Speaking at the occasion of an event “The future challenges for the EU agricultural sector” promoted by FederUnacoma at EIMA International last Friday and animated by the former MEP Paolo De Castro, at the presence of several members of the European Parliament and the stakeholders of the agri-food sector, the President of EAT Europe Luigi Scordamaglia alerted that “more integrated EU policies and more public/private investments in innovation, precision agriculture and advanced technological machineries are more than ever needed in order for the EU to stay competitive in the global market, and to be prepared to possible trade conflicts after the announced Trump’s defensive attitude to protect US most productive sectors, of which agriculture has been a key element also for the current administration, as the IRA and huge Farm Bill budget have demonstrated”.

Precise commitments are therefore needed so that we have a CAP for the coming years with more resources (inflation alone has burnt up 85 billion in aid, following a recent study published by Farm Europe), and drawing a new CAP in a way that supports only go to those who produce, in a simplified regulatory environment. Logistic and hydric infrastructure and green transition are fundamental, but they must be financed with other resources in addition and complementary to those of the CAP.

EAT Europe also considers unavoidable for the EU to continue to guarantee healthy and safe food by making the European Food System more competitive, avoiding the shortcuts of ultra-processed or synthetic food but enhancing transparency towards the consumer and rebalancing the food value chain. “It is unacceptable the narrative against animal husbandry and animal products or the wine sector when neither the poor report of the Strategic Dialogue when talking about balanced diets nor the ongoing debates on cardiovascular diseases point the finger at the real danger: the incalculable damage to health of ultra-processed products or the possible damage of synthetic foods, on which we are challenging the adequacy of EU legislation, pushing for its revision”  said Luigi Scordamaglia.

On the contrary this debate with important MEPs of comagri was the opportunity to denounce the misinformation that also at the European Parliament is supporting with posters that give misleading information on the CO2 emissions related to the consumption of animal products, without considering the actual consumed amounts, and the nutritional values of these products. “It is precisely from the European Parliament that these examples of misleading information should be avoided” concluded Luigi Scordamaglia.