The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA)

The document examines the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA), a preparatory body created in 1960 that bypasses the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) when tabling work to the Council. ClientEarth argues this 'historic oddity' lacks a clear legal basis and conflicts with Coreper's exclusive competence to prepare Council work. Because the SCA is viewed as an 'expert group' focused on national interests rather than a horizontal policy perspective, the author suggests it may be structurally unable to ensure the environmental integration and consistency required by the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork strategy, and the Biodiversity strategy.

• The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) operates with an unusual status that allows its work to be sent directly to the Council, bypassing the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), which otherwise holds exclusive competence for preparing Council work.
• There is a lack of a clear legal basis for the SCA's continued operation since 1960, and its structure may prevent the integration of climate and biodiversity goals into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Reform.

APA

ClientEarth (2020). The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA). https://www.clientearth.org/media/jmckzevz/clientearth-brief-the-special-committee-on-agriculture-a-sixty-year-old-obstacle-to-an-environmentally-ambitious-cap-ce-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA). 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/media/jmckzevz/clientearth-brief-the-special-committee-on-agriculture-a-sixty-year-old-obstacle-to-an-environmentally-ambitious-cap-ce-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) |date=October 2020 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/jmckzevz/clientearth-brief-the-special-committee-on-agriculture-a-sixty-year-old-obstacle-to-an-environmentally-ambitious-cap-ce-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2020special, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA)}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2020}, month = oct, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/jmckzevz/clientearth-brief-the-special-committee-on-agriculture-a-sixty-year-old-obstacle-to-an-environmentally-ambitious-cap-ce-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }