Meeting: 21-22 March 2002

Following the kick-off meeting in Malta (11-13 February 2002) it has been decided that in the framework of eForesee project a mission of the European Commission will visit Cyprus. The mission met with Cypriot policy makers in order to identify the priorities of Cyprus in the field of agricultural policy in the light of Cyprus accession to the E.U., and how these priorities could be satisfied through the eForesee project.

The meeting took place on 21st and 22nd of March 2002. Guenter Clar form the DG Research led the mission. Representatives from DG VI, Agriculture, FOMOFO, Greece and the co-ordinator of the eForesee programme joined the mission.

Background

The ‘eForesee’ pilot projects are the first foresight activities to be carried out in Cyprus. ARI – the Agricultural Research Institute is not a policy maker as such, but it plays a key role in policy making by providing expert input to the policy process. The purpose of this visit was to demonstrate to an audience from ARI and the Ministry of Agriculture, the Natural Resources and the Environment that foresight is:

• an important tool for policy related consultation and decision making,
• can be applied to adoption of the aquis communautaire by accession countries,
• can be applied to reform of the agricultural sector,
• requires a significant level of stake-holder involvement, and
• is directly supported by the Commission via the STRATA programme.

Specifically we hoped to gain explicit support for the eForesee project from the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment in Cyprus, to answer questions about foresight, and to discuss specific themes for the foresight pilots to be undertaken in the eForesee project.