On 17 November 2010, the European Horse Network (EHN) has held a Seminar dedicated to the Economic impact of the Horse industry in European regions. It has enabled numerous representatives of the Horse’s industry from various Member States to have a fruitful exchange with the Flemish Minister-President, Kris Peeters, two members of the European Parliament, Ms Julie Girling (United Kingdom), Mr Janusz Wojciechowski (Poland), and two representatives from the Directorates General ‘Agriculture’ and ‘Regional Policy’ of the European Commission.
During that event, Kris Peeters said he was ‘pleased to see how equestrian organizations are joining forces at the European level hoping that in return there will be clear cooperation at EU level to give support to the industry’.
Julie Girling, who gave the keynote speech, added that ‘the sector has a powerful tale to tell to EU policy makers during the current economic downturn, not just in terms of business and employment growth, but also for the current debate on the Common Agricultural Policy.’
Janusz Wojciechowski insisted: ‘this conference, for me personally, is a signal we have to pay more attention to horses’.
This EHN forward-looking initiative, a network created a year ago, right after the ‘Equus 2009 Conference’ organised by the Swedish Presidency in October 2009 in Uppsala, aims at promoting the horse’s sector, not to just every single horse organisation but to every single horse rider or owner. With an economic impact of more than 100 billion Euros per year, the horse?s industry continues to have a growth rate of over 5% annually and provides 400,000 full time jobs across the EU. From horses used in competition to horses working on farms and in forests; from native ponies being used to graze fragile ecosystems to major horseracing festivals attracting thousands of tourists; horse activities reach into every region of the EU. FEIF is one of the founding members of EHN.
Succesful seminar of European Horse Network
