With the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food presented to the European Commission today (Wednesday, February 19), Irish Farmers' Assocation (IFA) deputy president Alice Doyle said that farmers "cannot afford to wait" until 2040 to implement many of the new ambitions.

The document was presented by the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, and outlined that it will be up to each member state what it does at national level to implement the vision.

Doyle said that the Commissioner understood the "urgency" needed for implementations when he addressed the IFA annual general meeting (AGM) last month.

The deputy president said that her initial reaction to the EU vision was "broadly positive", but it will now be judged on how many of the objectives are achieved in the term of this commission.

"The vision document is the first step here. Now farmers need to see action with a proper CAP budget and a separate fund for environmental measures on farms. We need to see change and delivery on the objectives set out in the document,” she said.

The document outlines the importance of the EU continuing to contribute to global food security and commits to “an attractive sector that ensures a fair standard of living” for EU farmers.

However, Doyle said that the vision has "little detail" on the future of the common agricultural policy (CAP) funding or the need for a separate fund for environmental measures.

“The reality is that this vision is published at times when there are a lot of concerning noises around the budget for the next CAP.

"Nice words are fine, but they must be backed up with a strong EU budget for the CAP and separate funding to support environmental measures on farms,” Doyle said.

The EU vision document also sets out that the commission “will orient the future CAP away from conditions to incentives.” Doyle said this would be "welcome" if delivered upon.

There is also a focus on generational renewal and the need for action to reverse the trend in the percentage of young farmers across Europe.

“The CAP accounts for a substantial part of farm income across the EU and this public support is vital to maintain EU food production and to attract the next generation of farmers who need to see this vision being implemented," Doyle said.

“The commission must ensure that this is a common vision across all policy areas impacting agriculture and not to repeat the mistakes of the past where the Commission lacked a coherent approach to our sector,” she added.

The IFA deputy president queried how nature credits, carbon removals, and carbon farming will be increased from the climate neutral and nature positive economy which is included in the document.

Doyle said that the document highlights "the importance of a stronger alignment of production standards" to imported products into the EU.

She questioned how the commission can continue to proceed with the Mercosur trade agreement given "clear divergence" in production standards between the EU and South American countries.