Speaking in front of over 400 stakeholders from the agricultural sector, Commissioner Hogan today presented his vision for agriculture in the European Union and the future of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Addressing agricultural export competition has been a longstanding demand from many countries, notably developing and least-developed countries. Advancing on this issue would make the multilateral trading system fairer, it would support farmers world-wide, and it would create a more level playing field for trade across the globe.

The Guidelines aim to support European farmers by clarifying how they can, under certain conditions, cooperate to jointly sell olive oil, beef and veal, and arable crops without breaching EU competition rules. These markets are worth more than €80 billion annually. The European Commission has adopted new Guidelines on how specific...

The European organic movement stimulates and rewards the further development of organic systems, improving the resilience and environmental performance of organic production systems, while innovative tools for upholding the integrity of the supply chain promote trust. Policy makers and citizens widely recognize and value the contribution of organic farming to...

The Rural Development Programme (RDP) for Cyprus was formally adopted by the European Commission on 3 December 2015, outlining the priorities of the Republic of Cyprus for using the €243.3 million of public money that is available for the 7-year period 2014-2020 (€132.2 million from the EU budget and €...

This report presents the case of demonstration farms that operate within a cooperation network. The purpose of the study was to present the advisory opportunities in the process of linking education and the needs of farmers, with regard to innovative knowledge. In this process the advisory role was shown through...

In September 2015, not only agri-food exports but also imports to the EU went up compared to the previous month (EUR +388 million; +4.5%). In particular, values of oilseeds other than soybeans, coffee and tea, and cocoa beans were at a higher level in September compared to August 2015. EU...

The recent USDA ERS International Food Security Assessment (IFSA, 2015) reports sharp declines (roughly 40 %) in food-insecure people in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) during the last 20 years. Success was driven by rising per capita grain output in both regions and rapid import growth in...

Since the mid-2000s agricultural and food prices moved to a higher level and in parallel with prices of other commodities – and at times have also been very volatile. These events led to concerns which, in different ways, brought to the forefront a debate about food security. Both developed and...

There is a wide consensus among scholars and policy makers that knowledge is a key resource to support European agriculture in meeting new challenges such as e.g. international competition, food safety, health or environmental issues. Organisations delivering farm advice are targeted by different EU policies, such as the “Farm Advisory...

Farms are the basic organisational unit for agricultural production. How many farms are there in the EU and how has their number changed in recent years? Are they becoming bigger and more specialised? And what about the farmers who take production decisions and receive CAP payments – what do we...

Young farmers are now at the heart of Europe’s common agricultural policy. This is one of the greatest achievements of the reform which was adopted in 2013. The European Union has put in place a strong tool — a modern and forward-looking agricultural policy — which will apply all across...

The total organic area in the EU-28 (i.e. the area fully converted to organic production and area under conversion) was 10.3 million hectares (ha) in 2014 and continues to show an upward trend. The increase in area between 2013 and 2014 was 2.3 %, compared with +0.2 % between 2012...

Bringing farmers and consumers closer together, short supply chains can take many forms. All over Europe, the term covers a range of direct selling, from selling on the farm, at farmers’ markets, or via the internet. Often characterised by personal contact between the producer and the customer, they also offer...

This brief provides a first overview of the production costs, margins and incomes of EU farms specialised in cereal production based on the latest available data (to 2012) from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). Trends from 2004 to 2012 are provided for EU common wheat, durum wheat, grain maize...

Milk and dairy products have been part of the cultural gastronomic heritage of the Mediterranean for thousands of years. If Mediterranean cheeses are mouth-watering for the entire world, they also represent a vital economy for all producer countries. This Watch Letter aims at providing an overview of a sector of...

In the „Land Rights Campaign“ Eco Ruralis exposes the impact of land grabbing in Romania regarding large-scale land investments through documentation and analysis. This work contributes to awareness rising about this problem across the entire society. First of all, we aim to disseminate the information to our members – Romanian peasants – and...

The year 2014 has been a momentous year for the common agricultural policy (CAP) and for agricultural trade relations with our partner countries in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states. We have seen the beginning of the implementation of the CAP reform and successfully concluded economic partnership...

The agricultural markets and their prices have evolved substantially during the last decade. World trade in agricultural goods has soared from the combined influence of strong population growth, changing diets and increasing income levels in developing countries.

The rising demand for agricultural products, combined with the need to protect the environment, has put pressure on the EU executive to find “innovative” ways in the farming sector. Several stakeholders claim that introducing new technologies in EU farming would help the sector address this challenge.