union address last year and that saw stakeholders in Europe engaged in discussions for several months.
Both the executive summary and the full report with recommendations from the exercise are now available online on the website of the EU Commission.
Feedback on the Strategic Dialogue has been generally positive.
For example, Slow Food indicated theirappreciation for the opportunity of a genuine dialogue and posted a list of their takeaways, headed by the need to adopt a food systems approach in which everyone has a role to play.
IFOAM Organics Europe, on the other hand, welcomed the final report in a press release announcing “The recommendations bridge the EU’s objectives by proposing concrete steps and strategies for implementation”, and highlighting that organic remains a “strategic choice” for the sustainable transition of the EU food systems.
Firmer in their feedback was the European Coordination Via Campesina, which, in their own press release, requested “concrete steps forward on prices, farmers’ incomes, right to land and generational renewal”, pointing out – among other issues – that there might be inconsistency in the report’s insistence on competition while calling for collaboration among farmers.
