Sustainable agriculture is key for economic prosperity and security in the EU

The perspective paper, jointly authored by researchers working on the Horizon Europe projects LAMASUS, BrightSpace, and ACT4CAP27, underscores the role of a sustainable agricultural sector in ensuring the European Union’s long-term economic prosperity, environmental health, and geopolitical resilience.

"The EU is lagging behind global competitors in the digital transition of its economy. The application of digital technologies in agriculture and related sectors could contribute to the necessary push in innovation and strengthening the EU’s competitiveness,” explains Petr Havlík, IIASA Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program Director and lead coauthor of the paper. “Maximizing the contribution of the agricultural sector to economic prosperity, food security, and environmental sustainability requires both innovations and policies that foster synergies between the public and private sectors and different policy objectives.”

The authors present a compelling case for placing a sustainable agricultural sector at the heart of the EU’s future prosperity and strategic autonomy, emphasizing the urgency of maintaining its global leadership in high-value food production while reducing dependencies on imported inputs like fertilizers and digital technologies. Titled “Sustainable agricultural sector: A key component of EU economic prosperity and security – An economic modelers’ perspective”, the paper presents five Priority Action Areas to guide the EU’s path beyond 2027. These include:

• Fostering farm income and resilience through result-based policies
• Achieving strategic autonomy in nutrient management
• Enhancing agri-food competitiveness through fair trade
• Strengthening innovation in the bioeconomy
• Democratizing digitalization

Each area is based on the premise that sustainable practices and technological advancements can drive both economic and ecological gains. Arguing that “business as usual” is no longer an option, the authors highlight that agriculture underpins a vast and complex agri-food and bioeconomy network with significant multiplier effects, despite making up a small portion of the EU’s GDP.

The paper also outlines future directions for economic modeling to better reflect system-wide transformations, from shifts in consumer demand to the integration of environmental services. The authors call for a new generation of economic modeling tools to support the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and broader EU strategic goals post-2027. These include better integration of environmental and economic data, representation of nutrient cycles, full bioeconomy integration, modeling of innovation dynamics, deeper analysis of shifting consumer behaviors, and explicating climate change adaptation.

Initiated during a retreat at IIASA in Laxenburg, Austria, in early 2025 and grounded in decades of policy assessment expertise, this paper aims to revitalize research projects developed prior to recent (geo)political developments and ensure their continued relevance. It also seeks to contribute to the dialogue among policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders in shaping the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and broader EU strategy.

The collaboration among LAMASUS, BrightSpace, and ACT4CAP27 exemplifies how research can offer rigorous, science-based insights to support policy design in an increasingly complex agri-food landscape.

“LAMASUS, BrightSpace, and ACT4CAP27 are uniquely positioned to contribute to the European Commission’s Vision for Agriculture and Food by improving the tools and data that underpin EU policy,” says Hans van Meijl, Senior Researcher at Wageningen Social and Economic Research, Scientific Coordinator of BrightSpace and coauthor of the position paper. “Our joint work helps close knowledge gaps and supports more forward-looking, coherent decision-making.”

Reference:

Havlik, P., van Meijl, H., Krisztin, T., Müller, M., Van Berkum, S., Fellmann, T., Gocht, A., Guyomard, H., Haniotis, T., Matthews, A., Sckokai, P., Stepanyan, D., Witzke, P., Balázs, K., & Bos, D. (2025). Sustainable agricultural sector: A key component of EU economic prosperity and security. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16413131