The EU and Food Security

A world where one billion people are hungry is not just a deep stain on our collective conscience.

Food may be the staff of life, but affordable access to food and good nutrition is a challenge in many parts of the world. Even in the United States, the number of Americans lacking dependable access to adequate food increased to 49 million in 2008, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report. However, this number pales in comparison with the more than one billion people globally who suffer from hunger, a situation exacerbated in recent years by rising food and fuel prices.The devastation of two world wars helped define the importance the EU attached to food and nutrition in its earliest years. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)—one of the EU's first "common" policies—was set up in 1962 to help guarantee a secure supply of food and to rebuild Europe's agricultural sector. What the EU accomplished on the European continent is reflected in the Union's development cooperation policy. In 2008, the EU and its 27 Member States provided almost 60 percent of global official development assistance to countries in need. The EU funds programs targeting hunger and improving food security, whether through emergency humanitarian assistance; aid available through the €1 billion Food Facility; the EU's €2.7 billion commitment to the L'Aquila Initiative on Global Food Security; or through ongoing geographic and thematic programs designed to improve sustainable standards of living for the EU's development partners over the long-term. The EU also offers preferential trade arrangements to developing countries particularly the poorest to help them help themselves by encouraging diversified economies, promoting food production for export that meets EU standards, and granting free or very liberal access for their agricultural products to the EU market.

Securing the EU's Food Supply: the Origins of the Common Agricultural Policy

As the European continent recovered from the devastation of two world wars, agriculture was crippled and food and good nutrition were in short supply. As a result, the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (EEC)—the precursor to today's EU introduced the common agricultural policy (CAP). CAP's main objectives were to increase agricultural productivity and help farmers attain a fair standard of living; stabilize markets; and ensure a secure supply of affordable food. By providing farmers with incentives, CAP encouraged increased production; however, its success resulted in unintended overproduction and surpluses, which distorted the market and raised environmental concerns.Since the 1990s, CAP has moved away from supporting product prices to supporting producers' income and rural development. Today's CAP has been transformed into a multi-functional policy, supporting market oriented agricultural production throughout Europe, while also contributing to living and vibrant rural areas, and environmentally sustainable production.