The European Union has for a long time viewed agriculture and food systems as a monolith. However, as Europe has expanded to 28 member states, so the actual diversity of businesses has rendered the idea of a single model obsolete.
The multiplicity of markets has profoundly modified the relationships between agricultural producers, the processing industry, retailers and consumers.
Discussions about the need to rebalance the food chain relationship are not new at the European level. All the institutions have participated in several attempts urged by different stakeholders, but in the end no concrete action was taken until this year. In 2013, seven European Associations motivated by the former Commissioner Verheugen launched the Supply […]
October 2017 1. INTRODUCTION 2016 has been quite productive in terms of debates around the Food Supply Chain at the European level. The issue has been triggered by the Agricultural Markets Task Force (AMTF) instigated by Commissioner Hogan, which examined the position of the farmer in the supply chain, and proposed a number of recommendations […]
Policy Briefing FOOD CHAIN, NUTRITION AND WELLBEING. A CALL FOR EU COHERENCE. October 2017 INTRODUCTION. The European agro food model is constantly evolving and improving, and its relationship with health issues is becoming growingly important. Usually this relationship is perceived mostly in negative terms, or at least in a quiet unidirectional way – nutrition issues-, […]
The European beef sector is one of the most important agri-food sectors in Europe. It is characterized by great diversity and it is at the foundation of the economic fabric of many rural areas across the European Union. It provides a great number of jobs at each step of the value chain, from the farm […]
Context Agriculture and agri-food constitute, together, one of the European Union’s main economic strengths. With a total turnover of €1 350 billion per year and 14 million jobs, agriculture and agri-food are not only one of Europe’s leading business sectors, but also one of its principal sources of employment. It is second only to the […]
Reformed in 2014 with the aim of greater clarity and in line with the expectations of European society, is the current CAP a robust policy response to the challenges which the European Union must overcome in the next 15 years? By tying 30% of direct aid to the issues of environmental sustainability and climate, and […]