AGENDA

Draft Agenda
10:00 – 10:15	Opening
	Velislava Popova, Editor-in-Chief, Dnevnik Daily
	Svetla Boyanova, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Foods
10:15 – 10:30	Presentation of a poll on awareness and attitudes towards the CAP of the EU, including actual and potential beneficiaries
	Genoveva Petrova, Executive Director, Alpha Research
10:30 – 10:45	Debate
10:45 – 11:30	Section 1: What was achieved in the first three years of CAP implementation since Bulgaria became a member of EU, what opportunities were missed and why? Conclusions and recommendations.
	Convener: Krasimir Kiryakov, Board Chairman of Bulgarian Association of Consultants for European Funds and Manager of Voca Consults
	1.1 Competitiveness of the agriculture sector
	Dimitar Simeonov, Deputy Executive Director of State Fund Agriculture
	1.2 Rural Development
	Vladislav Cvetanov, Directorate Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Foods
	Elena Ivanova, Directorate Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Foods
11:30 – 11:45	Debate
11:45 – 12:15	Coffee Break
12:15-16:00	Section 2. New opportunities for Bulgarian agriculture till 2013
	Convener:Svetla Chamova, Executive Director, Association of Meat Processors in Bulgaria
	2.1 Agroecology and sustainable agriculture
	Veselka Ignatova, Directorate Rural Development. Ministry of Agriculture and Foods
	2.2 Subsidies and market interventions
	Snezana Blagoeva, Directorate Rural Development. Ministry of Agriculture and Foods
12:45 – 13:00	Debate
13:00 – 14:00	Lunch
14:00-14:30	Section 2 prolongation
	2.3 New opportunities in milk sector
	Dilyana Slavova, Executive Director of National Milk Board and National Association of Milk Processors (tbc)
	2.4 Animal welfare standards
	Dr. Pencho Kamenov, Directorate Animal Healthcare and Foods Safety, National Veterinary Service
14:30-14:45	Debate
14:45 – 15:15	Coffee Break
15:15-15:45	Section 2 prolongation
	2.5 Quality and safety foods
	Dr. Venceslava Tasseva, Director of Directorate Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Foods
	2.6 Public-private partnerships
	Stoilko Apostolov, President of Bioselena Foundation
15:45 – 16:00	Debate
16:00	Closing

For the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) goes almost 50% of the budget of the EU. It has a direct connection with the Common Market and European Monetary Union, as well as directly relevant to business and millions of lives. This is the first common policies of Old Europe, established in 1962 at a time when the founding countries recover from the long food crisis. So just started with subsidies on production as opposed to a previously existing deficiency of agricultural commodities.

However, this approach generates a constant surplus of some agricultural products, so that the CAP is reformed several times a year.
In 1992 was launched fundamental changes that continue even now, with the result that levels of support for EU farmers decreased. Subsidies on quantities produced agricultural products were replaced by direct payments to farmers and support for production shifts to support manufacturers.

The last review of the Common Agricultural Policy ("Health check") is in 2008. It launched a serious debate about its future after 2013.

During the conference issues will be discussed how it will look CAP, what is done in the first years of its implementation in Bulgaria and what are the new opportunities for Bulgarian farmers.