EU green deal Archives - Agricultural and Rural Convention

The EU’s New Big Budget Bombshell – Here’s What We Know So Far

July 9, 2025 Natasha Foote

Buckle up – July is shaping up to be a blockbuster month for the EU agrifood sector. In a double-whammy move, the European Commission is set to unveil not one but two major proposals on 16 July that will shape the sector’s future: the blueprint for the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the next €1.2 trillion EU budget. Natasha Foote talks you through what’s brewing in Brussels and the panic in the corridors of power. […]

This Farmer Says He’s Not Drowning in Paperwork – He’s Swimming in EU Money

June 25, 2025 Natasha Foote

A few weeks ago, I came to a shocking realisation. After 6 years of writing about the ins and outs of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – the politics, the people, the policy, the reform(s), and every angle in between – I had never actually seen the CAP subsidy application form. […]

The EU’s Public Plate – An Opportunity for Food System Transformation

June 18, 2025 ARC

Public procurement of food in the EU is worth billions annually – money that could help deliver healthy meals in schools, hospitals and nursing homes, while supporting sustainable agriculture, fair incomes for farmers and workers’ rights. As the EU prepares to revise its procurement directives, this op-ed by ICLEI’s Jean-Marc Louvin asks why the potential of sustainable food procurement is still untapped – even as many local and regional governments are already demonstrating what’s possible […]

Pruning the EU’s Farming Policy: Have CAP’s Green Shoots Survived the Shears?

May 20, 2025 Natasha Foote

The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is once again being trimmed down to size, with the Commission reaching for the shears in an attempt to cut back what it sees as an overgrown subsidy programme. But it’s not just the deadwood that is being cut away, but also some of its remaining green shoots. Natasha Foote brings you the latest from Brussels. […]

LEAK – Sneak Peek At New EU Farming Policy Simplification Shake-Up

May 12, 2025 Natasha Foote

Leaner but not greener with a new era of flexibility and power to member states – these are some of the changes on the menu for the EU’s new plan to simplify the Common Agricultural Policy, according to a leaked document that ARC2020 got its hands on. Natasha Foote gives you a sneak peek of what’s to come. […]

Spilling Europe’s Dirty Secrets: Uncorking the Toxic Trade in Banned Pesticides

April 17, 2025 Natasha Foote

Pesticides deemed too toxic for Europe are still being produced here and sold abroad to be sprayed on fields where farm workers live, work, and raise their children – but these are also fields that help feed Europe. What is the human cost behind Europe’s toxic trade in banned pesticides? And, as the EU looks at ways to realign its trade standards, why does it continue to put profit over people? To uncork this double standard, ARC2020’s Natasha Foote reports from the ground in South Africa. […]

Why Simplification of CAP May Get Complicated

April 9, 2025 Natasha Foote

A simpler, streamlined EU farming subsidy programme can only be a good thing … right? Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Here, Natasha Foote digs into what we currently know about the next simplification shake up of the Common Agricultural Policy and why keeping it simple is not always so straightforward. […]

Shortsighted Vision: Unpacking EU’s new agrifood policy plans

February 20, 2025 Natasha Foote

The EU has unveiled its new Vision for Agriculture and Food which, despite the name, is not exactly what you would call ‘visionary’. So what does the EU’s new agricultural game plan envisage – or not – for the future of the sector, and does this spell the official death of the Farm to Fork strategy? Natasha Foote breaks down all you need to know. […]

LEAK: A sneak peek at the EU’s new blueprint for agrifood policy

February 13, 2025 Natasha Foote

Tough on trade, but more lax on CAP – that’s a quick summary of the EU’s new blueprint for agriculture and food, according to a leaked draft that ARC2020 got its hands on. So what’s on the menu for agrifood policy for the next 5 years? Natasha Foote takes a first look at what the Vision envisages for the sector. […]

EU’s Competitiveness Compass – North-Pointing or are Things Heading South for Agri Policy?

February 2, 2025 Natasha Foote

Competitiveness is the key word of this new Von der Leyen Commission 2.0 – and the EU’s new ‘Competitive Compass’ is supposed to steer it onto a path towards security and economic prosperity. But far from pointing North, many see it as a sign of things heading South for the green and agricultural transition over the next 5 years. Natasha Foote breaks down what you need to know. […]

Ukraine – The Elephant in the Room that Could Unlock CAP Reform

November 19, 2024 Hans Wetzels

Ukraine is on our screens every day. Still the countryside and its people mainly appear either as victims of war or as soldiers – not as citizens, workers or farmers. When it comes to its vast swaths of agricultural and rural areas, mostly the largest farming entities and their difficulties to export make it into the news. But there is a surprising rural reality in Ukraine that should play a key role when taking a closer look at what a possible EU accession after the war would mean for Ukrainians and citizens of the EU alike. […]

Broken Tree-ty: Centre-right looks to further hollow out the EU’s Deforestation Law

November 7, 2024 Natasha Foote

Moves are afoot to slip new amendments into the EU’s recently delayed deforestation law in an attempt to further derail and delay the law from entering into application. Centre right European People’s Part (EPP) is proposing a raft of changes which weaken the deforestation law. So what is the group up to? Natasha Foote has the news. […]

CAP not Matching Europe’s Green Ambitions, say Auditors (again)

September 30, 2024 Oliver Moore

CAP 2023-2027 is greener than the previous CAP – but plans “do not match the EU’s ambitions for the climate and the environment”. That’s according to the ECA – the European Court of Auditors – which released it’s special report Monday 30th September. So what’s in it? Oliver Moore delves in for an initial read. […]

An Agrifood Stakeholder’s Guide to the EU’s New Power Structure

September 18, 2024 Natasha Foote

There’s a lot of new faces in new places this week in Brussels as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has finally revealed her picks and priorities for her new team of Commissioners over this next 5 year political cycle. So who will be the ones shaping the future of the agrifood sector in the years to come? Natasha Foote outlines all the main players likely to feature in the agrifood policy game to come over the next few years. […]

CAP Strategic Plans: A European Food and Agricultural Policy for Times of War

September 17, 2024 Frederic Courleux

The EU’s recent decision to tax Russian cereals over Ukrainian ones, and the maintenance of solidary lanes with Ukraine despite protests, highlights the relationship between policy and geopolitical tensions. So where next for the CAP? Frederic Courleux argues that CAP must evolve from its neoliberal framework to prioritize food security, economic stability, as well as agro-ecological sustainability. This transition includes securing trade through government-to-government agreements, fostering food stockpiling for inflation control, and integrating food aid into agricultural policies. […]