autumn excursion to brussels 6–10 october 2014 · 2014. 12. 17. · autumn excursion to brussels...
TRANSCRIPT
Autumn Excursion to Brussels 6–10 October 2014
www.mlsep.wzw.tum.de
Richard Smart
Excursion Organizer and Coordinator for
the Master’s program LSEP
Chair Agricultural Production and
Resource Economics, TUM.
Prof. Johannes Sauer
Excursion Leader and Professor
responsible for the Master’s program LSEP
and also holder of the Chair in Agricultural
Production and Resource Economics,
TUM.
http://pur.wzw.tum.de/
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GROUP PHOTO
Preamble/Summary
This excursion formed part of the curriculum for students enrolled for the Master’s program in
Life Science Economics and Policy. Students following other programs at the Center for Life
and Food Sciences at the TUM also participated. Brussels was chosen as the destination as it
exposed the group a broad array of firms and institutions that have offices there for policy
reasons and their proximity to the European Parliament.
This booklet is a summary of the excursion recording the significant issues covered and learnt
from meeting with the various hosts. The texts were written by students and show their
impressions of the excursion.
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Contents
1. Itinerary and Hosts ................................................................................................................. 1
2. Travel Information .................................................................................................................. 1
3. Accommodation Information .................................................................................................. 1
4. Firms / Institutions Visited ...................................................................................................... 2
John Deere ............................................................................................................................. 2
Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union .................................... 3
Monsanto................................................................................................................................ 4
European Feed Manufacturers´ Foundation (FEFAC) ........................................................... 2
EuropaBio............................................................................................................................... 4
EDEKA ................................................................................................................................... 5
International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) .................................. 7
Dow AgroSciences ................................................................................................................. 8
COPA-COGECA .................................................................................................................... 9
The European Parliament (EP) ............................................................................................ 10
BASF .................................................................................................................................... 13
5. Notices ................................................................................................................................. 14
6. Participation List (Alphabetical Order) ................................................................................. 15
7. Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. 16
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1. Itinerary and Hosts
Date 6.10.14 7.10.14 8.10.14 9.10.14 10.10.14
Time Day1 Day2 Day3 Day4 Day5
05:00 depart Freising
depart Brussels 09:00 Representation
of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union
FEFAC Dow
AgroSciences 10:00
11:00
John Deere in Mannheim
EuropaBio COPA-COGECA
12:00
BASF in Limburgerhof
13:00
14:00
Monsanto
EDEKA The European
Parliament
15:00
16:00 IFOAM
17:00 arrive Brussels
arrive Freising 20:00
2. Travel Information
We departed for Brussels at 5:00 in the early morning of 6th October 2015, visited John Deere in
Mannheim. And on our way back to Freising on the 10th of October 2015, we stopped in
Limburgerhof to visit BASF.
3. Accommodation Information
We stayed at the MEININGER Hotel Brüssel City Center, which located in Quai du Hainaut 33
(Molenbeek), 1080 Brüssel and 3.6 km away from the European Parliament.
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4. Firms / Institutions Visited
John Deere
Date: 06.10.2014
Time: 10:30 to 15:30
Venue: John Deere Factory in Mannheim
Institution: John Deere
Speaker: Mr. Hans-Christian Quick,
Mrs. Vanessa Stiffler-Claus,
Dr. Thomas Engel,
Dr. Ralph Ostermeier
On our way to Brussels we stopped in Mannheim to visit one of the most innovative Farm
Machinery producers. We were welcomed by Mr. Hans-Christian Quick in the John Deere
Forum, who gave us a brief history of John Deere, which was founded 1837 in Grand Detour
(Illinois) by John Deere - a blacksmith. After the short Introduction the group was divided into
three smaller groups for a factory tour. In the factory we saw the whole construction process of
a John Deere Tractor beginning at one of the gearwheels in the transmission and ending at the
final check before the tractors leave the factory to a global destination. After the tour we got a
small meal and something to drink.
In the afternoon we heard some presentations about “Public Affairs Global and Regional
Strategic Priorities” prepared by Mrs. Vanessa Stiffler-Claus. Two of the big issues here are the
regulatory challenge regarding the use of farmer data in other countries due to tractors having
SIM cards and the different requirements for indicator lights and allowed weights on the streets
for tractors in the USA and EU.
