CAP reform
Greenpeace director: CAP’s two-pillar structure has failed, we need a new contract
The direct payments pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy has too often wiped out the environmental benefits provided by parts of the rural development pillar, therefore real reform is needed to move the EU away from industrial farming practices, Greenpeace’s Marco Contiero told EURACTIV.com in an interview. Marco Contiero is Greenpeace's food and agriculture director. He …
EU mulls incentives for space technologies in farm controls
The European Commission is considering new proposals to encourage the use of technologies to monitor farm parcels receiving subsidies from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), an EU official told EURACTIV.com.
Environmentalists push for ‘fitness check’ and clear goals in the next CAP
Europe’s biggest alliance of environmental groups has called for a thorough fitness check of the EU’s flagship Common Agricultural Policy, questioning its structure, implementation and impact, and proposing a far-reaching overhaul to ensure it is up to the challenges of the 21st century.
Can the next CAP measure its green performance?
The discussion about the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy has kicked off as well as the talks about the policy’s long-term green obligations.
EPP says no ‘hasty’ CAP reform before 2024
EXCLUSIVE / The European People’s Party (EPP) believes Brussels must first settle the UK's departure from the European Union and set a stable post-Brexit financial framework “before triggering discussions on the future reform" of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Fipronil crisis: Why should we keep on using these toxic substances?
The withdrawal of millions of eggs from the market produced in the Netherlands and Belgium should motivate the EU to shift towards a different model of agriculture, argues Martin Dermine.
Legislators push smallholders to the heart of smart farming talks
Several EU lawmakers from the European Parliament's agriculture committee expressed their concerns on Wednesday (30 August) about the introduction of new technologies in farming, claiming that it might put smallholders at risk.
Yara boss: Africa has major potential in future food security
Europe will remain an important supplier of agricultural goods in the future but the greatest untapped potential lies in Africa, which could become the “bread basket” for the rest of the world, the president of Yara, a multinational fertiliser and crop nutrition company, told EURACTIV.
Spanish MEP wants ‘migration-style’ controls on food imports at the EU border
Spanish Partido Popular MEP Esther Herranz wants to harmonise the EU's border controls to protect food and plant products and prevent pests. EURACTIV’s partner EFEAgro reports.
Brexit is a chance for farming reform – but we must get the policy right
Britain's withdrawal from the EU undoubtedly carries risks but it may also create the opportunity to build a greener, more efficient, and innovative farming sector. If this happens, Ngaire Woods argues, the EU and other economies might follow suit.
Sowing the seeds of the post-2020 CAP
In June 2013, politicians approved the first major reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in a decade, following months of haggling over quotas, subsidies, and measures to improve environmental accountability. But when the new rules took full effect in 2015, a year behind schedule, some of the same leaders who had approved it called for changes …
Who is driving quality in EU agri-food?
The EU’s Southern member states are the leading producers of foods certified by EU quality schemes: between them, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Greece account for 70% of the total.
US attack on Spanish olive imports is ‘serious’, EU farmers warn Commission
The US authorities are reading anti-dumping measures on imports of Spanish black table olives as of September setting a “dangerous” precedent for CAP-subsided EU agricultural products, European farmers have warned.
The added value of EU quality schemes
Europe’s farmers are coming under extraordinary financial pressure as shifting export markets and volatile prices take their toll. But new markets are emerging and consumers in Europe and beyond are increasingly choosing to buy high-quality products from the EU.
EU, Brazil propose farm subsidies overhaul to help developing countries
The European Union and Brazil yesterday (17 July) proposed to the World Trade Organization a reform of farm subsidies in order to "level the playing field" for emerging economies, an EU statement said.
French anger at CAP co-financing proposal
The European Commission’s suggestion that EU member states co-finance part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the biggest consumer of the bloc’s budget, has met with steady support in Germany and exasperation in France. EURACTIV France reports.
CAP reform: From sustainable feed to sustainable food
The German-Hungarian ‘Soya Declaration’ finally gets us talking about what matters in CAP reform, write Olivier De Schutter, Oscar Rivas and Karin Nansen.
Parliament narrowly adopts pesticide ban for ‘ecological areas’
The European Parliament narrowly endorsed a ban on the use of pesticides on arable land set aside for nature conservation on Wednesday (14 June), prompting a leading environmental group to call for a rethinking of how the bloc's multi-billion agricultural policy is decided.
Burden faced by Africa’s small farmers masked by focus on migration and poverty
Some 70% of the world’s food is grown by smallholder farmers, the majority in the developing world, who will have to help output double by 2030 to keep up with population growth, a panel of experts at the European Development Days in Brussels heard on Thursday (8 June).
Romanian MEP points out ‘green contradiction’ of organic trade deal
A recent trade deal on organic products between the EU and Chile has sparked a discussion regarding the environmental footprint of organic products transportation.
EU’s biofuels policy damages investor confidence, farmers claim
The European Commission’s “unstable” policy on biofuels has created uncertainty among investors and undermines the market as a whole, the head of the EU farmers’ lobby told EURACTIV.com.
EU biofuels policy: What is the impact on rural development?
EU farmers are “very concerned” about the impact of the European Commission’s change of heart on biofuels, claiming the EU's restrictive policy is putting thousands of rural jobs at risk.
Precision farming may drive down food prices, Commission claims
Precision farming practices in the EU could play a role in driving food prices down, European Commission sources told EURACTIV.com.
EU agricultural income since 2005
Challenges ranging from volatile markets, high input costs and the Russian ban on agricultural exports to sluggish Chinese demand, have put a great deal of pressure on the income of EU farmers