At the end of last month, the European Commission (EC) sent its observations to 19 member countries on the National Strategic Plans drawn up to implement the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which will apply from 2023. 

The comments for the adaptations of the National Strategic Plans were sent from Brussels to Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal and Sweden, the countries that have presented their plans within the estimated period. 

The letter focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of each plan, and suggests areas for improvement. The fact is that some member countries seem not to have complied with the environmental commitments of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), not reaching the necessary green transition (source: EURACTIV ) 

Let us remember that the objective of the EU countries is to “strengthen the resilience of the agricultural sector“, “reduce its dependence on synthetic fertilizers“, “transform its production capacity by promoting more sustainable production methods” and” increase production of renewable energy”, which currently, due to the climate crisis and the consequences of the current war in Ukraine, is facing a great challenge. 

Contracts for the provision of agri-environmental and climate public goods in agriculture – experiences and challenges 🇬🇧

Kontrakty na dostarczanie rolno-środowiskowych dóbr publicznych w rolnictwie – doświadczenia i wyzwania” – podsumowanie wyników projektu CONSOLE 🇵🇱

Date 🗓️

10/05/2022- 11am -1pm 

Location 📍

WARSAW – online

Organizer 🙎‍♀️

Institute of Economics and Finance

Participating CONSOLE Partner(s) 💡

Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW

Link to the original web page of the event 📎

ESARE V – ieif.sggw.pl

You can now see in EUROSTAT the statistics of the European Green Deal.
It is a new interactive visualization tool that shows statistics relevant to the European Green Deal, which is one of the 6 priorities of the European Commission for 2019-24.

This tool aims to help users of European statistics to discover statistical indicators in an attractive and usable way.

It presents an overview of 26 indicators for the EU, Member States and EFTA countries, divided into 3 main themes:

1. Reduce our climate impact;
2. Protect our planet and our health;
3. Enable a green and just transition.

One of the CONSOLE Blog posts this week was about the circular economy. But it was no an accident, since this week, the European Commission has launched a package of proposals aimed at ensuring the transition to a circular economy.

Policy experts welcomed the package and also stress the need for swift action to cut emissions and resource use by EU members.

As Denise Godinho, Communications Director of the European Environmental Bureau, pointed out «after a two-year legal battle against a chemical industry group, the European Commission won ”. And this fact sets an important precedent and opens the door to a more systematic restriction of substances that hinder the circular economy.

Package of proposals

The set of measures of the European Green Deal is made up of:

1. A sustainable products initiative aimed at boosting the circularity of products in the EU market, including a reform of eco-design laws;
2. A strategy for sustainable and circular textiles;
3. A proposal for the revision of the Construction Products Regulation;
4. New rule to reinforce the power of the consumer.

The first measure is complemented by a new legal framework so that almost all physical goods marketed in the EU are more environmentally friendly, adapted to the circular economy and efficient from an energy point of view.

Regarding the second measure, a strategy for textiles was presented by the European Union, with the aim of making them more durable, repairable, reusable and recyclable. All this fight against fast fashion, textile waste and the destruction of unsold products.

The third action aims to stimulate the internal market for construction products and that it meets the criteria for sustainability and climate.

Finally, a package is approved to propose regulations to train consumers towards the ecological transition; so that they are better informed about the environmental sustainability of products.

In short, the European Commission takes a new step so that we all move towards a circular economy in the EU, less dependent on energy and resources; more resistant to external disturbances and respectful of the health of citizens.

Yesterday I was struck by a news carried out Euronews where an exemplary case of circular economy was exposed. It is a “Tool Bookstore” that has been operating in Brussels since 2015 called Tournevie.

Its objective is to rent high quality tools and thereby reduce the purchase of tools for citizens, avoiding the purchase of poor quality tools, and promoting reuse and repair.

Wow! There is no doubt that this news aroused my attention, since it was such an innovative and unique initiative that it had been picked up by the media.

However, we do not have much news related to the circular economy in the media, since it is usually just available in scientific publications.

It was immediately when I thought that news related to the circular economy did not appear too much in the mass media, especially those that are oriented to agriculture, livestock and the environment sustainable..

This information is usually available in scientific publications that few people have access to, both because of its cost and because it uses an excessively technical vocabulary. And, that’s why, I still have the feeling that scientists, technicians as well as politicians are still far from other citizens.

​Beneficial effects for all

As in the case of the “Tool Library“, it would be very interesting to promote publications on circular economy to be adopted and adapted by many communities, create more awareness of sustainable development in the fields of economy and enable unprecedented economic growth. As we will immediately see several examples, local economies would be the best beneficiaries.

And this statement is so true that there are many governments, companies and investors that are placing the circular economy in their efforts to mitigate the negative effects, as is the case of global warming; and how the products will be improved.

Even, as The Baltic Times recently pointed out, alluding to the current war conflict, that the circular economy will reduce dependence on third countries (e.g., energy, raw materials, fertilizers).

​Other examples of circular economy

IIf we search the Internet we can easily find some interesting examples of circular economy related or directly involved in the primary sector.

This may be the case of the company from Almere (Netherlands) MUD JEANS. They have changed the traditional model of “make, buy, use and throw away”. MUD offers their products for rent that users can return when worn out; for the company to repair or recycle. And this is an important issue, since the manufacture of jeans is highly polluting, consuming up to 7,000 litres of water and toxic chemicals.

Appeal, an American company (California, USA), has devised an innovative way to eliminate single-use plastic packaging, while also addressing food waste. Apeel has developed an edible coating layer, made from compounds in the shells, seeds, or pulp, which slows food spoilage.

The contribution to the Circular Economy of SafiOrganics, Kenya, is manufacturing biochar fertilizer developed from discarded rice hulls. The benefits provided by this practice is the improvement of local economies since it avoids volatility and dependence on international markets; increased agricultural yields, lower input costs, creation of local jobs, reduced soil acidity and improved soil structure, as well as increased carbon sequestration in the soil.

And like these we have numerous examples that can be adopted and adapted to their realities by other communities. It would only be necessary to disseminate these circular economic practices of the media and be encouraged by the political leaders of the various administrations.