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The diversification of farming activities can help to ensure farm sustainability.

In this project example, farm investment support from EAFRD helped a group of three farms in the Ile-de-France region of France to set up a company processing milk into ice cream. The funding covered a feasibility study, interior fittings and the purchase of specific equipment.
Since its launch, Les 3 Givrées has developed around 40 flavours: 20 for ice creams and 20 for sorbets. It produces an average of 200 litres of ice cream and 145 litres of sorbet each week. Read more here.

The European Commission has announced a one-trillion-euro commitment to finance its goal of making the bloc carbon neutral by 2050.

This is part of the European Green Deal presented on 11 December which contains a package of measures to transition key policy sectors, including agriculture, in line with Europe’s climate and environmental ambitions. The Commission has announced that it will assess Member States’ CAP Strategic Plans against their contribution to the ambitions of the Green Deal and the upcoming Farm to Fork strategy, which will be published in 2020.

The 6th European Rural Networks’ Assembly was held in Brussels on 16 December 2019.

Discussions focused on the CAP post 2020 and the future networking arrangements, including developing ideas for the future governance arrangements of the new EU CAP Network. Participants also discussed the emerging findings from the 2019 self-assessment of the Rural Networks activities. An event report will be available soon here.

The 2nd meeting of the ENRD Thematic Group on ‘Bioeconomy and Climate Action in Rural Areas’ (Brussels, 11 December 2019) focused on encouraging the adoption of climate change mitigating practices in the bioeconomy sphere. 

The examples presented by participants included farm assessment tools to plan farm-level emission reductions and community level action plans to help achieve climate targets within a territory.

Participants included representatives from National Rural Networks, RDP Managing Authorities and stakeholders involved in bioeconomy value chains and local bioeconomy initiatives. The report is published on the ENRD website.

Following the success of the first ENRD Rural Inspiration Awards (RIA) the awards will take place again in 2020, with a focus on the bioeconomy and climate change. 

Entries formally opened on 15 January and must be submitted by 1 March 2020 via the National Rural Networks. Guidance about the categories and the process that will be followed is available here.

Please feel free to ask any questions using the email address awards@enrd.eu.

A moving and inspiring video tells the story of one of the beneficiaries of the LEADER project 'Enerterre', fighting energy poverty in rural France.

Enerterre brings neighbours together to make traditional houses energy efficient. For Jeanne, this LEADER project meant having a new start in life. Enerterre won the 2019 Rural Inspiration Awards in the category Social inclusion.

Find more inspiring LEADER videos on our Youtube channel!

A seminar on CAP Strategic Planning was held on 4 December in Brussels.

The event was a Joint Finnish Council Presidency – European Commission initiative and facilitated an exchange of experiences between Member States as well as with the Commission regarding the preparation for the future CAP Strategic Plans. The seminar included an overview of the state of play of MS preparatory work, and paid particular attention to the overall strategic approach, notably the SWOT analysis and needs assessment, building through to links with the intervention logic. Read more here - including presentations from the event.

Those who were unable to attend the ENRD Workshop ‘Agriculture and environment: speaking the same language within the CAP Strategic Plans’ in November 2019 can now read the highlights report which includes hints on how to prepare for CAP Strategic Plans. 

A highlights report from the ENRD Workshop ‘Vibrant Rural Areas: Rural Jobs’, also held in November, is now available. The workshop included discussions on ‘Pathways to creating and sustaining rural jobs’ and ‘Emerging trends in rural employment’. It showcased inspiring initiatives and projects related to employing vulnerable groups, business support for rural women, multifunctional farming, remote workers and circular economy businesses.

One of the ENRD’s Rural Inspiration Award category winners, ‘Agroberry’, was showcased in a roadshow visit in November 2019 as part of the Commission’s Rural Campaign, a pilot communication campaign targeting rural areas.

The Campaign aims to reconnect rural populations with the EU by raising awareness about the benefits of EU policies and initiatives.

The Campaign will continue in 2020 with roadshows highlighting rural areas in France, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Poland.

The European Union Agricultural Outlook for 2019-30 report was published on 10 December 2019 by the European Commission.

According to the report, global consumption of food per capita is increasing as well as self-sufficiency in certain parts of the world. This will have an impact on global trade and provide opportunities for some EU agri-food markets while creating a surge in competition for others.

Total agricultural land is expected to decline in the EU over the outlook period, to reach 174.4 million ha in 2030. By contrast, the land used for protein crops and fodder is expected to increase by respectively 46% and 2% compared to 2020.

Registrations are still open for LAGs across Europe to attend the French National Rural Network’s 2nd national cooperation days LEADER 2014-2020 which will be held in Tours, France on 10-12 February.

These national meetings, organised once every two years by the National Rural Network, aim to raise awareness about the interest of cooperation among local stakeholders, enhance experience in this field and help foster new cooperation projects. This year the organisers decided to open the event to a wider range of European LAGs in order to boost cross-border cooperation.

Two recently launched Horizon2020 projects look at agriculture and soil. 

BEACON aims to enable insurance companies to alleviate the effect of weather uncertainty when estimating risk for agricultural insurance products. SIEUSOIL will develop and test a China‐EU Web Observatory platform to monitor soil status and threats and assist in decision making for sustainable support of agro‐ecosystem functions. More Horizon2020 projects are listed on the EIP-AGRI site and the AGRI research factsheet on soils provides more extensive information on soil-related research and innovation activities. In addition, you may wish to read about the Horizon Europe Soil Mission.