Recent updates

CAP Simplification – simply destroying greening?

According to the EU Commission, a first set of specific actions towards CAP simplification have been announced by Commissioner Phil Hogan, on issues related to the guidelines for Direct Payments this year. Hogan explained: “Some of the proposals which concern direct payments do not require changing the legislative rules, but can be implemented at the level of our current guidelines, and applicable already this year. I intend to follow-up on these proposals by making 6 concrete changes which should facilitate the lives of farmers and national administrations.” These six changes proposed relate to the EFA-layer (Ecological Focus Area), adjacent EFAs, the LPIS (Land Parcel Identification system) and compensation of EFAs in case of wrong declaration. More specifically, the Commission intends: to accept that Member States, that so wish, only need to map declared EFAs; to allow flexibility as regards the identification of EFA’s in the EFA-layer (concerns hedges or wooded strips and trees in line); to allow hedges or wooded strips with gaps up to 4 metres; as regards the implementation of adjacent EFA, in […]

Main stories

Weak Draft TTIP Resolution Adopted

 (updated 28/05/2015, 30/05/2015 and  01/06/2015) The European Parliament’s trade committee today adopted a weak resolution on the parliament’s position on TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This disappointing resolution was adopted by what sources describe as a “grand coalition” of centre, centre right and centre left groupings. It  failed to include any criticism of the controversial ISDS investor protection mechanism. According to Friends of the Earth Europe, the draft resolution, which is to be debated in plenary on 10 June “is the unique opportunity for the European Parliament to give its opinion on the on-going trade talks between the EU and the US.” Friends of the Earth Europe however “condemned the outcome of the vote as a weak resolution failing to draw clear red lines on some of the biggest dangers of the proposed trade deal”. Because of today’s adoption, the resolution itself will be only include very  weak language, language which in no significant way reflects the depth of citizen concern and anger at TTIP and, especially, ISDS – Investor-State Dispute Settlement  – the […]

Latest from key partners

WTO’s COOL Ruling confirms that trade treaties undermine national laws

ARC2020 UPDATE and Comment 28/05/2015 According to leaked EU Commission documents mandatory origin labeling for food will not be introduced. While there is already a voluntary label on mainstream meat products, both milk products and other meat products (such as “horse meat, rabbit and game”) will also only be eligible for the voluntary label. There will be no mandatory label for any meat or milk or processed foods now, according to the ViEUws report, because this would lead to “higher operating costs and a hike in food prices…it would also “disrupt cross boarder trade and increase costs”. So, reports ViEUws, the EU is likely to keep this labeling as Voluntary. (See at  5 mins 51 sec in the recent ViEUws Brussels Briefing at end of this post). This is remarkably similar to the language and reasoning of the WTO, as outlined below by Shefali Sharma. This also points to significant regulatory harmonisation, a form of ISDS by the back door. Article by Shefali Sharma  of IATP. On May 8th, President Obama told a crowd in Oregon: […]

Latest from EU Member States

Romania: Redrawing CAP Support Areas to Favour Oligarchs and Land Grabbers

Written by Attila Szocs, Land Rights Campaigner at Eco Ruralis This week, Romania received the formal approval from the European Commission for the starting of the National Rural Development Plan (NRDP) for the 2014-2020 time frame. This enables the Romanian Ministry for Agriculture, to launch all measures of the program. Formal declarations were made at the end of an official meeting in Bucharest, between Phil Hogan, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Daniel Constantin, Romanian Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development. A delicate matter was raised during the discussions. The Romanian authorities requested the re-designation of the “Less Favored Areas” (LFAs) of the country, given the fact that some of the provisions led to the exclusion of vulnerable areas which were formerly part of support plans. Commissioner Hogan underlined that the issue is known at an EU level but that “there is a regulatory problem which cannot be solved”. A paradox situation, given the fact that the Romanian Ministry for Agriculture accomplished the re-designation in the first place.  LFAs are geographical areas where agricultural production is qualitatively and quantitatively […]

No Picture

CAP reform towards 2020: Pillar 1 direct payments implementation by EU Member States

In the CAP reform deal agreed in June 2013, both Council and Parliament have supported greater flexibilities for implementing Pillar 1 new direct payment schemes. As a result for some, the CAP would seem to be less “common” and be more “à la carte”. However, since the 2003 reform had already introduced a phasing-in agenda for decoupled payments, CAP is already implemented through differentiated schemes among the MS. With the 2013 reform, many new schemes aiming at improving the direct aids targeting are mandatory (greening, young farmers) while other are facultative (i.e. optional) (coupled payments, payments for areas with natural constraints, small farmers scheme). Only their implementation modalities can be adjusted: upsizing or at the contrary downsizing the redistribution of CAP money among farmers according to national/regional priorities. Whether the CAP reform has been decided by 28 Member States (MS) and the European Parliament, it will been applied within 32 EU territorial constituencies. In the UK, regional jurisdictions will apply the CAP reform according to their distinctive boundaries in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. […]

Latest from key partners

Communities taking control of the food revolution

Another way to do food is possible. And its here. Friends of the Earth Europe’s  “Eating from the Farm – the social, environmental, and economic benefits of local food systems” show us inspirational examples of where you can  shake the hand that feeds you, all around Europe. This new publication explores the many myriad benefits of short food supply chains, and how they function in few countries in the EU. It “features five case studies which illustrate different ways in which communities are finding more sustainable ways to produce and consume food with benefits for all” FOEE say about the publication . They continue “The methods vary, but the outcomes are the same: control of the food system is being taken back by small-scale, sustainable farms and food enterprises from large-scale industrial businesses that dominate the market today putting profit ahead of well being for people and planet.” The milestone of more urban than rural dwellers reached globally as long ago as 2007.  This, coupled with a the twin demands of the sustainable use of resources and […]

david-cronin new
Main stories

How TTIP would outlaw alternatives to capitalism

Guest post by David Cronin What is the real objective of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)? We can get a good idea from watching a video recorded recently in Brussels. It features Cecilia Malmström, the European commissioner for trade, defending highly controversial plans to usher in a court system whereby corporations could sue against government decisions they do not like. According to Malmström, “companies need to have some sort of protection” against such issues as “nationalisation”. Intentional or not, that statement illustrates how the key negotiators of TTIP are in thrall to a right-wing ideology. The idea that certain economic activities could be nationalised – placed under public ownership – is anathema to them. TTIP would be a legally-binding accord effectively saying that capitalism is the only permissible system in the European Union and the United States. In the same video, Malmström insists she has “no secret agenda”. And to be fair, the Swede has been slightly more transparent than the EU’s previous trade chiefs. The irony is that the modicum of transparency she has […]

No Picture

Webinars on TTIP

ARC2020 together with IATP has hosted 4 webinars on TTIP. In case you missed it or you would like to recap, you find the recordings below. Webinar: TTIP and Animal Welfare 26.02.2015 The EU and US have very different rules on the treatment of farm animals. The EU recognizes animals as sentient beings and requires Member states to respect their welfare, banning some of the worst forms of cruelty, many of which are common in the United States. Progress has been more limited in the U.S., but animal welfare activists won a major victory with California’s passage of a new law banning eggs produced in battery cages. The EU has proposed non-binding language on animal welfare in the draft text in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), but animal welfare advocates worry that this weak language will only make things worse. In fact, other language in TTIP intended to harmonize standards could jeopardize laws like the California ban and make it more difficult to raise animal welfare or food safety standards.  Presenters include: Joyce […]