Finding new solutions We still have another 45 to 50 years of demographic growth before the global population starts to fall. We will need farmers more than The 2024 crisis revealed ever to survive this century. Our common agricultural policy is our the fragility of farms, cement; it identifies us, it emphasises what we have in common despite despite their multifaceted nature. a great diversity of situations. And yet, since 2020, we have seen the The common denominator among emergence of various national plans with a different objective: carbon farmers, wherever they are based neutrality. Agriculture is the best project there is for Europe to exist and whatever they grow, is they feel st as a power and establish a shared narrative. The challenge of the 21 helpless – from a personal, economic, century is not to produce more and more ecologically, it’s to produce and technological standpoint – with as much as we currently do, as consistently as possible, for as long as certain value chains in particular possible, and to improve our methods. SÉBASTIEN ABIS having a limited access to innovation. The demand is not just to eliminate standards, it’s more about adapting standards and public policy, making ensuring that legislation, rules and restrictions make sense… FRANÇOIS PURSEIGLE Geopolitics now dominates economics; we live in a world of passion and irrationality, which makes it more unpredictable. What Europe is missing is the ability to see itself as a global power and not just as a zone Every year is useful for understanding the best of peaceful market economies… Economic power is not sufficient, way to ensure the stability we are trying to achieve. If you look at but it is absolutely necessary for any the level of a grain production zone, recent studies in Europe and the form of power. USA have shown that the main factor that promotes stability is crop NICOLAS BOUZOU diversification. Year-long soil coverage plays a bigger role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting soils than the length of crop rotation cycles. The second factor is to look after the soil… 40% of an ecosystem’s biodiversity is found in the soil, and the healthier your soil is, the more resilient it will be. MICHEL-PIERRE FAUCON CONSOLIDATED REPORT 2023-2024 19