A Roundtable discussion on Sustainable Agriculture as a means of increasing resilience emanating the vision of West-African farmers will be held on 13th of June in Brussels.

On the occasion of the last Brussels Briefing on “Agricultural resilience”, CTA Brussels met with Sir Gordon Conway, Professor of International Development at the Imperial College of London to discuss on what we know and what we need to know in order to increase Agricultural resilience in developing countries.

The European Commission and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) will organize on 28th May 2013 an event for the launch of the report 'Sustainable Intensification: A New Paradigm for African Agriculture', which aims to provide a new framework for understanding sustainable intensification and offers practical approaches to achieving it.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) did not pronounce itself on the safety of genetically modified (GM) maize 98140 after the applicant failed to supply sufficient data on the plant’s characteristics, such as its composition and appearance.

The European Commission has proposed increased DNA testing of meat products to assess the scale of a scandal involving horse meat sold as beef that has shocked the European public and raised concern over the continent's food supply chains.The control is to include imported goods as well.

On the eve of the EU summit in Brussels (7-8 February) on the Union's 2014-2020 budget, some 400 representatives of European farm groups and cooperatives agreed a five-point declaration, warning EU leaders that decreasing the funding for the Common Agricultural Policy risks killing jobs and undermining food security.

Council of the EU:
- 4 February: Meeting of General Affairs Council (GAC)
- 5-6 February: COREPER I
- 5 February: COREPER II
- 7-8 February: European Council

European Parliament:
- 4-7 February: European Parliament Plenary
- 4-7 February: European Parliament committee meetings

ACP Group:
- 4 February: S/C on Sustainable Development
- 5 February: 5th Steering Committee Meeting of the ACP Fish2 Programme
- 8 February: S/C on Political, Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs

You can also read our newspaper “CTA Brussels Daily” (fed by our Twitter account), follow our new Facebook group CTABrussels and our Twitter account CTABrussels to receive up-to-date information on EU-ACP events.

The EU has launched a rescue plan for Europe’s dwindling honeybee colonies: a 24-month ban on three widely-used neonicitinoid pesticides that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) says pose “high acute risks” to pollinators.

THE tit-for-tat cheese disagreement between South Africa and the European Union (EU) — which tried to subsidise exports of gouda, cheddar and processed cheese in contravention of a deal with South Africa — has been resolved.

At the last Council of the EU meeting on Agriculture and Fisheries held in Brussels on Monday 28 January 2013, the Presidency presented its work programme and priorities on agriculture and a roadmap for common agricultural policy (CAP) reform to the Council.