6/24/2023 0 Comments Farm to fork game![]() Other relevant policy areas in which the EU holds broad competence include the Common Commercial Policy and competition law, environmental policy and consumer protection.ĭespite high expectations for the F2F Strategy’s impact, we identify four key challenges that will determine its ultimate success.Ī key challenge in the implementation of the F2F Strategy is the unresolved ambiguity of what is meant by ‘food sustainability’ or a ‘sustainable food system’. ![]() Although the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is still primarily targeted at farmers, EU agricultural policy’s remit has recently been broadened through the adoption of new legislation on unfair trading practices in agricultural and food supply chains 5. Similarly, the EU has become the major venue of European agricultural and fisheries policymaking. For example, the 2000 White Paper on Food Safety 4 already coined a ‘farm to table’ approach, which over time morphed into ‘farm to fork’ and established a coherent approach to food safety to further the internal market - it did not, however, mention sustainability. At present, the food sector is regulated by a very wide range of policy domains in which the EU has exercised its legal competences over time. The adoption of the F2F Strategy can also be seen as an attempt to create a more integrated food strategy 3. Specific follow-up steps are set out in an accompanying action plan 1, which lists a range of legislative commitments and their timing. As such, the strategy primarily has an agenda-setting function to show effect, the envisioned actions require translation into EU and national legislation. To realize the quantitative targets, it sets out both regulatory and non-regulatory initiatives, including a legislative framework for sustainable food systems for which a proposal is expected before the end of 2023. The strategy includes ambitious and concrete targets on pesticides, fertilizers, organic farming and antimicrobial resistance to be achieved by 2030. It is the first time in the history of EU food law that the union has addressed food sustainability in a comprehensive manner, from primary production to the consumer. The F2F Strategy aims to make the EU food system fair, healthy and environmentally friendly, and has been hailed as a cornerstone of the European Green Deal under the 2019–2024 European Commission. We conclude that the strategy’s potential for fostering a genuine change of EU food systems governance will largely depend on the resolution of these challenges and the ability of the EU’s leadership to continue political momentum - and this will be further challenged by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. From governance and legal perspectives, we identify four major challenges that will determine whether the F2F Strategy will truly be a game-changer: the unresolved ambiguity of food sustainability, the discrepancy between policy objectives and the specific legal actions proposed, the vulnerable institutional embedding within the European Commission, and limited coordination with the EU’s Member States. However, the strategy’s success will ultimately depend on its implementation in the very near future. Published in May 2020, it represents a first step towards genuine food systems governance 2 and seems well timed to address some of the most pressing environmental and public health concerns that European society faces. The European Union (EU)’s new Farm to Fork (F2F) Strategy 1 is lauded as a major advance in European food policymaking.
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