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The European Committee of the Regions is conducting this survey to gather valuable insights on the forthcoming CoR own initiative Opinion on "Promoting cultural policies in rural areas within the framework of development and territorial cohesion strategies and the 2030 agenda." The purpose of this survey is to understand your views, ideas, and comments regarding the importance of cultural policies in rural regions, with a special focus on bio-cultural areas connecting biodiversity and culture.

Without payments from the Common Agricultural Policy, large shares of areas with natural constraints - such as mountains, or land in dry or cold territories - would be at risk of abandonment. Direct payments and investments under rural development funds help maintain farming and rural livelihood in these special areas.

The finalists of the 2023 edition of the EU Organic Awards have been announced today. The three best projects have been selected for each of the 8 individual awards, with a total of 24 finalists from 11 EU countries.

The finalists were selected from a pool of close to 100 applications from all over Europe, with a higher presence of Central European and Baltic entries compared to last year.

The winners will be announced at the official award ceremony to be held in Brussels on 25 September.

In addition to input costs remaining above long-term average and some agricultural commodity prices declining, EU farmers have had to face diverse and difficult weather conditions in spring, leading to reduced yield projections and quality for several agricultural commodities. However, some early signs of improvements are arising at the horizon. For example, fertilisers have become more affordable following the drop in natural gas prices. While still above the general inflation rate, EU food inflation starts to stabilise.

There is considerable scope to improve soil health in Europe, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors. The EU’s financial watchdog is critical of the bloc’s efforts to date to ensure sustainable soil management, and finds that the European Commission and EU countries did not make enough use of the financial and law-making tools at their disposal.

Global agricultural and food production are projected to continue to increase over the next ten years, but at a slower pace of growth than the previous decade due to demographic trends, according to a report released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The rural revitalisation platform has been launched last week during the Rural Pact Policy Action Lab event on depopulation. It stems from the EU Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas and its objective to support stronger rural areas by 2040.

The platform gathers information and resources for rural communities facing population loss, ageing and demographic decline. A wide range of stakeholders are invited to use the platform, from regional and local authorities to Local Action Groups, national CAP networks and any rural stakeholders working to revitalise their territory.

Today, the Commission adopted a package of measures for a sustainable use of key natural resources, which will also strengthen the resilience of EU food systems and farming.

The consumption of mineral fertilisers (nitrogen and phosphorus) in agricultural production in the EU was 10.9 million tonnes in 2021, equivalent to a year-on-year decrease of 2.2% compared with 2020 and a cumulative decline of 6.4% from the relative peak in 2017.

The Commission proposes to mobilise additional EU funding for EU farmers impacted by adverse climatic events, high input costs, and diverse market and trade related issues. The new support package will consist of €330 million for 22 Member States. In addition, Member States today approved the €100 million support package for farmers in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia presented on 3 May. Several other measures, including a possibility of higher advance payments should support farmers affected by adverse climatic events.