After the presentation a lively debated ensued where the students and Mrs. Vanessa Stiffler-
Claus discussed about the advantages and
disadvantages of the internationalization
strategy in a big company.
Before we left John Deere we talked with Dr.
Thomas Engel and Dr. Ralph Ostermeier
(both TUM alumni) about their work at John
Deere and job opportunities for Agriculture
Students in this sector.
By Andrea Dehoff and Christine Hassauer
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Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union
Date: 07.10.2014
Time: 09.00-12.00
Venue: Offices of the Bavarian
Representation to the EU
Institution: Bavarian Representation
Speaker: Mr. Wolfgang Schleicher
Mr. Schleicher welcomed us at the
grounds of the representation of the
Bavarian ministry in Brussels and introduced himself as the speaker of Affairs of the Bavarian
State Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry. He provided us with insights into the general
function of the Bavarian representation in Brussels, which is generally speaking, to step in for
special interests of the Bavarian ministry and thereby the inhabitants of Bavaria.
He mentioned that Bavaria is the largest federal state in Germany and provided us with several
statistics about the population and land-use areas. He noticed that 85% of Bavaria is covered
by rural areas, which is a crucial fact for decision-making in Brussels. What was also quite
important for the understanding of the Department of Food, Agriculture and Forestry was the
point that Bavaria is the largest dairy area in the EU, plays an important role in meat production,
grain processing, and of course, beer brewing. Because of special conditions prevailing in
Bavaria, it was not surprising that he told us about the implemented labelling/sealing of Bavarian
food-related products with ‘geprüfte Qualität Bayern’ for a
more export-orientated industry. He also mentioned the
structural change, especially in the agricultural sector,
resulting in a decreasing number and lower average
sizes of agricultural holdings in Bavaria.
He closed his presentation by stating that even though
Bavaria is only a region of member state - Germany - it
has both economic and political influence for the
discussions about relevant topics in EU policy making.
By Ingo Birkle and Christina Mack
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Monsanto
Date: 07.10.2014
Time: 13:30-17:00
Venue: Monsanto Headquarters
in Brussels
Institution: Monsanto
Speaker: Mr. Ivo Brants,
Mr. Brandon Mitchener
In the afternoon we visited the
Monsanto offices in Brussels. We were welcomed by Mr. Ivo Brants and Mr. Brandon Mitchener.
Since the prepared presentation didn’t work due to a technical fault, we changed the afternoon
program to a group discussion. The main topics discussed are listed below:
Monsanto’s opinion about GMOs in
Europe:
- has withdrawn all its applications in
Europe
- negative expectations
- just holding applications and
preparing them would lead to high
expenses
- all competitors have also withdrawn
their applications
- only exception: BT corn in Spain
and Portugal
Why Monsanto is demonized and has
such a bad reputation:
- closely referred to biotechnology
- history: produced Agent
Orange (ordered by the US
government for Vietnam War)
- legacy
- NGOs against Monsanto
- law suits against farmers
Why are NGOs working against
Monsanto:
- focused on food labeling
- organic food lobby funds labeling in
the US ($ 50B)
- journalism
- multinational
To what extend does the TTIP benefit
Monsanto:
- standardization of US and EU
regulations
- better flow of products between the
US and EU
- no double work for data
- By Gabriel Rennberger
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European Feed Manufacturers´ Foundation (FEFAC)
Date: 08.10.2014
Time: 9.00-11.00
Venue: Offices of the Bavarian Representation to the EU
Institution: FEFAC
Speaker: Mr. Arnaud Bouxin
In the morning of Wednesday, the 8th
of October, Mr. Arnaud Bouxin, one of
the eight people representing FEFAC
in Brussels, informed us about the role
and activities of FEFAC on key issues
for the feed industry.
