Agribusiness
Agribusiness lobbying in Brussels involves biotech, food, animal feed, agrofuel and pesticide producers targeting decision makers to weaken regulations or to get subsidies.
CEO’s work on agribusiness lobbying has focused on stopping the EU’s 10% agrofuel target, exposing lobbying by the food industry to weaken food labeling, and by the animal feed industry to weaken GMO rules, questioning the industry bias of EU food safety agency EFSA, and highlighting how private industry-NGO initiatives like the Round Table on Responsible Soy provide a greenwashing opportunity for the GMO industry. We have also filed a complaint with the European Ombudsman about the industry-dominated European Biofuels Technology Platform (EBFTP), which advises the European Commission on how to spend millions of research funding to further develop agrofuels.
19 March 2009, Brussels. As we have seen, EU agrofuel policy has spurred a number of initiatives supposedly aimed at bringing ‘sustainable’ agrofuels to the market over the past few years. These efforts have been used to try and justify the 10% agrofuel target.
The European Commission's draft EU Renewable Energy Directive, published today, ignores numerous recent warnings on the environmental and social damage of its proposed 10 per cent target for agrofuel use in the transport sector by 2020.
EU member states had demanded that the 10 per cent target be met 'sustainably', but the EU Joint Research Centre and the UK Parliament Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) have expressed strong doubts that this can be achieved. The EAC has also argued for a moratorium on agrofuel targets.
Corporate Europe Observatory will join the Agrofools Action Group at a petrol station in Malmo to highlight the issue of agrofuels - curretnyl being discussed at the European Social Forum.
The European push for agrofuels will have many social and environmental implications, including rising food prices, jeopardising people's food sovereignty and access to food.
Swedish car drivers will be invited to choose from a menu: fueling their car with agrofuel, or having access to food for themselves and other people. About 100 people will participate in the action.
Corporate Europe Observatory’s new briefing, "Sugarcane ethanol: a sweet solution for Europe's fuel addiction?", highlights the impacts of sugarcane production in Brazil, including harsh working conditions and the destruction of some of Brazil’s most important forests and wildlife habitats.
Executive Summary
Buenos Aires/Asunción/Amsterdam The Round Table on Responsible Soy is seeking to legitimise irresponsible, socially and environmentally damaging soy production, according to a new report published today (Tuesday 22 April) ahead of the Round Table on Responsible Soy’s third conference in Buenos Aires [1].
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Corporate Europe Observatory
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is a research and campaign group working to expose and challenge the privileged access and influence enjoyed by corporations and their lobby groups in EU policy making.
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