Editorial ¦ IDM
The common sense
has been lost
Brussels strategy papers open the way to eco-communism
With its strategy papers "From Farm to Fork" and "Biodiversity" the EU Commission addresses
all areas of animal and plant production, but also processing and labelling. The strategies are explicitly
intended to give the EU agricultural sector a worldwide role model – which clearly shows
the usual German hubris. But of course the French and Italians are also to be found: their longstanding
practice of labelling foreign (milk) raw materials on finished products, which is contrary
June/July 2020 ¦ international-dairy.com · 3
to the Single Market, is to become an EU standard.
The aim of the strategies is almost awe-inspiring. They are intended to create nothing less than
a "fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system". Hardly anyone in the population will
object to a reduced use of crop protection products and antibiotics. The situation is likely to be
completely different on the side of agricultural producers, who are only able to supply bulk goods
at the prices dictated by the retail trade because of plant protection and the use of antibiotics.
So, the signs are pointing an increase of costs of production, especially since the proportion of
organic land is set to rise from 8% to 25% of the land under cultivation.
As always, Brussels does not care whether the market plays along with this. In times of a severe
recession triggered by Corona hysteria, a recession which is not yet fully felt, consumers will hardly
be willing or able to spend more on food. On the contrary, the role of discounters will increase
significantly for sales. This means nothing other than even more extreme price and competitive
pressure for agriculture under the sign of a pioneering role in sustainability decreed from above.
What reduction targets in the two strategy papers refer to, however, remains open. No concrete
targets are named at all, everything becomes blurred in the ambiguously defined concept of sustainability.
If Brussels asserts itself with its ideological ideas, which are, it must be said, beyond all
reason, unilateral disadvantages threaten to EU agriculture. After all, experience shows that EU
law is executed meticulously or considered negligible, depending on the country. If, contrary to
expectations, the Commission is able to assert itself throughout the EU, overseas farmers will be
pleased about the partial abandonment of the EU position in world agricultural trade. Whether
the EU farmers will be able to make their lives just from being world pioneers in sustainability, is
highly doubtful, thinks Roland Sossna.
Roland Sossna
Editor IDM
International Dairy Magazine
sossna@blmedien.de
international-dairy.com
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