In a short introduction he explained
that FEFAC, head of its national
associations since its foundation in
1959, represents industrial compound feed and pre-mixtures manufacturers excluding the ones
producing exclusively pet food. Reinforcing the important task of FEFAC, Mr. Bouxin gave us
the figure of 158 million tons of compound feed sold in 2013 in EU-28 (global production in
2013: 962 million tons). The highest amounts of feed are produced for pigs and poultry. FEFAC
represents 65 % of the feed being sold in the EU.
For Germany the DVT (Deutscher Verband Tiernahrung eV) is the representative national
association. DEUKA or the Raiffeisen GmbH is also involved. Consisting of 24 member
associations from 23 EU Member States – which have the right to vote – and 10
observer/associate members of e.g. Turkey, Serbia or Russia FEFAC is supported in its work by
seven Technical Committees for Animal Nutrition, Industrial Compound Feed Production,
Premix & Mineral Feed, European Feed Manufacturers Guide, Fish Feed, Milk Replacers and
Sustainability. FEFAC has already been working on sustainability issues for the last 15 years.
FEFAC’s work involves the following:
- Represent, defend and promote the interests of the European compound feed industry
to the European Institutions;
- Lobby for a legislative framework and its implementation;
- Safeguard conditions of free access to raw materials, the proper functioning of their
markets and the definition of their quality;
- Develop professional rules and good manufacturing practices that ensure the quality
and the safety of compound feed;
- Encourage the sustainable development of livestock production, so as to maximize
market opportunities for EU compound feed companies;
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- Encourage the development of European feed-related Research & Develoment
projects.
At an international level FEFAC cooperates as a member of IFIF (International Feed Industry
Federation), participant of the Task Force on Animal Feed Safety or private sector consultant for
the FAO along with the U.S. and China on international issues concerning the alimentation of
livestock.
Furthermore Mr. Bouxin told us about FEFAC´s long term lobbying strategies 2013 – 2016. One
of the different lobby approaches is to convince EU decision-makers and stakeholders about the
positive contribution of ecologically intensive livestock production with the EU policy goal of
resource efficiency and calling for rebalancing of the CAP 2020 in favor of livestock production
and research and innovation concerning the production of EU protein crops. Therefore FEFAC´s
working priorities are market management (Cap towards 2020), price volatility, GMOs,
sustainability, research promotion and marketing of feed. Another important lobbying approach
concerns food and feed safety, meaning to install systems and thresholds applying for all EU
member states (good manufacturing practices, undesirable substances, etc.). In order to
achieve their aims FEFAC currently works with 50 partners, among them NGOs.
Mr. Bouxin showed us a diagram showing the self-sufficiency of the European Union in cereals,
pork, cheese or butter and the dependency of abroad in soybean meal. 40 million tons of
soybeans are imported yearly in the EU that surely are contaminated with GMOs even though
their contents are under the established threshold.
At the end of Mr. Bouxin´s interesting presentation we learned more about the measures of
FEFAC to contribute to a sustainable competitiveness of the livestock sector through safe,
competitive and sustainable feed. For instance FEFAC supports the global Round Table for
Responsible Soy (RTRS) or promotes research for formulation changes to raise digestibility of
feed. Resource efficiency is one of the most important objectives.
By Bernadette Mayr
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EuropaBio
Date: 08.10.2014
Time: 11.00-12.30
Venue: Offices of the Bavarian
Representation to the EU
Institution: EuropaBio
Speaker: Mr. Beat Späth,
Ms. Aleksandra Krygiel,
Ms. Claire Gray.
Three experts of EuropaBio presented the different
categories of biotechnology (green/red/white). Mr.
Beat Späth started with green biotech (agricultural biotechnology), which encompasses a range
of modern plant breeding techniques. Modern agricultural biotechnology improves crops in more
targeted ways than conventional breeding methodologies. The best known technique is genetic
modification, but the term agricultural biotechnology also covers such techniques as Marker
Assisted Breeding, which increases the effectiveness of conventional breeding. Genetic
modification means that existing genes are modified or new genes included to give plant
varieties desirable characteristics, such as resistance to certain pests or herbicides, or for
vitamin fortification. Green biotech is particularly well-established in crops like soybean and
cotton, but there is also an increasing importance in crops like maize and canola. Currently, the
EU area of GM crops covers 148,000 ha.
