Latest from Brussels Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

EU Budget: From Green Deal to Raw Deal for the Environment

November 11, 2025 Natasha Foote

Brussels is still sifting through the wreckage of the budget bombshell the European Commission dropped in July. As the dust settles, one question looms large: who wins, and who’s left behind? In this ARC2020 mini-series, we unpack the ripple effects — and collateral damage — of the EU’s radical budget proposal, this time diving into the potential environmental impact. […]

EU’s New Budget Plan Stuck in the Mud After Parliament Refuses to Plough Ahead

November 3, 2025 Natasha Foote

In a rare show of unity across political groups, the European Parliament has pushed back hard against the European Commission’s proposed blueprint for post-2027 EU funding structure, demanding a complete rethink of its plans to merge budget lines and pass power into the hands of member states. Natasha Foote reports. […]

Passing the Pitchfork – Inside the EU’s new plan to get young farmers in our fields

November 3, 2025 Ashley Parsons

The EU’s strategy for generational renewal, presented on Tuesday 21 October, lays out ambitious plans to double the share of young farmers in Europe by 2040. Here’s what it promises, what’s missing, and what civil society actors are saying. By Ashley Parsons, Louise Kelleher and Natasha Foote. […]

EU Budget: How Brussels’ New Plans Put Regions Out to Pasture

October 21, 2025 Natasha Foote

Brussels is still sifting through the wreckage of the budget bombshell the European Commission dropped in July. As the dust settles, one question looms large: who wins, and who’s left behind? In this ARC2020 mini-series, we unpack the ripple effects — and collateral damage — of the EU’s radical budget proposal, starting with the regions that risk being sidelined. […]

The Trojan Horse of Simplification

October 13, 2025 Natasha Foote

On the back of yet another green light for a fresh batch of ‘simplification’ plans, ARC2020’s Natasha Foote explores how deep this latest round cuts into the roots of the CAP and sustainability rules, and what is hiding inside this simplification Trojan horse. […]

A Not So Common Agricultural Policy and A Mega MF(F)ing Fund – What’s Cooking in the New CAP?

July 21, 2025 Natasha Foote

We promised a budgetary bombshell, and that’s exactly what dropped in Brussels last week. With a (not so) ‘Common’ Agricultural Policy, the Commission has juddered into a new direction — and if you’re wondering what in the MF(F)-ing hell just happened, you’re certainly not the only one. Here Natasha Foote unpacks some first takeaways and why it has so far gone down like a sack of manure. […]

LEAK: CAP Crumbles as EU Eyes Radical Post-2027 Overhaul

July 14, 2025 Natasha Foote

The European Commission is preparing to tear up the architecture of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in what could set the stage for a radical overhaul of the EU’s farming subsidy programme, according to leaked drafts. Natasha Foote reports from Brussels. […]

Op-Ed | From Declaration to Action – Rethinking Rural Power in EU Policymaking

July 8, 2025 Edina Ocsko

Rural voices still seem to go unheard in EU policymaking. The Rural Pact Coordination Group proposes a new tool for rural stakeholders to take the power back: the Declaration on the Future of Rural Areas and Rural Development Policy in the European Union. After a recent test drive, Edina Ocsko unpacks why rural voices struggle to shape policy and identifies some concrete next steps. Op-ed by Edina Ocsko. […]

Op-Ed | Europe Must End The Double Standards In Toxic Pesticides Exports

July 2, 2025 Olivier de Schutter

A number of hazardous pesticides which are banned in the EU are freely manufactured and exported to other countries with weaker regulations, putting human health and the environment at risk. The EU also allows the import of produce grown with these banned pesticides. The End Toxic Pesticide Trade Coalition – a broad coalition of NGOs and trade unions – has launched a new campaign around the EU’s double standards. Op-ed by UN Special Rapporteurs Marcos A Orellana and Olivier De Schutter. […]

Fund the Future of Food & Farming: A United Call from Across Europe

June 11, 2025 ARC

The Good Food Good Farming (GFGF) movement is in Brussels with a clear message from 15 countries: the EU must stop enabling industrial agriculture and instead support a just agroecological transition. As decision-makers decide the future of EU funding, GFGF present a new position paper and grassroots demands as part of a united EU-wide call to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). […]

Mercosur Is Set To Sail – With Sore Points for Sustainability, Will The Deal Sink Or Swim?

June 4, 2025 Oliver Moore

After a quarter-century of talks, the EU-Mercosur trade agreement is closer than ever to the finish line. But is it a done deal, and who gets to sign off on it? How are the new more volatile geopolitical trade realities impacting decision-makers? And can it be stopped or changed at this late stage? Oliver Moore takes us through the choppy waters. […]

EU Throws The Wolf To The Wolves

June 2, 2025 Oliver Moore

Following votes at both Council and in Parliament, the status of the wolf in Europe is being downgraded from “strictly protected” to “protected”. So what’s happened to conservation of this apex predator – and why? Oliver Moore and Ashley Parsons report. […]

Pruning the EU’s Farming Policy: Have CAP’s Green Shoots Survived the Shears?

May 20, 2025 Natasha Foote

The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is once again being trimmed down to size, with the Commission reaching for the shears in an attempt to cut back what it sees as an overgrown subsidy programme. But it’s not just the deadwood that is being cut away, but also some of its remaining green shoots. Natasha Foote brings you the latest from Brussels. […]

LEAK – Sneak Peek At New EU Farming Policy Simplification Shake-Up

May 12, 2025 Natasha Foote

Leaner but not greener with a new era of flexibility and power to member states – these are some of the changes on the menu for the EU’s new plan to simplify the Common Agricultural Policy, according to a leaked document that ARC2020 got its hands on. Natasha Foote gives you a sneak peek of what’s to come. […]

A European Land Observatory – What’s In Sight?

May 7, 2025 Oliver Moore

Despite moves towards simplification, a Land Observatory is coming this summer. What’s more, there is broad consensus from both the Commission and farming organisations on the need for some more harmonised monitoring of land transactions. But how much power will – or should – such an Observatory have? What will it try to do? And which tools are in place at national and regional level? Oliver Moore takes us through the terrain. […]