Brussels opens European Board on Agriculture and Food

In line with the recommendations from the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of Agriculture, the European Commission has formally established the European Board on Agriculture and Food (EBAF), a European Council for Agriculture and Food, whose members were selected through a specific call and will meet for the first time on February 4th.

Targeted aid for the CAP and a Transition Fund for a sustainable agriculture

In her State of the Union Address in September 2023, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced the launch of a Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture, a process of discussion among the main stakeholders in the agricultural sector, civil society, rural communities, and academia, which began in January 2024. The outcomes of this discussion were compiled in the Report of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture, a document delivered on September 4th to President von der Leyen, containing a series of recommendations for European agricultural and food policies.

The head of the EU Commission committed to examining the recommendations of the Report to identify those to be translated into concrete measures within the first hundred days of her mandate. Among the priorities, she assured, was the launch of a new platform to stabilize the dialogue between stakeholders, civil society, and the scientific community on how to make agri-food systems more sustainable from an environmental, economic, and social perspective, which now materializes with the formal launch of the European Board on Agriculture and Food (EBAF).

Additionally, von der Leyen had announced, also as a commitment for the first hundred days, the presentation of a new EU Vision for Agriculture and Food, a strategic document that the Vice-President of the Commission for Cohesion, Raffaele Fitto, and the Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, are expected to present in Brussels on February 19th.

EBAF ready to start. What is the European Board on Agriculture and Food

A key step towards the presentation of the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food, the European Board on Agriculture and Food (EBAF), launched on December 4th by the EU Executive and established on January 27th with the formal presentation of its members, is an advisory body chaired by Commissioner Hansen, which aims to support a new culture of dialogue, trust, and participation among food chain actors and civil society and between them and the Commission. The EBAF will promote the exchange of experiences and synergy between Union policies and provide high-level advice to the Commission on the follow-up to the Report of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture.

The Council on Agriculture and Food is composed of up to 30 organizations representing three different categories of stakeholders: the agricultural community; other actors in the food chain; civil society, also with reference to sectors such as environment and climate, animal welfare, or consumer issues.

The members were selected by the Commission through a call for applications open from December 4th to January 8th and addressed to organizations with expertise in areas relevant to agriculture and food at the Union level, broadly representative at the Union level, and registered in the EU Transparency Register.

The 30 EBAF members are:

The Board of Directors, established for five years, will meet in principle from two to six times a year, but with the possibility for Commissioner Hansen to convene the group for additional meetings if urgent advice is needed. The first meeting is scheduled for February 4th.

Translation AI assisted