As a main topic, the approval process of GMOs in the EU was explained. This process involves
several levels and authorities, e.g. the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) Risk
Assessment and a voting of all EU member states. The whole process is known to be very
stringent and thus time-consuming (on average 48 months). In the latest voting, the acceptance
of GMOs was strongly divergent within member states. As an association for Bio industries,
EuropaBio faces problems for innovative industries in Europe (predictability for investments,
withdrawals of product application, jobs and research).
Afterwards, Ms. Aleksandra Krygiel
gave us a brief overview of red
biotech, i.e. the application of
biotechnology for medical healthcare.
Ms. Claire Gray concluded with some
sample applications of white biotech
(= industrial biotechnology). The
different presentations illustrated that
there is more acceptance of red and
white biotech than of green biotech.
By Irmi Perl and Dorothea Hörndl
5
EDEKA
Date: 08.10.2014
Time: 11.00-12.30
Venue: Offices of the Bavarian
Representation to the EU
Institution: EDEKA
Speaker: Mr. Ludwig Willenegger
Ludwig Willenegger, representative in Brussels for
EDEKA and former graduate of TUM in
Weihenstephan, presented the structure of his
company in a very interesting and informative lecture. He spoke about the special development
in food-business and the challenges in this sector.
Mr. Willenegger started his lecture with information about the long history of EDEKA which
started as a Cooperative for Colonial Goods in 1889. In 1913, the cooperative was renamed
“EDEKA” (Einkaufsgenossenschaft der Kolonialwarenhändler / Purchasing Cooperative of
Colonial Goods Retailers). Today it consists of several cooperatives of autonomous retailers, all
operating under the organization EDEKA Zentrale AG & Co. KG in Hamburg. Seven regional
corporations are responsible for wholesale, and supply all autonomous retailers and other
stores belonging to the EDEKA Group. The cooperatives own the EDEKA Zentrale AG & Co.
KG and a 50% share of the seven regional corporations (EDEKA Hessenring, Minden-
Hannover, Nord, Nordbayern-Sachsen-Thüringen, Rhein-Ruhr, Südbayern, Südwest). Currently
EDEKA holds a market share of 26% with a total number of 4.500 autonomous retailers and
over 6.000 stores. Altogether the EDEKA Group owns over 11.600 stores and has 327.900
employees. In addition EDEKA is located in Denmark (EDEKA-Denmark), the Czech Republic
(CE-EDEKA) and owns subsidiary companies in Austria such as ADEG, Magnet, AGM and
Contra.
Furthermore Mr. Willenegger underlined the dependence of the German food market on one
important factor – price. He pointed out that nothing influences the German purchase decision
more than price. For that reason the EDEKA-Group owns discounters like Netto, Plus, Treff
3000 and NP Markt.
Nevertheless, EDEKA is very focused on food security and transparency e.g. of the supply
chain. Mr. Willenegger’s experience showed that transparency of every food value chain is
indispensable. As a result of the current public discussion about organic production, animal
welfare and healthy food, EDEKA started a partnership with the independent conservation
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group WWF in 2012.The partnership focuses on sustainable and environmental friendly food,
food production and packing. Special products are recognizable by the typical WWF Panda
Bear Logo and are certified by an independent verifying organization.
Also, Edeka focuses on decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing energy
consumption. They aim to run most of the stores CO2 neutral. Therefore, Edeka invested in
sustainable resources such as solar energy and photovoltaics in the southwest and north
regions of Bavaria to reduce GHG emissions from electricity generation and also started
installing geothermic heat pumps for storage cooling and facility heating. A new project to
reduce CO2 emissions is the partnership between Edeka and the car-sharing company Car2Go
in Hamburg to use transportation more efficiently and provide flexibility was initiated.
In Addition, Mr. Willenegger explained two ways of food quality management to guarantee food
security. In the first place EDEKA has agreements with a number of small and medium-sized
enterprises (SME) like “Sonnländer - fruit juice”. These small suppliers guarantee the
independence of the European food market and a steady price. Secondly, EDEKA is the owner
of several different farms in the agricultural sector e.g. the Rheinberg Kellerei. This vineyard
supplies EDEKA with high quality wine and the opportunity to produce whatever trend there
might be.
