Interplay between European regulation and national policies in biodiversity conflict reconciliation

Successful public conservation policies at various governmental levels have increased some populations of protected species to the extent that they are causing damage to human activities. As a reaction public authorities are developing biodiversity reconciliation policies. Finland and Germany have both created reconciliation policies including a package of measures like management of population, support of technical measures and compensation for damage. All these measures are affected by European policy and law, though no special reconciliation policy has been adopted at European level. This article explores the options European legislation offers and the restrictions it imposes on member states. Based on experiences with German and Finnish biodiversity reconciliation policies, the interrelationship between European and national regulation is elaborated, leading to suggestions for better coordination of reconciliation policies between different governmental levels. --Biodiversity conflict reconciliation,European regulation,fisheries and aquaculture,local damage management,nature conservation,policy instruments

Elm Farm Research Centre Bulletin No. 75

Bulletin 75 is a compendium of articles from all areas of EFRC activities. Issue 75 featured articles on Disease varieties and seed treatments in organic cereals, developing participation; minimal cultivation; lupins. The EFRC Bulletin is published on average 6 times per year

Evaluation criteria for including feed materials in Annex II C and dietary supplements in Annex II D of the EC-Regulation 2092/91

Organic livestock farming is intended to contribute to the equilibrium of agricultural production systems; establish and maintaining an interdependence between soils, plants and animals; is land-related ruling out landless productions, and should support the development of a sustainable agriculture. The criteria for the evaluation of non-organic and organic feed inputs should be consistent with these principles of organic livestock production. This report provides an overview of issues to be considered with regard to the inclusion of criteria for non-organic and external feed materials in the further development of the EC-Regulation 2092/91 on organic food. The various implications of a criteria based approach are discussed in relation to the main objectives and principles in organic production. A system approach is recommended to provide a tool for balancing the divergent and ambivalent issues in relation to the inclusion of non-organic and external feed material on the different levels relevant in organic production

Final project report: EEC 2092/91 (ORGANIC) Revision

This report summarises the findings of the project that have been presented in a number of separate reports and publications. In the Chapters 2 to 5 the approach, results and conclusions of the project are summarised, following the structure of the different work packages. Chapter 2 summarises the work on ethical values of organic agriculture. Chapter 3 looks at the differences in the implementation of Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 across Europe and compares the European Regulation with international standards. Chapters 4 and 5 summarise the findings that relate to reducing the dependency on non-organic inputs in the case of feed and seed. The final Chapter 6 consolidates the recommendations of the whole project arising from the various different work packages in one place. Recommendations are aimed in particular at the second stage of the ongoing revision process of the European Regulation, the transfer of the detailed rules from the Annexes of the Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 that is expected to start after the completion of the project. Further recommendations for standard setting bodies, regulators and research recommendations are also presented. The overall objective of the project was to provide recommendations for the revision and further development of the Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 and other standards for organic agriculture, broken down into a number of specific objectives that resulted in 12 seperate reports. The basic ethical values and value differences of organic agriculture in Europe was identified through stakeholder consultation (D 2.1) and through literature as part of developing a procedure for balancing and integrating the basic values in developments of EU regulation (D 2.3). Organic standards from national and private organisations in Europe were compared with the EU regulation with help of database (www.organicrules.org) and differences were analysed to give recommendations on further harmonisation of the EU regulation (D 3.2). The knowledge on how to achieve 100 % organic rations in diets for livestock was expanded through a meta-analysis of literature and an overview of the current situation to characterise the availability of protein sources for 100% organic diets for pigs and poultry was produced (D 4.1 part 1 and 2). Criteria for use of organic inputs, evaluation criteria for Annex II C: Feed materials and Annex II D: Dietary supplements of Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 were developed (D. 4.2). A guide for operators was developed (D 4.3). The knowledge on how to reduce the use of non-organic seed and vegetative propagation materials was improved through reports on seed borne diseases in organic seed and propagation material (D 5.1), on the importance of quality characterising in organic seed and propagation material (D 5.2) and analysis of national derogation regimes (D 5.3). The project produced 12 reports, 7 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, and a project web-page at www.organic-revision.org where all reports and further documents are available. It organised 3 workshops with stakeholders and had ongoing communication with the Unit on Organic Farming in DG Agriculture responsible for the Organic Regulation. Members of the team produced in total more than 250 dissemination items

