Latest from EU Member States

Working for Land Rights in Romania

By Attila Szocs, Eco Ruralis Land Rights Campaigner Land grabbing in Romania is reaching a blatant level but mobilisation against it is scaling up too. On the 26-27th of September, 2015, Eco Ruralis hosted in Cluj Napoca the first meeting of a newly established Working Group on the Right to Land. During the gathering, Eco Ruralis members and supporters debated important land related problems faced by peasants and agroecological food producers: lack of transparency behind large land acquisitions, equitable access to land for young and future farmers and land policies oriented towards land concentration. The meeting specified future collaboration by the group in order to intervene on the issue of land grabbing and fair access to land in Romania. Defining land grabbing generated an interesting debate inside the group. Several criteria were raised, taking into consideration quantitative and qualitative indicators of what is a land grab. First of all, we noted the duality of the Romanian countryside, where more than half of the available lands are cultivated by small farmers, while the other part is controlled by companies and other actors. This obviously opens up […]

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Nourish Scotland Conference explores a Citizens’ Agricultural Policy

What would people–centred food governance look like? This is the crucial question to be addressed in Edinburgh, Scotland 22-23rd October. BOOK NOW Nourish Scotland, in cooperation with ARC2020, will host “Towards a Citizens’ Agricultural Policy” an event which will gather citizens, farmers, civil society, and representatives from regions and cities to rethink the governance of food and farming policies in Europe and Scotland. According to Nourish Scotland “our food system is failing to support a healthy, well-nourished population, while driving dangerous climate change and destroying natural capital. The Common Agricultural Policy is a colossal public policy intervention, using 39% of the EU budget and shaping the farming policies of Member States. It could drive improvement in public health, rural economies, and sustainable food and farming; but it doesn’t. And it won’t until our food system is governed democratically for the common good.” Confirmed speakers Alyn Smith is a Scottish Member of the European Parliament & Member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. David Barnes is Chief Agricultural Officer for Scotland. Nora McKeon is […]

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EU Trade Secrets Directive Threatens Investigative Media

Written by: Claire Bernardin, Land Rights intern at Eco Ruralis; additional content via Corporate Europe Observatory. “Soon, journalists and their sources could be sued by companies if they reveal what these companies want to keep secret. Unless we react to defend the investigative work of journalists and, by extension, the right for citizen to be informed. Under the alibi of the fight against industrial espionage, the European Parliament is preparing a new massive weapon against journalism,”trade secrets”, whose definition allows not less then an unprecedented censorship in Europe.” That’s according to the petition launched by Elise Lucet, a French investigative journalist, which is  approaching half a million signatures. It all started on November 28th 2013 when the Commission submitted a draft proposal aiming to homogenise the definition of a trade secret throughout the EU. This would fight economic and industrial espionage by protecting companies against the unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure of the aforementioned trade secrets, thus enhancing competitiveness in the Union. However, voices arose among civil society to denounce the dangerous vagueness of the bill. […]

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40 countries represented at upcoming European Rural Parliament November 4-6

This November sees the European Rural Parliament (ERP) 2015  gathering, to be held in the beautiful small town of Schärding in Upper Austria. This three-day event, with one day of study tours in regions surrounding the venue, followed by two days of workshops and plenary sessions. The aim of the European Rural Parliament is To strengthen the voice of the rural communities of Europe, and to ensure that the interests and well-being of these communities are strongly reflected in national and European policies To promote self-help, common understanding, solidarity, exchange of good practice and cooperation among rural communities throughout Europe. This event will culminate in the adoption of a European Rural Manifesto and supporting Report, aimed at both rural communities and governments throughout Europe and at European Institutions. Over 300 people from 40 countries will attend, plus other leading rural organisations and invited representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament, and Council of Europe. The European Rural Manifesto, and supporting report, will be published and used to influence European institutions and national and regional […]