The French Chambers of Agriculture Christophe HILLAIRET President of the Agricultural Chamber of Ile de France Member of the board of APCA in charge of European and international affairs 9 th February 2015

Outline 1.Organization and functioning of the Chambers of Agriculture 2.The consultative role of the Chambers of Agriculture 3.The services provided by the Chambers of Agriculture

1- Organization and functioning of the French Chambers of Agriculture

“agricultural orientation laws” 1924/27 Creation of the Chambers of Agriculture Creation of APPCA, the national federation Relaunching of the Chambers of Agriculture 1960/ Extension services transferred to the Chambers Brief history

Legal status and main roles Public bodies managed by elected representatives, with two main roles: 1.A consultative role on agricultural and rural issues 2.A technical role: a wide range of services provided to the farmers and to other rural stakeholders

all the Chairmen of the CA constitute the Permanent Assembly of Chambers of Agriculture (APCA) the 88 “département” CA elect the members of the 21 Regional CA each “département” CA elects a Chairman and a Deputy Delegate individuals voters elect the members of the 88 CA at “département” (=district) level group voters A democratic election system

General Assembly Chairman Board Farmers + associates (farmers unions lists) Retired farmers Land and forest owners Employees - farms workers - prof. organizations Professional organizations elections: every 6 years à 4 45 à 48 7 voting groups, representing the various stakeholders in agriculture: Composition of a Chamber of Agriculture at "département" level

The Chambers’ of Agriculture network 110 Chambers of Agriculture throughout France: –88 Chambers at “département” (=district) level –21 regional Chambers –the Permanent Assembly of the Chambers of Agriculture (APCA) 4 200 elected representatives ~8 000 employees ( ~75 % engineers and technicians) Budget : ~700 million € –~50% financed by the land tax Esitpa: the Chambers’ institute for sustainable agriculture, food & agribusiness

A 2B Less than 60 FTE* Between 61 and 80 FTE* Between 81 à 100 FTE* Between 101 and 150 FTE* More than 151 FTE* employees 31 to 170 employees/chamber Average: 82 employees Average budget : 7 Mio € 88 “département” Chambers *FTE: full-time equivalent Merging of Chambers

Midi- Pyrénées PACA Languedoc- Roussillon Centre Aquitaine Bretagne Rhône- Alpes Bourgogne Auvergne Corse Pays de la Loire Poitou- Charentes Limousin Franche- Comté Ile-de- France Normandie Alsace Champagne -Ardennes Lorraine Picardie Nord-Pas- de-Calais Between 16 and 25 FTE* More than 25 FTE* Less than 15 FTE* No answer 548 employees 4 to 83 employees/chamber Average: 27 employees Average budget: 4,2 Mio € 21 regional Chambers *FTE: full-time equivalent

APCA (Permanent Assembly of the Chambers of Agriculture) Assembly composed by the Presidents of “département” and regional Chambers of Agriculture Tasks and services: –Representation at national, European and international level –Coordination of the Chambers’ of Agriculture Network –Expertise on agricultural and rural policies and regulations –Services and projects at national level: information, communication, websites, software, continuous training, promotion of agri-food products and farm tourism, …) 175 employees: –APCA-Paris: ~150 employees –RESOLIA: ~25 employees (training of the Chambers’ staff) Budget: 38 million euros

ESITPA: the Chambers’ institute for sustainable agriculture, food & agribusiness Founded in 1919 Governance: –managing board (incl. APCA and Chambers) –study council –scientific council 500 students 4 study programs (“ingénieur”=Master’s level) 2 study paths: conventional or apprenticeship 1 multidisciplinary research unit “AGRI’TERR”: –two main research axes: The biological and physico-chemical characterization of soils, and the performance of cropping systems The non-food valorisation of agricultural co-products –17 researchers –7 PhD students –6 post-doctorate researchers –4 patents approved since 2009 –9 theses defended since 2005

13 SpendingResources Representation and Chambers’ fixed costs Actions of general interest (collective or individual) Specific services Land tax Contracts and subsidies Suscription (farmers) Invoiced services (including to farmers) Financing ~50%

