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Weak Draft TTIP Resolution Adopted

May 28, 2015 Oliver Moore

 (updated 28/05/2015, 30/05/2015 and  01/06/2015) The European Parliament’s trade committee today adopted a weak resolution on the parliament’s position on TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This disappointing resolution was adopted by what sources describe as a “grand coalition” of centre, centre right and centre left groupings. It  failed to include any criticism of the controversial ISDS investor protection mechanism. According to Friends of the Earth Europe, the draft resolution, which is to be debated in plenary on 10 June “is the unique opportunity for the European Parliament to give its opinion on the on-going trade talks between the EU and the US.” Friends of the Earth Europe however “condemned the outcome of the vote as a weak resolution failing to draw clear red lines on some of the biggest dangers of the proposed trade deal”. Because of today’s adoption, the resolution itself will be only include very  weak language, language which in no significant way reflects the depth of citizen concern and anger at TTIP and, especially, ISDS – Investor-State Dispute Settlement  – the […]

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WTO’s COOL Ruling confirms that trade treaties undermine national laws

May 27, 2015 IATP

ARC2020 UPDATE and Comment 28/05/2015 According to leaked EU Commission documents mandatory origin labeling for food will not be introduced. While there is already a voluntary label on mainstream meat products, both milk products and other meat products (such as “horse meat, rabbit and game”) will also only be eligible for the voluntary label. There will be no mandatory label for any meat or milk or processed foods now, according to the ViEUws report, because this would lead to “higher operating costs and a hike in food prices…it would also “disrupt cross boarder trade and increase costs”. So, reports ViEUws, the EU is likely to keep this labeling as Voluntary. (See at  5 mins 51 sec in the recent ViEUws Brussels Briefing at end of this post). This is remarkably similar to the language and reasoning of the WTO, as outlined below by Shefali Sharma. This also points to significant regulatory harmonisation, a form of ISDS by the back door. Article by Shefali Sharma  of IATP. On May 8th, President Obama told a crowd in Oregon: […]

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CAP reform towards 2020: Pillar 1 direct payments implementation by EU Member States

April 28, 2015 ARC

In the CAP reform deal agreed in June 2013, both Council and Parliament have supported greater flexibilities for implementing Pillar 1 new direct payment schemes. As a result for some, the CAP would seem to be less “common” and be more “à la carte”. However, since the 2003 reform had already introduced a phasing-in agenda for decoupled payments, CAP is already implemented through differentiated schemes among the MS. With the 2013 reform, many new schemes aiming at improving the direct aids targeting are mandatory (greening, young farmers) while other are facultative (i.e. optional) (coupled payments, payments for areas with natural constraints, small farmers scheme). Only their implementation modalities can be adjusted: upsizing or at the contrary downsizing the redistribution of CAP money among farmers according to national/regional priorities. Whether the CAP reform has been decided by 28 Member States (MS) and the European Parliament, it will been applied within 32 EU territorial constituencies. In the UK, regional jurisdictions will apply the CAP reform according to their distinctive boundaries in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. […]

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The first farm of its kind in Scotland

April 19, 2015 ARC

Whitmuir Community Farm, a few miles south of the Scottish capital Edinburgh is selling itself to the local community. Literally. For a couple of years now, Whitmuir Community Benefit Society has been selling shares in the working organic farm, with a view to securing the future of the educational work that already goes on there. “Transferring the land from private ownership to community ownership not only protects the long term future of the farm, but also allows greater collaboration with the educational and science sectors than is currently possible and enables the development of accommodation and teaching facilities on site,” explains Pete Ritchie, director of Nourish Scotland, who is currently farming Whitmuir with his partner, Heather Anderson. The process of selling shares was launched in 2013, with the first share being bought for then five-year-old Maya by her family. The launch event was also attended by the Scottish Parliament’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment, Richard Lochhead (pictured below, with Maya). There are now 14 shareholders under the age of 16 and the […]

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Locating industrialised farming on a map of France

April 12, 2015 ARC

Where would you expect to find a completely automated dairy factory, where 280 cows are milked by four robots overseen by just two staff? The Breton town of Bréhan is home to this French factory farm, one of 27 listed in an online map published by Confédération paysanne (Conf’). The Conf’ has identified some of the most notorious factory-scale units so far in a list that is already extensive, with livestock units holding thousands of finishing cattle and thousands of piglets. One pig unit has applied to expand its herd to 3,000, despite being located in the middle of a Natura 2000 zone with an ecology that is home to flora and fauna of scientific interest. If the project at Loueuse (60) goes ahead, Cooperl will be spreading 5,000 cubic metres of slurry on 400 hectares. The public inquiry went in favour of the pig business Cooperl and the project will receive a final decision from the prefet in June. A factory farm for 4,500 finishing pigs at Heuringhem (62) received planning permission in March […]

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Will organic farming save “unbalanced” Romanian agriculture?

April 6, 2015 ARC

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 […]

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End of milk quotas: how will eastern Europe cope?

April 2, 2015 ARC

By Laetitia Nourry, Eco Ruralis intern on Food Chains Campaign 30 years after its setting up, the milk quota system is coming to its end. Europe is returning to unlimited production of milk where the benefits go to industrial farming. Another stab for the slowly disappearing peasant farmer. Milk quotas were set up in 1984 by the Common Agricultural Policy, to regulate the supply and demand and avoid prices collapse. So why lift them now? The reason is for economic. As milk consumption is increasing, especially in Asia (the demand of milk should double by 2022), the European Union definitely wants to keep its first place as milk exporter to the world. To reach this goal, one solution proposed by the EU leaders says that “farmers should be more aware of the market signal“. In other words, produce more milk, again and again, at the cheapest price. Hyper-production, exports, economic growth…but what is the price ? The end of quotas will indeed enrich big producers. Industrial farms will be able to produce milk in impressive […]

Latest from Brussels

The Great Simplification Scam

March 27, 2015 ARC

Simplification of the CAP is a hot topic at the moment, and will be until at least May. At the most recent Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting (19/03/2015) “ministers exchanged views on their experiences in the implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The most important issues highlighted as needing simplification in direct payments were the ‘greening’ measures and the controls.” Minister Jānis Dūklavs recalled that “member states supported the efforts of Presidency to agree Council conclusions on CAP simplification in May. Some of the issues raised by the member states require urgent attention as rules will have to apply on the ground already this spring. There are some areas where simplification might be possible through minor amendments to the existing provisions established by the Commission” The momentum for simplification comes from the Commissioner Hogan, who emphasised it in a December speech: “We need to simplify our rules now and cut red tape in an effective way” he said, promising to have made progress within a year. In this speech he asked for submissions on […]