View all Events Speakers Moderators Agenda Event Partners

How to sustainably produce more with less and trade better

Tuesday, April 1, 2014
08:45 - 18:00 (CET)

The annual Forum for Agriculture (FFA) took place Brussels on Tuesday April 1, 2014. At FFA2014, both the future Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union and the United States, and sustainable food production were the key topics. FFA speakers and panellists examined what these issues and others meant for the future of EU agricultural production, environmental conservation and consumers’ well-being. International decision makers sought to uncover in their debates how best to reconcile crop production with ecological preservation.

Confirmed speakers (in alphabetical order)

Allan Buckwell image
Allan Buckwell

Director for the Nutrient Recovery and Reuse Project, RISE Foundation

Learn More
Allan Buckwell

Director for the Nutrient Recovery and Reuse Project, RISE Foundation

Emeritus Professor Allan Buckwell is the Director of RISE's study of Nutrient Recycling and Reuse in European Agriculture and the Director of the Foundation's previous study on the Sustainable Intensification of European Agriculture. Two thirds of his career has been as an academic agricultural economist specialising in agricultural and rural policy. This has involved his work as a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for European Environmental Policy (since 2012), fourteen years at Newcastle University and then from 1984-1999 as Professor of Agricultural Economics, Wye College University of London. During 1995/6 he was seconded to the analysis and conception unit of DG Agri in the European Commission where he chaired a policy integration group who laid out a model for the evolution of the CAP. He joined the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) as Policy Director in 2000.
Matthew Dempsey image
Matthew Dempsey

Journalist

Learn More
Matthew Dempsey

Journalist

Matt Dempsey retired as Editor of the Irish Farmers Journal after 25 years in March 2013. He is Chairman of The Agricultural Trust, publishers of the Irish Farmers Journal and The Irish Field. He is also one of the foremost authorities on national and international agricultural policy and industry trends; his knowledge, critique and assessment of Government and EU policy is highly valued by the agri-food sector.
Pierre-Olivier Drège image
Pierre-Olivier Drège

President, European Landowners' Organization

Learn More
Pierre-Olivier Drège

President, European Landowners' Organization

Pierre-Olivier Drège has been involved in many negotiations with the Common Agriculture Policy, as Chief of Cabinet of several French Ministers for Agriculture and as Director of the Department for International and Economical affairs in the French Ministry of Agriculture. He has also been in charge of implementing such policies as Managing Director of former French Wheat Board (ONIC). Since December 2016, he is the President of a cooperative of French forest owners operating in Normandy and in the North-East of France: Nord Seine Forêt. He is French and graduated as an engineer and economist.
Franz Fischler image
Franz Fischler

Former President of the European Forum Alpbach

Learn More
Franz Fischler

Former President of the European Forum Alpbach

Dr. Franz Fischler studied Agriculture at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. 1989-1994: Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Austria; 1995-1999: European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development; 1999- 2004 also responsible for Community Fisheries Policy; 2012-2015, Chairman of the RISE-Foundation, Brussels; 2014/2015: Chairman of the Steering Committee of the EU scientific programme for Expo Milano 2015; since 2015: President of the Board of Trustees to the Austrian Institute of Advanced Studies (IHS); since 2012: President of the think tank “European Forum Alpbach”. More information Website – www.franz-fischler-consult.co.at
Tassos Haniotis image
Tassos Haniotis

