October 2013 - Page 2 of 3 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

FEATURED CAMPAIGN ACTION : 1000 COWS

October 14, 2013 ARC

On Saturday, September 28, 1000 ‘angry cows’ – citizens, elected officials, farmers, unions – stormed the site of a factory farm development in France to demand an end to the project. The action was part of an ongoing campaign organised by Confédération Paysanne. The site in question aims to hold 1000 cows, much larger than France’s average farm size of 44 cows. Its main goal would not be to produce food, but to use the methane from the cow dung to produce energy. This project would be a dangerous symbol of the industrialization of agriculture, with serious consequences on employment and the environment. Read more here (in French).

–ARC2020: New Toolkit on CAP Reform and Rural Development

October 13, 2013 ARC

ARC2020 PRESS RELEASE 25.09.2013 For immediate release Vital new Toolkit from ARC2020 on CAP reform and Rural Development A vital and timely new Toolkit on the Common Agriculture Policy and Rural Development in the EU has been released by the ARC2020 team. With political agreement on remaining CAP issues reached between the European Parliament, the EU Council of Ministers and the European Commission Tuesday evening, before further urgent discussions and votes in the Parliament and Council, the timing could not be more apt for the release of thisToolkit. This working document will prove invaluable for organisations and citizens making the case for good food, good farming and better rural policies in Europe. The big issues in the CAP reform process have been examined in detail by ARC2020’s expert team and partners. From this work has come the Toolkit, the first version of which contains all of the latest CAP related developments, as well as specific proposals for how stakeholders can improve this CAP reform during the implementation stage up to mid-2014. This toolkit, which can be found of ARC2020’s website here, explains the CAP’s “when, what and how can we […]

ARC NEWSFLASH SEPTEMBER 2013

October 13, 2013 ARC

Dear friends and supporters, Hello from Oliver and Shirin, the new ARC2020 communications team! Although sad to say goodbye, all of us at ARC2020 are happy to wish Kate the best on this next, exciting step in her career. She has stepped over to work with Slow Food in Italy, so is remaining in an important area of food and farming politics. This communications role will now be split between the two of us : Oliver, as EU Correspondent, and Shirin as Communication Manager. We look forward to working closely with many of you! And so to the main news. Despite the substantive CAP agreement during the Irish presidency, there is still much to fight for in the remaining negotiations. September will see Trilogues on CAP budget issues including flexibility between pillars, while late September or October will likely see the Council and Parliament finalising texts and translations. What’s clear already, however, is that many CAP decisions have been left to national and regional authorities. This means that we can all direct much energy and focus […]

ARC NEWSFLASH AUGUST 2013 : Wietze Action Camp Special

October 13, 2013 ARC

THE DEMONSTRATION: SATURDAY 31 AUGUSTLast weekend, 7000 people turned up to demonstrate and form a human chain around Europe’s biggest chicken slaughterhouse in Wietze, Lower Saxony. With such a great turnout and heavy press coverage, the demonstration was a huge success and generated a lot of discussion 3 weeks before the elections in Germany.Thank you to everyone who came! If you were not able to make it, the photos tell an impressive story. You can see themhere.Read more about the demonstration here. EITHER SIDE OF THE DEMONSTRATION…To encourage the continued exchange of ideas, we set up camp a few days before the demonstration and organised a variety of different events, including a full day of workshops (see the full programme here). The camp was buzzing with excitement; there was delicious, fresh food being served by the team from Fläming Kitchen, music from the legendary DJ Spoutnik, and an energetic ‘Disco Soup’ session, where vegetables were chopped en masse for Saturday’s meals. You can read more from the camp here.Jonty Whittleton, who held the workshop ‘Chicken – 1.99€/ Kg The true cost?’, shared his experience from demonstration and […]

Disappointing Parliament CAP reform vote means the focus now turns to Member States.

October 13, 2013 ARC

(Brussels, 02/10/13) BEGINS On Monday the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee (COMAGRI) voted on the remaining issues on CAP reform. This follows the substantive agreement in June in Ireland and the final trilogue between Parliament, Council and Commission last week, where the Council strong-armed the Parliament into ceding its position, aided by the Commission. The committee vote still needs to be confirmed by Parliament as a whole in a plenary vote at the November session. “The co-decision procedure on CAP reform has been a long, epic process, full of delays and brinkmanship. In the end however, it also represents, unfortunately, a missed opportunity to really, radically reform the CAP. The momentum now turns to member states” Samuel Feret, ARC2020’s coordinator said. Substantial reform has been bypassed in favour of business as usual, questioning the whole notion of co-decision making and trilogue. The Council, together with anti-reform COMAGRI members opposed capping payments to even the wealthiest, while watering down greening with exemptions and loopholes and maintaining polluting and export dumping practices. Specifically The COMAGRI vote dealt with outstanding issues on DP (Direct Payments), CMO (Common Organisation of Markets), RD (Rural Development) and HZR (Horizontal Regulations). […]