The interactions and presentations are only interesting if you are prepared to engage with the partners we will meet. Please, each of you prepare 2 questions for each of the partners, based on the material you will prepare for and hear about at the seminar.
European Agri-environmental policies (including trade and development issues) and hot agenda topics for 2025 and beyond.
For the Brussels excursion, we will, typically, meet with various Directorate General of the European Commission (e.g. for agriculture, environment, development cooperation, or trade). Other organizations will probably include: the lobby of the German food industry, the European consumers’ association, and farmers’ organizations. This year we will also try to build a more "international" perspective by including organizations in the field of International Development Cooperation or NGOs working on international food security or poverty alleviation. All of our discussions should focus on how these spheres can influence European policy-making and, vice versa, how European policies affect their constituencies.
Students are expected to be interested in European policy, and to have educated themselves via the group presentations AND MORE.
the Farm to Fork strategy, Greening agriculture: What the Common Agricultural Policy post 2022 means for the environment What are current visions of the EU commission and key stakeholders for the next CAP reform post 2027? the EU’s new international trade deals (implemented or in the making) “How will the recently sealed EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement affect natural ecosystems in South America?” The role of circular economy principles in tackling the EU’s growing waste management challenges Focus: The integration of circular economy principles to address waste management issues in the EU Waste Framework Directive. Mandatory country of origin labeling of food in the EU – state of the art and recent developments Country of origin labelling is mandatory in the EU for various food products. In addressing this topic, students are required to provide a comprehensive overview of the legislative landscape in this area, including the products covered and the labelling requirements. They will also consider national measures that deviate from EU-wide rules, recent changes and initiatives for future regulatory changes. Expected costs and benefits of the Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) Initial reading material: Scientific Advisory Board on Agricultural Policy, Food and Consumer Health Protection at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (2023): New due diligence obligations for companies in the agri-food sector: recommendations on current legislative developments. Expert report. Berlin THE FUTURE OF THE EU WINE SECTOR How to address the challenges facing the wine sector? In particular with regard to aligning wine production with demand, boosting resilience to market and climate challenges, and adapting to trends to seize new market opportunities.
Below are the draft plans of the various partners we will visit:
Mapping Welthungerhilfe’s Work to Key EU Policy Areas & Suggested Questions
Relation: WHH’s 2025 policy statement urges anchoring the right to food directly in Green Deal legislation to safeguard nutrition in EU climate actions . How is WHH engaging with DG ENV and DG CLIMA to embed the right to food in upcoming Green Deal files? Which specific amendments to the EU Climate Law or Sustainable Finance Taxonomy would you prioritize? Relation: WHH’s 2020 EU Policy Brief calls for aligning Farm to Fork with human-rights instruments (Voluntary Guidelines on Right to Food, VGGT, UNDRIP) . How can DG SANTE ensure Farm to Fork supports smallholder nutrition without compromising yields? What human-rights–based indicators should be integrated into its monitoring framework? EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) Relation: WHH’s blog analyses EUDR’s impact on coffee supply chains and co-developed the Food Security Standard to help companies meet EUDR due-diligence . How does the Food Security Standard complement EUDR’s geolocation and deforestation-free requirements? What technical or capacity gaps do producers face in meeting EUDR obligations? Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) & CSRD Relation: WHH’s Food Security Standard also supports CSDDD compliance and informs CSRD’s social-sustainability reporting . How will CSDDD affect the smallholder communities you work with, and what support do they need? How can CSRD templates be adapted to report on right-to-food performance? Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) & Reforms Relation: WHH implements rural-development and food-security programmes globally and lobbies via Alliance2015 to shape CAP’s external dimension for sustainable development . Which CAP instruments (e.g. development co-funding, eco-schemes) best advance global food security? How should post-2027 CAP reforms integrate development-cooperation goals? EU Trade Deals (e.g. EU–Mercosur, Global Gateway) Relation: WHH argues that fair partnership and effective funding underpins credible EU trade policy with developing countries . What social-and-environmental safeguards should be included in EU–Mercosur to protect partner-country ecosystems? How can Global Gateway investments align with local food-security strategies? Circular Economy & Waste Management Relation: WHH’s 2025–2030 Sustainability Strategy commits to cutting GHG emissions and resource use, exploring circular approaches in logistics and relief operations . How is WHH integrating circular-economy principles (e.g. waste-to-energy, recycled packaging) in field projects? Where do you see the greatest need for EU support on waste-management innovation in partner countries? Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling Relation: WHH’s supply-chain advocacy and the Food Security Standard stress transparency—country-of-origin labeling is a key lever for consumer awareness alongside due diligence . How could mandatory origin labeling strengthen your auditing of food-security risks? What additional traceability measures would you recommend to DG TRADE? Future of the EU Wine Sector Relation: While WHH’s core focus is global food security, its climate-resilience research (e.g. coffee zones) offers insights transferable to viticulture. Can lessons from your climate-impact studies (coffee) inform resilient grape-growing in EU wine regions? Would WHH consider partnerships with EU wine bodies to pilot sustainable-agriculture measures? Sources
Policy Statement on right to food in Green Deal 2020 EU Policy Brief on Farm to Fork & human rights EUDR & coffee industry analysis Food Security Standard for due diligence (EUDR, CSDDD) Europe–developing countries partnerships (Global Gateway) WHH’s lobbying via Alliance2015 in EU policy WHH 2025–2030 Sustainability Strategy Focusing on 1. Expected costs and benefits of the Corporate Sustainable Due
Diligence Directive (CSDDD) , 2. Greening agriculture: What the Common
Agricultural Policy post 2022 means for the environment, as well as 3. the
current visions of the EU commission and key stakeholders for the next CAP
reform post 2027. Also addressed: how the WWF influences policy making.
