The “vision” presented today by the European Commission to transform EU food and farming policy is weak and disappointing, according to the TAPP Coalition, a European network of 80 food companies and non-governmental organizations, including farmers, campaigning for fair and real (higher) prices for animal proteins and lower prices for healthy and sustainable food.
Director Jeroom Remmers, said: “The new EU vision for agriculture and food lacks a vision on how competition and climate targets can be perfectly combined […] to achieve the 2040 and 2050 climate targets.”
At an Agri-ETS conference organized by the TAPP Coalition, FoodDrinkEurope and Rabobank last Monday, various stakeholders confirmed the benefits of a system that provides farmers with a new net financial flow for climate solutions: higher prices for consumers and revenues from Agri-ETS auctions and CBAM import taxes. The combination of EU competition and climate targets leads directly to a downstream Agri-ETS for a limited number of dairies and abattoirs, as climate targets can be achieved at the lowest cost and with flexibility for businesses.
Lack of plans to reduce meat and dairy-heavy diets
The TAPP Coalition also expresses concerns about the current EU agricultural policy and calls for stronger measures for sustainable food production. Among other things, it criticizes the lack of plans to reduce meat and dairy-heavy diets, even though these have proven negative effects on the environment and health, the lack of reforms to VAT on food, as demanded by the EU Parliament: 0% on fruit and vegetables, the highest VAT on food that is harmful to health or the climate.
Another problem is the continuation of competition exemptions for European retail alliances, which make it difficult for farmers to achieve fair prices for sustainable products. The EU should also (similar to alcohol) limit the sale below production price and the marketing and price discounts for consumers for the foods with the highest climate emissions.
TAPP Coalition welcomes political measures for more sustainable production systems
The TAPP Coalition welcomes several positive approaches in EU policy. These include rewarding farmers for climate-friendly agriculture and environmental services, in particular through higher payments from food and retail companies for sustainable and animal-friendly production methods. A voluntary sustainability benchmark on farms could help companies in the food, retail and hospitality sectors to establish true pricing approaches.
The coalition also supports measures to reduce the EU’s dependence on imported grain for animal feed, which could lead to a less meat- and dairy-heavy diet in the long term. The EU has announced that it will develop a comprehensive strategy for sustainable protein production and consumption.
The commitment to improving animal welfare, including the planned ban on cruel cage farming, is also viewed positively. The TAPP Coalition sees the introduction of a new EU “workstream” for the livestock industry with targeted political measures as an opportunity to make more sustainable production systems more economically attractive – for example by introducing a true pricing approach.
Finally, the coalition supports the annual Food Dialogue as well as the promotion and possible subsidization of local, healthy food initiatives.
The TAPP coalition is a member of the EEB, which is part of a new body advising the Commission on food and agriculture policy. Many of its members have stated that the Consensus Agreement (Strategic Dialogue) should be fully implemented. Similar to the TAPP coalition, the EEB also supports an Agri-ETS in its position paper. The TAPP coalition is also a partner of CAN Europe. They also called on the EU Commission to implement a “carbon pricing” for agricultural food and a reform of VAT on food products.
