Source: European Parliament
A range of EU policies currently support the development and uptake of technologies for the agricultural sector to assist in climate change adaptation — including the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Horizon Europe[1].
The Commission’s communication on ‘A Vision for Agriculture and Food’[2], addresses related issues and paves the way forward. It notes the importance of research, development and innovation to improve the competitiveness of agriculture, forestry and rural areas, and states that the CAP will continue to support agricultural knowledge and innovation system (AKIS) strategies. It also addresses aspects of the climate change adaptation challenge other than technology-related needs.
With regard to data on EU food security, the Commission invites the Honourable Member to explore the rich databases available[3].
With regard to the agricultural reserve, the aforementioned Vision for Agriculture and Food notes that the Commission and Member States should ensure policy coherence between risk and crisis management tools, and greater flexibilities for their uptake.
The functioning of the agricultural reserve should be carefully assessed to refocus it on specific crises of a specific magnitude, such as major market disturbances and animal/plant health issues, while the provision of exceptional support to farmers should be better linked to appropriate risk management and preventive measures.