Concerns:
- First draft of the proposed “Communication from Civil Society to the European Institutions”
- ARC Conference, 4 and 5 November in Brussels.
Dear ARC members, supporters and participants in the 19-20 July “CAP post 2013” conference,
We wrote to you on 31 August to seek your comments on a Draft Framework of the ‘Communication from Civil Society to the European Institutions on the future of EU policies for agriculture and rural development’, which ARC intends to submit to the Agriculture Commissioner, the European Parliament and other EU bodies in mid-November, shortly before the Commission publishes its own ‘Communication‘.
We send thanks to the many members of the ARC Network who commented on that draft Framework. These comments have been taken into account in what we now send you.
Attached you will find a first draft of the ‘Communication’. Our aim is to produce a strong message from civil society, reflecting as broad a consensus as possible between the many organisations in the network (without affecting their ability to express independent views in the future public consultation).
In order to improve on this draft, we invite ARC Network members to comment freely and candidly on the whole text, by e-mail to the ARC contact team, if possible before 6 October.
In particular, we will welcome responses to the Questions which appear in Sections 8 and 9.
We ask that you consider this draft from three perspectives:
- do you think that it is persuasive? Does the line of argument need to be sharpened or re-shaped?
- does it reflect your own organisation’s hopes for the new CAP, remembering that we have to look at the whole Policy as a balanced and coherent package?
- do you think it meets the needs of your country (a new CAP will only work if Member States are committed to it)?We are writing separately to the leaders of ARC Working Groups to seek their help in improving the ‘Communication’. If you have joined a Working Group, please take part in the debates on the ARC website during October. If you would like to join a Working Group, please visit www.arc2020.eu.In mid-October, we will produce a second draft, taking account of your comments, and will circulate this for further comment by the network. The aim is to have, by the end of October, a document which has been broadly agreed by all the organisations in the network. This will become an input to the Conference on 4-5 November, of which the aim is to reach a firm consensus on the wording of the Communication and on the continuing campaign to influence the shape of the future CAP. We will then seek the commitment of all relevant organisations, so that the Communication can be confidently submitted to the European Institutions in mid-November. ARC Conference, 4 and 5 November in Brussels.Firm plans are now being laid for this Conference, starting at about 14h on Thursday 4 November and finishing early afternoon on Friday 5 November. It will be hosted by the Committee of the Regions. Commissioner Dacian Ciolo? has promised to attend and speak at the start of the event.A formal invitation to this event will be sent to you within the next two weeks. Our aim is to make this an effective but low-cost event. We ask you to reserve the dates in your diary.Please disseminate the Call for Action within your own networks to everyone who you think might be interested.
We look forward to your comments on the Draft Communication!
