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When:
13/07/2012
Where:
Brussels, Belgium
Topic:
Agriculture, fisheries and food
Organiser:
European Commission
The news:
On 13 July 2012, the European Commission will organize a conference on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) towards 2020 – Taking stock with civil society. The event comes as a follow-up to the broad consultation on the challenges faced by European agriculture in 2010, which culminated in a similar conference in July 2010. This comes at the initiative of Dacian Cioloş, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development who has always underlined that "the CAP is not just for farmers, it is for all EU citizens – but carried out by farmers".
The conference will provide a forum for civil society to discuss the CAP reform proposals for post-2013 which were published by the Commission in October 2011. The conference will focus on food security; the sustainable management of natural resources and mitigation and adaptation to climate change; and maintaining the territorial balance of rural areas in the EU.
The background:
The Common Agricultural Policy is due to be reformed by 2013. After a wide-ranging public debate held in 2010, the Commission presented a Communication outlining options for the future CAP and launching the debate with the other institutions and stakeholders. This concluded that the 3 main challenges for the future CAP were food security, the sustainable management of natural resources and maintaining the territorial balance. In October 2011 the Commission then presented a set of legal proposals to make the CAP more effective for a more competitive and sustainable agriculture and vibrant rural areas. Under co-decision with the Council and the European Parliament, the aim is to reach a political agreement on CAP reform in early 2013, so that all the different regulations and implementing acts can be completed by the end of 2013, with a view to having the CAP reform in place as from 1 January 2014.
In line with the other Commission policy initiatives for the period after 2013, the reformed CAP will promote jobs and growth, promote innovation, fight against climate change, and enhance both the economic and ecological competitiveness of agriculture.
The event:
The conference will be opened by Dacian Cioloş Commissioner for Agriculture & Rural Development, Sofoclis Aletraris, Minister for Agriculture, Natural Resources & Environment of the Republic of Cyprus, President in office of the Council, and Czesław Siekierski, Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture & Rural Development.
In the course of plenary sessions and workshops, speakers will include senior officials from the Commission's AGRI Directorate General, farmers and food industry organisations, research institutes, think tanks active in environment and agriculture, and international organisations (OECD, FAO) will intervene in the plenary sessions and workshops. The event will end with a press conference.
Participation in the conference is on invitation only. Everybody will, however, have the opportunity to follow the event through live streaming.
