Agriculture ministers talk ecology and economy at Riga meet

Take note – story published 8 years ago

Ministers of agriculture from European Union member states and senior European Commission officials wrapped up two days of talks in the Latvian capital Tuesday, insisting they had made progress in several key areas.

The informal meeting initiated discussions on the situation regarding organic agriculture and its development in the European Union.

In response to a proposal from the Latvian Presidency, Member State Ministers assessed which existing policy instruments were successful in solving various problems in the field of organic farming and what instruments should be applied in the future.

“Today’s ministerial debates demonstrated just how diverse the solutions can be to future situations that could arise in organic agriculture, as mentioned in the discussion document prepared by the Latvian Presidency. I hope that answers provided by my colleagues will be useful for future work done by all of us: the Member States, future Presidencies and the Commission,” said the Council Chair and Latvian Minister for Agriculture, Jānis Dūklavs, after the meeting.

The Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Agricultural and Rural Development, Czesław Adam Siekierski and the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, participated in this informal meeting which also took in the Buku audzētava organic farm in Valgunde parish where delegates fed deer and tried their hand at archery - happily not at the same time.

The concluding press conference of the meeting can be viewed below, including one journalist who is a BIG fan of The Guardian:

 

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