Meeting 27 March 2019

The 2019 Spring Agri-food Working Committee Meeting (AFWCM) was hosted by the Region of Tuscany and took place in Florence on 27 March 2019. The title of the AFWCM was: 'Working Towards the Long-Term Sustainability'. This meeting brought together members of the five Agri-Food partnerships along with representatives DG REGIO, DG AGRI, DG RTD, European Investment Bank (EIB), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Vanguard Initiative.

Participants examined in detail a number of issues related to the long-term sustainability of interregional collaboration in the context of smart specialisation. Discussions focused on a number of pertinent issues related to the management of financial resources and funding, political support and strategic vision.

Please note that the 2019 Spring Agri-Food Working Committee Meeting was organised in parallel with the Rural Development Innovation Week Florence (26-29 March 2019).

27 March 2019 - 09:00-13:00
Venue: Congress Palace, Piazza Adua 1, Florence, Italy

Welcome and Opening

• Roberto SCALACCI, Director for Agriculture and Rural Development, Tuscany Region
• Katerina CIAMPI STANCOVA, Joint Research Centre, European Commission

Developments in the EU policy (2021-2027)

• Valentina PINNA, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission
• Alexia ROUBY, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
• Wim HAENTJENS, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission

Guest Presentations

• Access-to-finance conditions for innovative companies along the agri-food value chain, Arnold VERBEEK, European Investment Bank, Innovation Finance Advisory
• Horizons for Food Safety Research, ​​Stef BRONZWAER, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

Achievements, benefits and concerns over the long-term sustainability

Pitches on financial instruments, achievements attained in terms of projects and financial support, and planned activities that they would not have achieved otherwise.  

• Consumer Involvement in Agri-food Innovation, Thomas HÖGMAN, Region Östergötland
• High Technology Farming, Fabio BOSCALERI, Tuscany
• Nutritional Ingredients, Sophie BOUREZ, Wallonia
• Smart Sensors for Agri-food, Veerle RIJCKAERT, Flanders
• Traceability and Big Data, Judit ANDA UGARTE, Andalusia

Guest Presentations

• Example of partnership that was successful in securing a viable business plan and long-term sustainability: VI Pilot 'De-and Remanufacturing, Marcello COLLEDANI.

Discussion improving the long-term sustainability of the partnerships (post-2020)

Participants were invited to discuss ways to ensure the long-term sustainability of the thematic S3 partnerships in the period post 2020:

• Are the expected EU policy developments after 2020 sufficiently aligned with the needs of the existing partnerships? To what extend do these proposed developments respond to their concerns? What kind of support do the existing partnerships need in order to secure their long-term sustainability after 2020?
• What difficulties do the existing Agri-Food partnerships encounter when combining different funds and programmes to support their ongoing activities?
• What precludes these partnerships from benefitting from such opportunities?

Conclusions and closing
 
This event was organised and moderated by JRC-Seville (European Commission): Katerina Ciampi Stancova and Ruslan Rakhmatullin