Biodiversity Strategy Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Commission Releases Slew of Agri-Food Documents before Summer – here’s what you need to know.

July 10, 2023 Oliver Moore

School’s out for summer – and soon, the Brussels bubble will check out too. But not before a slew of new and updated regulations and legislations, impact assessments and more, all have their moment in the sun. Soil, seeds and NGTs, food waste, pesticides and of course the nature restoration law – it’s all coming thick and fast in these heady days. Oliver Moore and Ashley Parsons guide you through the brimming lunchboxes of the Brussels bureaucrats in these final days before summer break. […]

ENVI Committee Votes Down Nature Restoration Law Report – what happened and what’s next?

June 27, 2023 ARC

Today, the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety (ENVI) finished voting on amendments to the Nature Restoration Law. No majority was found for the law as amended, as the vote was once again split 44-44. So what happened and what’s next? […]

Nature Restoration Law avoids rejection in Parliament’s Environment Committee – what’s next?

June 15, 2023 ARC

The Nature Restoration Law (NRL) continues its perilous path towards enactment, surviving the first major hurdle at the Environment Committee in the European Parliament on the morning of today, Thursday 15th June. So what happened, and what’s next? […]

Nature Restoration Law | No, 10% of land will NOT be abandoned under NRL

June 11, 2023 Oliver Moore

Good news! The Nature Restoration Law (NRL) won’t, can’t and couldn’t cause the abandonment of 10% of Europe’s perfectly good farmland. This is important to know in advance of the vote on the 15th in the European Parliament’s Environment Committee. If this committee doesn’t pass the compromise NRL text, its likely over. So if you are contacting MEPs on the ENVI Committee – or if indeed you are one of those 88 MEPs – rest assured. These is no land abandonment in the NRL. Explainer by Oliver Moore. […]

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. […]

SUR – Pesticide Regulation – Delayed by Additional Impact Assessment

December 20, 2022 Ashley Parsons

Pressure from the pesticide lobby and big-ag has successfully delayed the SUR, a regulation essential to reaching Farm to Fork pesticide reduction targets across the EU. On December 19th, at a meeting of the EU Energy Council, the formal request for an additional impact assessment was passed without any Member State blocking it. So what’s next? […]

COP out – all eyes on 19th Dec as Council aims to derail Pesticide Regulation (SUR)

December 16, 2022 ARC

As Ministers meet in Montreal to pontificate about biodiversity, back home in Europe they are working hard to keep nature-destroying pesticides flowing. The EU’s attempt at updating the pesticide regulation – the SUR – may be delayed by 6 months if Ministers get their way, making final passage more difficult. Scientists and civil society are now focused on the Council Meeting 19th December when the next delay of SUR may be copper-fastened. Ashley Parsons and Oliver Moore report. […]

EU Green Deal | Good Food Good Farming Campaign To Get Citizens On Board

June 9, 2021 ARC

A year on from the launch of the EU Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies, the Good Food Good Farming coalition is running an exciting social media campaign to raise citizens’ awareness of the problems of industrial agriculture and illustrate a path towards a better future for food and farming. […]

EU COVID-19 Recovery Plan – “No Effective Support” for Greener Ag

March 15, 2021 Hans Wetzels

According to a new policy note by ClientEarth, the EU COVID19-recovery plan is a missed opportunity to make agriculture more sustainable – ‘Instead of tying these resources to effective green conditions, the Council and European Parliament have given Member States carte blanche.’ Hans Wetzels has more. […]

CAP Reform | Postcards From The Future

November 4, 2020 Hannes Lorenzen

The European Commission has initiated the process of building a vision for rural Europe for 2040. But to be genuinely valuable, a visioning exercise should look no further than the near future. ARC2020 president Hannes Lorenzen envisions the next seven years, looking ahead to 2027 before bringing us back to 2021 and the present day. […]

EU Green Deal | Carbon Farming Not Compatible With Agroecology

June 16, 2020 ARC

The agriculture section of the EU Green Deal is plagued with contradictions. On the plus side, it finally acknowledges the need to massively develop agroecology. But Farm to Fork advocates for a range of false solutions, including so-called “carbon farming”. All agricultural models cannot coexist, argue Manon Castagné and François Delvaux in this op-ed. […]

CAP and Biodiversity | Wake-Up Call For Green Deal Commission?

June 12, 2020 Louise Kelleher

Last week’s damning report on CAP and biodiversity was a wake-up call. But will the Green Deal Commission go back to sleep? The European Court of Auditors insists CAP must deliver more in the 2030 biodiversity strategy. Civil society organizations are now watching closely to see the Commission doesn’t hit snooze and sink back into business as usual. Louise Kelleher takes us through the reactions. […]

European Green Deal | Revving Up For CAP Reform, Or More Hot Air?

June 11, 2020 Matteo Metta

The European Green Deal has the potential to shape the CAP towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly policy. But as we’ve seen with the debate surrounding the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies published last month, it can also distract attention from the less obvious problems of the CAP. Analysis by Matteo Metta. […]

CAP | Billions Spent on Biodiversity with Little Impact – Auditors

June 7, 2020 Louise Kelleher

The EU has funnelled €66 billion into farmland biodiversity since 2014 – and has little to show for it. That’s the conclusion of a special report released on Friday by the European Court of Auditors. The auditors slammed the half-baked targets of the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy, its odd-couple relationship with CAP, lack of monitoring, and some very un-smart spending by the European Commission. A series of recommendations have been made. Louise Kelleher reports. […]

How will CAP & EU Green Deal Strategies Integrate?

May 22, 2020 Oliver Moore

Hidden away in a footnote, away from the fanfare of the launch of the EU Green Deal’s Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies, was a nonetheless crucially important document. A document that links vision to the practical CAP work member states are currently conducting. So what’s in it, what’s missing, and what does it say about power relations between the Institutions and the Member States? […]