The European Commission today awarded over €1.2 billion funding to 23 highly innovative renewable energy demonstration projects under the first call for proposals for the so-called NER300 funding programme. Projects will be co-financed with revenues obtained from the sale of 200 million emission allowances from the new entrants' reserve (NER) of the EU Emissions Trading System. The...
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In the context of the 50th Anniversary of the Common Agricultural Policy, EPP Group Members Esther Herranz and Nuno Melo, together with the Confederation of Portuguese Farmers (CAP) and the Association for Agrarian of Young Farmers (ASAJA), organized the first EPP Congress of Young Farmers in the European Parliament on 5-6 December. "The Congress will help us to gather direct feedback from...
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After reviewing over 270 participant photos and videos, the international jury of the “Re:turn to the Future” photo/video competition selected the winners. Mr. Chapanov, Mr. Nurm, Mr. Monteiro and Mr. Farrugia had six days to cast their votes on the competition’s website. The winner in the “Quality, diversity, health – the European agricultural policy and...
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Eleven young scholars and post-doctorates of the Institute of Stockbreeding Sciences in the town of Kostinbrod will upgrade their qualifications in a project financed under the Human Resources Development Operational Programme, project manager Maya Ignatova told reporters. The two-year scheme, under which around BGN 197,000 will be disbursed, is supported by the Bulgarian Ministry...
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A project aiming at ensuring protection of 10 famous EU food names in China, the biggest consumer market in the world, has now been finalised. "Grana Padano", "Prosciutto di Parma" and "White Stilton cheese" / "Blue Stilton cheese" were the last of 10 EU names that have been protected as Geographical Indications in China as part of the so-called "10+10 project". In parallel, the European...
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Bulgaria’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Miroslav Naydenov will not accept a proposal by an intergovernmental working group to put up the fees collected by land site authorities. Speaking at the second National Agro Seminar held by the National Grain Producer Association (NGPA) in Plovdiv, Naydenov dismissed the demand as groundless, adding that several NGOs, including NGPA, have...
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Bulgaria will not accept the proposed reduction in allocations for direct payments and rural regions development in the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework, Minister of Agriculture and Food Miroslav Naydenov said at the second National Agro Seminar organised by the National Grain Producer Association (NGPA) in Plovdiv. At a joint meeting in Brussels, EU agriculture ministers looked...
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In relation to media reports about new texts in the legislation amending and supplementing the Fodders Act regarding labeling and violation of EU law, the published information does not correspond with the adopted texts. No texts have been amended or supplemented in article 23 of the current Fodders Act on labeling of the fodders sold on the market that contain, consist of or are...
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For a second year in a row, approved candidates under Bulgaria’s National Beekeeping Programme (NBP) for the period 2011-2013 will be able to tap loans from State Fund Agriculture (SFA). Measure B, sector 2 Expenses for Products to Control Varroatosis has been added to the range of activities eligible for funding. In the first round of financing, SFA gave out 141 loans amounting to...
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Dairy farmers sprayed thousands of litres of fresh milk at the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday in protest at what they say are excessive milk quotas and prices below the cost of production. Hundreds of farmers and tractors from across Europe took up position in a park near the European Commission and a square in front of the parliament in the early afternoon, after blocking...
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On 26th November the international photo/video competition “Re:turn to the Future – Agriculture” was closed. Over 270 photos were submitted, illustrating rural beauty and diversity. Competitors included people from four countries – Bulgaria, Estonia, Portugal and Malta. Their works revealed the specifics of agriculture in the four EU member-states. Today (27th...
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Nearly 25 000 km2 of invaluable natural expanse have been added to the Natura 2000 network. This network of protected sites is the EU's primary tool in the fight to conserve Europe’s rich biodiversity. The Commission has now formally approved the inclusion in the network of a further 235 sites, proposed by Member States for recognition as "Sites of Community Importance". Member States...
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Bulgarian stock breeders will receive government funding in support of 5-year voluntary commitments on humane treatment of poultry and animals. The subsidies will be disbursed annually and will cover additional expenses or missed income resulting from the commitments. Poultry farmers will be subsidized for implementing one or more of the following three measures: using fodder with...
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Farmers from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia protested as EU leaders gathered in Brussels yesterday (22 November), calling for equal treatment of Baltic farmers in the bloc's long-term budget. At the moment, they receive a quarter of what some farmers in other member states receive. Even though all EU farmers operate within the single market and need to live up to the same environmental,...
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