Bari (Italy): The Agricultural Sector and Migrants in Southern Europe

The Italian organization Feder.Agri (Federazione Nazionale per lo Sviluppo dell'Agricoltura) brought together experts from various countries to analyze the impact of agriculture in Southern Europe. Specifically, the issue of worker health and safety was addressed.

The seminar on agriculture, organized by Feder.Agri and MCL (Movimento Cristiano Lavoratori), was held in Bari, Italy, from October 1 to 4, 2025. It was supported by EZA, PICM, and the Fondazione Europa Popolare, and funded by the EU.

Evidently, they addressed the issue of migration. Southern Europe was a vast region from which migrants departed for other countries and continents. In recent decades, Southern Europe has received numerous migrants, with a particular impact on agriculture.

Among the topics discussed were employment, worker health and safety, training, the specific problems of rural women, and European policies related to agriculture.

Participants discussed the agricultural sector in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Albania, and Romania, from both national and European perspectives.

Some of the participants were Alfonso Luzzi, National President of MCL; Piergiorgio Sciacqua, Co-President of EZA and Vice-President of IPCM; Vito Leccese, Mayor of Bari; Luigi Sbarra, Undersecretary of State for the South (Italy); Luc Van de Brande, President of EZA (Germany) and former Minister of Labour (Belgium); Maria Reina Martin, Vice-President of EZA and IPCM; Alexandru Nazare, Minister of Finance (Romania); Luis Pedro Mota Soares, former Minister of Labour (Portugal); Giuseppe Castiglione, Member of the Agriculture Committee of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy); Konstantinos Karagkounis, Deputy Minister of Labour (Greece); Raffaele Fitto, Vice-President of the European Commission; Leonardo De Marco, Secretary General of Feder.Agri; Nicola Napoletano, Deputy Secretary General of Feder.Agri; Carmen Quintanilla, President of AFAMMER and former Member of Parliament (Spain); Ignacio Argote, secretary of the IPCM Board of Directors; Panagiotis Golfis, from Dake (Greece); and other leaders from various organizations.