Hundreds of farmers are planning a demonstration in front of the European Parliament on Tuesday, calling for fewer direct payments to large industrial farms under the proposed revision of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). EURACTIV Germany reports.
The EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) penalises local farmers and harms the environment. It continues to contribute to the injection of palm oil in milk powder, exports of soft wheat to the detriment of local products, as well as to the over-consumption of Latin American soy. EURACTIV France reports.
There is an urgent need to fight gender stereotypes in EU agriculture as women’s multilevel skills have a lot to offer in the future of the field, center-left MEP Isabel Carvalhais has said.
The European left should under no circumstances turn its back on the digital transition of agriculture and give the floor to neoliberal political forces to further “marginalise” smallholders, Petros Kokkalis, a leftist MEP, told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
The lion's share of the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) spending is substantially unaffected by material errors, while a quarter of rural development EU aids are partially wrongly attributed, according to the European Court of Auditors (ECA) last report.
The Spanish government summoned the US ambassador to Spain, Duke Buchan, on Friday (4 October) to express its opposition to the new tariff increases announced by the Trump Administration. EURACTIV’s partner EFE reports.
Fewer chemical inputs tend to make the vine more robust and also ensure the terroir is better expressed in the wine's aroma, according to experts. France's vineyard sector is also interested in new grape varieties that are resistant to heat and disease. EURACTIV France reports.
Since the 16th century, the Gosset family has been passing on vineyards from generation to generation in the Champagne region. Today, the incoming generation is starting to implement more environmentally friendly practices. EURACTIV France reports.
The year 2018 was an excellent vintage for German wine, despite the drought. However, with the climate getting warmer, Riesling, Germany's most famous wine, could start tasting differently. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Ever since the European Commission presented its proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy for 2021, negotiations have been slow. And there is still no agreement on issues related to the environment or innovation. EURACTIV Germany takes stock of a workshop it organised about these issues on Friday (27 September).
While the French people are consuming less wine, they are drinking more organic wine. However, the expense of going 'bio' proves to be an important risk for winegrowers. EURACTIV France reports.
It is virtually impossible to have the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), a key EU policy programme, ready for the start of the 2021-2027 programming period, according to two experienced socialist MEPs.
Wine is France's national pride but it represents a significant challenge for the country. Viticulture needs plenty of pesticides, mainly because of fungicides, but the sector continues to face many difficulties in changing its practices. EURACTIV France reports.
Proud of their wines, Europeans are also concerned about the industry's widespread use of pesticides, while winemakers themselves will have to adapt to rising temperatures. From Bordeaux to Riesling and Champagne, EURACTIV takes a look at changing wine-making practices.
Soil carbon sequestration and other measures intended to reduce net greenhouse emissions in farming require proper funding and a degree of flexibility, EU agriculture ministers agreed at an informal meeting hosted by the Finnish Council presidency.
Croatia will soon submit a request to the European Commission to extend a seven-year moratorium on the sale of agricultural land to foreigners, the newest EU member's assistant minister of agriculture announced on Thursday (20 September). EURACTIV Croatia reports.
The added-value of Commissioner-designate for agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, is that he is aware of Eastern Europe's specificity when it comes to farming policy, says Polish farm minister Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski.
The European Commission is in an important position to enable EU farmers to use modern technologies in the fight against climate change, Pekka Pesonen, Secretary-General of the EU farmers and cooperatives' association (Copa-Cogeca), told EURACTIV.com.
The intense drought in France has already led to the elimination of fallow fields. It has also created tensions that are not so favourable to the negotiations over the EU's new Common Agricultural Policy. EURACTIV France reports.
The agri-food supply chain in Italy, one of the biggest food producers in the EU, is making the case for the next national Commissioner to land the EU's agriculture portfolio, a position the sector has coveted for almost 50 years.
Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming president of the European Commission, has offered Poland the agriculture portfolio in her new executive. But designated Polish pick Krzysztof Szczerski ruled himself out of the running and withdrew his candidacy.
Lawmakers in the Parliament's Agriculture Committee are increasingly doubtful that the post-2020 Common Agriculture Policy will be delivered on schedule, considering the delays in moving the reform forward, and want transitional regulation to ensure there are no interruptions.
Ursula von der Leyen' slip-up on agriculture did not pass unnoticed by lawmakers, who voiced regret that the Commission president-elect did not mention at all the farming sector in the first speech she addressed to the plenary in Strasbourg last Tuesday (16 July).
Although all EU ministers agree on higher climate objectives in the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), they still do not know how to put this environmental ambition into practice.
