The expectations of European citizens” “

What do the citizens of Europe think of the EU’s agricultural policies? What are the expectations of farmers? What “ethical” demands emerge from public opinion after the “mad cow” crisis and the various environmental alarms of recent times? The EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Franz Fischler, replied to these questions in recent days, in a speech addressed to the teaching staff of Bologna University, on the occasion of the conferral on him of an honorary doctorate. Referring to a recent survey conducted at the Community level, Fischler listed the main “expectations”: “90% of European citizens want the European Union to ensure that agricultural produce be healthy and safe; l’89% express themselves in favour of protecting the environment; 82% of citizens wish Europe to safeguard small farms; 81% of citizens expect the EU and European producers to adapt their production to the expectations of consumers; 78% want the EU to make European agriculture more competitive on the world market and three-quarters of European citizens want the EU to promote the diversification of farm produce and support the production of organic produce”. The citizens of Europe – Fischler emphasized – after the BSE crisis “consider agriculture something special, which must not only serve to produce foodstuffs and fibres. They want agriculture also to serve to protect the environment and preserve the traditional natural landscapes”. “Surpluses” and social ethics – Fischler devoted particular attention in his address to one of the more controversial phenomena of the EU’s agricultural policies: that of the “surpluses” that were, until a few years ago, destroyed in a highly visible way, arousing many perplexities in public opinion and at the level of social morality. “In the last decade – he said – we have succeeded in dismantling the ‘mountains’ of surpluses that had accumulated. The stockpiles of wheat have been almost eliminated, milk and dairy products are now sold rather than being stored, and in the beef sector the situation had been brought under control just before the second BSE emergency. This result, as well as that of the increased use of natural produce for the feeding of farm animals, led Fischler to declare that “we are pursuing the implementation of a sustainable agricultural policy”, in which there is also room for “the application of a fair system in world trade”. Europe, indeed – Fischler reminded his audience – is “the greatest importer of products from the developing countries”. Towards a “regeneration” of agriculture – The “expectations” of farmers converge on the themes of food safety and environmental protection. “We must learn how to extract from crises like that of BSE the essence of what the consumer ‘demands’ of agriculture and the whole agricultural-food industry: quality and genuineness”: so says Paolo Bedoni, national president of Coldiretti, Italy’s farm cooperative. In his view, EU agricultural policies must however also aim at the real support of farms: “What is needed is an agricultural policy that gives effective support and resources to those who invest in agriculture in a business logic, that generates employment, and opts for the quality, traceability and certification of products in harmony with environmental protection. In other words ‘giving value to value’. This process we call ‘regeneration of agriculture’: a cultural regeneration on which to construct a new economic policy”. Luigi Crimella