The EU agrifood system: sovereign, healthy, sustainable?
Over the past century or so, the European agrifood sector has undergone rapid transformations, both in the agricultural sector and downstream. However, change has accelerated in the past three decades, with the 1992 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy that shortly preceded the creation of the...
में बचाया:
| मुख्य लेखक: | |
|---|---|
| स्वरूप: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| भाषा: | Français |
| प्रकाशित: |
2026
|
| ऑनलाइन पहुंच: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| id |
cairn-EUFOR_401_0065 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
cairn |
| language |
Français |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/Cairn/ |
| description |
Over the past century or so, the European agrifood sector has undergone rapid transformations, both in the agricultural sector and downstream. However, change has accelerated in the past three decades, with the 1992 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy that shortly preceded the creation of the World Trade Organization, along with a degree of liberalisation in international agricultural trade. On the one hand, the introduction of new chemical products in crop protection and, on the other hand, their introduction in food processing have induced profound changes in farming, as well as in food habits, with far-reaching impacts on human health and the natural environment.
Presented by the European Commission in May 2020 and endorsed by the Council in October of the same year, the “From Farm to Fork” strategy acknowledged these detrimental effects of the agrifood system on human health and the natural environment, and proposed substantial changes in EU policies to make the system “fair, healthy, and sustainable”. However, since 2024, in reaction to the disruptive consequences of the war in Ukraine and under the pressure of farmers’ unions, lobbies of the chemical and food-processing industries, and a number of national governments, the quest for “food sovereignty” gained prominence in EU policies, which led to a gradual but significant dismantling of some of the most ambitious measures in the fields of food safety and environmental protection. While they represent substantial setbacks on the latter two major objectives, such changes are clearly not making the EU agrifood system more sovereign. Pursuing all four objectives (fairness, health, sustainability, and sovereignty) is indeed possible, but would require a complete reorientation of the system in the direction of agro-ecological farming and changes in the food-processing and retail industries, as well as in consumers’ food habits.
|
| author |
Le Cacheux, Jacques |
| spellingShingle |
Le Cacheux, Jacques The EU agrifood system: sovereign, healthy, sustainable? |
| author_facet |
Le Cacheux, Jacques |
| author_sort |
Le Cacheux, Jacques |
| title |
The EU agrifood system: sovereign, healthy, sustainable? |
| title_short |
The EU agrifood system: sovereign, healthy, sustainable? |
| title_full |
The EU agrifood system: sovereign, healthy, sustainable? |
| title_fullStr |
The EU agrifood system: sovereign, healthy, sustainable? |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The EU agrifood system: sovereign, healthy, sustainable? |
| title_sort |
eu agrifood system: sovereign, healthy, sustainable? |
| publishDate |
2026 |
| container_title |
|
| container_issue |
|
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://shs.cairn.info/journal-l-europe-en-formation-2025-2-page-65?lang=en https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.3917/eufor.401.0065 |
| _version_ |
1877284550217826304 |
| spelling |
cairn-EUFOR_401_0065EUFORL'Europe en Formation https://shs.cairn.info/journal-l-europe-en-formation-2025-2-page-65?lang=en https://doi.org/10.3917/eufor.401.0065 The EU agrifood system: sovereign, healthy, sustainable? Le Cacheux, Jacques2026 fre L'Europe en Formation | 401 | 2 | 2026-04-30 | p. 65-81 | 0014-2808 EUFOR_40178 Over the past century or so, the European agrifood sector has undergone rapid transformations, both in the agricultural sector and downstream. However, change has accelerated in the past three decades, with the 1992 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy that shortly preceded the creation of the World Trade Organization, along with a degree of liberalisation in international agricultural trade. On the one hand, the introduction of new chemical products in crop protection and, on the other hand, their introduction in food processing have induced profound changes in farming, as well as in food habits, with far-reaching impacts on human health and the natural environment. Presented by the European Commission in May 2020 and endorsed by the Council in October of the same year, the “From Farm to Fork” strategy acknowledged these detrimental effects of the agrifood system on human health and the natural environment, and proposed substantial changes in EU policies to make the system “fair, healthy, and sustainable”. However, since 2024, in reaction to the disruptive consequences of the war in Ukraine and under the pressure of farmers’ unions, lobbies of the chemical and food-processing industries, and a number of national governments, the quest for “food sovereignty” gained prominence in EU policies, which led to a gradual but significant dismantling of some of the most ambitious measures in the fields of food safety and environmental protection. While they represent substantial setbacks on the latter two major objectives, such changes are clearly not making the EU agrifood system more sovereign. Pursuing all four objectives (fairness, health, sustainability, and sovereignty) is indeed possible, but would require a complete reorientation of the system in the direction of agro-ecological farming and changes in the food-processing and retail industries, as well as in consumers’ food habits. Au cours du siècle dernier, le secteur agroalimentaire européen a connu des transformations rapides, tant dans le secteur agricole qu’en aval. Cependant, ces changements se sont accélérés au cours des trois dernières décennies : la réforme de 1992 de la Politique agricole commune, qui a précédé de peu la création de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce, s’est accompagnée d’une certaine libéralisation du commerce agricole international. D’une part, l’introduction de nouveaux produits chimiques dans la protection des cultures et, d’autre part, leur utilisation dans la transformation alimentaire ont entraîné de profonds changements dans l’agriculture ainsi que dans les habitudes alimentaires, avec des répercussions considérables sur la santé humaine et l’environnement naturel. Présentée par la Commission européenne en mai 2020 et approuvée par le Conseil en octobre de la même année, la stratégie « De la ferme à la table » a reconnu ces effets néfastes du système agroalimentaire sur la santé humaine et l’environnement naturel, et a proposé des changements substantiels dans les politiques de l’UE afin de rendre le système « équitable, sain et durable ». Cependant, depuis 2024, en réaction aux conséquences perturbatrices de la guerre en Ukraine et sous la pression des syndicats d’agriculteurs, des lobbies des industries chimiques et agroalimentaires, ainsi que d’un certain nombre de gouvernements nationaux, la quête de la « souveraineté alimentaire » a pris une place prépondérante dans les politiques de l’UE, ce qui a conduit à un démantèlement progressif mais significatif de certaines des mesures les plus ambitieuses dans les domaines de la sécurité alimentaire et de la protection de l’environnement. Bien qu’ils constituent des reculs importants par rapport à ces deux derniers objectifs majeurs, ces changements ne rendent manifestement pas le système agroalimentaire de l’UE plus souverain. Il est certes possible de poursuivre ces quatre objectifs (équité, santé, durabilité et souveraineté), mais cela nécessiterait une réorientation complète du système vers l’agriculture agroécologique et des changements dans les industries agroalimentaires et de la distribution, ainsi que dans les habitudes alimentaires des consommateurs. Cairn restricted access |