Commission publishes public opinion survey on EU food and farming

Three out of four Europeans are aware of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and consider all citizens benefit from it, according to the latest EU-wide Eurobarometer survey of public opinion about agriculture and the CAP, published today by the European Commission. The survey shows that more EU citizens are aware of the CAP (73% today, 6 percentage points more than in 2017) and believe that the CAP benefits all citizens, not only farmers (76% today, 15 percentage points more than in 2017). Furthermore, citizens’ views on what the main objectives of the CAP should be remain similar to the findings of the 2017 survey. Most believe that providing safe, healthy food of high quality should be the main objective, representing the view of 62% of respondents, same as in 2017. An increased number of Europeans think that the EU is fulfilling its role regarding the key objectives of the CAP. In comparison with 2017, all areas including food security, sustainability, safe and quality food increased by at least 5 percentage points. More citizens are now aware of the organic farming logo, covering 56% of respondents (up 29 percentage points compared to 2017). Even though a growing share of citizens believe that agriculture is one of the major causes of climate change (from 29% in 2010 to 42% in 2020), the majority of citizens believe that agriculture has already made a major contribution to fighting climate change, with 55% holding this view, up from 46% in 2010. The survey was conducted from August to September 2020, including more than 27,200 respondents in 27 Member States. The full report of the EU-survey will be published later in November. More information is available online.