Sustainable Productivity Adviser, Forum for the Future of Agriculture

Learn More
Tassos Haniotis

Sustainable Productivity Adviser, Forum for the Future of Agriculture

Tassos Haniotis recently retired, after a 33-year career in the Commission, as the Director of Strategy, Simplification and Policy Analysis in the Directorate General for Agriculture of the European Commission. Tassos is Sustainable Productivity Adviser for the Forum for the Future of Agriculture and a Senior Guest Research Scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. He previously held posts as Head of Unit in the Agricultural Policy Analysis and Perspectives unit and the Agricultural Trade Policy Analysis unit in the same Directorate General, as Member and subsequently Deputy Head of the Cabinet of former European Commissioner for Agriculture Franz Fischler (with respective responsibilities the preparation of the 2003 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, and the agricultural chapter of the Doha WTO Round and the EU-Mercosur negotiations), and as the Agricultural Counsellor of the European Commission’s Delegation in the United States. He holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia, USA, and a B.A. in Economics from the Athens University of Economics and Business, in his native Greece. Before joining the European Commission, he spent six months as a visiting Fellow at the Centre for European Agricultural Studies, Wye College, University of London, focusing on EU-US agricultural trade relations in the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations. He hold a Honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Thessaloniki. Active in the ag research community, he is a member of the International and European Associations of Ag Economics, the International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium, and the EU Nitrogen Expert Panel.
Pascal Lamy image
Pascal Lamy

President of the Paris Peace Forum, Vice President of Europe Jacques Delors

Learn More
Pascal Lamy

President of the Paris Peace Forum, Vice President of Europe Jacques Delors

Pascal Lamy (pascallamy.eu) holds various mandates at the global, European, and French levels. He is notably the President of the Paris Peace Forum, of the European branch of the Brunswick Group and coordinator of the Jacques Delors Institutes (Paris, Berlin, Brussels).

Pascal Lamy served two terms as Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from September 2005 to September 2013.

He graduated of the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Paris, of the Faculty of Law (Sorbonne), of the Institut d’Études Politiques (IEP) and of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA). He began his career in the French civil service at the General Inspectorate of Finance and the Treasury. In 1981, he became advisor of the Minister of Economy and Finance, Jacques Delors, then Deputy Head of Prime Minister’s Pierre Mauroy cabinet in 1983. From 1985 to 1994, Pascal Lamy was the chief of staff of the President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, and his “sherpa” at the G7. In 1994, he joined the team in charge of the recovery of the French bank Crédit Lyonnais then becoming its CEO up to its privatization in 1999, before returning to the European Commission as Trade Commissioner (Romano Prodi’s Presidency) until the end of 2004.

After his mandate in Brussels, Pascal Lamy chaired for a brief sabbatical period the think tank working on European integration created by Jacques Delors, “Notre Europe” (now “Institut Jacques Delors”). He also became an associate professor at the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris and an advisor to Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, President of the European Socialist Party. In 2005, he was elected to head the WTO.

Pascal Lamy has set out his commitment to European integration and his vision of a “controlled” globalization in several thought-provoking books.

Pascal Lamy chairs the Paris Peace Forum since 2019, the French National Committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), the European Starfish mission (ocean), the Danone mission committee, the Aspen Africa-Europe meetings. He coordinates the Jacques Delors Institutes (Paris, Berlin, Brussels). He co-chairs the Antartica 2020 coalition. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the European Climate Foundation (ECF), Transparency International France, the Center on Regulation in Europe (CERRE), IFPRI (where he chairs the strategy and programs committee), the Musiciens du Louvre (Minkowski orchestra), the Institut Pierre-Mendès-France, Collegium International, the Institut Jean Monet, Senior Advisor to Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) and the World Trade Board, member of the Advisory Board of Transparency International, the Oxford Martin School, the Back to Blue Initiative (The Economist), Covid Gap (Duke University) and the World Risk Report (WEF). He is a trustee of Europeum and Friends of Europe, an affiliated professor at HEC, China Europe International Business School CEIBS, Shanghai and the Centre for Economic Policy Research. He is also a member of the Global Foundation Roundtable (Rome), a member of the Steering Committee of the Colbert Foundation and a member of the Advisory Board of the Alpbach Forum and the Senior Advisory Council of the Beijing Forum.

Pascal Lamy also lectures, including to the benefit of Institut Jacques Delors, among other engagements on issues related to globalisation, global governance, international trade, international economics, regional integration, European and French issues.

