Captured by Corporate Interests? Analysis of the EU Green Deal & Farm to Fork Strategy

In the spring of 2020 an ambitious new strategy, named Farm to Fork, was made public as part of the wider EU Green Deal. The main goal being substantial decrease in the use of both synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Despite the negative consequences of large scale industrial pesticide use, the agricultural industry within the European Union has a lot to lose in a potential legislation to limit pesticides and are therefore resisting such measures from being taken through lobbying. The sphere of agricultural policy within the European Union forms the centre of an ongoing battle between industry lobbying, which pushes for delays and revisions, and those who want the EU to focus on creating regulations that safeguard a sustainable future for European agriculture. This thesis will examine the methods used by the agricultural lobby in their attempt to dominate the discussion of the Farm to Fork Strategy and its objectives, as well as the degree to which the European Union and its decision-making structures have been captured by these corporate interests.