1. Unfair Trading Practices and topics surrounding this such as good contracting practices in the agri-food sector and looking into methodologies that calculate the costs of sustainable production to address the issue of farmers needing to sell below their costs of production.
2. The Deforestation Regulation: May not be as relevant to your work on agricultural economics, but we are also following this file quite closely, and how it impacts smallholder farmers outside the EU. Implementation of this file will involve these farmers and their cooperatiives having to invest in systems to geolocate their farms (pves having to invest in systems to geolocate their farms (Three presentations from various Directorate General of the EC with a focus on 1. agriculture/climate and 2. the environmental impact of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as well as 3. visions for the future and challenges in the wine sector
What are the main mechanisms for public accountability in the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI)? How is DG AGRI adapting its policies to reflect critiques of EU agricultural subsidies (e.g., overproduction, monoculture, inequality)? What role does citizen or civil society input play in shaping EU agricultural policy? Session: Understanding the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (09:15 – Ms. Maignan)
What data or models are used to assess CAP effectiveness—especially regarding income stability and ecological outcomes? Session: Environmental Sustainability in EU Agriculture (10:30 – Ms. Lütteken)
How are member states held accountable for environmental commitments within their Strategic Plans? Session: Market Situation for European Wine (11:30 – Ms. Stan)
How is the EU supporting wine producers in adapting to climate change (e.g., water stress, shifting terroirs)? What are the trends in organic or low-intervention wine production in the EU? How does DG AGRI mitigate market volatility for wine, especially for small producers? What trade policies affect European wine exports and imports, and how are they evolving post-Brexit? Is there a strategy for reducing the alcohol industry's climate footprint in the EU? Meta / Strategic
What are the biggest institutional or political obstacles to deeper reform of agricultural policy toward sustainability? How does the Commission balance food sovereignty with internal market rules and global trade obligations? What are the key areas where you’d like to see citizen pressure or civil society engagement increase? THANK YOU FOR YOUR VISIT !08:45 Arrival at Charlemagne - Security checks + Group photo
09:10
Welcome and presentation of the programme
Ms Marcia R. Soares Pinto
Visitors' Centre of the European Commission
Directorate-General for Commmunication
09:15
Understanding the Common agricultural policy
Ms Marion Maignan
Policy Analyst, Strategy & Policy analysis
Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development
10:15 Break
10:30
Environmental sustainability in EU agriculture
Ms Antonia Lütteken
Team Leader, Environmental Sustainability
Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development
11:30
Market situation for European wine
Ms Lavinia Stan
Market Assistant, Markets
Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development
12:30 End of the information visit in the European Commission
DBV:
The German perspective on the questions addressed in the seminar and in the
context of German – EU collaboration.
EESC:
TBD?
BVLH:
Discussing origin labelling and possibly CSDDD and circular economy (with
the support of EuroCommerce). The burning topics on their agenda: the
Agri-Food Vision of Commissioner Hansen, the proposals on the revision of
the CMO (common market organization) and the cross-border enforcement of the
UTP-Directive (unfair trade practices) as well as into the implementation of
the EUDR (the EU regulation on deforestation-free products), food waste and
marketing standards.