Professor Erik Mathijs image
Professor Erik Mathijs

Professor, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at KU Leuven

Learn More
Professor Erik Mathijs

Professor, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering at KU Leuven

As seen by his title, Erik Mathijs is a professor at the faculty of bioscience engineering at KU Leuven and is also the vice-dean of education. He focuses mainly on questions regarding the transition into sustainable food economies, mainly questions on system innovations, how they emerge, what stands in their way and the development of tools and methods.
Mairead McGuinness image
Mairead McGuinness

Vice President, European Parliament

Learn More
Mairead McGuinness

Vice President, European Parliament

Mairead McGuinness MEP, elected Vice-President of the European Parliament in 2014, is an agricultural economist who majors on the future shape of agriculture and rural development, global development policy, the environment, public health and food safety and security. She is also the author of a major report for the Parliament on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy and Global Food Security.
Claudia Olazábal image
Claudia Olazábal

Head of Unit, Natural Capital, Land use and Management, DG ENVI

Learn More
Claudia Olazábal

Head of Unit, Natural Capital, Land use and Management, DG ENVI

Claudia Olazábal is holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Radiochemistry from the University of Strasbourg and a Master’s degree in Science from the University of Texas at Austin. She worked for three years in the Sustainable Resources - Consumption and Waste Unit, then became Policy Officer and Head of the Soil Sector dealing with the development of Community policy on soil protection in the Agriculture, Forests and Soil Unit. She was for 4 years the Deputy Head of the Biodiversity Unit and was appointed Head of the Agriculture, Forests and Soil Unit in 2013, which became the Land Use & Management Unit in 2016. All these positions are held in the Directorate General for the Environment of the European Commission.
Marco Pierani image
Marco Pierani

Director Public Affairs and Media Relation at Euroconsumers

Learn More
Marco Pierani

Director Public Affairs and Media Relation at Euroconsumers

Graduated in Law at the University of Bologna (IT), LL.M. in European Business Law at the University of Nijmegen (NL). Formerly a lawyer at the Milan Bar, for 20 years Marco has been dealing full-time with consumer protection, first in Altroconsumo, the most representative Italian consumers organization, as Head of External Relations and, more recently, from 2016 as Director of Public Affairs & Media Relations and Executive Board Member at Euroconsumers, the world’s leading consumer cluster in terms of innovative information, personalized services and defense of consumer’s rights, gathering five national consumer organizations, Test-Aankoop/Test-Achats (Belgium), Altroconsumo (Italy), DECOProteste (Portugal), OCU (Spain), Proteste (Brazil) and giving voice to a total of more than 1.5 million people. We work closely together with Consumers International to ensure consumers are safe, that markets are fair and benefit from honest relations with businesses and authorities. Our European member groups are also part of the umbrella network of BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation. Together we advocate for EU policies that benefit consumers in their daily lives. Marco is a communication and policy expert, a passionate user of the Internet and, above all, he believes in innovation as a lever for social, economic and democratic development. More information Website – www.euroconsumers.org Twitter – @pierani Twitter – @euroconsumers LinkedIn – @pierani LinkedIn – @company/euroconsumers
Janez Potočnik image
Janez Potočnik

Chair ForumforAg and Chairman RISE Foundation

Learn More
Janez Potočnik

Chair ForumforAg and Chairman RISE Foundation

Dr Janez Potočnik graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. After a successful career starting in 1989 in Slovenia as a researcher at the Institute of Economic Research, Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (1994), he was appointed Head of the Negotiating Team for the Accession of Slovenia to the EU (1998). He was also Director of Government Office for European Affairs (2000), Minister Councillor at the Office of the Prime Minister (2001) and Minister responsible for European Affairs (2002). In 2004 he joined the European Commission, first as "shadow Commissioner for Enlargement and then as Commissioner responsible for Science and Research. In 2010 Dr Potočnik became Commissioner for Environment. His term ended in November 2014 and he was appointed as a Co-Chair of UN Environment International Resource Panel and was also appointed as a Chairman of The Forum for the Future of Agriculture and RISE Foundation and a Member of the European Policy Centre's Advisory Council. From April 2016 he is also the Partner in SYSTEMIQ. More information Twitter – @JanezPotocnik22 Facebook – potocnikjanez LinkedIn - janez-potocnik-872470a7
Michael Prinz zu Salm-Salm image
Michael Prinz zu Salm-Salm

