NOW IS THE TIME FOR CHANGE

1. WE ARE FACING A CRISIS
IN FARMING AND NATURE!
Today, the European Union’s
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is ...
DESTROYING PERPETUATING A MYTH
THAT WE NEED TO PRODUCE MORE
OUR ENVIRONMENT FOOD IN EUROPE TO FEED THE WORLD
PUTTING FARMERS
OUT OF BUSINESS
€ 77% OF EUROPEAN CITIZENS WANT MORE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ATTACHED TO CAP PAYMENTS
NOW IS THE TIME FOR CHANGE

2. FOR THE PAST 50 YEARS, CAP HAS HELPED
THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY ACCELERATE THE ONSET OF CLIMATE CHANGE
- THE LARGEST PART OF THE EU BUDGET - AND THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR ENVIRONMENT …
People pay for their food up to 3 times... The agri-food industry contributes over
Agricultural policy
29% of EU greenhouse gas emissions
costs
29%
2
€57.7 IN SUBSIDIES
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
BILLION
A N N UA L LY 1
CLEAN-UP
=
3
In rural areas, the populations of about …
IN THE
€ 40% STORE
OF THE ENTIRE
EU BUDGET 50% of plants
33% of insects
80% of farmland birds
… have disappeared.
Every Household
€227 The average European
household contributes € 277
per year or € 1,939 between
The water footprint of agricultural products
contributes by far the largest fraction of
The cost of soil
degradation
the total water footprint of EU27+1 is estimated at
2007-2013.
75%
of the agricultural budget is spent on
direct subsidies, awarded to farmers
Home - 114 liters
3,100L
€38
BILLION
with very few conditions attached. 25%
VOTE FOR A N N UA L LY
CHANGE
The remaining 25% of the agricultural budget is
spent on conditional and more effective subsidies
for rural development. Industry - 207 liters Agriculture

3. EUROPE’S AGRICULTURAL POLICY FOOD SECURITY INSIDE THE EU AND IN THE
HAS FAILED TO SUPPORT DEVELOPING WORLD DOES NOT RELY ON CAP
ENVIRONMENTALLY-RESPONSIBLE FARMERS
Europe’s agricultural policy mostly Annually 90 million tonnes of food, or 179kg per person, or
€
supports big agri-food industry… € 50% of all edible and healthy food is wasted in EU households,
€
supermarkets, restaurants and along the food supply chain.
€
€
€
20%
€ €
€
€ 80% of farm subsidies
90
go to 20% of the
80%
beneficiaries.
50%
MILLION TONNES
One farmer goes
OUT OF BUSINESS
=
every minute in Europe.
1min.
And food wastage in the EU is
expected to grow by 40% by 2020
while 16 million Europeans
depend on food aid from
charitable institutions 40%
GROWTH
3.7
Do you know who is being Over the last 10 years, employment 2012 2020
paid EU farm subsidies? in farming has dropped by 25%
with an overall loss of
MILLION JOBS Europe does not have to
10% FEED THE WORLD
VOTE FOR It needs to help developing countries become
CHANGE
Only 10% of SELF SUFFICIENT
beneficiary names are public

4. HERE’S HOW EUROPE CAN
CHANGE THIS DESTRUCTIVE COURSE
REJECT ILLEGAL DOUBLE SUBSIDIES, ENSURE ALL FARMERS UNDERTAKE GOOD
PROPOSED BY THE AGRI COMMITTEE WHICH FARMING PRACTICES, RESPECTING THE
WOULD PAY FARMERS TWICE FOR CARRYING ENVIRONMENT IN RETURN FOR CAP DIRECT
OUT THE SAME ACTIVITY: SUBSIDIES (SO-CALLED ‘GREENING’):
We urge all Members of
The AGRI Committee proposes the same environmental measures The AGRI Committee significantly watered down the Commission’s
the European Parliament, to be subsidised twice: under Pillar 2 (Rural Development) and mandatory greening package to a voluntary system where Member
to vote for a true reform of ALSO under Pillar 1 (Direct Payments). Such illegal double funding States can replace the three common farming practices with weaker
cannot be defended by the plenary. measures. The AGRI Committee also exempts a large proportion of
the Common Agricultural farmers from ‘greening’ altogether.
Policy (CAP), that stops
wasting taxpayers' money on
REINTRODUCE REQUIREMENTS FOR FARMERS TO
a policy that is responsible
COMPLY WITH EU LAWS ON THE ENVIRONMENT,
for the disappearance of SUPPORT HIGH NATURE VALUE AND ORGANIC FOOD SAFETY, ANIMAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH WHEN
essential biodiversity from FARMING SYSTEMS: RECEIVING EU SUBSIDIES:
our countryside and does The AGRI Committee failed to provide much-needed support for High Around half of these existing requirements have been watered down or
little for rural employment. Nature Value and organic farming systems. These farmers play a entirely deleted by the AGRI Committee, resulting in a weakening of the
crucial part in protecting the natural environment and supporting “cross-compliance” mechanism. The AGRI Committee has also rejected
rural economies. Therefore these farmers need a specific thematic the inclusion of environmental legislation such as the Water Framework
sub-programme that brings together support for all rural development and Pesticides Directives, and public health measures such as the ban
measures relevant to these farming systems. on hormones. De facto, The AGRI Committee does not want to take
subsidies away from farmers when breaking the law.
STOP THE CRISIS!
START SUPPORTING THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTALLY-RESPONSIBLE FARMERS.