European agriculture plays a key role in all areas of our daily life.

Food is the most obvious, but also in a wide variety of other sectors, such as rural development, the environment, diodiversity and new technologies.

The common agricultural policy is fundamental to the strength and competitiveness of EU farming and of the agri-food sector as a whole, with its 19 million jobs. The policy ensures that farming and preservation of the environment go hand in hand. It helps develop the economic and social fabric of rural communities. It plays a vital role in confronting new challenges such as climate change, water management, bioenergy and biodiversity.

The sea and its resources make an important contribution to jobs and growth in the EU. They provide food (from fish) and energy (from offshore oil and gas fields), while the EU’s merchant fleet carries its trade across the world’s oceans. Coastal areas are home to tourism – another big economic sector. We must, therefore, exploit the sea’s resources responsibly, by preventing over-fishing and ensuring that oil and gas extraction does not harm the marine or coastal environment.

Consumer confidence in the safety of food products has sometimes been shaken in recent years by food-related health crises. Responding to the challenge, the European Union has put in place a comprehensive strategy to restore people’s belief in the safety of their food “from the farm to the fork”. This is based on a combination of high standards for food, animal health and welfare, and plant health. These standards apply both to food produced inside the EU and food imports.

Making Europe's Consumers safer.

Safer chemicals within reach.

The reform of the Common Market Organisation for Sugar.