President, Familienbetriebe Land und Forst

Learn More
Michael Prinz zu Salm-Salm

President, Familienbetriebe Land und Forst

Michael Prinz zu Salm-Salm was born in 1953. He takes care of the family land, with interests in forestry, agriculture and wine. Prinz Salm studied business administration at the universities of Mainz, Freiburg and Munich. Sustainability is one of his main aims. Prinz Salm is a pioneer for organic winegrowing which he started in 1988. The wine estate dates back to 1200 and is reputedly the world’s oldest estate remaining within one family. In addition  Prinz Salm is founder of the Salm-Salm & Partner GmbH, a consulting firm for family offices. Furthermore, he is the president of the Association of Landowners in Germany called “Familienbetriebe Land und Forst”, as well as the vice president of the European Landowners' Organization and president of the Friends of the Countryside.
Olivier De Schutter image
Olivier De Schutter

Co-Chair, International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems - IPES-Food

Learn More
Olivier De Schutter

Co-Chair, International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems - IPES-Food

Professor Olivier De Schutter teaches at the University of Louvain (UCL) and at SciencesPo (Paris). He was the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the right to food between 2008 and 2014 and is currently a member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. He co-chairs the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) and is a member of the Lancet Commission on Obesity.
Bob Young image
Bob Young

Chief Economist & Deputy Executive Director, American Farm Bureau Federation

Learn More
Bob Young

Chief Economist & Deputy Executive Director, American Farm Bureau Federation

Bob Young joined American Farm Bureau Federation in 2003 as the Chief Economist, coordinating the activities of the Economic Analysis Team. Prior to this Dr Young was Co-Director at the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) from 1991 through 2003. Bob also served as an associate professor in Agricultural Economics at the University of Missouri.

Confirmed Moderators (in alphabetical order)

Matthew Dempsey image
Matthew Dempsey

Journalist

Learn More
Matthew Dempsey

Journalist

Matt Dempsey retired as Editor of the Irish Farmers Journal after 25 years in March 2013. He is Chairman of The Agricultural Trust, publishers of the Irish Farmers Journal and The Irish Field. He is also one of the foremost authorities on national and international agricultural policy and industry trends; his knowledge, critique and assessment of Government and EU policy is highly valued by the agri-food sector.

Stephen Sackur image
Stephen Sackur

Journalist

Learn More
Stephen Sackur

Journalist

Stephen Sackur has been a journalist with BBC News since 1986. Since becoming presenter of HARDtalk in 2004, he has interviewed prominent international personalities, cultural figures, leaders and politicians from around the world. Before taking over on the BBC News Channel and BBC World flagship current affairs interview programme, he was based in Brussels for three years as the BBC's Europe Correspondent.

Agenda

Apr 01, 2014

08:45 - 18:00 (CET)

08:45 - 08:55 (CET)

Opening Statement

Franz Fischler, Chairman of the RISE Foundation

09:00 - 09:30 (CET)

Opening address: The Future of Agriculture: the Trade Dimension

Pascal Lamy – Honorary President, Notre Europe – Jacques Delors Institute

Questions & Answers

MODERATOR: Stephen Sackur, Reporter

09:35 - 11:00 (CET)

Session 1: Environment – Land Use and Natural Resources in EU Policies

Janez Potočnik – Commissioner for the Environment, European Commission

Panellists

  • Juergen Voegele Director, Agriculture and Environmental Services, World Bank
  • Michael Salm-Salm President, German Landowners’ Association
  • Ignace Schops Director, Regionaal Landschap Kempen en Maasland
  • Bob Young, Chief Economist & Deputy Executive Director, Public Policy, American Farm Bureau Federation

