january 2015.

An overview of the year ahead for Fur Europe, the upcoming political elections in EU countries, and the German fur farmers'court case win are amongst the 'pick&read' stories this month. Also read on more EU funding opportunities and the Estonian citizen initiative to ban fur farming.

FUR EUROPE. Fur Europe starts the year 2015 with the main focus on accomplishing this year’s planned objectives with the aim at reinforcing sustainable development and the long-term competitiveness of the fur sector in Europe. Those goals include the implementation of the Fur Europe Roadmap and its members’ national strategies, the ongoing WelFur implementation, the continuous political engagement at EU level, the development of events and communication tools, the search of funding opportunities, and the promotion of fur in fashion.

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COUNTRIES. Looking at the political elections dates in different European cities, 2015 will be a busy year and many of these elections will be of great importance for the fur sector. Therefore, Fur Europe will, together with its members, monitor the elections very closely and communicate  the results and impacts after the elections through this newsletter. Parliamentary elections will be held in Croatia (January), Greece (January), Estonia (March), Finland (April), United Kingdom (May), Switzerland (October) and four countries where an exact date has not been set yet - Denmark, Poland (both parliamentary and presidential elections), Spain (also local elections on May 24^th) and Portugal. Furthermore, France will organize its regional elections in December this year.

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COUNTRIES. The Norwegian Broadcasting Council, a law bound public council appointed to assess journalistic standards at national public service TV station NRK, last Thursday sharply criticised the programme ‘Inside Fur’ that was shown to the Norwegian public in December. Propaganda, one-sided, speculative and collective punishment of farmers was in the vocabulary of the critical voices.

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COUNTRIES. As a citizen’s initiative, the animal rights organization Loomus recently handed over about 10,000 signatures to the Estonian parliament to ban fur farming in the country. The petition submission was orchestrated with a smaller demonstration in front of the parliament house which caught  some media attention. Consequently, a core team of the Estonian fur breeders gathered with Marja Tiura, CEO of ProFur, and Pia Hanhimäki, Country Coordinator at Fur Europe, to learn from a similar initiative faced in Finland, with a final positive outcome for the fur sector, and to develop a strategy.

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COUNTRIES. 2014 became the year of grand court case victories in the European fur sector. In May the national court in The Hague reversed the ban on mink farming in The Netherlands followed by a ruling in June stating that the reversal had immediate effect. On 4 December the Higher Administrative Court of Schleswig ruled the Fur Farming Regulation of 2011 inapplicable. The regulation provides a de facto fur ban as mink farming is not economically feasible if farmers have to farm in accordance with the provisions laid down in the German Fur Farming Regulation.

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EU. The political group leaders of the European Parliament (EP) approved the new list of twenty eight European Parliament Intergroups (2014-2019) at the Conference of the Presidents of the European Parliament on 11 December 2014. Those intergroups are informal groups that monthly discuss particular subjects and foster the contact between Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), civil society and businesses. Fur Europe considers the European Parliament Intergroups as an opportunity to influence EU decision-makers, by providing valuable knowledge and insight data on the fur sector, and establish a closer, informal relationship with the MEPs.

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EU. Do you have a perfect and very innovative idea? Would you like to get financial support for a groundbreaking concept, technological or non-technological innovation (product, process, business model)?. If so, read this article on the Horizon 2020 (H2020) dedicated SME instrument. Although Horizon 2020, the major EU research and innovation funding programme, usually requires a strong and multinational consortium, the SME instrument, devoted to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), is a tool where ‘bigger does not mean better’.

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EU. In one of his most famous portrays painted by Hans Holbein the Younger in the sixteenth century, Erasmus of Rotterdam wears a coat with well-visible fur trimmings. Now, almost 500 years after, this renaissance philosopher’s name remains alive not only thanks to his vast Humanist contribution or the famous EU programme for student exchange, Erasmus +. Another EU initiative, Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE), offers a chance for the European fur sector to dress Erasmus, metaphorically speaking, in fur again and benefit from it.

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EU. Fur Europe monitors the ongoing political conflict between EU and Russia resulting from the crisis  between Russia and Ukranie. We know that this conflict had an impact on the fur trade, especially looking at Greece and the Hellenic Fur Federation.  During an EU policy event in Brussels, the new Prime Minister of Ukraine, Arsenily Yatseniuk, outlined the new national reform strategy which includes the launch of an ambitious package of economic and anti-corruption reforms to get over the crisis. A simplification in the regulation to improve the business field and foster entrepreneurship is also one of the proposed reforms. The government aims at reducing taxes for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and improving the standards of regulation. That deregulation also implies the revamping of the 2200 state enterprises through auditing and better governance, followed by a mass privatization.

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FUR EUROPE. On 18-20 March Fur Europe will host the workshop ‘From Animal Liberation to Ethical and Sustainable Fashion’. The workshop will bring together representatives from the European fur sector’s value chain for a session that will analyse the opposition and enhance understanding of their ethical foundation and strategies.

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FUR EUROPE. In each issue of the newsletter Fur Europe puts a member of the European fur family on the spotlight. The monthly person on the spotlight can work in any part of the value chain. If you know a person with a special story or surprising ideas who deserves a place in the spotlight, let us know. We start the new series in Sweden.

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FUR EUROPE. An European Parliament proposal for an animal welfare 'one-stop-shop', the English short version of a Norwegian fur report, and more in this short news section.

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FUR EUROPE. Fur Europe's newsletter is distributed to all member associations in Europe. The purpose of the newsletter is to keep members across Europe informed about the various political developments taking place in European countries as well as at EU level. In addition, the newsletter will bring news from the Fur Europe office as well as updates about various projects or events relevant to the European fur industry including fur fairs, seminars, WelFur and so on. Projects and events may origin in member countries, Fur Europe or the International Fur Federation (IFF).

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