Conseil Européen des Jeunes Agriculteurs

CEJA, which stands for Conseil Europeen des Jeunes Agriculteurs in French or the European Council of Young Farmers in English is an umbrella organisation gathering young farmers from all over Europe and is one of the key advocates for the agricultural sector at European level. This non-profit organisation has, at present, 26 member organisations and one observer member from 21 different European countries, representing around one million young farmers.

CEJA was founded in Rome, Italy in 1958. Through a series of bilateral contacts, organisations representing young farmers from the six initial members of the EEC set up a European organisation of young farmers in order to concentrate their action at European level and to concretely participate in the realisation of European integration. To this end, a “Comité d’Entente” was set up, which was later renamed the “European Council of Young Farmers”.

CEJA does not defend nor depend on any political ideology and gathers a broad spectrum of young farmers and rural youth members. It is an international organisation governed by a General Assembly and a Presidium, CEJA’s main decision making bodies, as well as a Presidency which is made up of one President and four Vice-Presidents of different nationalities, elected for a two year term. The CEJA office is based in Brussels at the heart of the European Quarter at 23 Rue Belliard. Apart from providing services to its members, CEJA stays in regular contact with young farmers’ organisations and agricultural institutions and associations throughout Europe and worldwide. CEJA also has strong links with different international youth organisations. At Brussels level, partners include the MER (European Movement of Rural areas) and the CAP NGO working group, where very different organisations from the agricultural, environmental, animal welfare and biodiversity sectors are represented. At international level, the organisation works closely with IFAP (International Federation of Agricultural Producers), the United Nations’ Agricultural Organisation FAO and Rural Youth Europe, for example.

CEJA’s main objectives according to their website are to ease the installation of young farmers in Europe, to inform, train and represent them, to act as a platform for communication between young farmers and to make European citizens aware of farming-related issues. CEJA maintains contact with European institutions, European decision-makers as well as organisations dealing with agriculture and takes part in 18 Agricultural Advisory Groups of the European Commission.

CEJA acts as a forum for exchange and dialogue between young farmers and European decision makers. One of CEJA’s most important tasks is to explain the Common Agricultural Policy, its reforms and adjustments, and to show how the two pillars of the CAP assist young farmers in rural areas to manage the structural changes in Europe’s agricultural sector. The renewed CAP allows them to become more competitive and innovative for their own benefit as well as for the benefit of the consumer, the environment and their rural communities. Within CEJA, the different reforms and simplifications of the Common Market Organisations, for example concerning the fruit & vegetable sector, the wine sector or the future organisation and management of the dairy sector are being discussed. Farming subjects which are also covered include the EU strategy on bio-energies, young farmers’ opinions on the legislative proposals for phytosanitary products, WTO issues and free trade in agriculture as well as water management. In view of the next reform in 2013, discussions on the future of the Common Agriculture Policy have intensified of late. The topic was already on the agenda during a seminar on the Health Check and the budget in November 2007, our seminars on competitiveness and market instruments throughout 2008 as well as a seminar on installation policy and the future of the CAP in September 2008. CEJA has recently set up a special working group on the subject that came up with its first position paper in October 2009 and will continue discussing the future of European agriculture policy in detail.