Questions & Answers

MODERATOR – Stephen Sackur, Reporter

11:00 - 11:30 (CET)

Keynote address

From Feeding Countries to Supporting Countries’ Ability to Feed Themselves: Trade and Investment in the Service of Resilient Food Systems

Oliver De Schutter – Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, United Nations

Questions & Answers

MODERATOR – Matthew Dempsey, Reporter

12:00 - 13:15 (CET)

Breakout Sessions

Session 1: Sustainable Intensification in Europe: Practical Approaches

Chair:

  • Erik Mathijs, Professor, University of Leuven

Panellists:

  • Ross Murray, Deputy President, Country Land & Business Association
  • Alois Heissenhuber, Professor, Technische Universität München

Respondent:

  • Claudia Olazabal, Head of Unit, Agriculture, Forests and Soil, DG Environment, European Commission

MODERATOR: Cathy Smith, Reporter

Session 2: Sustainable Intensification in Europe: Policy Approaches

Chair:

  • Allan Buckwell, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for European Environmental Policy

Panellists:

  • Tassos Haniotis Director, Economic Analysis, Perspectives and Evaluation, DG Agriculture, European Commission
  • Marco Contiero EU Policy Director on Agriculture, Greenpeace European Unit

Respondent:

  • Mairead McGuinness, Member of the Agriculture Committee, European Parliament

MODERATOR: Matthew Dempsey, Reporter

Session 3: Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture – Perspectives from beyond Europe

Chair:

  • Robert Sichinga, Minister of Agriculture & Livestock, Republic of Zambia

Panellists:

  • Ishmael Sunga, CEO Southern African Confederation of Agricultural UnionsSACAU
  • Swapan K Datta, Deputy Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research

Respondent:

  • Roberto Ridolfi, Director, Sustainable growth and development, DG Development and Cooperation, European Commission

MODERATOR: Stephen Sackur, Reporter

14:15 - 15:00 (CET)

Debriefing Breakout Sessions 1 – 3

15:00 - 16:15 (CET)

Session 2: Increasing the Competitiveness and Investment in Farm Businesses

Robert Lewis Carlsson – President, World Farmers’ Organization

Panellists

  • Maurice House, Agricultural Minister Counselor of the U.S. Mission to the EU
  • Mikhail Orlov, Founder and president, Ambika Group
  • Pierre-Olivier Drege, Director General, Wheat Growers Association
  • Ajay Vir Jakhar, Chairman, Farmer’s Forum India

Questions & Answers

MODERATOR – Matthew Dempsey, Reporter

16:15 - 17:50 (CET)

Session 3: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on an Agricultural Perspective

Karel De Gucht – Commissioner for Trade, European Commission

Respondent:

  • Darci L Vetter, Deputy Under Secretary, Department of Agriculture, United States of America

Panellists

  • James Elles, Chairman, Transatlantic Policy Network
  • Paola Testori Coggi, Director General Health and Consumers, European Commission
  • John Atkin, COO, Syngenta
  • Allen Hershkowitz, Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Defence Counc

Questions & Answers

MODERATOR – Stephen Sackur, Reporter

17:50 - 18:00 (CET)

Closing remarks

Franz Fischler, Chairman of the RISE Foundation

An initiative from

The European Landowners' Organization (ELO) image Syngenta image

In collaboration with

Rise Foundation image The Friends of the Countryside image

More Events

Annual Conference

Brussels, Belgium

2025 Annual Conference

Tuesday, Apr 01, 2025

Find out more

International events

Brussels, Belgium

2024 Markets outlook workshop

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024

Find out more

Regional events

Warsaw, Poland

2024 Regional Event Poland

Wednesday, Nov 27, 2024

Find out more
All Events