At the first Agriculture Council of the Spanish Presidency new Council President Spanish Minister Elena Espinosa outlined the Presidency priorities for agriculture over the next six months.

A UK Government report analysing the price spikes for agricultural commodities in 2007/08, concludes that these were exacerbated by poorly performing markets. Authors argue for a further opening up of the international agricultural market and specifically, for the EU to “phase out agricultural subsidies such as Pillar 1 of the CAP" over market intervention protecting consumers.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has released two new papers entitled “Review of evidence on drylands pastoral systems and climate change: Implications and opportunities for mitigation and adaptation,” and “Organic Agriculture and Carbon Sequestration: Possibilities and constraints for the consideration of organic agriculture within carbon accounting systems.”