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Newsflash

ARC NEWSFLASH March 2014

March 3, 2014 ARC

Dear friends and supporters, In March, the fourth round of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will take place in Brussels.  Since the last round of negotiations in December, more evidence the secretive nature of these negotiations has emerged, as reported by Corporate Europe Observatory: “In the 29 documents which were ‘partially released’, DG Trade has removed large parts of the text (…). In some cases, like a meeting with lobbyists from Fertilizers Europe, every single word has been removed from the document.” A glimmer of hope was offered at the end of January, when the Commission announced a public consulation on the so-called investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) part of the agreement. According to the official press release, the decision follows ‘unprecedented interest in the talks’ and in early March, De Gucht will publish a proposed EU text for the investment part of the talks on which people across the EU will have three months to comment.  We featured an opinion piece on thethreats the TTIP poses to Romanian peasants and farmers, and a prognosis of TTIP stakeholder […]

Briefing notes: Seeds

February 5, 2014 ARC

Farmers & growers have saved seeds since farming & growing began. Seeds are a core and essential part of many farming systems, and farmers’ ownership and control of seeds  – seeds they save, open pollinated seeds, and an apt, varied range of seeds for both food security and food sovereignty – is one of the biggest agri-food issues of our times. Key Issues The nexus of the problem with how seeds operate in the food system is this: a small handful of agri-food and chemical giants have significant control of the ever tightening seed market. Meanwhile small farmers, gardeners and growers are finding it more and more difficult to save and access seeds.  Current proposals at the EU level may compound this situation. These are also threats to seed saving, often under the guise of supposed improvements in efficiency, performance and safety. When legislation is written with the interests of the major corporations involved in seeds in mind, it inevitably ends up promoting a business-as-usual model of limited varieties, use of pesticides, GM and other agri-industrial inputs and […]

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Briefing notes: Land Grabbing

February 4, 2014 ARC

Land grabbing occurs when land that was previously used by local communities is leased or sold to outside investors, including corporations and governments. Local communities may lose their land by force, intimidation or misinformation, and can be left landless and dispossessed, without the means to sustain their livelihoods. The land that has been ‘grabbed’ is then often used for commodity crops, including agrofuels. Land grabbing is often accompanied by severe environmental degradation, the destruction of healthy ecosystems, water, soil and air. Key Issues Demand for land is increasing as the global population grows and the availability of fertile land and water is threatened by climate change and overconsumption. Investors and investor countries may be driven to the acquisition of foreign land by food security concerns, the prospect of rising land value, or the extractive and tourism industries. These land acquisitions often take place without the concern or consultation of the affected local communities, and without sufficient assessments of environmental and social impacts. Frequently bought or leased for extremely low prices, the land is often cultivated […]

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Briefing notes: TTIP

February 3, 2014 ARC

By Dr. Oliver Moore Communications Manager Arc20020 (major update June 2015; periodical updates since) In July 2013, the EU and U.S. started negotiations on a bilateral free trade and investment agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). This potential deal is supposedly about simplifying the trade arrangements between the US and EU: it’s mooted to be  about rooting out inefficiencies such as unnecessary double inspections and acknowledging similar standards where they exist. The idea is that it will increase trade between the two regions, improving the economy and generating employment along the way. Mainstream voices of politics and business support TTIP as a likely source of jobs and growth, without, they claim, impacting negatively on the EU’s higher health, environment, labour and other standards. Critics however,  claim that this agreement could have a major negative impact on food, agriculture, environment and labour standards on both sides of the Atlantic. Video: What is the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership? By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube As tariffs […]

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European Parliament vote: a poor deal for nature, for best farming practices and for rural Europe

November 22, 2013 ARC

(Brussels, 22/11/2013) BEGINS The European Parliament held its final vote on Wednesday 20th November on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In voting as it did, Parliament has it intensified the failure to deliver what was supposed to be a fairer, simpler and greener agriculture policy for Europe. ”Business as usual has prevailed at 90%” said Benedikt Haerlin of  NGO platform ARC2020.EU and Meine Landwirtschaft.  “Unfortunately the role of the European Parliament had been to substantially  cut back on the initial progress towards sustainability proposed by the European Commission. From 2014 to 2020 we will see at least as many farms being closed down within the European Union, organic farming will suffer financially, biodiversity will suffer even more and the role of the European Union in the world will continue to be a resource-sucker at the expense of the global poor and the environment.” Importantly, all amendments, some of which could have improved the proposals, were dropped and not voted on. This democratically questionable move occurred due to a change in the voting order of the overall EU budget […]

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Recent updates

–ARC2020: New Toolkit on CAP Reform and Rural Development

October 13, 2013 ARC

ARC2020 PRESS RELEASE 25.09.2013 For immediate release Vital new Toolkit from ARC2020 on CAP reform and Rural Development A vital and timely new Toolkit on the Common Agriculture Policy and Rural Development in the EU has been released by the ARC2020 team. With political agreement on remaining CAP issues reached between the European Parliament, the EU Council of Ministers and the European Commission Tuesday evening, before further urgent discussions and votes in the Parliament and Council, the timing could not be more apt for the release of thisToolkit. This working document will prove invaluable for organisations and citizens making the case for good food, good farming and better rural policies in Europe. The big issues in the CAP reform process have been examined in detail by ARC2020’s expert team and partners. From this work has come the Toolkit, the first version of which contains all of the latest CAP related developments, as well as specific proposals for how stakeholders can improve this CAP reform during the implementation stage up to mid-2014. This toolkit, which can be found of ARC2020’s website here, explains the CAP’s “when, what and how can we […]