The Agriculture and Fisheries Council of 18 and 19 December reached a unanimous agreement on the total allowable catches and fishing quotas for 2009.

Could farming be a reservoir of jobs for the future? It seems so, given the statistics: with 2.5 million people employed in France and 17 million in Europe, farming is Europe's third biggest employer.

The next stages in deepening the economic component of the Association Agreement.

The European agriculture and fisheries ministers are meeting on 28 November in Brussels to discuss the follow-up to the informal meeting on the future of the common agricultural policy after 2013 and solidarity and openness in agriculture.

At the Agriculture Council in Brussels on Friday 28 November, an overwhelming majority of Member States lent their support to the Presidency’s conclusions on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2013, while just 3 delegations were opposed. Following the discussions in Annecy at the informal meeting in September last, these conclusions officially launch the Community debate on the future of the CAP beyond 2013. Without prejudice to the coming budgetary discussions, they recall the challenges facing European agriculture and the aims that should be pursued by the future Common Agricultural Policy.

In Paris, on 25 and 26 November 2008, over 200 participants attended the conference “Sustainable Agriculture and Pesticides" organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, to debate the highly complex, but urgent, topic of sustainable management of the use of plant protection products.

A seminar of rural development directors-general of the 27 EU Member States will take place on 20 and 21 November 2008 at the Hospices de Beaune (Côte-d'Or, France).

This Agriculture and Fisheries Council, taking place under the French Presidency, enabled a unanimous agreement to be reached on the revision of the cod stocks recovery plan. Ministers also exchanged views on the reform of the Fisheries Control Community framework and the sustainable development of European aquaculture.

An ambitious agreement was reached on the CAP health check, a success for the French Presidency which had made it one of its priorities.

Presided over by Michel Barnier, the French minister for agriculture and fisheries, the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 18 and 19 November in Brussels promises to be decisive. The agriculture ministers from the 27 Member States of the European Union are due to conclude the "health check" of the common agricultural policy and reach agreement on the proposal on the free distribution of fruit and vegetables in schools.

Climate change and the global economic situation are worsening the food crisis and revealing structural weaknesses. What role can the EU play?

Organised under the auspices of the French Presidency of the European Union, an international conference of experts was held on the 6, 7 and 8 November in Nancy, France, on the topic: “The European Forest-Based Sector: Bio-Responses to the New Climate and Energy Challenges?”

The "Biodiversity and Agriculture" conference, which is being held in Montpellier on 4 and 5 November 2008, highlights the strategic importance of research on interaction between agriculture and biodiversity.

The agriculture committees of the national parliaments of the 27 Member States of the European Union and the European Parliament are meeting in Brussels for a meeting on agriculture and rural development.

This conference is a key opportunity for discussing the implementation of Community legislation on the CAP with the European Commission and the European Court of Auditors.

Michel Barnier presided over the third Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the French Presidency on 27 and 28 October in Luxembourg.

The seminar on traditional foodstuffs and food safety held on 23 and 24 October in Paris reaffirmed the importance of preserving food safety and the diversity of traditional products for European citizens.

On 23 October in Nantes, France, the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) organised a debate on the future of the post-2013 European agriculture and food policy.

This event, traditionally organised by the Member State holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, brings together the heads of Europe's veterinary administrations.

A leading European Life Sciences conference, bringing together the health and eco-industry sectors, EuroBiO 2008 aims to become the European equivalent of the American BIO which for 10 years has played a unifying role and at the core of the strong development of these sectors in the USA.

A meeting of forestry directors from the Member States is to be held in Nice from 1-3 October 2008.

This conference aims to identify the problems encountered with European legislation regulating veterinary products and to propose solutions that can be introduced by 2009.

Following the meeting of the EU’s fisheries ministers, Michel Barnier presided over the second Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the French Presidency on 29 and 30 September.

The Agriculture and Fisheries Council are meeting on 29 and 30 September 2008 in Brussels under the chairmanship of Michel Barnier, French Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries met with his EU counterparts on Monday 29 September in Brussels to take stock of the common fisheries policy and prepare its revision.

The French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Michel Barnier, is meeting with his 26 European counterparts to draw up a review of the Common Fisheries Policy to prepare its revision by 2012.

The 27 agriculture ministers of the EU have started the debate on the future common agriculture policy after 2013.

The French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Michel Barnier, is meeting with his 26 European counterparts to launch a debate on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2013.

In Limoges, European agriculture policymakers exchanged their opinions on how to ensure the long-term viability and dynamism of the sheep industry, which is currently under threat.