BrightSpace Policy brief: Advancing Sustainability in EU Agriculture within a Safe and Just Operating Space

BrightSpace Policy brief: Advancing Sustainability in EU Agriculture within a Safe and Just Operating Space 25 July 2025 This the first in the series of policy briefs in the BrightSpace project. This policy brief is addressing the complex and interconnected challenges facing EU agriculture, from climate change and environmental degradation to shifting trade dynamics and social inequities. It highlights the urgent need for Europe’s agricultural systems to operate within a Safe and Just Operating Space (SJOS) — a framework that balances ecological boundaries (“safe”) with social foundations (“just”). Fragmented policy approaches have too often resulted in conflicting objectives and unintended trade-offs. By contrast, the SJOS concept provides a coherent lens for designing agricultural, environmental, climate, and trade policies that ensure long-term food security, economic resilience, and social equity within planetary limits. The Policy Brief emphasizes the importance of coordinated and evidence-based policymaking to achieve these sustainability goals. It calls for multi-level policy coherence across sectors, stronger integration of research and innovation, and the adoption of advanced modelling and scenario tools to anticipate future challenges and trade-offs. Technology and structural shifts are recognised as key enablers of transition, but the brief stresses the need to evaluate their social and environmental consequences to ensure fair and inclusive benefits. Policymakers are encouraged to adopt the SJOS framework, promote responsible innovation, and engage diverse stakeholders — from farmers and researchers to consumers — in co-creating sustainable pathways for the future of EU agriculture. This publication accompanies a joint position paper produced by three Horizon Europe projects — BrightSpace, LAMASUS, and ACT4CAP27 — which together synthesise insights from leading European agri-economic modellers. The paper identifies five Priority Action Areas for the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy: income and resilience, nutrient autonomy, trade, innovation in the bioeconomy, and digitalisation. BrightSpace contributes by operationalising the SJOS concept, offering practical tools and indicators to assess sustainability trade-offs across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Together, these initiatives aim to guide the EU towards an agricultural system that remains a cornerstone of prosperity and security while staying within ecological limits and ensuring social fairness. Further information BrightSpace Project coordination: Wageningen Economic Research, The Hague, NLContact: [email protected] | Website: www.brightspace-project.eu Project duration: 1 November 2022 – 31 October 2027 Funded by the European Union. Horizon Europe Grant Agreement No. 101060075. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. UKRI Project code: 10047415