News

Trade policy in exceptional times: this week's negotiation rounds on the updating of the trade aspect of the EU-Chile Association Agreement are being held remotely. In the run-up to this round, the EU-Chile Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) adopted a joint declaration on the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. JCC members flagged up the danger of increased social inequality and supported bilateral and multilateral cooperation as the best way to tackle the crisis.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) discusses the European Union post-coronavirus and the urgent choices to be made to support future generations

The EESC congratulates the Commission on its proposal for a transitional regulation to support European farmers, and the positive outcome of the vote in the European Parliament Comagri Committee, which will ensure a smooth transition from the current (2014-2020) to the next (2021-2027) CAP period.

The Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) reform should be adopted by October 2020, but the negotiations for the next programming period are far behind schedule, situation even more aggravated by the coronavirus crisis.

The partnership with Africa was clearly highlighted by the EU institutions as one of the main priorities for the coming years, but the COVID-19 pandemic might threaten closer cooperation. This was the topic of a webinar organised on 29 April by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), where participants agreed that consolidation of supply chains and an agreement to ease the external debt burden of African countries were key issues.