Union ministers approved a plan to protect the food supply system

EU agriculture ministers approved a plan in Brussels on Monday to protect the EU's food supply system from future threats. The Contingency Plan for Food Supply and Food Security, developed by the European Commission as part of the Farm-to-Table strategy, will help the Union meet challenges such as extreme weather events, threats to plant and animal health and a shortage of fertilizers, energy and manpower. In its conclusions, the EU Agriculture Council welcomed the proposed contingency plan and recognized the need to secure the European food system against potential risks in the future. The current mechanism has mitigated the worst effects of the new coronavirus pandemic on the agro-sector, but ministers agree that lessons learned from Covid-19 should be the basis for the EU's approach to future disasters. Member States emphasized in particular the importance of the internal market. Ministers agree that the cross-border mobility of people, goods, services and capital should be maintained in the event of a crisis, and support the establishment of a permanent mechanism to monitor Europe's level of preparedness for food security threats. In their conclusions on this subject, Ministers also emphasized the importance of effective communication with stakeholders and the general public in combating misinformation and maintaining public confidence. The EU Council recalled that the start of a new coronavirus pandemic had exposed the vulnerability of the European food chain to serious supply problems. While existing CAP measures have helped alleviate the worst shortages and speed up recovery, there has also been a need to plan joint actions in the event of future crises. Following the publication of last year's Farm-to-Table strategy, the European Commission also announced in November this year its intention to take concrete measures to protect EU food supplies from threats such as pandemics, extreme weather events, animal diseases, energy shortages and disruption of trade relations. The aim of these measures is to ensure that Europeans have access to safe, varied and nutritious food at all times, even in times of different types of crisis. These include the creation of a European food security crisis preparedness and response mechanism to be launched in the event of a new crisis. An expert group composed of experts from Member States, relevant stakeholders and representatives of non-EU countries with close links to the food chain will meet regularly in the event of an emergency to ensure that the Union is prepared for food supply problems.