Recent updates Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Nature Restoration Law News – Environment Committee Edging Towards Deal as EPP walks out

May 31, 2023 ARC

The main groups in the Environmental Committee have reached an agreement text on the Nature Restoration Law late this evening: “This evening the ENVI shadow rapporteurs of the Nature Restoration Law arrived at a package deal, which will be brought to the vote in the ENVI committee on 15th June” a short joint statement reads. […]

How will Environment Committee vote on Nature Restoration Law?

May 30, 2023 Oliver Moore

The Nature Restoration Law is in a perilous place at present. Having been rejected by two relevant Committees in the European Parliament outright, all eyes are on the Committee leading on the file – the Environment Committee, or ENVI. Oliver Moore with a brief explainer of the current state of affairs. […]

Agri MEPs Vote to Reject the Nature Restoration Law – what’s next?

May 23, 2023 ARC

MEPs from the Agri committee in the European Parliament have voted for complete rejection of the Nature Restoration Law (NRL). The vote was by a 2/3 majority – 30 for the rejection vs 16 against, with no abstentions. So what’s next? […]

Nature Restoration Law | Agri Committee’s Amendments Revealed – Reduced Targets, Increase Exemptions

May 22, 2023 Oliver Moore

A range of amendments to the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) have been tabled for Tuesday’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee in the European Parliament. Reduced targets, increased exemptions and a reduced role for NGOs are among the standout amendments. […]

A Summer off? Commission flip flops on NGTs and Pesticides

May 17, 2023 ARC

While the debate intensifies around pesticides and new genomic techniques (NGTs), the European Commission appears to be in a political battle on many fronts as to whether these topics are on or off its agenda for the Summer. […]

The Balkan Seed Network Leading the Way to Agrobiodiversity

May 13, 2023 Adèle Pautrat

Inaugurating the 2023 programme of field visits, Adèle Pautrat, coordinator of the Seeds4all project, and Hannes Lorenzen, President of the ARC2020 association, travelled to Belgrade, Serbia, in February and met several members of the Balkan Seed Network: Gordana Djurić (Alica Foundation, Bosnia-Herzegovina), Kostas Koutis (Aegilops, Greece), Ivana Radović (Ecological movement Frame of Life, Serbia) and Lavdosh Ferruni (Organic Agriculture Association, Albania). […]

Irish Tour part 1 – Agrobiodiversity as a Key Driver for Rural Revolution

May 13, 2023 Adèle Pautrat

From re-enchanting pride for local crops and know-how to real world solutions to help relocate historical production sectors, Adèle explored from different angles how best to instil self-sufficiency and resilience in rural territories. Throughout the journey, one common thread emerged: the crucial role that agrobiodiversity plays in driving territorial transitions and rural revolutions. […]

Are NGTs the Cure to our Pesticide Addiction?

May 2, 2023 Mathieu Willard

In its inception impact assessment for the deregulation of GMOs, the Commission argues that plants produced through New Genomic Techniques would contribute to sustainability goals outlined in the European Green Deal’s Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies. One of the main goals of the Farm to Fork Strategy is to reduce the use of pesticides by 50% by 2030. […]

Strengthening Multifunctional Agriculture through Digitalisation: Insights from Europe and Japan

April 27, 2023 Matteo Metta

We are told today that agriculture and rural areas are living through a pervasive digital transformation. But will digitalisation reverse the current productivism model or perpetuate it? At 72nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Regional Agricultural and Forestry Economics (ARAFE), Matteo Metta presented his insights on digital agriculture from the rural perspectives. The hybrid event took place last 23 October 2022 at the Ryukoku University (Kyoto, Japan) and touched upon key issues, global trends and local realities in agri, food, and rural transformations. […]

Sustainable Food Systems Law – EU Food Policy Coalition’s Recommendations for a Meaningful Transition

April 25, 2023 ARC

As the European Commission prepares for the launch of its proposal on the Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) Legislative Framework in late September, the EU Food Policy Coalition has published a joint report laying out clear policy recommendations for the SFS Law to ensure a meaningful transition to sustainable food systems across the European Union. Summary and report to download here. […]

The Michael Dower Award for European Rural Resilience

April 19, 2023 ARC

This weekend, our sights are set on England. The Michael Dower Award for European Rural Resilience will be launched in honour of the late European Englishman, at an event dedicated to his life and work, in the Peak District National Park on Saturday April 22nd. […]

GMO Deregulation Delayed – Where Are We At, Where Might We Be Going?

April 13, 2023 Mathieu Willard

The European Commission’s legislative proposal for the deregulation of new GMOs – or new genomic techniques as they are also known – is to be delayed from June 7th 2023 until at least the latter half of that month. Mathieu Willard contextualises recent events surrounding the controversial proposal with an overview of the current GMO regulatory framework and the possible policy options hinted at in an impact assessment leaked by AGRA FACTS. […]

France – Pesticides, Mega-Basins and Who Gets to do What

April 13, 2023 Ashley Parsons

The French retirement age isn’t the only debate making waves in the land of fraternity and croissants right now. One-third of French drinking water turns out to be contaminated thanks to a banned pesticide, which is unsettling news. So shouldn’t it be about time to retire some pesticides? This and the emergence of water-grabbing make up this this week’s round-up, French edition. Dive in with Ashley Parsons […]

Main stories

Ukraine Joining the EU – An Elephant in the Room

April 3, 2023 ARC

If Ukraine joins the European Union, and the current Common Agricultural Policy system of per hectare payments remains untransformed, oligarch-run conglomerates could become eligible for tens of millions of euros in taxpayer money. But this is not the only possible agricultural reality in an enlarged EU. There are farmers, researchers, civic initiatives and officials – like the delegates of Ukraine’s Vinnytsia region who visited Low Saxony in March 2023 – exploring ways to rebuild and reorient the country’s farming and food system in times of war. […]

Nature Pushed to the Backburner – EU Round Up

March 30, 2023 Ashley Parsons

The much-anticipated SUR legislation to reduce the use of pesticides in the EU faces another setback as it appears that the vote will not take place until autumn, or later. […]