Evolution of the Chambers’ financial resources Total budget of the Chambers: ~700 million € Financial resources : –½ taxes –¼ conventions, contracts, projects –¼ commercial services Tendency : – decreasing receipts from taxes – Increasing share of commercial services in the receipts

The Chambers of Agriculture in other EU member states

The Chambers of Agriculture in Europe: 13 countries The “old” Chambers of Agriculture: –Austria (1908) –France (1924) –Germany ( ) –Luxembourg (1924) The “new” Chambers of Agriculture (or recreated after 1989): –Czech Républic (1992) –Croatia (2009): in difficulty –Estonia (1996): Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce –Hungary (1994): recently restructured –Latvia: no news, possibly closed –Lithuania –Poland (1919, recreated in 1995) –Slovakia –Slovenia (2000)

The roles of Chambers of Agriculture in Europe Consultative and technical role: –Austria –France –Germany –Luxembourg –Slovenia A mainly consultative role: –Czech Republic –Estonia –Hungary –Lithuania –Poland –Slovakia

Various sizes

Germany: a “summary” of the different farm extension systems in Europe

Example of Ile-de-France Chamber of agriculture (IDF-CA)

West Ile-de-France Agriculture (IDF-CA perimeter) Representation –~2,500 farms – Average size : 96 ha UAA: 230,000 ha (utilized agricultural area) Production –Majority grain sector: 82% of the UAA / 41% : soft winter wheat Economic weight: –8,2 % of French wheat –16 % of French wheat flour –2% of UAA, 0,9% of national production value Grain Livestock – Mixed farming Fruits & Vegetables Livestock – Mixed farming - Fruits & Vegetables

IDF-CA Organisation Le Chesnay Cergy Saint-Arnoult- en-Yvelines Magnanville Galluis Etampes- Méréville Milly/Corbeil/ La-Ferté Human resources –70 full time employees Main services –Technical & economical –Business (legal, land law, management, setting-up farmers, diversification…) –Administration (secretariat, communication, accounting, computer maintenance…) Establishment: –Head office in Le Chesnay (next to Versailles) + 6 decentralized offices Farmers assembly elected for 6 years –46 members (2 meeting / yr) / 19 board members (5 meeting /year) –1 President /Last election : January 2013

2- The consultative role of the Chambers: representation of farmers’ interests

Representation at different levels APCA Regional CA District CA Government Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Finance National Assembly EU Commission EU Parliament Services of Ministry of Agriculture Senators Members of Nat. Assembly "département“ Council Mayors Chambers of Commerce Chambers of Guild... Farmers’ organisations, cooperatives... Regional council Senate State services (DDT)

PublicPrivate Technique Political Chambers of Agriculture Land planning offices (SAFER) Health system (MSA) Accountancy associations (CER) Farmers’ unions Banks (Crédit Agricole, …) Cooperatives Ministry of Agriculture (at central, regional and department level) Paying agencies (FranceAgriMer ASP) Territorial communities Farmers’ technical groups (contrôle de performance) Insurances (Groupama, …) Relationship with other organizations involved in agricultural development Technical research institutes

Parliamentary lobbing in France Regular exchanges of views with MP’s and Parliament staff on diverse issues: land management, agricultural and rural policies, pensions, budget, … A difficult task: –National Assembly: only 16 deputies with a farmer’s background / 577 deputies in total (~3%) –Senate: 16 senators with a farmer’s background / 348 senators (~5%) Example: the last Farm Act ( ) –More than 30 amendments proposed by the Chambers of Agriculture –2/3 of proposed amendments were accepted

The French Chambers of Agriculture in Brussels Office of French farmers’ organizations European Commission European Parliament Council of European Union European Economic and Social Committee COPA (European Farmers) Information Lobbying Office in Brussels APCA Chambers of AGriculture European Chambers of Agriculture EUFRAS (European agricultural advisory services

