That’s the view of the European Commission’s member of cabinet for international and legal affairs, Gwilym Jones, in this exclusive video for FoodManufacture.co.uk.
Jones said it was important for food and drink manufacturers to recognise that the policy is secure, will encourage innovation and was built to support the diversity in size of EU farms.
He also encouraged manufacturers to focus on the areas of the reform that concentrated on reducing the environmental impact of food producers.
Delivering public goods
“We have to remember if we want this food to be there in the future, not just for the next five years, but competitively for the next 50, we need to look after the land and the soil,” said Jones.
“This reform is also about delivering on what we call public goods, environmental public goods, fighting climate change, so that farmers throughout the EU are contributing.”
Watch this video to find out why Jones also believed the decision to move away from sugar quotas by 2017 was an example of how farmers will be able to be more competitive and have more power to make their own decisions.