Europe depends on agricultural technologies to produce food sustainably, strengthen resilience, and achieve its climate ambitions. They deserve recognition as strategic assets.
In recent years, several factors have converged to trigger recognition of agriculture and agricultural production as critical elements of the European Union’s strategy autonomy, resilience, competitiveness, and crisis preparedness. Conflicts in Ukraine and the Strait of Hormuz combined with trade disruptions have highlighted critical dependencies for animal feed and key fertilisers, among others.
Food security is also a core dimension of Europe’s defence and
preparedness agenda: as food has increasingly been weaponised through
conflict, coercion, and trade disruption, achieving strategic autonomy in
agriculture and food production is essential to Europe’s security.
Just as certain technologies and their raw materials have been designated as critical/strategic for the digital economy and the energy transition, we call on European policymakers to establish the concept of Critical Ag Technologies. Europe needs a specific strategy to produce what ag technologies it can, import what it must from diversified sources, and capture and revalorise biomaterials for agrifood use wherever possible.
Articulating an EU Strategy for Critical Ag Technologies would provide a much-needed framework to promote joined-up thinking to ensure that the EU’s farmers are empowered to make their full contribution to Europe’s strategy autonomy, resilience, competitiveness, and crisis preparedness.
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