The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) organized a conference yesterday on ‘EU food sovereignty: the role of agriculture, fisheries and consumers’. The event addressed the importance of food production in the EU, the role of the primary sector and of consumers in ensuring strategic autonomy. As part of the panel, Europêche regretted that despite the generalised improvement in the state of fish stocks, the EU’s self-sufficiency has been steadily declining in the last decade. Currently, the EU only produces 30% of the fish it consumes. As a consequence, Europêche called for a structural shift within the European Commission, specifically proposing the establishment of a dedicated Fisheries Commissioner for the term 2024-2029, separate from environmental affairs, with a strong focus on ensuring food security.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) organized a conference yesterday on ‘EU food sovereignty: the role of agriculture, fisheries and consumers’. The event addressed the importance of food production in the EU, the role of the primary sector and of consumers in ensuring strategic autonomy. As part of the panel, Europêche regretted that despite the generalised improvement in the state of fish stocks, the EU’s self-sufficiency has been steadily declining in the last decade. Currently, the EU only produces 30% of the fish it consumes. As a consequence, Europêche called for a structural shift within the European Commission, specifically proposing the establishment of a dedicated Fisheries Commissioner for the term 2024-2029, separate from environmental affairs, with a strong focus on ensuring food security.