REECAP participation to the French public debate on the future of the CAP
Date: 2020-10-09, Image: (c) ImPACtons!
It is a legal requirement for France to organize a large public consultation open to all on what citizens expect from agriculture and the CAP. It is organized by the the National Commission for Public Debate (NCPD). This process, called ImPACtons! (Let have an imPACt!) has been relaunched after a few months of interruption due to the health crisis.
Citizens and organizations are invited to give their opinion until the end of October.
It is possible to submit an opinion/contribution on the ImPACtons! Platform. The French Ministry of Agriculture and Food has provided a series of documents for consultation on animal welfare, organic farming or nutrition.
Stakeholder groups are invited to submit position papers online. It is possible to comment these contributions. REECAP has uploaded a short note –but convincing we hope - on the use of experimental approaches to evaluate CAP policy instruments.
Public debates are also organised in various regions in France. Universities are also encouraged to organize round tables with their students and to upload a synthesis of the conclusions.
The NCPD has also organized a citizens' assembly on agriculture (CAA). One hundred and thirty citizens were selected at random to compose a representative sample of French population, and were invited to spend 3 days together and with experts in order to propose their political vision of the role of agriculture in society. They have published a "new contract for agriculture" stating 6 objectives, notably the promotion of an agro-ecological transition, the priority given to healthy food accessible to all, and defending also a fair income for farmers.