The Week's Top Tweets
Tweets of the Week – 15/2020
Our weekly Twitter round up of great content from our kindred network: a Friday treat for your weekend reading pleasure. Enjoy what we’ve found for you on twitter. […]
Month: April 2020
Latest from EU Member States
Winning the Battle with the Agri-Giant Next Door
Czech organic farmer Libor Kožnar has won his yearlong battle with Agrofert, the agribusiness empire operating next to his small holding. He lost the organic certification for his wheat due to fertiliser drift from an Agrofert sprayer. Agrofert is a multimillion euro conglomerate with ties to the Czech prime minister, currently under investigation in a conflict of interest case by the European Commission. […]
Latest from key partners
For the Sake of Nature and the Climate, Europe must not CAP its Ambitions
The European Commission continues to describe the Common Agricultural Policy as “ambitious”, yet its own evaluation of the CAP’s impact reveals that the farm subsidy scheme is inflicting massive damage on Europe’s biodiversity, water resources and nature. In this in-depth feature, Célia Nyssens of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) explains why the CAP is not fit for purpose and outlines how it can be reformed. […]
Main stories
Coping with Covid19 – Supply Chains and the Butterfly Effect
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit pause on business as usual, and the food industry has been turned upside down. As the Achilles’ heels of the current system are exposed, food sovereignty becomes an urgent question. Igor Tomasz Olech examines the butterfly effect on supply chains and trade routes. […]
Latest from Brussels
CAP Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Framework: What’s Cooking?
The new Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (PMEF) of the CAP Strategic Plan Regulation (SPR) is composed of a set of elements, including common objectives for both CAP Pillar I and II, common indicators, quantified targets and milestones, data management and reporting activities, and incentive mechanisms for good performance and to address deviations. […]
Latest from EU Member States
Effects of Coronavirus on Agricultural Production – a First Approximation (part 2)
Agricultural production is on track for this year, and the EU is self-sufficient in most areas. Despite the challenges of the coronavirus crisis we have little reason to worry about food supply in the EU. This was Sebastian Lakner’s tentative conclusion in part 1 of his review of the available data. But his findings come with some major caveats. Trade in commodities must continue to flow to guarantee food supply in the context of the EU’s interconnected agribusiness model. Here in part 2 Sebastian Lakner examines another critical factor: labour and seasonal migrant workers. […]
Latest from Brussels
Effects of Coronavirus on Agricultural Production – a First Approximation
As public life shuts down around Europe and health systems buckle under the strain of the Covid-19 pandemic, concerns over food supply are the latest scare to make headlines. In recent weeks speculation is rife as to the potential impacts on agricultural production. In part 1 of this series, Sebastian Lakner crunches the numbers to identify the real risks to Europe’s food supply. […]
Latest from EU Member States
UK | Coronavirus Diary: the Virus That Did a No-Deal Brexit on our Food Supply
It seems inconceivable that it was only a year ago when the UK was due to crash out of the EU under a no deal Brexit. Thankfully that crisis was averted. Leading up to that momentous non-event, I wrote about what might happen to our food supply in the event that our smooth trading relationship with the EU broke down utterly. One year on, we find ourselves in a remarkably similar position […]
Latest from Brussels
LEAK – Ag Lobby Tries to Derail Farm to Fork
Copa-Cogeca is attempting to derail the European Commission’s Farm to Fork strategy. In a letter seen by ARC2020, dated April 2nd, the agri lobby have called for an “inception impact assessment” to be carried out, due to unique circumstances caused by Covid19. […]
The Week's Top Tweets
Tweets of the Week – 14/2020
Our weekly Twitter round up of great content from our kindred network: a Friday treat for your weekend reading pleasure. Enjoy what we’ve found for you on twitter. […]
Latest from EU Member States
Framing Farming – Nationalism, Food Security and Food Sovereignty
As the Covid-19 outbreak hits the economy, we may experience a paradigm shift that no one expected. Now is the time to unpack the difference between food security and food sovereignty. And better understand how these terms are used by different groups. Igor Tomasz Olech looks at how these concepts are framed in the EU, and how Poland is ripe for a conversation about food sovereignty. […]