In the future Mr. Willenegger sees EDEKA not only as a food retailer, as well as a company
improving its skills in farming and production to achieve high quality standards.
Mr. Willenegger highlighted the importance for us to understand the retail sector, the special
structure of the cooperative EDEKA and the fierce competition between retailers and their
formats. Competition is the whole driver of the supply chain.
By Charlotte Feucht, Angelika Dauermann
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International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)
Date: 8.10.2014
Time: 15:30-17:00
Venue: Offices of the Bavarian
Representation to the EU
Institution: IFOAM
Speaker: Mr. Emanuele Busacca
We were given a brief introduction about the members,
the strategic pillars, EU’s advocacy work and organic
milestones of the last 10 years of IFOAM EU.
IFOAM is an organic organization. Its vision is the
worldwide adoption of ecologically, socially and
economically sound systems. IFOAM EU has 160
members in all 28 EU member states, EFTA and EU candidate countries. They include organic
farming associations, organic food and farming advisors and researchers, organic certifiers and
organic food processors, retailers, traders.
Mr. Busacca introduced the main three strategic pillars of IFOAM EU: EU positioning and
advocacy (shape organic regulations and influence key EU policies), information and discussion
platform (communicate and engage with the sector), developing organics (drive sustainable
food production methods and build organic capacity).
EU’s advocacy work is the very important task of IFOAM EU. Mr. Busacca interpreted the
different tasks of EU Commission, EU Parliament and the council of EU patiently. EU Council is
a decision-making and legislative body, EU Commission is an executive body and EU
Parliament is an advisory and supervisory body. And IFOAM EU’s task is to influence the
relevant policies, and promote the organic movement. The relevant policies for organic food and
farming are GMOs, labels,
organic regulations, animal
welfare and health, food
safety, climate change,
environmental policies,
rural development.
By Fangyin Cao
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Dow AgroSciences
Date: 09.10.2014
Time: 09:00-11:00
Venue: Offices of the Bavarian
Representation to the EU
Institution: Dow AgroSciences
Speaker: Dr. Filip Cnudde
Dr. Cnudde started with giving a brief overview over the
company’s history: in 1955 the agricultural unit of The
Dow Chemical Company was founded. In 1989 a joint
venture with Elanco Plant Sciences was started as Dow
Elanco. This joint venture was fully acquired by The
Dow Chemical Company in 1997 and renamed Dow AgroSciences. To this day, Dow
AgroSciences is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company.
Following this introduction, Dr. Cnudde explained global trends in agriculture that lead to a
demand for a higher production level in farming. Furthermore he talked about the rising R&D
budgets of the world’s leading agrochemical companies (Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, BASF,
DOW, Bayer) for research on agrochemicals, but mainly seeds and traits. To relativize the fear
about the big agricultural corporations’ market power in global food production, he compared
their global sales figures to those of the food processing (Nestle, Unilever, etc.) and food
distribution (Wal-Mart, Tesco, Carrefour, etc.) sector. This comparison shows that sales of food
processing and distribution exceed the sales of seeds and agrochemicals by the factor 17.
The presentation continued with an explanation of formal and informal processes within the EU
that lead to legislation and regulation as well as the approval of specific products, Dow and
others produce for the European market. Complex regulations put the European Union as a
Net-Importer of agricultural goods more and more under pressure as it leads to R&D budgets
being moved to other parts of the world, which decreases Europe’s long-term ability to keep up
with the necessary food production. Dr. Cnudde stated that many of Dow’s products bare a high
hazard but the risk that the hazard actually occurs is non-existent. To elucidate this topic, he
explained the testing-regulations for unlikely risk scenarios and pointed out, that the over-
regulation of advanced technologies in the EU is very harmful.
Thereafter, we were given an overview about the positive and negative effects as well as the
chances and the risks, TTIP (which is in a crucial phase at the time of the excursion) brings with
it from a food risk and safety point of view.
To conclude his presentation, Dr. Cnudde gave an overview over methods, NGOs, political
parties, media and other stakeholders use to discredit technologies like biotechnology, the
application of pesticides, herbicides and other plant protection products as well as large-scale-
farming in general.
