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Newsflash

ARC Newsflash 10 June 2011

June 10, 2011 ARC

European Parliament’s Dess Report adopted, but falls behind expectations On 25 May, the European Parliament’s Committee on Agricultural and Rural Development (COMAGRI), as expected, has adopted a report setting out its views on the CAP towards 2020. The committee found a compromise position on the huge differences between the political groups about the future of European farmers and rural regions and so avoided a false start into it newly-endowed co-decision powers. That is the good news. The bad news is that the message is not sufficiently concrete or ambitious, and does not respond to the expectations of civil society as laid down in our ARC communication which was published in parallel with Commissioner Ciolos’s reform proposals last year. We are missing a clear statement by the Parliament on how the future Common Agricultural Policy will organise the urgently needed transition towards sustainable farming and food systems, with synergies between plant and animal production, good management of biodiversity, soils and water through crop rotation and a serious reduction of non-renewable inputs like fertilisers, pesticides and oil-based […]

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–ARC Conferences

June 9, 2011 ARC

Since its formation, ARC has organised two major conferences in Brussels, both attended by Commissioner Dacian Cioloş and a wide range of stakeholders.   2nd ARC Conference – 13 July 2011 1st ARC Conference – 4-5 November 2010    

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–1st ARC Conference

June 9, 2011 ARC

Building our common future: Finalising a “Communication of Civil Society to the EU on the Future of Agriculture and Rural Policies”   The first ARC Conference took place on 4-5 November 2010 at the Committee of the Regions in Brussels. After two rounds of consultation within the ARC network, the ARC members and supporters along with observers finalised their “Communication of Civil Society to the European Institutions on the Future of Agricultural and Rural Policy”. Dacian Cioloş gave the opening address on first day of the conference. It was the most important step of the ARC network to date. Gathered in Brussels for two days, the ARC network put the final touches on its Communication of Civil Society to the European Union on the Future of Agriculture and Rural Policies.  In a common statement, the civil society organisations assembled in Brussels described the two funds through which this new policy should be implemented : the European Agricultural Fund focused on food and farming; and the European Rural Fund, focused on the wider rural economy and territorial development. […]

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–Rally for a new agricultural policy in Germany

June 8, 2011 ARC

The German campaign „Meine Landwirtschaft – unsere Wahl“ (My agriculture – our choice): www.meine-landwirtschaft.de has organised an large, nation-wide rally through Germany culminating in a protest in front of the German chancellery. Following the „Wir haben es satt“ rally on 22 January 2011 in Berlin, one of the largest public demonstration for a new agricultural policy in recent German history, farmers from all over Germany have now toured Germany on their tractors all the way to Berlin where they convened on June 9th, 2011 for a protest rally in front of the German chancellery. They are calling for a small-scale, fair, animal-friendly and ecological agriculture. The routing of the rally is available here: http://www.meine-landwirtschaft.de/sternfahrt/routen.html The closing event „Angela, we need to talk“ including a farmers‘ banquet took place on June 9th from 10am to 12am in front of the German chancellery. Take a look at the video appeal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfxU28mHAdY The farmers from all over Germany presented a list of demands to chancellor Merkel calling for a cultural change in farming. From the dominant unsustainable, resource-intensive, […]

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Update on the European Parliament’s ‘Dess’ Report

May 13, 2011 ARC

The European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development is currently working on an own-initiative report “CAP towards 2020: meeting the food, natural resources and territorial challenges of the future” and the different political groups are now trying to find a common ground. This is done by agreeing on compromise amendments to the draft report which are meant to reduce the large number of amendments tabled by the committee members. The current draft compromise amendments, proposed by the rapporteur Albert Dess, are expected to reduce the number of amendments to be voted from 1300 to around 1000. But the staff of political groups continues exchanging views and believes that more work needs to be done in order to further reduce the sheer number of amendments and achieve a substantially shortened text. The report will need a concise structure and an unmistakable wording if the European Parliament, with its new co-decision powers, wants to send a clear and strong message to the European Commission and the Council of the Member States. Unsolved key points are the […]

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The Future of LEADER – An inside view by Robert Lukesch

May 13, 2011 ARC

From 27 – 29 April 2011,  the second conference of LINC (LEADER Inspired Network Community) took place in Bad Schandau (Sachsen, Germany). At the LINC conference, representatives of Local Action Groups (LAGs), stakeholders in rural development and for the first time also representatives from the European Network for Rural Development and the European Commission were present in this vibrant cooperation and networking event. ARC Core Group member Robert Lukesch (ÖAR Regional Consulting, Austria) attended the conference and summarised for us the main ideas of the European Commission’s plans for the future LEADER programme which were presented by Rob Peters, Head of the European Commission’s Unit “European Network for Rural Development and Monitoring of Rural Development”. The Commission expects initiatives and projects at sub-regional level to be crucial in achieving smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The relevant legislative proposal is expected to be adopted by the Commission in autumn 2011 along with all other CAP post 2013 proposals. In this framework, LEADER is considered to become the main development instrument at sub-regional level and the Commission […]