Ask your minister to save Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) from pesticides! EFAs, the core of the Common Agricultural Policies (CAP) "Greening" are under threat! As the European Commission is writing into law the CAP’s final texts, several exemptions and loopholes have surfaced. One loophole would permit the use of synthetic pesticides and mineral fertilisers on EFAs.
Take action today: email your minister!
30,000 fed up in Berlin
30,000 people from many backgrounds, ages and organisations met together in the Berlin winter sunshine to say, loudly and clearly, We Are Fed Up! The industrialised food system was the target of this colourful, carnival-style demo, which, while exhuberent, also aimed anger at what is happening to our food and our planet.
Find more about the demonstration at arc2020.eu
On August 31 more than 7000 people turned up outside of Europe’s biggest chicken slaughterhouse to demonstrate against the the kind of industrial farming that is destroying fair, green and local food and farming. Organized by "Wir Haben es Satt", the event was a huge success.
"You promised a green, fair and local CAP – politicians don’t cheat your citizens!” was the message held up this morning by three young European activists from ARC2020 to welcome EU agricultural ministers in Luxembourg as they closed a deal amongst themselves and the European Parliament on the EU’s agricultural policy, worth over 50 billion € per year. The message seemed not welcome at the EU Council's VIP entrance. The youngsters were pushed to the floor by armed police and taken to the police station... more
ARC2020 and friends were in Luxembourg 24 June, to remind EU politicians not to forget European citizens during their decisive meeting on the CAP reform. The team met EU leaders heading into the meeting, holding a large banner. Farm ministers reached a deal over the course of the last two days under the Irish Presidency.
A farm in Paris!
From 31 May to June 1, the centre of Paris became home to a farm! Organised by ARC2020, La Confédération Paysanne and PAC2013, the two day event was a lively spectacle with food, speakers, animals and much more!
more in French and more in English plus a video
On April 29 EU Agricultural Ministers voted in favour of a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides. Despite being scientifically proven to be harmful to bees, many Ministers did not support the ban during the first vote in March.
In the run up to the second (and decisive) vote we asked you to contact your Agricultural Minister - asking them to support the bees! And they did. A massive thank you to all those that took part!
- Find photos from the action here
- Read more about the campaign here
- Find the latest news here: 27.05.2013 - ESFA: Fourth pesticide linked to bee decline
Action at EU Parliament Strasbourg
Calling for a greener and fairer CAP, several hundred farmers and consumers in colourful costumes from 12 countries came together in Strasbourg on 12 March for actions outside the European Parliament as MEPs held their final debate on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) before the plenary vote on March 13.
Following the success of the action in front of the Parliament in Strasbourg; we decided to approach the building from a different angle the following day. Shortly before the vote; Parliamentarians crossing the bridge that joins the two builidings were met with a fanfare band playing from a boat below. Press release and Photos and Video of the action
From January 2013, in the run up to the final EU Parliament vote on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), citizens from all over Europe contacted their MEPs as part of our Go M.A.D. campaign (Go Meet A Deputy) to talk to them about Europe's food and farming policy and ask them what kind of future they would endorse.
Following the European Parliament plenary vote on March 13, ARC2020 thought it was important to summarise the results and see whether the Parliament had supported citizens’ demands for a green, fair and local CAP.
YOU CAN STILL GET YOUR HANDS ON ONE OF OUR PHOTO CAMPAIGN NEWSPAPERS - GET IN TOUCH TODAY!
To mark the success of 2012, we printed a limited number of special edition A2 broadsheet newspapers featuring all the photo messages collected to date.
Printed on heavy white paper, each page is a celebration to good food and good farming; a celebration to the diversity and beauty of Europe’s countryside; to the young and the old; and to those that have hope – they are a celebration to life!
Secure your copy today! Yours for a small donation they are a great way to remember all that we achieved together in 2012, and all the good work still to be done!
Please place your order here.
