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The European Commission is preparing the Commission's work plan for 2022. The Commission's final work plan should be presented on 19/10/2021 during the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg. According to preliminary information, the European Commission should plan to present legislative proposals during 2022 concerning, inter alia, integrated water management (focusing on surface and groundwater pollutants); certification of carbon removals; the EU framework for harmonized measurement of transport emissions; reducing the release of microplastics into the environment; but also, a review of competition policy rules. According to the original Farm to Fork plans, the Commission should also present in 2022 a revision of the Directive on sustainable use of pesticides, or several revisions and proposals aimed at food labelling (nutrition information, country of origin, expiry date).

The European Commission is preparing a proposal for a regulation to reduce the risk of deforestation and forest damage associated with products placed on the EU market. The first working version of the document was published last week. The draft regulation is being prepared by the European Commission's Directorate-General for the Environment (DG ENVI), the regulation should include a requirement to strengthen the due diligence system for specific products and selected commodities and a ban on placing deforestation-related commodities on the EU internal market. The ban should not apply to all production processes of companies, but to selected commodities without geographical discrimination. However, the current draft version also envisages the possibility of categorizing countries according to the degree of risk of deforestation into low, medium, and high-risk countries (but this possibility is already criticized by environmental organizations, who fear that low-risk countries could move goods from high-risk countries without much attention). Deforestation criteria would be based on scientific knowledge, build on existing internationally recognized definitions, be non-discriminatory and practicable. Selected commodities most threatening further deforestation include palm oil, soybeans, wood, beef, cocoa, cereals, and coffee. The aim of the proposal should be to prevent at least 29% of deforestation by 2030 in connection with the production and consumption of the commodities concerned. The Slovenian Presidency proposed a possible exchange of views on the proposal to the Agriculture Council on 11-12/10/2021 in Luxembourg, with a progress report to be adopted at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 13-14/12/2021. The European Commission is likely to present the proposal on 22/12/2021, which should be presented by the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans.

The European Parliament approved a new regulation on antimicrobials in plenary on 16/09/2021, rejected a proposal calling for stricter restrictions on the use of antibiotics in animals, and supported the Commission in its ongoing efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance. A legislative proposal was presented as early as May 2021, proposing criteria for identifying antimicrobials to be reserved for the treatment of certain infections in humans, as recommended by the European Medicines Agency. The Commission will now draw up a list listing all antibiotics that will be classified as antibiotics reserved for human use. Thus, some antimicrobials can only be reserved for human medicine, and according to Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, this is a crucial step in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. However, the May proposal was opposed by the Greens' political faction in the European Parliament, led by German MEP Martin Häusling, who submitted a counterproposal on behalf of Parliament's Environment Committee (COMENVI) in July. Häusling challenged one of the criteria for the inclusion of antimicrobials in the reserved list (of great importance for human health, existence of a high risk of resistance), namely the criterion that the reserved antibiotics must not include antibiotics which are essential for animal health. However, according to Häusling, this criterion is not strict enough, as there is a risk that many of them will not be included in the dedicated list of antibiotics at all due to this criterion. However, on 16/09/2021, the EP plenary rejected Häusling's counterproposal.
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According to Reuters, the European Union and the United States have reached an agreement to reduce methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 compared to 2020 levels. Due to the short atmospheric lifespan of methane, rapid reduction measures can mean a more effective slowdown in global warming. The largest global producers of methane emissions are agriculture, landfilling and energy. The United States plans to call for the same move and commitment to other strong non-EU economies and countries, such as China, Russia, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, and Norway. The initiative will be launched at the November UN Conference on Climate Change 2021 (COP 26) in Glasgow, Scotland.
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The Netherlands is considering reducing the number of livestock to reduce the excessive production of the nitrogen compound ammonia released from livestock manure. After the Dutch Supreme Administrative Court found in 2019 that the government was violating EU regulations by its lack of activity in reducing excess nitrogen in protected natural areas, the Dutch Ministry of Finance and Agriculture made two proposals to fulfil the commitment. The aim of the proposals is to ensure that nitrogen levels are optimal in half of the protected natural areas by 2030. The proposal also includes one of the most radical plans of its kind in Europe, namely a 30% reduction in livestock numbers and forcing some farmers to sell emission rights and, if necessary, sell agricultural land to the state, which Dutch Agriculture Minister Carola Schouten considers to be the last possibility between the measures under consideration.
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