On 12-13 June, Bucharest hosted the 14th NRNs' Meeting, co-organized by ENRD together wiith the Romanian Rural Network. The main topics of the event aimed connecting with project beneficiaries and supporting LEADER implementation.

Also, the event explored collaboration between NRNs on joint topics of interest.
Within the workgroups discussions, the conclusions aimed:

• role and involvement in an integrated territorial approach,
• the activities within the 2021-2027 period,
• improving living and work conditions in rural areas and introducing new technologies,
• importance of collecting examples of good practice
• applying smart villages concept and adapting it from country to country
• LAGs and their contribution in developing rural communities

  HIGH LEVEL CONFERENCE ON TRANSBOUNDARY ANIMAL DISEASES

• farmers' perspective on cross-border diseases risk management in order to ensure continuity of work,
• FAO assistance to states affected by cross-border diseases, including African Swine Fever (ASF) and Pest of small ruminants,
• EU's point of view on cross-border animal diseases,
• the role of EFSA in helping Member States to deal with these epidemics,
• the importance of cooperation in cross-border animal diseases,

On 4 June 2019, Minister Petre DAEA attended the 5th annual conference on the financial instruments of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development in the period 2014-2020, an event organized by the European Commission through the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development Rural Development and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The purpose of the conference was to provide an overview of the Commission's proposal to support agriculture and rural development through the CAP and through the financial instruments, the opportunities provided by the EAFRD financial instruments for EU Member States and regions and the experience of the EAFRD/RDP managing authorities on the use of financial instruments.

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development responds to the key needs identified at the level of the European Union and implicitly at our country’s level regarding the support for the financing of investments in agriculture and rural development through financial instruments" - Minister Petre Daea.

The event was attended by the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil HOGAN, together with high level representatives from the national, European and the EU Member States responsible for agriculture and rural development. Also, the event included specialists from EAFRD managing authorities and paying agencies in the European Union, as well as financial intermediaries, including financial institutions, fund managers, guarantee institutions, their associations and all other actors in the financial sector directly involved in the management of EAFRD financial instruments.

"Farmers and farms operate in special business conditions and therefore require customized financial instruments. Working with the EIB, we have made major progress in developing them in recent years, but we have to do more. "- Phil Hogan.

 

Also on 4 June, was held the informal meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Member States, event organized in the context of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The event took place at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest and was chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Petre Daea.

The informal meeting was attended by ministers of agriculture and fisheries from the EU Member States, Phil Hogan, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Jerzy Plewa, Director General of the European Commission, Angel Boixareu Carrera, General Director of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, Pesonen Pekka Juhana, Secretary General of Copa Cogeca, Paolo De Castro, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

The agenda included extremely relevant and updated topics for the Member States, in the context of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): agricultural research, innovation and bioeconomy - creating synergies - and key instrument for the rural development.

Agricultural research and bioeconomy are key priorities to allow farmers in EU countries comply with higher standards imposed by the CAP, especially on environment and climate.

Petre Daea highlighted the European Union's efforts to support research and innovation materialized as follows: the current research framework program Horizon 2020, rural development policy and the long-term strategy "A strategic approach to agricultural research and innovation in the EU", completed by the Commission in July 2016.

The discussions have underlined the relevance of sound policies and appropriate tools to ensure that farmers have the knowledge and results of these researches.

It was also restated the need that updating in the new CAP gives greater relevance to the building of a functioning system of agricultural knowledge and innovation (AKIS), to the cooperation and integration of the primary sector in the bioeconomic value chains to ensure sustainable development.

The unanimous idea was that agricultural research must play a more important role in developing solutions for a future that complies with the European objectives and with those of sustainable development, in line with local peculiarities.

Within the Council, ministers shared views on how to ensure a better policy orientation, in order to make sustainable a new model of agricultural business, especially in the bio-economy sector, to lead farmers to innovation and research.