By Josef Bosch
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COPA-COGECA
Date: 09.10.2014
Time: 11:00-13:00
Venue: Office of the Bavarian
Representation to the EU
Institution: COPA-COGECA
Speaker: Mr. Francois Guerin
First, we were given a brief overview on the chronicle of COPA COGECA, whereby COPA was
created in 1958 after the Stresa Conference. The creation of COGECA followed in 1959 and the
Joint Secretariat was grounded in 1962. COPA brings together 56 EU farmers’ associations,
whereas COGECA reunites 33 agricultural cooperative associations. These two organizations
represent 11 million farmers and their families, as well as around 38,000 different cooperatives.
An essential part of its mission is defending the general interests of agriculture, maintaining and
developing relations with EU-institutions as well as with representative organizations at EU level
as well as finding solutions that are in the common interest.
Both, COPA and COGECA, have their own Praesidium, but are both regulated and supervised
by the common Joint Secretariat. COPA-COGECA is organized in a way that working parties
can directly correspond with COPA via the Policy Coordination Committee (POCC) and with the
Co-operative Co-ordination Committee of COGECA (CCC), whereby all member associations
are represented. The CCC and POCC further communicate interests of working parties to the
concerning Praesidium. The Praesidia address the European Commission, Council of Ministers,
European Parliament, Permanent Representations, media etc. Therefore intervention at a high
political level is common. The field of operation related with commodities and trade covers about
25 product areas. Current issues within these areas are the future of the CAP, and bringing new
obligations for farmers. The step-by-step process of the CAP implementation is followed,
promoted and sustained by COPA COGECA. Another active and ongoing issue is trade
negotiations with USA concerning the TTIP in order that some commodities and products are
better protected on the US market. Also, agricultural commodity markets are a main issue.
Other issues are economic analysis and non-food issues. COPA COGECA’s perception of the
CAP is that this reform offers less transparency to the public and is much more burdensome for
farmers and governments.
Current issues of general affairs cover food chain competitiveness, cooperative affairs, rural
development policy, environmental policy (climate change, biodiversity, soil, water framework
directive, waste), as well as animal health and welfare (animal health law), sustainable
consumption and production (SCP), the role of women in agriculture, social affairs and feed
components.
By Natalie Becker
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The European Parliament (EP)
Date: 09.10.2014
Time: 14:30-15:30
Venue: European Parliament
Institution: European Parliament
Speaker: Dr. Pavel Cernoch,
Mr. De Back
Dr. Pavel Cernoch gave us a brief insight into the functioning of European Union (EU) and
European Parliament (EP). He gave his presentation in a very entertaining way in order to let us
better understand the complex system of the functioning of EU and EP.
The EU, as we know it was founded in 1992 by the first six member states: France, Germany,
Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. These six states were united in 1951 into the
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). Nowadays, the EU has 28 member states. The
three major criteria for a country to join the EU are economic development, democracy and
being situated in Europe. The three major EU expenditures are agriculture (about 40%),
infrastructure and science/education.
EU legislation is carried out by three main institutions: EP, European Council and European
Commission.
The 751 members of EP (MP) are directly elected by the EU-citizens. The proportion of the
representatives of each country in the EP depends on the population of the country, but it
cannot be less than 6 and more than 96. The Council represents the governments of each EU-
member state, therefore there are 28 delegates. The Commission represents the general
interests of the EU. Each Commissioner is responsible for a specific political area. Each of its 28
members is nominated by the MP and eventually defined by the Council. The potential
candidates present themselves to the EP. For each specific political area there are two
candidates competing for the same
position.
As the second part of the visit to the
European Parliament, the excursion
group had the chance to meet a
Member of the European Parliament
(MEP).
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Philippe De Backer is a Belgian politician and member of the Flemish party Open Vld (Open
Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten). In September 2011, he joined the European Parliament
(EP) as a MEP and there teamed up with the political group Alliance of Liberals and Democrats
for Europe Group (ALDE). In 2014, he was reelected in Belgium to continue his work at the EP
in the capacity of an MEP. As regards content, Mr. De Backer works on the dossiers ‘Industry,
Research and Energy’ in the capacity of a full committee member, and on the dossier
‘Economic and Monetary Affaires’ in the capacity of a committee member substitute.
