Latest from Brussels

Alan Matthews on the Current CAP process in Ireland

In this second of a two part series with Alan Matthews, we discuss his home country of Ireland and CAP. Oliver Moore speaks with Matthews on Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions; its increasing herd size, in particular in dairy; the success of the European Innovation Partnerships; the role of coops; issues facing the beef sector; diversification and more.   […]

Latest from Brussels

Alan Matthews on the Current CAP Process | Part 1

Alan Matthews runs the CAPreform.eu blog, one of the best and most consistent sources of up to date, detailed  analysis of all things CAP. Here we present part one from an interview between our own Oliver Moore and Professor Matthews. Part one is broad and introductory, looking at what the Commission has proposed and potential pitfalls. Part two is more specific and related to Matthews’ home country of Ireland.  […]

Latest from EU Member States

Slashing Space for Nature? Ireland Backsliding on CAP basics

Cutting space for nature on farms, from its own proposed level of 5% to just 4%, is the most brutal of adjustments mooted by the Department of  Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in one of the final CAP consultations last Thursday.  A list of five for the most part unambitious eco-schemes has also been announced, which will do little to move Irish agriculture towards a more environmentally sustainable place.  […]

Main stories

Labour Pains – are Workers Exploited in Ecological Farming?

Over 100 organisations including trade unions, NGOs, and organisations representing small farmers have signed an open letter highlighting the need for social conditionality in the next CAP. Unsurprisingly the major farming organisations in Europe have not signed the letter. But how are labour standards on smaller farms at the ecological end of the spectrum? The picture isn’t always rosy, as Brendán Ó Conchúir find out, though there are some tentative solutions emerging.  […]

Latest from EU Member States

German Environment Ministry Proposals For CAP Green Architecture

Recommendations published by the German Ministry for the Environment echo fears that the CAP reform might not align with the environmental ambitions of the European Green Deal, and urge that regardless of the outcomes of the negotiations, Germany should use its Strategic Plan to gear the implementation of EU agriculture policy towards environmental needs. Hans Wetzels reports.  […]