In this submission we argue that the CAP needs to not only reform its own practices along the lines of the proposals made in the Environmental Pillar’s submission, but also to work ‘upstream’ in order to be able to achieve its (laudable) new objectives.
In collaboration with other high-level EU and global bodies, it should establish a basic core framework to redirect European agriculture – and indeed, the EU economy in general – away from its current dangerous and volatile course and towards an economy of greater environmental and social resilience.
This framework would include: a Cap and Share programme, preferably in partnership with a group of Global South countries, in order to completely eliminate fossil fuel production over time and to work towards climate justice; universal basic income; land value tax and other resource-based taxes; debt-free money; and radical changes in the priorities of the international trade organisations. It would also introduce financial instruments to promote biodiversity and other vital goals (which would not be covered by Cap and Share), as per the suggestions made in the Pillar’s submission.
Once this framework is established, we urge CAP policymakers to allow farmers, who know their local environments and conditions best, to work out the details of exactly what to do on the ground.
Download the submission (PDF, 8 MB)
Featured image: “Last of the family farm”. Author: Kinsey. Source: https://www.freeimages.com/photo/last-of-the-family-farm-1219511