In the course of the meeting, Mr. De Backer talked about his career path that lead him to
become MEP, his motivation to do the job, about the general organization of the EP’s workflow
and about his personal day-to-day work schedule in collaboration with his office team.
Mr. De Backer completed a full academic education with
the achievement of the doctorate in the research area
of biotechnology. Subsequently he worked for an
investment fund that specialized in healthcare.
Throughout his studies and professional engagement
in the private sector however, he was politically active
in support of the liberals. Beginning with collaborations
in the liberal Flemish student association in Ghent, he
then became a core member of the liberal think tank
‘Liberales’ and from 2007 to 2010, was president of
Jong VLD National, the youth section of Open Vld.
During the latter period he gained policymaking
experience as member of the city council of Kapellen.
When in 2011 the then MEP from De Backer’s party
resigned from his position, De Backer filled the gap.
Dr. De Backer emphasized that all MEPs have a common intrinsic motivation to work for the EP,
which is to tackle the existing problems and shortcomings in the European societies in order to
make it a better place to live in. Otherwise there would be no basis to bear the personal
sacrifices the tiring job involves, even when considering the admittedly good pay.
In general, all MEPs are bound to take decisions in favor of the community of the EU countries
irrespective of their personal origin. Because of this reason, he explained that the MEPs take
their seats in the plenaries according to their political affiliation and not according to their
national citizenship.
The MEPs have three roles in their parliamentarian life. They are members of at least two
committees (for one as full member and for the other as substitute member), in most cases are
affiliated with a political group and have to take part in the plenary sessions (absence from
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voting is penalized with cuts in benefits). The workflow of the parliament is mainly determined by
the scheduling of the monthly four-day plenary sessions held in Strasbourg. Approximately one
week per month is dedicated for work in the committees where problems are debated
addressing certain dossiers and solutions are elaborated. After that the political groups hold
internal meetings where the political standpoints towards each committee’s work content is
elaborated. Then the plenaries take place at which the issues are discussed among the entire
parliament and the voting is executed. However, the plenary hearings where content debates
take place are mainly attended by the respective experts of the political groups, and only for the
voting do all MEPs physically appear.
During voting time no discussion is permitted and several decisions are taken per minute by a
show of hands. Only in case of uncertainty or after extraordinary request the electronic voting
system is used. In principle the MEPs are free to express their personal opinion during the
votes, but in most cases the political groups vote according to their consolidated line. Dr. De
Backer pointed out that the issues at stake often are highly complex, but what it boils down to in
the parliament in the end is whether to be in favor, against or to abstain. The remainder of the
time not covered by committee work, political group meetings or plenary sessions is at the
MEPs’ disposal to consult interest groups, form their own opinion about discussed issues and
also to bid other MEPs or political groups for support concerning controversial topics.
Dr. De Backer said that his working day starts at 8 a.m. with breakfast meetings. The daytime is
filled with one of the three core commitments (committees, political group, plenary) and the
evenings are occupied by informative meetings. The work only ends at around 2 a.m. after the
content of the agenda of the next day has been worked through.
As a personal message, he observed that lobbyists are, despite their questionable reputation,
often valuable discussion counterparts and are a very important source of information. In his
opinion a good lobbyist first explains how his interest group would be affected by different
political scenarios and then suggests a favored decision-making outcome.
By Anna Zvorykina and Timo Weinbrenner
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BASF
Date: 10.10.2014
Time: 13:00 - 16:00
Venue: BASF Agricultural Center Limburgerhof
Institution: BASF - The Chemical Company
Speaker: Sebastian Bauer
Upon arriving at BASF in Limburgerhof around midday, the company kindly offered us a
delicious lunch. Thereafter Mr. Sebastian Bauer gave us an interesting presentation about the
company BASF and its products.
BASF, which was founded 1865, has a widespread portfolio. Crop protection, which is located at
Limburgerhof, is just one out of 5 segments of the BASF portfolio and was responsible for 7% of
the company’s income in 2013.
