Today, at an extraordinary EU Summit on 22 – 23 November, Heads of State will meet to discuss the EU Budget for the next period 2014 – 2020. With over 40% of the current budget allocated for the CAP; the outcome of the meeting will be fundamental to the reform process, and the future of food and farming in Europe.
At present, France, Spain and Italy are the states pushing strongest to maintain and protect the CAP budget, with states such as Germany, the UK and the Netherlands calling for substantial cuts in the budget across the board. Leading up to the Summit, ARC2020 came together with other civil society organisations to demand that the money is allocated for a policy that is fair to the small farmers of Europe, and ensures that environmental considerations are taken into account in the allocation of subsidies. However, following the proposal for extensive cuts issued by Van Rompuy last week, which included substantial cuts for rural development and green payments, NGOs are concerned.
Find more information and coverage of the summit here:
- EU budget summit wrap-up Videos from EurActiv
- See video footage here: http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/
- Overview of EU budget from the EU Parliament: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/content/20110429FCS18370/html/The-battle-for-the-EU’s-long-term-budget
- EU Council documents, including the meeting agenda: http://www.european-council.europa.eu/council-meetings.aspx?meeting=ce76542f-cb09-45c0-a2ec-f1597aa0da38&tab=News&lang=en
- Euractiv is providing live news feed:http://www.euractiv.com/priorities/eu-budget-summit-live-news-516168?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=EurActivRSS
Related news stories:
- EU budget talk failure puts CAP reform timetable under pressure Farmers Guardian
- France and Poland main winners in first round of EU budget talks EU Observer
- Positions still ‘quite far apart’ at EU budget summit Euractiv
- All eyes on Brussels as leaders remain divided on long-term EU budget AgraEurope
- Major cuts to CAP budget ‘unacceptable’, EU farmers warn Farmers Guardian
- Long-term budget deal to shape future of EU farm policy Europolitics
- Green farming agenda faces EU budget axe EurActiv
- Budget talks delay progress on CAP European Voice
- A €1tn scandal or money well spent: where does the EU budget go? The Guardian
- Battle lines drawn for EU’s budget summit European Voice
- EU budget summit offers hours of hard bargaining BBC News
- Latvia, Italy join club threatening to veto the EU budget EurActiv
- Merkel and Cameron Deadlocked ahead of Summit Spiegel
