IDM | EDA Column
The future of Dairy
in the Post-2020
Common Agricultural
Policy of the EU
Market orientation and simplification should be the focus of the future
Common Agriculture Policy
Author: Flora Dewar, Trade & Economics Officer, European Dairy Association
With the 2013 Common Agriculture Policy
(CAP) just being implemented, the discussion
at all EU levels intensifies on what
the CAP will look like post 2020.
"Dairy is one of Europe’s most important agricultural
sectors and present in all 28 EU Member
States," as director Jens Schaps of DG AGRI
always puts it.
Dairy contributes substantially to the EU’s positive
trade balance and is an important source of income,
considering that EU is the world’s leading exporter
of dairy products (36% of the world’s dairy exports
originates from the EU). The European Dairy sector
is among the most profitable parts of European
agriculture, consisting of more than 700,000 farmers
across Europe. Taking this into account, the importance
of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
becomes evident, especially for rural Europe.
The idea of the CAP was born in 1957 in the
Treaty of Rome, where it was foreseen as the
only real ‘common’ policy. In 1962 the CAP was
48 · 8 2017 | international-dairy.com
officially adopted and ever since it has seen many
amendments and modifications. The current CAP
consists of two pillars, the first focusing on direct
payments to farmers and the second on rural development
policy. Presently the discussion around
the CAP focuses heavily on EU Commissioner for
Agriculture Phil Hogan’s "Omnibus" proposal for
the simplification and modernisation of the current
CAP. This is not the end goal though, as the
planning for the CAP post-2020 has already commenced
in different institutions.
On 2nd February 2017, the European Commission
launched a public consultation on "Modernising
and Simplifying the Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP)". We submitted our views on the future policy
through constant contact with our members,
consulting and drafting the position paper on the
modernisation and simplification of the CAP and
its Post-2020 future since the beginning of 2016.
Not only we participated to the Commission conference
outlining the results of the consultation
on 7th July 2017, EDA president Michel Nalet and
EDA Secretary General Alexander Anton also met
with EU officials at all levels and several national
ministers to share our position.
The planning of the Post-2020 CAP is a complex
exercise for policy makers. It requires the development
of a balanced policy which will oversee the
EU institutions' vision for the future of the European
agriculture and at the same time will satisfy
all the relevant stakeholders (farmers, processors,
retailers, environment groups etc.) and be beneficial
for the consumers. Especially for the EU dairy
sector, a number of key factors are crucial when
policy makers develop their proposals.
The orientation of the Post-2020 CAP should
continue to address the needs of all three pillars
of sustainability; the economic, social and environmental.
In addition the continuous sustainability
and improvement of the competiveness of the
sector and the needs of food security should be
taken into account. Furthermore the promotion