Role of the APCA representative in Brussels lobbying –monitoring, alert, awareness of key EU policies –Support the identification of priority issues (services and instances APCA) –Relations with institutions, identification of stakeholders & decision- makers –Organization of lobbying missions (elected representatives, experts) European information and support to Chambers –Information to department and Commission of APCA –Information to Chambers: Internet Portal, newsletter, presentations –Organisation of visits of Chambers in Brussels Participation to European organisations (COPA) Participation to European working groups and advisory groups

Lobbying: When and where? Studies and consultation Drafting of proposals bu European Commission Technical details INFLUENCE General Orientation 1st reading 2nd reading DECISION STEP WHERE LOBBYING Commissio n Services level Political level Parliament/Coun cil Addition of a Chapter, a paragraph Modification of wording, addition of one word… D ’ apr è s D. Gueguin Political level Issue to deal with, new ideas, All institutions

When and where lobbying? A success story in lobbying is : To put the right arguments at the right time on the right desk! Long-term work which assessment is qualitative!

3- The services provided by the Chambers of Agriculture: training, advice, R&D

Services provided at each level 88 "district" Chambers of Agriculture 21 regional Chambers of Agriculture the Permanent Assembly of the Chambers of Agriculture (APCA) Chambers’ network coordination common services at national level: promotion, training, websites, IT-tools, … expertise on national, European and international policies (agriculture, environment, trade, …) coordination of the “regional agricultural and rural development programme” coordination of other regional-scale projects prod°. economic & technical “reference” data studies: economy, environment, land planning knowledge transfer between applied research & farmers: experimental stations various common services at regional level agri-food & farm tourism promotion information of farmers technical & economic advice training on-farm demonstrations & experiments local development projects

Crop production – 820 employees Livestock production – employees Land planning, local development, forest – 550 employees Food products, communication, agritourism– 475 employees Agricultural and rural policies + Economy – 250 employees Farm management and strategy – employees (approximate data) 8 main fields of activities Environment – 985 employees Short term training for farmers – 420 employees

Example of Ile-de-France Chamber of Agriculture (IDF-CA)

Example 1 : Technical & environmental support to farmers To grain farms –10 agricultural development groups: 990 members – 20 advisers –64% of west IDF arable land To specialized farms –Vegetables: 2 gps – 151 mbs – 2 advisers –Orchards: 1 gp – 58 mbs – 1 adviser –Horticulture: 1 gp: 26 mbs - 1 adviser –Ornamentals / Bushes: 1 gp – 17 mbs - 1 adviser Contributions –Grain farms: 446,000 € (~4€/ha) –Specialized farms: 117,000 € = € = 10% of IDF- CA resources N-S: ~100 km E-W: ~80 km

Example 1 : Technical & environmental support to farmers Technical support: 16 advisors –Weekly Mail/Fax with technical recommendations adapted to each sector (soils, climate thanks to 10 weather stations, pests & diseases pressure…) –Phone assistance, Individual visits (3 /year) & Group visits –Preparation for CAP controls –Experimental farms –Publications for crop management –Information meeting & Training session –Access to software proposed by CA network: individual record of farm practices & recommendations (1/4 total farmers, 35% of IDF-CA members)

GéoFertilnet lien avec visu parcelle

Example 1 : Technical & environmental support to farmers Environmental support: 4 advisors –20 Mail/Fax per year about evolution of regulations (about water, biodiversity, air, …) –Phone assistance, Meeting & Training –Land Application Plan –Agro-environmental assessment –Grant application filling assistance –CAP Green payment assistance –Irrigation : collective organization –Assistance to runoff or mud flows problems, to maintenance of drainage ditches…

Example 2 : Business support (legal, land law, management, setting up, diversification…) 9 advisors to help farmers in their farm management at key moments, to take the best decisions: –Farm enterprise creation or evolution –Economic or social outcomes optimization –Farm heritage strategy –Rural lease draft –One-off legal consulting –Diversification activity development such as setting up a processing workshop, farm accommodation or a short marketing circuit… 28 accountants

Thank you for your attention