Reducerea influenţei industriei alimentare şi a agriculturii industriale la Bruxelles

Domnule comisar, ce ne faceţi? Lobby-ul industriei alimentare şi al agriculturii industriale, clătinat? O decizie istorică a Comisiei Europene, al cărei titlu sună aşa: "DECIZIA COMISIEI din 16 decembrie 2013 de stabilire a unui cadru pentru dialogul civil în probleme reglementate de politica agricolă comună și de abrogare a Deciziei 2004/391/CE." Comisia Europeană, în speţă DG AGRICULTURĂ ŞI DEZVOLTARE RURALĂ, beneficiază de suportul consultativ unor comitete şi comisii. Este vorba de advisory groups sau grupurile de dialog civil. Practic, ca urmare a cererii Parlamentului European din anul 2011, sistemul grupurilor de dialog civil a fost resetat de la 0. >>> continuă >>>

Starea de lucruri. "In November 2011, the European Parliament froze the budgets of all European Commission’s Expert Groups which role’s was to advice the Commission on new policy and legislation, demanding to end industry’s dominance in the matter. The Commission finally approved the Parliament’s demands. The move was welcomed by many civil society organisations, especially those working with DG Agriculture and Rural Affairs (AGRI), known for skewed groups composition. According to CEO, of the 30 AGRI advisory groups, 80% of the members represent large farming organisations and the food industry. Only 29 out of 943 places was taken by small-scale farming and organic organisations, 38 by consumer and 36 by environmental groups."

Un grup de organizaţii care reprezintă societatea civilă, dar mai ales environmentaliştii, cer, ca urmare a Deciziei indicate mai sus, într-o scrisoare comună adresată CE-DG AGRI, asigurarea unui echilibru al reprezentării pentru sectorul non-agricultură industrială.

Iată din cererea coaliţiei [semnată de printre alţii de BirdLife International (în România partenerul este SOR), de Greenpeace (în România, Greenpeace România), Friends of Earth (în România, la Galaţi, Asociaţia Prietenii Pământului), Slow Food (în România, mişcarea Slow Food în România), etc.] propunerea unor noi condiţiil de reprezentare.

"The signing organisations (together representing millions of citizens, consumers and farmers across Europe) believe that the decision by the European Commission on the reform of the functioning and composition of advisory groups will only be successful if the Commission lives up to the spirit of its reform and puts into place all necessary elements to create a well-functioning, balanced and transparent civil society dialogue system. The share of seats in the groups should be calculated as follows: 50 percent of the seats should be reserved for groups representing societal interests without direct economic interests (50/50 balance between economic and non-economic groups). Within the two categories of stakeholders, no organization should have more than 30% of the seats. This will allow broad and inclusive discussions taking into account all views. It will also make their opinions more representative. Minority opinions should be included when consensus is not reached."