Tag: agriculture

The European Commission proposed new rules in September regarding the presence of genetically modified pollen in honey. The new proposals consider that pollen in honey is a 'natural constituent', thereby contradicting a previous ruling by the European Court of Justice from September 2011 that considered it an 'ingredient', writes John Davison.

Agricultural cooperatives empower their members economically and socially through better access to markets and create sustainable rural employment, argues Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the World Food Programme.

Grape growers are lining up support from EU national governments and the European Parliament to protect limits on vine planting that are due to expire by 2016, a liberalisation move they claim will destroy one of Europe’s premier industries.

Drought-stricken crops and record-high grain prices have strengthened critics of the European Union biofuel industry, adding fears of a food crisis to their claims that it does not ultimately reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Ukraine has secured two multibillion euro loans for energy and agriculture from China in recent days, a development suggesting that Kyiv is seeking alternatives to the tougher financing conditions set by the International Monetary Fund.

French President François Hollande will face judicial problems over the ban on the cultivation of genetically modified plants, and this has widespread implications for science-based risk assessment in the EU, argue Marcel Kuntz, John Davison and Agnès E. Ricroch.

Conservation groups have condemned a move by European agricultural ministers to tone down some of the most controversial environmental proposals in the next phase of the EU's farm support programme.

European efforts to make farming more environmentally friendly have done little to address its growing ecological footprint abroad, says a UN expert who calls for a shift to more sustainable consumption.

The EU executive has proposed new harmonised rules to account for greenhouse gas emissions from forests and agriculture within the EU’s climate policy.

When blood-red sludge broke through containment walls in the Hungarian town of Ajka in October 2010, the immediate concern was the safety of hundreds of nearby residents. In the end 10 people died from exposure and the toxic muck spilled into waterways, including the Danube, prompting alarms downstream.

The United States remained the primary backer of biotech crop technology in 2011, but adoption spread internationally as the total global planted area of genetically modified seeds grew 8% from a year ago, a new report says.

When the European Commission began pressing for a dramatic expansion in the use of biofuels in transport and energy several years ago, it was seen as a win-win situation: a way to help farmers, create energy security, cut greenhouse emissions and improve air quality. But even that last claim is no longer taken for granted.

Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloş faced a barrage of criticism yesterday (7 November) over plans to overhaul the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) before a rare gathering of national farm ministers and members of the European Parliament.

Reducing farm animals’ wind by adding garlic to feed could substantially reduce greenhouse emissions, according to research by West Wales’ scientists featured by Euronews.

G20 farm ministers struck a deal yesterday (23 June) to tackle high food prices, agreeing to a watered-down declaration that fell short of France's ambitious proposals to tighten regulation of commodity markets.

The debate on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy has so far ignored the need for generational renewal of an endangered profession, warns Joris Baecke of the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA) in an interview with EurActiv.

The European Union's budget chief defended plans yesterday (20 April) to increase the bloc's spending by 4.9% next year, saying the proposal struck a balance between austerity and the need to boost growth.

A growing African food sector can yield private sector returns on the back of government support, said a report on Tuesday (26 October), which also said that a global grain reserve may be needed to protect consumers from price spikes.

The European Commission's plans to hand over to member states the power to ban or authorise genetically modified (GM) crops were strongly criticised by key EU governments at an Agriculture Council yesterday (27 September). 

On his first visit to Brussels, Polish President Bronisław Komorowski stressed his continued backing for European assistance to poorer regions and farmers ahead of EU budget talks later this year.

Counterfeit pesticides are currently slipping through the regulatory net and need to be addressed, argues Phil Newton, senior communications manager at the European Crop Protection Association, in an exclusive commentary for EurActiv.

The European Union and the Mercosur group of four South American countries relaunched talks on Monday (17 May) aimed at creating the world's largest trading bloc despite warnings that a deal could hurt EU farmers.

Addressing water efficiency in farming, which accounts for two thirds of EU water use, should be one of the priorities in reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the head of the European Commission's water unit suggests.

The EU should force other world agricultural powers to adopt similar environmental rules if they wish to export to Europe, the chair of the European Parliament's agriculture committee, Paolo De Castro, told EurActiv in an interview.