Agriculture, EU – Baltic States

The Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) of the European Commission finalised the review of the composition of the civil dialogue groups dealing with matters covered by the Common Agricultural Policy such as environment and climate change, animal products, organic farming, forest or quality and promotion.

68 applications approved

Following a transparent and open call for applications launched in April 2014, over a hundred organisations applied for membership in the Civil Dialogue Groups on behalf of the EU-wide non-governmental organisations.

Present decision by the Commission confirms that 68 of the applications have been approved as eligible. In comparison with the previous situation, 43 new organisations are being recognised as full members of the civil dialogue groups run by DG AGRI. This will strengthen the expertise, the diversity of voices, the balance of the different representatives in the groups and their ability to provide the Commission with valuable advice on the future development of the CAP and its management. It will improve the quality of the debate with a wider participation of the civil society.

Reference: European Commission, IP/14/846 “Strengthened and better balanced civil dialogue groups to advice the European Commission on agricultural issues”, Brussels. July 18, 2014.  

Members of the renewed Civil Dialogue Groups will bring in the debate the diverse expectations of the EU society regarding the important economic role that agriculture has in rural areas. The groups will also contribute to combating climate change and biodiversity losses, to improving the food quality and the development of rural areas, elements that goes hand-in-hand with the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy adopted in 2013.

A separate selection panel was set up for each of the 14 civil dialogue groups with a view to assess the applications received and to provide the Director General for Agriculture and Rural Development with recommendations on the composition of each group. These selection panels assessed the applications on the basis of the requirements and conditions set out in the relevant call for applications and the related internal guidelines.

The Register

The Register has been set up by the Commission to give an overview of the consultative entities that help it in relation to:

= preparation of legislative proposals and policy initiatives (Commission's right of initiative);  

= preparation of delegated acts, and  

= implementation of existing EU legislation, programs and policies, including coordination and cooperation with member countries and stakeholders in that regard.

The Register lists both Commission expert groups and other similar entities, i.e. consultative groups which were not set up by the Commission, but which have a similar or identical role to a Commission expert group and are administered and financially managed by the Commission.  

For each group, the register provides standard information such as the Commission department running the group, as well as the group's mission, tasks and membership.

See: http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/.

More information on the following Commission’s websites:

= Civil dialogue groups;  

= Register of Commission Expert Groups, and

= http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-846_en.htm?locale=en