Activities

Young farmers from all over Europe met for four days in Odense, Denmark, in order to exchange on possibilities to stay competitive in a globalized and liberalized world and how a future CAP can assist this approach.

Once again Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, responded positively to CEJA’s invitation and opened the seminar with a key not speech.  She stressed the fact that competitiveness is not the only ingredient for European farming in the future, even though it is an essential issue that should be supported by the CAP in an adequate way.

You can read the entire speech by clicking here.  

The 60 young farmers that participated at the seminar appreciated the many different speakers presenting a wide range of views: Danish speakers explained their national approach to agriculture and allowed for a better understanding of the Danish agriculture system and policy. Possible future scenarios were presented by different speakers, among them a representative from the European Commission and the President of the International Federation of Agriculture Producers, in order to get a clearer idea and exchange on the young farmers’ approach on competitiveness in context with the European model of agriculture. Several young farmers reacted to the presentations of the different possible future scenarios by referring to their own farming experiences. The seminar gained further dynamics through several working groups where direct exchange between the seminar participants was made possible. The results of these exchanges were then presented to the other young farmers in plenum.

Last but not least, the seminar closed with two interesting farm visits on Sunday that allowed for a direct experience of the Danish agricultural model in practice.

As the result of the seminar, European young farmers agreed on a common declaration on “The competitive Model of European Agriculture – a new approach by Young Farmers” Please click here to read it in [EN], [FR] and [IT]. A short version will follow shortly.