The European Commission presented last June its proposals about the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
EU farmers and the environmental community reacted strongly and criticised the executive for cutting the budget, giving member states too much leeway and fudging environmental and climate issues.
In recent years, the Commission has insisted that the EU agriculture sector should take the “digital leap” and enter the precision farming era in order to produce more with less and achieve a better environmental performance.
Critics suggest that the Commission’s proposals do not reflect the ambition that has been cultivated so far about precision or smart farming and call on EU policymakers to take concrete steps.
In light of the rising global competition, analysts stress the need for a quicker adoption of new technologies in the sector, warning that otherwise the EU will be left behind.
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Agriculture expert: Like organic, transition to digital farming needs support
Changing farming practices is always risky and if we want EU farmers to enter the digital era, we need to support them financially for a certain transition period, as has been the case with switching to organic farming, agriculture expert Luc Vernet told EURACTIV.
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Agriculture digitisation not only for controls, stakeholders ‘remind’ the EU Commission
The much-awaited digitisation of the EU farming sector has taken centre stage in the last few years. But its ultimate application in the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is still unclear.
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Bayer boss: Digital farming-sustainable production link ‘not yet clear’ to policymakers
The connection between digital farming and sustainable production is not yet clear in the minds of many policymakers, Bayer’s Bruno Tremblay told EURACTIV.com in an interview, adding that some farmers look at this kind of innovation as a way to control them.
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Hogan: EU member states will decide on agriculture innovation after 2020, not Brussels
Member states and not the European Commission will direct the precise support and funding for innovation and digitisation of farming in the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan told EURACTIV Romania in an interview.
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‘Smart villages’ are modernisation tools to be taken seriously
The expansion of e-tools in rural areas will enable villages to become more agile, make better use of their resources as well as improve their attractiveness and the quality of life of rural residents, argue MEPs Franc Bogovic and Tibor Szanyi.
