Food production a key issue, according to EU survey
higher quality meat and vegetables, and would trust them more if
the EU could guarantee the origin or the way a product is produced.
The survey, entitled "European Union citizens and agriculture from 1995 to 2003," was designed to give a general idea of people's perceptions of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), its objectives, benefits and how they evaluate the changes that have occurred.
The EC has interpreted that results as showing that people across the EU clearly believe that the primary role of the CAP should be to ensure that Europe's food supply is healthy and safe.
Indeed, the EC has found that the quality of food products is an important issue for EU citizens, especially in northern countries. EU citizens would apparently be ready to pay more to have higher quality meat and vegetables and would trust them more if the EU could guarantee the origin or the way a product is produced.
A majority of EU citizens, especially in the southern countries, support the idea of a European quality label.
The readiness to pay more is perhaps the most surprising result. But the report shows that a majority of people (52 per cent) said they were willing to pay higher prices in return for quality (a 5-10 per cent increase seems to be acceptable).
On the other hand, almost a third (31 per cent) was not prepared to pay more. 40 per cent of Finns and French people were not prepared to pay more for quality food.
According to the Eurobarometer, agriculture is the EU's policy area European citizens are most aware of. They consider a common agricultural policy as a necessity, along with environmental and social policies.
Moreover, in the effort made towards building Europe a majority thinks that decisions in this area should be made at the European Union level. The report presents the main findings of a representative selection of questions asked in the Standard Eurobarometer, in the 1995-2003 period, about the CAP and the quality of food products.
For the most part, European citizens believe that it is appropriate for agricultural policy to be dealt with at EU level. Nevertheless the majority feel they are unaware of the functioning of the CAP.
Many - especially in Italy, Spain, Austria and Sweden - having little or no knowledge about it, suggesting that there is room for more communication on the way the CAP works.
Overall therefore, the survey shows that EU citizens place the importance of food safety very highly, and have a positive perception of the role of the CAP in meeting the EU citizen's demands. But it also highlights that more has to be done to the general public to explain the way it works.
