CAP reform to tackle food safety

"EU citizens want safe food and a healthy environment from farm policy"​, said the European Commission this week in anticipation of the amendments to the Common Agricultural Policy. The claim follows the latest Eurobarometer opinion poll that reports that more than 60 per cent of EU citizens see a shift in farm subsidies from production to directly supporting farmers and the rural areas as "a very good" or "fairly good" thing.

According to the poll​ of 16,041 EU citizens, the majority of Europeans want to see a change in the way the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) supports EU farmers.

Support among those questioned for direct support to farmers was on average 62 per cent, up 6 per cent compared to the last Eurobarometer poll in mid-2001.

Reflecting the current food safety fears, the survey showed that citizens want the EU farm policy to ensure that agricultural products are healthy and safe.

"The message of our citizens is unequivocal. They are ready to support our farmers and the rural zones of Europe under the condition that they get environment, food safety and quality or animal welfare in exchange,"​ said Franz Fischler, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries.

But the confidence of EU citizens in the CAP's ability to deliver safe agricultural produce appears to have slightly recovered with the number of respondents who felt that CAP ensured that agricultural produce was safe to eat growing from 37 per cent in 2001 to 42 per cent.

Fischler has called for an end to farm subsidies being linked to production, with farmers instead getting flat-rate payments linked to environmental, food quality and animal welfare standards. Subsidies would also be reduced over time and the money diverted to rural development schemes.