Note by zemeunvalsts.lv
The tendency to want issues to be settled “from above” is likely something remembered best by people in Central and Eastern Europe. Not in the parish, municipality, region or country, but “somewhere else”, preferably with the help of a directive or regulation, will it now be determined and known what is best. How clever and far-sighted is such an idea, even taking into account recent experience regarding Russia, where theory and vested interests in more than one European country took the upper hand?
Given the growing volume of land purchases and land speculation, the European Commission must include a common land management system on the political agenda in the coming months to ensure the future of farmers and protect the well-being of citizens. In view of the urgency of the situation, farmers from the European Coordination Via Campesina* have prepared a proposal** for a European directive, which was submitted to representatives of the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development and Members of the European Parliament in March 2023.
The protection of natural resources, such as land, water and seeds, is a prerequisite for the general interests of society in the face of climate, environmental and social emergencies. Recent demonstrations in France against planned large water basins for the needs of large agro-firms (while farmers, activists, citizens and Green Party MEPs consider it “water grabbing”, French Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie (Julien Denormandie) views it as “smart water management”) and police violence against demonstrators are just one example of how citizens are acting more and more actively to protect common interests against the interests of private companies and governments, whose priority is profit, not people.
Agricultural land occupies 38% of the EU's territory. Since much attention has recently been paid to combating climate change and promoting the sustainability of European agriculture, the European political agenda is paying increasing attention to land, which, as a significant resource, is at the centre of many current agricultural and societal issues.
The European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee have already called on the European Commission to introduce a land management system. The rights and obligations to protect land are outlined in various international documents, such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas and the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests.
The lack of a common European land policy is not aligned with other EU policy objectives. It is of great significance that farmers will not have access to land in the future. This also causes a decline in biodiversity, increases greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture and the use of pesticides, and generally hinders access for European and global citizens to a sufficient quantity of healthy food.
According to a study commissioned by the European Parliament's AGRI Committee, the European Union could lose a further 6.4 million farms by 2040, leaving a total of approximately 3.9 million farms across the EU (a decrease of 62% compared to 2016).
Data show that European farmers are ageing: more than half of all farmers will reach retirement age within the next 10 years. Who will continue to work the land?
Only 11% of farmers are under 40 years of age; the younger generation faces many difficulties in becoming farmers. At the same time, the financial value of land attracts more and more non-farming investors who are more interested in increasing profits than in growing food. Therefore, it is crucial to facilitate access to land by implementing a fair land ownership policy.
Currently, companies can monopolize and abuse land to increase profits, and the free movement of capital is given higher priority than ensuring that business operations are sustainable, responsible or legal.
Large agricultural companies – short-term profit
Farms are becoming increasingly large; the transition to larger, industrial models allows international companies to increase their short-term profits while creating long-term costs for agricultural workers, animals, local residents and the entire planet. The impact of health problems, environmental damage, deterioration in food quality, increased use of pesticides, degradation of soil quality, pollution and reduced animal welfare on society is ignored in order to fill the pockets of only a few individuals.
If the European Commission were to include a land management system, such as in the form of a land directive, in its political agenda, it would force Member States to take responsibility for implementing national policies to ensure that land is used in the general interest of society, rather than as just another commodity. In many countries, especially in Eastern Europe, the lack of European legislation makes it unclear what measures states can take to regulate the land market without facing further action from the European Union.
Perhaps what worries European citizens most is the fact that European policy – and thus taxpayers' money – funds and encourages the concentration of environmentally harmful land ownership.
For example, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies are paid per hectare, encouraging companies and farmers to view land as an asset and speculate with the largest possible land areas to receive more money. There are only a few restrictions defining how this land must be used. Furthermore, EU representatives often claim that the regulation of land ownership is the competence of the Member States, but under the EU founding treaties, the EU could act and provide guidelines on how to stop the concentration of land ownership and facilitate access to land for small and medium-sized farmers – if only there were political will.
Although there are national initiatives to build fundamentally different land systems, the current regulations often hinder rather than support these initiatives. In most cases, EU Member States have not sufficiently addressed the issue of land management. A land directive would set common goals across Europe while allowing Member States to implement policies that best suit their circumstances.
Agriculture, the environment and the market are the main areas of EU competence where land is a fundamental factor. We have a common agricultural market, but no common rules on agricultural structures, which increases internal inequality and unfair competition, as well as preventing the implementation of sufficient measures to achieve climate and agricultural goals.
Therefore, given the limited, special and exceptional nature of land, European institutions have a vital role to play in regulating and protecting its use. As this is also recognized by other EU institutions and international legal documents, the time has come for the European Commission to take on this task to protect both farmers and citizens.
About the author
Antonio Onorati is an Italian farmer in the Lazio region and a member of the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC), which brings together unions and organizations of European peasants, small and medium-sized farmers, and agricultural workers. ECVC is composed of 31 national and regional farmer organizations from 21 European countries.
* La Vía Campesina (Spanish for “the peasant way”) is an international farmers' organization founded in 1993 in Mons, Belgium; it consists of 182 organizations in 81 countries. The organization describes itself as “an international movement which coordinates peasant and small- and medium-sized producers, agricultural workers, rural women, and indigenous communities organizations in Asia, Africa, America, and Europe”.
** https://www.eurovia.org/publications/proposal-for-an-eu-land-directive/