CAP Archives - Page 12 of 34 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Effects of Coronavirus on Agricultural Production – a First Approximation (part 2)

April 6, 2020 Sebastian Lakner

Agricultural production is on track for this year, and the EU is self-sufficient in most areas. Despite the challenges of the coronavirus crisis we have little reason to worry about food supply in the EU. This was Sebastian Lakner’s tentative conclusion in part 1 of his review of the available data. But his findings come with some major caveats. Trade in commodities must continue to flow to guarantee food supply in the context of the EU’s interconnected agribusiness model. Here in part 2 Sebastian Lakner examines another critical factor: labour and seasonal migrant workers. […]

Effects of Coronavirus on Agricultural Production – a First Approximation

April 5, 2020 Sebastian Lakner

As public life shuts down around Europe and health systems buckle under the strain of the Covid-19 pandemic, concerns over food supply are the latest scare to make headlines. In recent weeks speculation is rife as to the potential impacts on agricultural production. In part 1 of this series, Sebastian Lakner crunches the numbers to identify the real risks to Europe’s food supply. […]

LEAK – Ag Lobby Tries to Derail Farm to Fork

April 2, 2020 Oliver Moore

Copa-Cogeca is attempting to derail the European Commission’s Farm to Fork strategy. In a letter seen by ARC2020, dated April 2nd, the agri lobby have called for an “inception impact assessment” to be carried out, due to unique circumstances caused by Covid19. […]

Council of Ag Ministers meet on Covid19 | Green Lines, State Aid, CAP Extension

March 26, 2020 Oliver Moore

Changes to fiscal rules, transport and CAP have been put in place by the EU Commissions, and framed the videoconference meeting by the Council of Agricultural Ministers held yesterday, 25th March. Further changes to CAP were also proposed. Oliver Moore has more. […]

Coping with Covid19 – Tensions in Farming, Trade and the EU Institutions

March 25, 2020 Hans Wetzels

The COVID-19/Coronavirus outbreak is already disrupting international supply chains as more countries close their borders. Questions remain as to what this will mean for European food supplies and agricultural trade, as well as for how the institutions relate to member states. […]

Poking Holes in Farm to Fork: Environmental Groups Seek a Coherent Vision

March 24, 2020 Louise Kelleher

Healthy ecosystems are the foundation for food production, but they are pushed to breaking point by the current system. In the face of existential threats, Farm to Fork needs a coherent vision. Friends of the Earth Europe, WWF, Birdlife Europe, Greenpeace, ClientEarth and Pesticides Action Network weigh in on the European Commission’s Roadmap to food sustainability. […]

The EU-CO summit was a no-go: so what’s next for CAP?

March 18, 2020 Natasha Foote

EU Leaders disagree on CAP, on how it should be funded, and on how that funding should be divided up between different priorities. Meanwhile, there are delays, the parallel farm to fork strategy, talk of transitional arrangements, and now, the global pandemic that is COVID-19 to deal with. Natasha Foote unpacks some of the details. […]

Food Fight – The Farm to Fork Strategy vs CAP

March 11, 2020 Oliver Moore

The Farm2Fork strategy is out for consultation at present, closing on 16th March. It is self-described as a sustainable food strategy is key to achieving the goals of the EU’s Green Deal. This strategy “sets out the regulatory and non-regulatory measures needed to create more efficient, climate-smart systems that provide healthy food, while securing a decent living for EU farmers and fishermen.” So how is the process unfolding, and how does – or will – it relate to the CAP? […]

The impact of COVID-19 on the Current CAP Consultations

March 11, 2020 Matteo Metta

The current CAP process has hit a number of speedbumps – and now there’s COVID-19 to deal with. How will this impact civic engagement in CAP, and are there any ways to ensure civil society still has a say? Matteo Metta has more on this unfolding crisis and its implications. […]

The CAP and Climate Ambition – Myth vs Reality

March 10, 2020 Joost de Jong

CAP supposedly is climate ambitious, but it fails to really deliver. So what could be done differently? Joost de Jong of the Dutch Transition Coalition of Food Systems gives us some suggestions. […]

3,600 Scientists Call For CAP Overhaul

March 9, 2020 Helene Schulze

Today, over 3,600 scientists from all EU countries have together declared that the post-2020 CAP fails to reverse damage to the environment and restore nature and must be “drastically improved.” Addressing the European Parliament, Council and Commission they argue for a future-proof, evidence-based CAP, proposing ten action points, to ensure biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation and sustainable food production. […]

Reviewing Ecological Focus Areas: A Cross Pollination of Ideas

March 8, 2020 ARC

Insect pollinators continue to decline across Europe despite the Common Agricultural Policy’s increased focus on environmental protection. In response, a group of experts are calling for the improved quality of wildlife habitats through more targeted management and a robust monitoring framework, and a diversity of habitats to meet the resource requirements of our pollinating insects. […]

Commission’s Dodgy Calculations Improve CAP’s Climate Impact

February 27, 2020 Louise Kelleher

The “Green Deal” Commission promises big spending on climate. If climate markers are to be believed, the current CAP accounts for 22% of the EU’s climate spending. The post-2020 CAP is poised to take even more climate credit. But the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) claims the Commission’s climate markers miss the mark. In a report released earlier this month the IEEP sounds the alarm on faulty climate accounting and greenwashing of direct payments. […]

Awkward Alignment – How will Green Deal Momentum and the CAP Process Work Together?

February 16, 2020 ARC

There are a number of policy imperatives coming together, all of which related in some way to farming, food and rural Europe. While CAP clanks on, the EU Green Deal and its Farm2Fork component have more ambition and perhaps momentum. But how will these policy proposals work out their differences, with pressure from some many angles bearing down on them? Oliver Moore sketches out the terrain. […]

Massive Pillar 2 Cuts Proposed by EU Council President

February 14, 2020 ARC

Cuts of E7.5 Billion to rural development in Pillar 2, but a small increase in Pillar 1 Direct payments, all as part of a reduced overall CAP budget have been proposed by President of the European Council Charles Michel. How will EU Leaders react at next week’s summit? […]