Abstract
The fourth conference will address the responses to the campaign for a “common food policy” in the EU. In July 2019, the President of the European Commission announced a “European Green Deal” as the flagship initiative of the 2019–2024 European legislative term. In May 2020, the Commission proposed including a “farm-to-table food strategy” within the Green Deal, largely inspired by proposals for a “Common Food Policy” for the EU.
Although several measures had been taken to translate this food strategy into legislative action and budgetary decisions, the work remained largely unfinished as a new campaign kicked off in early 2024 ahead of the June 2024 European elections. High food price inflation throughout 2022 and the anger of the agricultural community expressed in early 2024, as well as the sharp rise of far-right parties in the June 2024 elections—which tended to pit the protection of purchasing power against the ecological transition in the food sector—all constituted obstacles to accelerating the transformation of food systems in Europe. We will examine whether and how these obstacles could be overcome.
