Agriculture: defining a sustainable mannequin | EUROtoday

Ithere’s due to this fact certainly a “French agricultural exception”. The expression utilized by Gabriel Attal, throughout his basic coverage speech, discovered its full which means within the measures that the federal government introduced on Thursday 1^er February to attempt to resolve the agricultural disaster. These largely take up the grievances of the principle commerce union organizations, even when it means undermining Emmanuel Macron's ecological, European and budgetary commitments. The Prime Minister has succeeded in his baptism of fireplace, however the effectiveness in bringing down the fever within the instant future may depart its mark on the political degree in the long term.

On the agricultural degree, “French ecology” appears above all to rhyme with all-terrain pragmatism, on the danger of complicated the slogan of the 2022 presidential marketing campaign: “This five-year term will be ecological or it will not be! » Certainly, agriculture is a field where the contradictory injunctions between respect for the environment, producer remuneration and consumer prices are the most difficult to reconcile. Winning on all counts is impossible. Therefore, it is essential to set priorities and stick to them.

The announcement of a ” break “ in the Ecophyto plan, aiming to reduce the use of pesticides by 50% by 2030, is a stuck corner in a trajectory that it would be dangerous to modify according to sporadic protests. The ecological transition requires constancy and tenacity. Today's renunciations will only pay off a hundredfold in the coming decades.

The agricultural disaster additionally pressured Emmanuel Macron to commit his political capital to the European degree. While the negotiations on the free commerce treaty with Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay) are within the residence stretch, France, though remoted, has managed to postpone the deadlines.

Credibility and consistency

The Head of State is true to demand that “mirror clauses” be imposed on South American farmers, in order that they’ve constraints equal to these of Europeans. But in his speech there appeared an ambiguity on the necessity for European agriculture typically, and French agriculture specifically, to stay open to the world. Our commerce surpluses are there to bear witness to this.

At a time when the far proper is making an attempt to use the anger of farmers by making the European Union the supply of all their ills, Emmanuel Macron should be cautious, as soon as once more, to not make agriculture an distinctive space in its European imaginative and prescient.

The social battle has lastly instilled doubt in regards to the finish, as soon as and for all, of “whatever it takes”. Nearly 400 million euros had been placed on the desk within the type of subsidies and varied help. The quantity isn’t extravagant, however in budgetary issues credibility begins with consistency with the set trajectory.

At the price of these renunciations, the chief managed to include the fireplace, with out nonetheless resolving the essential downside, that of the agricultural mannequin. French agriculture isn’t aggressive sufficient. Production prices are larger than elsewhere, and our merchandise should not at all times nicely positioned in relation to demand.

Between household farms struggling to outlive and agro-industry, we should discover a path that permits us to reconcile surroundings and productiveness. This is what we should now debate. “Agriculture is above all else”, says Gabriel Attal. But if the event of the agricultural sector is laudable, this could not lead to erratic insurance policies, each environmentally and economically.