After almost five days of intense meetings, EU Leaders agreed on a seven year budget and recovery package yesterday. This includes the MFF (multiannual financial framework, or typical EU budget) of E1.07 Trillion, plus a specific pandemic recovery package of E750 billion, split almost evenly between grants (E390bn) and loans (E360bn). How is CAP impacted? […]
Hidden away in a footnote, away from the fanfare of the launch of the EU Green Deal’s Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies, was a nonetheless crucially important document. A document that links vision to the practical CAP work member states are currently conducting. So what’s in it, what’s missing, and what does it say about power relations between the Institutions and the Member States? […]
There is a spectrum of possible responses to this unfolding crisis. Here we’ll briefly introduce some small and also larger mutual aid initiatives, or local and community responses to covid19 and what it brings out in people – from street to municipal levels, from rural to border areas. […]
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. […]
Having seen the unfolding of huge supply chain issues with Covid-19, there is much to be said for resilient self-sufficient farmers who can make their own inputs. Traditionally, this has been practices like seed saving and compost. Tom Stack takes it to another level. […]
Changes to fiscal rules, transport and CAP have been put in place by the EU Commissions, and framed the videoconference meeting by the Council of Agricultural Ministers held yesterday, 25th March. Further changes to CAP were also proposed. Oliver Moore has more. […]
With Covid19, aka the coronavirus, come restrictions on people’s outdoor movements and gathering. This means that, while supermarkets are considered essential, it seems to be case by case for other food markets: instantly, farmers markets are shutting all over Europe with serious consequences for small producers. Digital food platforms have never been more urgent. Open Food Network is perhaps the best example of a good food network that’s digitised, cooperative, open source, not for profit and ready for your community. […]
With Covid-19, our world has changed utterly. What can we learn from our recent past, and from interesting movements and moments now, to help us adjust and cope with the present and future? With Oliver Moore. […]
The Farm2Fork strategy is out for consultation at present, closing on 16th March. It is self-described as a sustainable food strategy is key to achieving the goals of the EU’s Green Deal. This strategy “sets out the regulatory and non-regulatory measures needed to create more efficient, climate-smart systems that provide healthy food, while securing a decent living for EU farmers and fishermen.” So how is the process unfolding, and how does – or will – it relate to the CAP? […]
The organic market in France was worth E 9.1 billion in 2018, according to “The World of Organic Agriculture 2020” which comes out every February. Organic land area in France grew by 16.7% in 2018 – a huge increase for a single year. This growth of 290,000 hectares brings France to 2.04 million hectares, now second only to Spain in Europe, and the sixth highest land area farmed organically in the world. […]
Growth in organics in Germany continues on all fronts, bucking trends in conventional farming and food markets.In Germany, the organic land area has now passed 10%, having grown 50% in the last five years. Where is the growth occurring, and does the market match or exceed the land area? […]
Researchers studied 37 different measures to help Scottish Agriculture reduce its carbon footprint. Here’s what they found. […]
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. […]
Three of the ARC2020 team was in Candas in Asturais, northern Spain, where they attended the 4th Rural Parliament. It was quite the time, meeting and listening, exploring and sampling, thinking and doing over four wet but wonderful days. So what happened? […]
There is something of an incongruity between organic and no till approaches to cereal and vegetable production. Both approaches emphasise building soil organic matter. However weed control is difficult in organic, without at least some minor soil disturbance. At a recent Agroecology Europe Forum in Greece, there were some promising signs of progress. […]
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