Updates from the EU Commission, Council and Parliament
The methods by which the EU Commission approves pesticides without the full dataset were criticised in a Decision by the EU Ombusdman yesterday (Monday). This practice “appeared to constitute maladministration” according to Emily O Reilly. […]
The European Parliament voted to oppose the importation of three genetically modified (GM) soybeans into the European Union. This vote sets it against the EU Commission, which wants to authorise these GM soybeans for feed use. […]
plummeting prices despite the all the signals and scientific evidence have made the Commissioner’s position untenable, the EMB claim. […]
How does one group of the world’s most reputable experts find that “the herbicide glyphosate is probably carcinogenic to humans”, while another group of the world’s most reputable experts finds that it is “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans” – in the same year? […]
20% the number of inspections and even more adjustment to the lighter shade of pale that is greening. Simplification Hogan style. […]
+++++UPDATE+++++ In case you missed it or you’d like to reCAP: Watch the webinar ‘Greening or Green-Washing?’ hosted by ARC2020’s Samuel Féret here: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube Guest article by Michaela Skodova Groupe de Bruges ARC2020’s Samuel Feret will deliver a webinar 30 minute CAP Webinars on Tue, Sep 29, 2015 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM BST. To register, please follow this link. Feret’s topic is “CAP: greening or green-washing?”. Feret, Groupe de Bruges president is one of the authors for the CAP Pro course. Each month experts will give a 30 minute webinar on one of the current issues in the implementation of the CAP. Check the ‘Can EU CAP it?’ platform for more information and sign up for the next one. All aspects of the platform are free. Get your CAP on and join us! The platform consists of five parts: CAP Game, CAP Basic videos, CAP Pro course, CAP Webinars & CAP Forums. We would like to raise your attention […]
UPDATED 17/09/2015 at 12.42 CET (with US Chamber of Commerce information in final paragraph) Critics have rounded on yet another fudge by the EU Commission on the highly controversial ISDS – Investor State Dispute Settlement – element of TTIP – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Today at midday, the Commission announced “a new Investment Court System which would replace the ISDS mechanism in all on-going and future EU investment negotiations.” It “has approved its proposal for a new and transparent system for resolving disputes between investors and states – the Investment Court System. This new system would replace the existing investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism in all ongoing and future EU investment negotiations, including the EU-US talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).” The Commission’s First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said “With our proposals for a new Investment Court System, we are breaking new ground. The new Investment Court System will be composed of fully qualified judges, proceedings will be transparent, and cases will be decided on the basis of clear rules. With this new […]
Commission announces contentious €500m aid package for dairy, pork ARC2020 […]
Translated from French exclusively for ARC2020 by Samel Feret and Peter Crosskey. Part one outlines the milk crisis and the Commission’s responsibility in same; part two, here, suggests solutions. #MilkCrisis […]
ARC2020 exclusive: Part one two by André Pfimlin, translated from French by ARC2020’s Samuel Feret and Peter Crosskey. In part one, Andre outlines the milk crisis: part two, to be released tomorrow morning, suggests solutions. #MilkCrisis “Since the long term market perspectives are good for animal products and since Europe has significant potential for growing milk production, we should produce more and export more”, said European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan. “We must accelerate the modernisation and consolidation of livestock farmholdings to make them more productive and more competitive”, a Copa-Cogeca vice-president said recently (1). In 2015, just like 2009, at the height of yet another milk crisis the line is the same out of Brussels, be it from the European Commission or Copa-Cogeca. For our policymakers, dreaming of unlimited export trade for decades to come, the short-term volatility of world prices takes a back seat. It is down to the livestock farmers to anticipate market volatility and either build up reserves when prices are high or take out private insurance policies. So there will be […]
Make democracy, solidarity and sustainability work for us […]
As the Parliament instructs the European Commission to replace investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) with another dispute settling entity, we ask – isn’t it just another ISDS anyway? […]
BREAKING (12/06/2015, 20.30 hrs): House Rejects Trade Bill, Rebuffing Obama’s Dramatic Appeal First comment from IATP: Following months of intense public opposition to Fast Track, the House of Representatives today defied the Obama administration’s trade promotion package. The debate over Fast Track blurred party lines. “It took real courage for those Democrats and Republicans who stood up to the President and Republican leadership and opposed the free trade package. They defended working families, farmers, natural resources, the environment and most importantly, democratic principles,” says Juliette Majot, President of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). “This is a clear rejection of the free trade agenda that favors big business over workers, farmers, consumers, and our environment. It’s time to bury this failed approach. I just hope the administration is really listening to what was said today, and what citizens groups around the world have been saying for years. We need very different rules that enhance local economies and jobs and advance efforts to rebuild our food system so it is fair and sustainable,” according […]
Today 14th April is a big TTIP day in Europe. In the Parliament you can follow the debate live here. Here are the amendments being voted on. Politicians of all hues are suggesting amendments. Ag will feature at 15.00 CET. Here is the debate sequence for today: ENVI: Tuesday 14th April, 09:00 AM CULT: Thursday 16th April, 09:00 AM JURI: Thursday 16th April, 10:00 AM AFCO: Thursday 16th April, 10:00 AM PETI: Thursday 16th April, 10:00 AM AGRI Tuesday 14th April, 15:00 PM Also today TTIP-related events 1: Sharon Anglin Treat (Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commission) at 12.30 CET Parliament presentation. Treat will focus on: The EU regulatory cooperation proposal in TTIP; Clues to the US regulatory proposal in TTIP; US experience with domestic regulatory coordination (OIRA) and cost-benefit studies; food democracy at risk – how regulatory cooperation and coherence will promote large scale industrial agriculture, weaken and delay food safety and pesticide protections, jeopardize the precautionary principle and attack the value of subsidiarity. UPDATE: Watch Sharon Treat in this short video from the talk explain […]
According to recent figures released by Eurostat, Romanian agriculture is highly unbalanced. That is not the big surprise. In the last 20 years the country’s agricultural landscape was in a continuous transformation; agrarian reforms without a long term vision, real estate and agribusiness “cowboys” from all over the world speculating on low prices, productions focusing mostly on export commodities…all in a country of peasants versus their institutional neighbours. The surprise lies in how different stakeholders interpret these figures. Let’s have a look. According to the EU analysis, Romania is the 8th agricultural power of Europe and for the year of 2014 has an agricultural production estimated to 15.5 billion Euro (1160 Euro/hectare). Poland was the only other ex-communist country which outranked Romania having a 22.5 billion Euro (1660 Euro/hectar) production. The top ranks go to France, with its 70.5 billion Euro and Germany – 51 billion Euro production. Where is the great unbalance? Crop production amounts for 73% of the total, 26% being attributed to animal farming and only 1% represents agricultural services. On the […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention