Following several DG AGRI audits in the F&V sector that have led to financial recoveries and put operational programmes at risk in the past few years, DG AGRI has decided to amend EU regulation 891/2020.
This is an opportunity the sector has to modify and fine-tune this piece of legislation. At AREFLH we believe we should do our best to achieve some positive results for our sector in this reform process, also with the help of the European Parliament. DG AGRI plans to finalise the revision of EU reg. 891/2020 by the end of 2020 and with together with our members, we are currently drafting some amendment proposals.
AREFLH has been, for a few years, organising the secretariat of the European chestnut network, called Eurocastanea. It brings together national and regional chestnut-related organisations from France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Austria. In October Eurocastanea, AREFLH and partners are organising a webinar on the European chestnut market and the impact of Covid-19.
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis is putting a significant strain on the EU agri-food supply chain. Measures introduced to slow down the spread of the pandemic, such as quarantine, increased border controls and shutdown of the economy, are expected to affect or have affected the operators of the agri-food supply chain profoundly.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission is implementing a survey to monitor the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on operators in the EU agri-food supply chains. The survey will help to better understand the resilience, constraints and responses of operators in the agri-food chain in order to contribute with the relevant evidence to EU policy making. The survey covers two different periods: phase I (or lockdown) and phase II (recovery) periods. It also explores operators’ expectations on future prospective and necessary measures to support market activities.
The European Commission has launched last Friday a public consultation on its future Action Plan on Organic Farming. This sector will play an important role in achieving the European Green Deal ambition, and reaching the objectives set out in the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies. It is a priority for the Commission to ensure that the organic farming sector has the right tools in place as well as a well-functioning and consensual legal framework which is key to achieving the objective of 25% of agricultural land dedicated to organic farming. While the new organic regulation provides a solid basis, secondary legislation still to be adopted needs to be equally resilient. At the request of Member States, the European Parliament, third countries, and other stakeholders, the Commission has therefore proposed today as well to postpone the entry into force of the new organic legislation by one year, from 1 January 2021 to 1 January 2022.
This summer the French Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie awarded the insignia of Officer of Agricultural Merit to François Lafitte, president of Gefel, Apfelso, Prim'Land, and an AREFLH administrator. During the ceremony, the French Minister of Agriculture highlighted the commitment of this professional attached to the rural world, whom he described as an entrepreneur who loves the collective.
After adopting its roadmap "Occitania 2040" at the end of last year, the French Region Occitania confirms its commitment to greater sustainability with the adoption of its Green New Deal at the Plenary Assembly on 16 July. The first part of the plan concerns food. A citizens' convention will also be set up in September to enrich the work carried out by the Region.
Horizon Europe, and its Strategic Plan in particular, is being developed in an intensive co-design process so that it targets issues that matter most. So far, over 9000 people have taken part in this process, making it one of the largest co-design exercises that the Commission has ever led. To get ready for the programme’s launch in 2021, the Commission has launched this latest consultation (open until 14th September).
EU missions aim to deliver solutions to some of our greatest societal challenges, such as cancer, adaptation to climate change, healthy oceans, climate-neutral cities and healthy soil and food. The Commission is designing and creating these missions together with input from Europeans to ensure that the missions meet their expectations and needs. As part of this process, an interactive pilot platform has been launched so that anyone can put forward his or her own ideas and vote for the ones he or she likes best. The opportunity to submit proposals are now closed but voting will remain open until 14 September.
AREFLH this month invites you to participate in the survey "Biological Fertilizers" within the NUTRIMAN project. Which is a Nitrogen and Phosphorus thematic network compiling knowledge for recovered bio-based fertilizer products, technologies, applications, and practices. This network brings together the most innovative, competitive and commercially "ready-to-use" scientific results from applied research programmes with current industrial practices, for the interest and benefit of agricultural practitioners.
AREFLH would like to invite you to participate directly in the survey by answering the questionnaire in the desired language. The questionnaire contains 10 questions and is absolutely anonymous.
Please choose a language to participate to the survey:
AREFLH is a partner of the project SmartProtect, a thematic network focusing on cross-regional knowledge sharing of SMART IPM solutions for farmers and advisors. Its aim is to stimulate knowledge flow in the regional AKISs (Agriculture Knowledge and Innovation Systems) across the EU and connect these on the innovative potential of advanced methodologies for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in vegetable production, integrating precision farming technologies and data analytics.
The horticulture sector in EU-27 accounts for about 13.7% of the agricultural output which is nevertheless only a small percentage of the total acreage (around 3%). The vegetable sector is thus characterized by a high added value and as a provider of easily accessible jobs. This is acknowledged in the Horticulture report of the European parliament from 14 March 2014. Like in other agricultural subsectors, farmers in horticulture face the challenge of responding to the mandatory implementation of the principles of integrated pest management (IPM) as called for by Directive 2009/128/EC on the sustainable use of pesticides.
IPM means careful consideration of all available plant protection methods and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of populations of harmful organisms and keep the use of plant protection products and other forms of intervention to levels that are economically and ecologically justified while minimizing risks to human health and the environment. IPM emphasizes the growth of healthy crops with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms (definition of the European Commission). IPM stands for a holistic approach to plant health management, based on prevention, monitoring, and control.
Also, during recent years, increasing worry about food safety, with high quality and environmentally friendly vegetable production, has been highlighted. The rational and limited use of pesticides for pest and disease control is prominent to achieve this objective. The basic objective of SmartProtect project is to fill the knowledge gap between research and practical management concerning innovation in IPM-methodology in different crops in open field crops and greenhouses.
SmartProtect is an EU funded project in the frame of the Horizon 2020 programme. The new European research project SmartProtect started in January 2020.
AREFLH is a partner of the CONSOLE project, it focuses on “CONtract SOLutions for Effective and lasting delivery of agri-environmental-climate public goods by EU agriculture and forestry"
The collection of data on European contractual solutions and those aimed at the delivery of public agri-environmental and climatic goods by agriculture and forestry is a survey with open questions to be answered qualitatively through literature, open source information and /or expert talks.
Survey objectives
The guidelines allowed the CONSOLE project researchers to know the realities of the departure of the different actors, knowing from their location, the problems that have been found and the ones to the implementation of the contract solution, the objectives of the contract solution, these are the objectives with respect to the Agri-Environmental-Climate Public Good (AECPG), etc.
42 billion euros is the total amount spent in 2018 by EU* consumers on organic products. The country that comes as number one is Germany, followed by France. Then Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom come in 3rd, 4th and 5th position.
8-10 Septembre :Macfrut 2020 goes digital. Italy’s international showcase for the fresh produce industry will offer business opportunities through a digital platform that will bring together buyers from all over the world, opening up new international markets for the sector. This innovative project makes Macfrut the first digital trade fair for the fruit and vegetable industry. Watch the video. www.macfrut.com
14-15 September: digital version of the Salon du Végétal. The physical exhibition will take place on 11 and 12 February 2021.
1-31 october : Fruit attraction Liveconnect a framework for numerous technical seminars, debates, meetings and daily monographic conferences dealing with product categories, international market opportunities. The next in-person edition of Fruit Attraction, organised by IFEMA and FEPEX, is scheduled to take place from 5-7 October 2021.
22 October: Biofruit congress in Madrid (confirmed on 9/09/20). Read more.
19-20 November: Interpoma returns in a new format, which will replace the fair of 19 and 20 November. Its name: "Interpoma Connects 2020 : Digital Days for the Apple Economy". The online exhibition will give the possibility to people to meet each other, even at a distance, thanks to "Interpoma Business Match", a virtual platform for connecting companies and customers in collaboration with Een (Europe Enterprise Network) and the Bolzano Chamber of Commerce.
Following several DG AGRI audits in the F&V sector that have led to financial recoveries and put operational programmes at risk in the past few years, DG AGRI has decided to amend EU regulation 891/2020.
AREFLH has been, for a few years, organising the secretariat of the European chestnut network, called Eurocastanea. It brings together national and regional chestnut-related organisations from France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Austria. In October Eurocastanea, AREFLH and partners are organising a webinar on the European chestnut market and the impact of Covid-19.
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis is putting a significant strain on the EU agri-food supply chain. Measures introduced to slow down the spread of the pandemic, such as quarantine, increased border controls and shutdown of the economy, are expected to affect or have affected the operators of the agri-food supply chain profoundly.
Press release from the EC
This summer the French Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie awarded the insignia of Officer of Agricultural Merit to François Lafitte, president of Gefel, Apfelso, Prim'Land, and an AREFLH administrator. During the ceremony, the French Minister of Agriculture highlighted the commitment of this professional attached to the rural world, whom he described as an entrepreneur who loves the collective.
After adopting its roadmap "Occitania 2040" at the end of last year, the French Region Occitania confirms its commitment to greater sustainability with the adoption of its Green New Deal at the Plenary Assembly on 16 July. The first part of the plan concerns food. A citizens' convention will also be set up in September to enrich the work carried out by the Region.
Horizon Europe, and its Strategic Plan in particular, is being developed in an intensive co-design process so that it targets issues that matter most. So far, over 9000 people have taken part in this process, making it one of the largest co-design exercises that the Commission has ever led. To get ready for the programme’s launch in 2021, the Commission has launched this latest consultation (open until 14th September).
EU missions aim to deliver solutions to some of our greatest societal challenges, such as cancer, adaptation to climate change, healthy oceans, climate-neutral cities and healthy soil and food. The Commission is designing and creating these missions together with input from Europeans to ensure that the missions meet their expectations and needs. As part of this process, an interactive pilot platform has been launched so that anyone can put forward his or her own ideas and vote for the ones he or she likes best. The opportunity to submit proposals are now closed but voting will remain open until 14 September.
h invites you to participate in the survey "Biological Fertilizers" within the NUTRIMAN project. Which is a Nitrogen and Phosphorus thematic network compiling knowledge for recovered bio-based fertilizer products, technologies, applications, and practices. This network brings together the most innovative, competitive and commercially "ready-to-use" scientific results from applied research programmes with current industrial practices, for the interest and benefit of agricultural practitioners.
is a partner of the project SmartProtect, a thematic network focusing on cross-regional knowledge sharing of SMART IPM solutions for farmers and advisors. Its aim is to stimulate knowledge flow in the regional AKISs (Agriculture Knowledge and Innovation Systems) across the EU and connect these on the innovative potential of advanced methodologies for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in vegetable production, integrating precision farming technologies and data analytics.
Description of Contractual Solutions
42 billion euros is the total amount spent in 2018 by EU* consumers on organic products. The country that comes as number one is Germany, followed by France. Then Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom come in 3rd, 4th and 5th position.