"Beasts in human form": How dangerous speech harms

Recent years have seen an upsurge of inflammatory speech around the world. Understanding the mechanisms that correlate speech with violence is a necessary step to explore the most effective forms of counterspeech. This paper starts with a review of the features of dangerous speech and ideology, as formulated by Jonathan Maynard and Susan Benesch. It then offers a conceptual framework to analyze some of the underlying linguistic mechanisms at play: derogatory language, code words, figleaves, and meaning perversions. It gives a hypothesis for assessing the moral responsibility of interlocutors in dangerous speech situations. The last section applies this framework to a case of demagogic discourse. The framework offered explains how public discourse has harmed social relations and institutions, and is an obstacle to rational resolutions to the political situation

Production of organic seed for the organic sector (OF0154)

This is the final report of Defra project OF0154. Under the European Union Regulation on the organic production of agricultural products (2092/91), crops raised in organic systems should be grown from organically produced seed or vegetative material. However, the supply of organic seed is limited in the UK and in Europe as a whole, and so by way of derogation, the EU Regulation permits the use of untreated, conventional seed on organic farms only when an appropriate organic variety cannot be sourced. At the start of this project, the derogation period was due to end on 31 December 2000; however, it was extended in June 1999 to 31 December 2003, after which the use of conventional seed will not be permitted on organic farms. To evaluate the current situation regarding organic seed availability, future demand for seed, and the problems restricting the development of an active organic seed production industry in the UK, the following tasks were undertaken with the aim of helping to facilitate the commercial use of organic seed and contributing to the ending of the use of conventional seed on organic farming systems. Objectives 1. Assess the current and potential availability of organic seed, in the UK, elsewhere in Europe and further afield. 2. Develop a forecast of demand for organic seed in the UK over the next 5-10 years. 3. Determine the obstacles that need to be overcome and whether or not they can be dealt with through UK or European co-operation. 4. Highlight problems that need further research input. 5. Produce a report covering the availability of organically produced seed for commercial organic use, including details of species and varieties where further work is needed and recommendations for future actions. Results • There are 251 different varieties of organic seed commercially available to UK organic farmers and growers, 98% of which are vegetable varieties and 1% are cereal varieties. There are no grasses or herbage legumes available. Of the major crops, only 4% of the varieties most commonly used by UK organic producers are currently available as organic seed. • A survey (with only an 11% reply rate) indicated a general European view that organic seed was in short supply in Europe. • Based on 1997 data, demand for organic cereal seed is likely to double, demand for vegetable seed will triple, and demand for grassland seed will increase 7 or 8 times. With the current trend in organic seed production, these demands will not be met at the end of the derogation period unless a massive increase in production takes place. • The problems associated with organic seed production expressed by fourteen seed companies in the UK could be broadly placed within three categories: 1) Marketing, 2) Technical and 3) Standards. Many were only perceived problems (not actual ones) that could be overcome through education, training and discussion. • This study has shown that organic seed production must go ahead and that there are no real obstacles to cause delay. Comments and recommendations for future actions 1. Press ahead with organic seed production. 2. More rigorous policing of the current derogation is required. 3. Make a rapid commitment not to extend the current derogation. 4. Major improvements are required in organic variety testing to identify which varieties should be produced as organic seed. 5. Further work is required on pest, disease and weed problems specifically related to organic seed production. 6. Research is required on the standards of other European countries and third countries. 7. MAFF census data should include organic agriculture and horticulture information

Computing Strong and Weak Permissions in Defeasible Logic

In this paper we propose an extension of Defeasible Logic to represent and compute three concepts of defeasible permission. In particular, we discuss different types of explicit permissive norms that work as exceptions to opposite obligations. Moreover, we show how strong permissions can be represented both with, and without introducing a new consequence relation for inferring conclusions from explicit permissive norms. Finally, we illustrate how a preference operator applicable to contrary-to-duty obligations can be combined with a new operator representing ordered sequences of strong permissions which derogate from prohibitions. The logical system is studied from a computational standpoint and is shown to have liner computational complexity

Opting Out Of The 48-Hour Week – Employer Necessity Or Individual Choice? An Empirical Study Of The Operation Of Article 18(1)(B) Of The Working Time Directive In The UK

The EU Working Time Directive has so far had little impact on an ingrained culture of long-hours working in the UK. Case studies suggest that the use of individual opt-outs from the 48-hour limit on weekly working time is a principal reason for this. However, removal of the individual opt-out (currently under consideration at EU level) is unlikely to make much difference to UK practice in the absence of a wider review of working time policy. In particular, the UK’s individualised system of workplace bargaining is currently ill-placed to adapt to a continental European model of working time regulation.working time, labour standards, collective bargaining, European Union