Source: European Parliament
1. Food prices have increased as a result of changing market conditions derived from the Russian war on Ukraine and resulting surge in input prices in 2022-2023, especially for energy and fertilisers. Prices were influenced by external factors, including the geopolitical situation and the impact of severe weather events on production capacity.
2. EU rules require all imported agri-food products to comply with EU health and food safety standards. The Commission maintains its commitment to act multilaterally, bilaterally and autonomously to strengthen the alignment of imports with EU production standards, and ensure that applying standards to EU producers does not lead to social and environmental leakages.
3. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) remains essential for supporting farmers’ income, rewarding ecosystem services, compensating for work on land with natural constraints, and investing to improve competitiveness and resilience. Several concrete steps were taken to improve farmers’ position, including an ambitious simplification proposal[1] in 2024 to alleviate some of the burden. In the second week of taking office, this Commission immediately put forward two new proposals to strengthen farmers’ position in the agri-food supply chain, and to enhance cross-border enforcement against unfair trading practices[2]. The forthcoming Vision for Agriculture and Food will address the sector’s long-term attractiveness, competitiveness, resilience and sustainability.