site.btaThere Is No Way to Guarantee Food Chain Security Without Sustainability, Says European Commission's Mihail Dumitru

High food prices are a problem, making it harder for people to have access to food, said Mihail Dumitru, Deputy Director General for Agriculture and Rural Development in the European Commission, at the fourth edition of the Green Transition Forum in Sofia on Wednesday.

Dumitru added that there are no problems with food supplies, but production costs are increasing, which is a problem for farmers' profits. According to him, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a very precise policy, but the security of the food chain cannot be guaranteed without sustainability. "And when we talk about sustainability, we must focus on its three aspects – economic, social and environmental", he noted. 

Dumitru recalled that at the beginning of 2024, farmers across Europe protested, which necessitated a revision of the CAP. "We are being criticized for being too ambitious, for going too far. But there are also those who think we are not ambitious enough. It is important to be balanced," he said.

He noted that there is fragmentation of agriculture structures and that the sector is not as competitive as other sectors. "For Bulgaria and Romania, the question of uniting the producers is very important, because there are dozens of small producers who cannot be competitive otherwise," said Dumitru.