When we arrived at the office we said goodbye to Klaus. Hinnerk started by giving us a presentation about how the European Union government works. The European Parliment, which is in some ways similar to our House of Representatives, has 736 members who are elected in their home countries. They vote on proposals. The European Commission which has 27 members could be compared to our Senate from the standpoint that each country has 1 member no matter the size of the country but they function more like our cabinet secretaries. Each member/country has responsibility for a certian topic (ex. Germany - Industry and Denmark - Agriculture). They propose legislation. There is also the Council of Ministers which consists of the relevant cabinet minister from each country for the issue being discussed (ex. if agriculture policy is being discussed the Agriculture minister from each country would come to Brussels). They also vote on proposed legislation. Occasionally, the European Union Council meets to discuss large issues, it is comprised of the heads of state from each member county. This is when I began to realize that the politician per capita rate in Europe is extremely high.
Next we heard a presentation by Tiffanie Stephani. She handles environmental affairs for the DBV in Brussels. She told us that the European Union has the highest environmental standards in the world. 99% of the German public believe that climate change is caused by human activity. Today's main priorities are combating climate change, preserving biodiversity and using natural resources more responsibility. Agriculture is currently exempt from their climate change regulations and there is no agricultural carbon credit trading system in Germany. The DBV's position is that agriculture should remain exempt. They believe that solutions exist but incentitives are necessary. These include reducing GHG emissions in crop & livestock production, reducing energy use in the agricultural sector, improving carbon sequestration of soils (grassland & afforestation) and production of renewable energies (biogas, biofuel, biomass). In the international climate negotiations DBV is advocating for a moderation of international accounting rules and mitigation options with multiple environmental benefits. They are against clear emissions reduction targets for agriculture and the inclusion of agriculture in the emission trading scheme.
We next talked a little about EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The current structure of CAP started in 2003. Germany has phased in their direct payments over a number of years but in 2012 all German farmers will receive the same amount per hectare. That amount is €340 per hectare. At current exchange rates that is about $200 per acre for every acre they own regardless of its use. This includes all land no matter what crop is grown on it, if it is pasture or if it has buildings on it, everything is included. This makes the program completely WTO friendly because it has no influence on the production or price of any commodity. In order to get these direct payments the farmers must be part of the cross compliance system. In Cross Compliance farmers comply with basic standards and requirements while producing food for European and worldwide consumption. Cross Compliance includes two elements. First, statutory management requirements (18 legislative standards) involving environment, food safety, animal and plant health and animal welfare. Second, the obligation of keeping land in Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions which refers to standards related to soil protection, maintenance of soil organic matter and structure, avoiding the deteration of habitats and water management. This figures into the discussion of sustanability of the food chain. As another part of that discussion the DBV believes that the CO2 Footprint is leading nowhere but just misleading consumers. DBV is raising consumers' awareness for a healthy and balanced diet based on regional and seasonal products. They also believe that calls for reduction of consumption of meat and milk products in the EU don't help.
Our next topic of discussion was protection of natural resources. This includes soil protection, biodiversity protection and water protection. In 2006 there was a proposal to create a European framework for soil protection. The proposal was rejected but it is still on the table. the DBV opposes it sighting the sucessful implementation of German national strategy and unnecessary bureaucracy for MS & farm businesses. There is an EU Action Plan to halt biodiversity loss by 2010. Natura 2000 established protection areas for fauna and flora in the 1990's to assure the long-term survival of the EU's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. The DBV calls for stronger cooperation between all stakeholders. The Water Framework Directive from 2000 protects all waters (rivers, lakes, costal waters) & groundwaters. There are ambitous targets like all waters have to meet "good status" by 2015. The DBV thinks solutions that are ecologically and economically sustainable have to be found and farmers can not be the only one who supports the burden of implementation of this huge piece of legislation.
Tiffanie's final conclusions were interesting:
-Huge challenges ahead of us!
- Climate change, food security and energy security need to be seen as convergent drivers of sustainable production.
- Food is essential and should not be considered simply as another commodity!
- FAO: World food demand will increase whilst the production capacity in many countries will be seriously jeopardised.
-Agriculture is an industry of the future!
- Agriculture has a strategic importance.
- Crucial needs for more research and investment in agriculture.
- Only way to solve the problem is to develop EU's agricultural production potential through increased productivity while respecting natural resources.
Next we went to the European Parliament for a guided tour by Julian Bocker. He is a staffer for a German member of the European Parliament. After we had our visitor passes made he showed us around the parliament building. Below is a picture of the exterior of the parliament and a picture of the parliament chamber. We ate lunch in the cafeteria.
Next we had a guided walking tour of Brussels. It is a very historic and beautiful city. The picture below is the Palais Royal.
We stopped at Wittamer Chocolates, one of the many famous chocolate shops in Brussels. I bought a small box to bring home.
The statue below is know as Manneken Pis. Somehow he has become the symbol of the city of Brussels.
The picture below is one of the guild houses that surround the main square, known as La Grand Place.
That evening we had dinner with Debra Henke, Agricultural Minister Counselor for the U.S. Mission to the EU. She has had a very interesting career, including time in East Germany during the cold war. We had a really good discussion about many trade issues that the U.S. has with the EU, including GMOs, hormones in beef and poultry restrictions. The next day Hinnerk met us at the hotel and we walked a different route through the city to our first meeting which was at COPA-COGECA which is an alliance of farm organizations and farm cooperatives from all of the EU nations. Shelby Owens Matthews told us about the organization and some of the challenges that they face in representing such a diverse membership. Our next appointment canceled so we had a short break before our next meeting.
After lunch we met with Dr. Martin Scheele, Head of Unit, Environment, GMO, and genetic resources for the European Commission Director General for Agriculture and Rural Development. His department works to preserve genetic diversity of plants and animals. With GMOs they just monitor what the environment and consumer agencies propose. We also talked about intergrating environment into CAP and payments for environmental service. He walked us through the history of EU agricultural policy. In the 60s & 70s they had price supports and protectionist policies. Later in the 70s there was more investment in capital. In the 80s there was more supply management with quotas and setasides. In the 90s they started the current 2 part system. The first part was direct payments but at that time they were still commodity specific. Beef and sheep used to get payments as well as crops. The second part included capital investment, marketing, processing, direct marketing, agritourism, and preservation of historic and attractive thinks, like hedgerows. In 2003, the direct payments were decoupled from production and each nations payments were based on historical entitlements. More money was also given to rural development. The hottest topic right now is the end of the Dairy Quota in 2015. 38% of the EU budget goes to agriculture. It takes 4 years in the political process to clear a GMO variety, this is after all of the testing has been done and it has been cleared in other countries. The authorization process needs to speed-up and there needs to be a technical solution to low level tolerance. The current zero tolerance rule is becoming a problem for the livestock industry in the EU.
Next we took the train to Leuven and then a taxi to a dairy farm in Lubbeek. This farmer has recently built a new dairy barn with a robot milker. He is very happy with this new system and has had better milk yields with less labor than before. The government pays for around 25% of the construction costs when you build new facilities. He now has more time for the other parts of his farm which include sugar beets, wheat and corn silage. Below is a picture of his robot milker.
When we returned to Leuven we took a walk around the town. It is a really pretty place as you can see from the picture below.
When we returned to Brussels we had dinner with Alois Bauer who is head of the German unit for food, agriculture and consumer protection at the European Parliment. He had just come from Sweden where he was attending a EU meeting. We had a nice discussion over dinner. The next morning we left Brussels by train.
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