Dear Members of the European Parliament, members and substitutes in the AGRI committee,

Please find attached a letter from CONCORD, the European NGO confederation for Relief and Development, which represents 1,800 NGOs, that we’ve sent to the AGRI committee’s lead rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs on the CAP reform 2013, which sets out key issues that we urge them to include in the compromise amendments. We hope that you also bring these points to the attention of your colleagues rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs.

The CAP has multiple direct and indirect effects on the food security situation in developing countries. As the biggest importer and exporter of agricultural goods, the EU influences trade flows, world market prices and supply and demand at global scale. The future of the European agricultural production patterns will decide Europe’s reliance and dependence on virtual land and water in developing countries, as is the case, for example, with protein feed import. This view has been expressed by a wide range of civil society sectors from environmental, developmental, farmers, health, and animal welfare organizations as illustrated in the attached cartoon and message published last April.

The European Parliament will adopt tomorrow in Plenary its report on Policy Coherence for Development. We are urging you to demonstrate consistency and that indeed the European Parliament takes development objectives into account in the CAP, in compliance with Treaty obligations.

In the attached letter, 5 issues are the centre of our concerns:

1. obligations for Policy Coherence for Development

2. Export subsidies

3. EU’s policy and dependence on protein plant imports

4. Agricultural research policies

5. Global civil society cooperation on rural development

We urge you to ensure that European agriculture is responding to these concerns of European global citizens.

Yours sincerely,

Olivier Consolo

Director of CONCORD Europe