Tag: common agricultural policy

Around €100 billion out of a global CAP budget of €363 billion for the period 2014-2020 will be dedicated to the protection of natural resources after last week's agreement on the EU's long term budget, writes Dacian Cioloş. The challenge now is to define concrete measures to make a real difference for the environment and to secure the long term competitiveness of EU farmers.

French President François Hollande faces the awkward prospect of walking away from this week's European Union summit having accepted a cut in the bloc's agricultural spending for the next seven years.

A coalition of grape growers, farm groups and major wine-producing countries appear to have won concessions to European Commission proposals for liberalising vine planting rights that are due to expire by 2016.

SPECIAL REPORT / Some EU national governments and lawmakers are pushing to weaken proposals intended to create natural defences against pesticides and fertilisers in crop fields. But they should reconsider their opposition to buffer strips and other natural areas, green advocates say.

Germany and France have agreed to keep the European Union farming budget at its current level, following a meeting between their agriculture ministers in Berlin on Wednesday (10 October).

If the scheduled extraordinary European Council in November does not agree on a framework for the 2014-2020 budget or if the European Parliament denies its approval, the future of the EU will be held hostage to an unstable and unmanageable environment, argues Ivailo Kalfin.

The Common Agricultural Policy, now in its 50th year, is due to get a greener makeover as it enters a new decade. But much hinges on the fate of the EU’s 2014-2020 budget, says Sofoclis Aletraris, the Cypriot agriculture minister whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

An extraordinary summit of EU heads of state and governments in November will focus on the European Union budget for 2014-2020, it emerged following a meeting of European Affairs ministers held in Nicosia yesterday (30 August).

With European Union institutions locked in ongoing debates about making the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) more sustainable, researchers say policymakers may be overlooking the importance ponds and wetlands play in making farms more environmentally friendly.

The European Court of Auditors today (17 April) dealt a blow to the European Commission’s overhaul of agricultural policies, saying in an opinion that the proposals are “too complex” and expose the EU to possible abuse in its direct payments scheme.

Proper crop nutrition and sharing of knowledge and technology between developing and developed countries can help address the food needs of the planet’s growing population, says a top researcher for the Oslo-based fertiliser company Yara.

Farmers' organisations worry that the European Commission’s plans to make the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) more environmentally friendly could leave producers drowning in paperwork.

A British House of Lords panel is urging the European Commission to reconsider some of its key agricultural proposals, calling for more robust spending on research and cuts in direct payments to farmers.

Farmers are likely to see the annual payment they receive from the government fall in coming years, UK farming minister Jim Paice said, adding he favoured its eventual abolition as global food prices rise.