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| 25 jun 2019 |
07:43 |
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Agri. Cooperatives will be leading forces to drive farming bioeconomy (r)evolution
European agri. and forest cooperatives call in an event today for the support of the EU to foster their development as their model and value creation play a pivotal role in a faster uptake of bioeconomy in Europe’s rural areas.
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During the European Commission’s workshop on “the role of cooperatives and cooperation structures of primary producers for mainstreaming the bioeconomy”, which took place today in Brussels, no less than ten business cases from fruit and vegetable, livestock, wine, forest and industrial hemp sectors were presented and analyzed.
European Agri-food and forestry cooperatives are showing clear leadership in this silent (r)evolution. Cooperatives support primary producers to contribute to bioeconomy value-chain and benefit from these innovative and circular strategies. The support to the development and setting up of various scale and size cooperatives, including in the Bioeast countries is therefore of critical importance also in this respect.
The outcome of the workshop will feed into the preparation of the future CAP Strategic Plans to guarantee an effective support for the deployment of circular bioeconomy projects. Sharing knowledge and best practices could help Member States and future beneficiaries to propose dedicated measures in order to further develop the bioeconomy in their countries.
Pekka Pesonen, Copa and Cogeca Secretary General, said “European agricultural and forest cooperatives have demonstrated how to be innovative, create additional revenue streams and set course towards a resource-efficient and sustainable economy. By reconciling demands for sustainable agriculture, food security, and the sustainable use of renewable biological resources, with calibrated support and policy coherence, cooperatives can successfully contribute to public policy objectives, such as improvement of farmers’ standards of living, the development of human capital, the enhancement of competitiveness, and sustainability.”
European Agri-food and forestry cooperatives count on a strong commitment at EU and national level for a coherent policy in the framework of the EU bio-economy strategy with the support of the future CAP measures, Horizon Europe, InvestEU and other relevant policies. This should contribute to promote bio-based solutions that will help EU tackling climate change and contribute to a more sustainable economy.
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