When it comes to crop protection, we were told about the long and expensive process it takes to
develop a product for the market. Starting off with around 140.000 substances, it takes about 10
years of research and development, costing approximately 200 million euros until in the end
there is one product, ready for registration and production.
Later we were shown around the site. This way, we were able to take a look at the laboratories
where prescreening, microtests and greenhouse tests are done, reducing the number of
potential substances down from 140.000 to around 100 substances, which then undergo field
trials.
By Sebastian Bernwieser
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5. Notices
Students responsible for organizing gifts for our hosts: Bernadette Ackermann and Elisabeth Hahn.
Document formatted and copy-edited by Jie Lu.
Final proofing by Richard Smart
Photographers: Dave Hermsdorf, Linda Richter, and Magdalena Zöggeler
Disclaimer: this booklet is for information purposes only for students and staff of the Technische Universität München
participating in an international excursion to Brussels in Belgium, organized by the said university. The contributing
authors, formatters, copy-editors and proof readers absolve themselves of any inaccuracies that may appear in this
document. This document is not for sale or general distribution.
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6. Participation List (Alphabetical Order)
Surname First Name Degree Program and area of interest
Ackermann Bernadette Bachelor of Agricultural Science
Becker Natalie Master's program Agricultural Science
Bernwieser Sebastian Master's program Agricultural Management
Birkle Ingo Master of Science Agricultural Sciences with a focus in agricultural economics
Bosch Josef Master's in Agricultural Sciences - Economics and Agribusiness
Cao Fangyin Master's program Agricultural Science and my subject area is Agribusiness/Agricultural Economics
Chen Ruomei Master's program Life Science Economics and Policy
Dauermann Angelika Master's program Agricultural Science and my subject area is Agricultural Economics
Dehoff Andrea Master's program Agricultural Science and my subject area is Animal Science
Faltermeier Franz Master's program Agricultural Management
Feucht Charlotte Master's program Agricultural Science
Göbel Hannah Master's program Agricultural Science and my subject area is Agroecosystem
Hahn Elisabeth Bachelor of Agricultural Science
Haßauer Christine Master's program Agricultural Science and my subject area is Agribusiness/Agricultural Economics
Hermsdorf David Master's program Agricultural Science
Hoffmann Dominik Master's program Agricultural Management
Hörndl Dorothea Master's program Agricultural Management
Kaufmann Jonas Master's program Agricultural Science and my subject area is Agroecosystem
Lu Jie Master's program Agricultural Science and my subject area is Agroecosystem
Mack Christina Master's in Agricultural Sciences - Agricultural Economics
Mahmoodi Saire Master's program Life Science Economics and Policy
Mayr Bernadette Master's program Agricultural Management, specializing in dairy cattle and crops
Moinul Haque Gazi Md. Master's program Life Science Economics and Policy
Nobbe Konstantin Master's program Life Science Economics and Policy
Perl Irmengard Master's in Agricultural Sciences - Agricultural Economics
Rennberger Gabriel Master's program Agricultural Science and my subject area is Agrobiosciences - Plant
Richter Linda Master's program Life Science Economics and Policy
Sanaullah MD. (Ronny) Master's program Life Science Economics and Policy
Sauer Johannes Professor of Agricultural Production and Resource Economics
Schröder Sam Bachelor of Agricultural Science
Schroeter Julian Master's in Agricultural Sciences - Agricultural Economics (regional marketing and food marketing)
Schulte Julius Master's program Life Science Economics and Policy
Smart Richard Researcher: regulation of biotechnology
Song Hyewon Master's program Life Science Economics and Policy
Urban Adrian Master's program Agricultural Management
Weinbrenner Timo PhD candidate: biodiversity economics
Wree Philipp PhD candidate: innovations in agriculture esp. GMOs; agricultural trade and the role of commodity markets
Zöggeler Magdalena Master's program Life Science Economics and Policy
Zvorykina Anna Master's program Agricultural Science and my subject area is Agroecosystem
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7. Acknowledgements
Support for the excursion was obtained from the following, whom we sincerely thank: