Europe's Common Agricultural Policy: Taking care of our roots

The European Commission is launching today a communication campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of agriculture in our daily lives – and the role that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) plays in supporting it.


Under the new CAP's signature "Taking care of our roots", the campaign will be progressively rolled-out over the period 2013-2014 in all the EU member States, with events, audio-visual material and on-line publications.

The campaign has been prepared following qualitative research of the main target groups, which showed that most urban young population feel disconnected from rural life and agriculture, though their roots are often there.


The first display of the visual identity of the campaign took place in Brussels on Sunday 22 September 2013, around a "Citizens Dialogue" event hosted by the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Cioloş at the annual "Farm in the City" event called Bruxelles-Champêtre.


Speaking today, Commissioner Dacian Cioloș said: "This campaign is an opportunity to highlight how present the fruits of farmers' work are in our everyday life. Behind the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the countryside we enjoy, there is often the hard work of a farmer. Following the political negotiations on CAP reform, we hope to show how this truly European policy will continue playing a major role in the future, not only in providing food, but also in maintaining our natural resources and preserving a vibrant rural life – and that it makes sense to reward farmers for these broader benefits they provide for society."

 

Background

On 26 June 2013 the European Parliament, the EU Council of Ministers and the European Commission reached a political agreement on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), completed on some specific points by a further political agreement reached on 24 September.


Designed to be greener, fairer and more efficient, the reformed CAP aims to reinforce the partnership between Europe and its farmers for the benefit of more than 500 million EU consumers.

This campaign will seek to emphasise the importance of agriculture in our daily lives, while raising awareness about the key points of the reformed CAP.