Greening the CAP from Farm to Fork: Roots of Italy's Resistance to the Process of Reform

Abstract

Many Member States and diverse stakeholders continue to present conservative positions in the CAP reform process to enhance environmental sustainability. During the last process of reform, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture favoured the maintenance of the status quo of the payments, minimising environmental ambitions. Behind this positioning there is a powerful farmers’ organisation – Coldiretti – that has a major political role in the Italian context. Coldiretti and the Ministry have built a historical bloc which exercises a hegemonic power in the Italian agricultural policy-network. On the other side, the coalition Cambiamo Agricultura, mobilising for the greening of the CAP and for an agroecological transition, is highly marginalised. However, changes in the power equilibria could emerge and the coalition Cambiamo Agricoltura could potentially have a major role in this transition. It could strengthen its visibility in the national media; inform civil society and reinforce the consensus in public opinion for a transition in the agricultural sector; it could also open a direct dialogue and collaboration with Coldiretti, promoting the integration of ambitious environmental objectives within the discourse of the main farmers’ organisation itself. The result would be inclusion of the actors for transition within the decision-making process, resulting in greener positions for the next CAP reform.