The European Parliament has given its blessing to the EU’s plan to loosen rules on new genetic technologies, but added key conditions on labelling requirements and a ban on patents – the latter of which could prove a key sticking point for moving forward with negotiations. Natasha Foote brings you up to speed on all you need to know. […]
EU plans to slash the use and risk of pesticides have fallen on the back of farmers’ protests, which have dominated both headlines and the political agenda in recent days. Meanwhile there are plenty of other discussions cooking in Brussels which could have far reaching consequences for the future direction of the sector. Natasha Foote brings you a run down of the latest from Strasbourg and what you should watch this week. […]
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to bury the EU’s plans to slash the use and risk of pesticides by half by 2030 once and for all, proposing to withdraw the sustainable use of pesticides regulation (SUR) from the table with hopes to start afresh under the next mandate. […]
If there’s one thing that’s clear from the past few weeks, it’s that many EU farmers are reaching breaking point. But what exactly has driven them to the brink and to the streets – and how has Brussels responded? Natasha Foote breaks down what you need to know on the farmers’ protests. […]
As protests by French farmers continue, we look deeper into the reasons for their frustration. Marie Halicki, a soon-to-be freshly installed farmer in the French Alps, shares her experience wading through the quagmire just to become a farmer. This is translated from French. […]
The European Commission has once again granted a temporary exemption to environmental requirements in the EU farming subsidies programme for 2024 in efforts to appease EU farmers, despite acknowledging the EU executive does not yet have a clear picture of the impact of the previous derogations. Natasha Foote reports […]
These ongoing farmer protests in Europe indicate that there is something fundamentally wrong with the European agricultural system. However, many journalists and politicians do not see the wood for the trees and link the protests to a specific policy or event. In this opinion piece, Natalia Mamonova discusses the farmer protests as indicators of the systemic crisis of the neoliberal agricultural model that has failed farmers and the planet. […]
Many British farmers are in a bad place. While there is some overlap with the struggles of farmers in the EU, for farmers in England, the move from farm income support via basic payments to a system based on ‘public money for public goods’ creates a unique challenge. […]
The anger of Europe’s farmers is largely justified, but it is heading for dangerous territory. A transition to agroecology is urgently needed in the interests of all farmers. Op-ed by ARC2020 President Hannes Lorenzen, originally published in Le Monde. […]
In this op-ed, Dr. Jeroen Candel of Wageningen University assesses the varying, sometimes contradictory pressures which have led to the current wave of farmers’ protests. In a context of short-term concessions and political expediency, of populism and polarities, he nevertheless sees new opportunities for farming in an ecological transition. […]
The EU’s proposal to loosen the rules around the use of new genetic technologies in plant breeding has been greenlit by the European Parliament’s environment committee, meaning it is now on its way for a full Parliamentary vote in February. […]
With the EU elections just around the corner, policy makers are scrambling to push the last of the agrifood files across the finish line before Brussels switches into election mode. This means the next few months could prove decisive for the future direction of the agrifood sector. Natasha Foote looks ahead. […]
The Belgian Presidency intends to push on with the EU plan to slash the use and risk of pesticides despite its outright rejection by the European Parliament, according to a leaked proposed action plan seen by ARC. Natasha Foote reports from Brussels. […]
When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions reductions, there is a dynamic tension between the ambitious aims of the EU and its member states on the one hand, and the realities of embedded, entrenched elements of the economy such as agri-food on the other. The European Union set target in 2021: a 50% reduction in Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG) by 2030. Progress remains however, slow. Progress is especially slow in agriculture. Rasmus Larsen unpacks the situation in one of Europe’s intensive agriculture strongholds, Denmark, where, after faltering misfires, a new three way partnership has been proposed. What is this, and will it work? […]
In the wise words of American writer William Arthur Ward, a pessimist complains about the wind; an optimist expects it to change; a realist adjusts the sails – and ARC2024 plans to stay on course with compassion for people and nature in this new year. What might the coming year bring? It looks like rough waters lie ahead, which means reefing sails and riding high into the wind – but, of course, there will also be sunnier patches to enjoy along the way. ARC’s Hannes Lorenzen sets out what he sees in store for 2024. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention