Abstract
The paper examines the new European growth strategy – the Green Deal in the aspect of its design for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system. The Green Deal’s targets set through the Farm to Fork and the Biodiversity strategies are considered in connection with the arable crops sector. The paper also outlines the link between the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform and the implementation of the Green Deal objectives.
This article summarizes the analyses and studies conducted thus far in regard to the Green Deal impacts on the European cereal and oilseed sectors. The European Commission still neglects the need for a thorough and cumulative impact assessment of the Green Deal’s Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies. Nevertheless, several recently published studies on these strategies indicate that the current targets, if implemented as proposed, will come at a significant cost for the EU farmers and the viability of the entire European agribusiness sector.
Furthermore, the paper reviews the current situation of the “green architecture” in the National Strategic Plan of Bulgaria for the new Common Agricultural Policy. The Bulgarian agricultural society also needs certain data and projections about the future agri-food systems development, because the unknown is frightening. The idea behind this research is to open the curtain of possible effects and impacts of the Green Deal through the CAP “green architecture” on the Bulgarian grain production sector.
Keywords: Green Deal, Farm to Fork Strategy, Biodiversity Strategy, Common Agricultural Policy, Strategic Plan, green architecture, cereals, oilseeds, Bulgarian grain producers