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Most viewed in Farming & food
BASF to end GM crop production for the EUGerman firm says hostility from consumers is the reason for the move. |
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What future for GM crops in Europe?The decision by BASF to close down its production of GM crops operations in Europe prompts questions over whether Europe can afford to be a ‘GM-free continent'.
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Crop science and crop fictionThe biotechnology sector says that BASF's decision to remove plant science from Europe sends an anti-science message to researchers. |
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In the short term, some farmers are more concerned about the impact of trade-liberalisation talks with the Mercosur countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – than CAP reform.
Padraig Walshe, president of Copa, argues that Europe's trade policy “undermines” farmers' incomes. “Farmers in Europe have to meet the highest standards in the world,” he says, while facing “low-quality produce” from outside Europe that does not have to meet EU environmental or animal-welfare criteria.
Dacian Ciolos, the European commissioner for agriculture, acknowledged that “it is not easy...to sell these standards to our partners”. While Ciolos¸ was clear that higher barriers were not the answer, he added that it was not his priority to accelerate the Mercosur trade talks.
Countdown to reform
November 2010: Commission communication on CAP reform published
Mid-2011: Commission draft legislative proposals published
End 2012: EU institutions agree on legislation
2013: EU works on implementing rules
1 January 2014: New CAP rules
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Ministers to discuss quotas for milk, sugar.
German firm says hostility from consumers is the reason for the move.
Programme for deprived people to continue for another two years.
