The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) have recently held a joint public hearing on “The impact of the Farm to Fork Strategy on agriculture and food systems.” The aim of the hearing, which was comprised of two panels, was to discuss the actual impact of the Strategy, its links to other policies and the way forward to a sustainable food system.

The first panel focused on the general impacts of the Strategy as assessed by the American Economic Research Services and the Wageningen University and Research Centre. Some of the conclusions of their assessment are that achieving the EU’s Green Deal objectives may lead to a reduction of livestock production in the order of 10 to 15% and that fertilizer surplus reduction and climate measures are likely to become main constraining factors to EU agricultural production.

The second panel, led by members from the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and the European Agriculture Initiative at the “Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales” (IDDRI), looked at adaptation strategies. They stated that there is an urgent need to redirect policies to serve long-term sustainability goals, building a robust and strategic framework for food system resilience and a deeper accountability and engagement for change from stakeholders.

We invite you to watch the recording of this hearing here.