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The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a draft opinion on dietary sugars on 22/07/2021. EFSA's preliminary conclusions confirm with added certainty the links between the intake of different categories of sugars and the risk of developing chronic metabolic diseases (obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease) and tooth decay. This information is intended to help EU member states set targets or nutritional recommendations for their citizens. The draft opinion includes a Europe-wide income model for estimating dietary sugar consumption by country and a more detailed overview of the main categories of foods that contribute to dietary sugar intake. EFSA has also launched a public consultation on the preliminary conclusions, which will run until 30/09/2021. A discussion on EFSA experts will take place on 21/09/2021.
More information is available here, consultation is available here.

France has confirmed its interest in banning culling of male chicks since 2022. French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie said that along with Germany, France would be the first country in the world to ban the practice, often referred to as "barbaric". From 2022, breeders in France will have to be equipped with devices that will determine the sex of their young before they hatch. France will provide farmers with a total subsidy of €10 million to purchase this equipment. Denormandie also confirmed that France would work during its presidency in the first half of 2022 to ensure that the ban was introduced at European level. From the beginning of 2022, the castration of live piglets will also be banned in France. The topic of the ban culling of male chicks was also discussed at the Council of Ministers on 19-20/07/2021; AT, PT, SK, SE, BE, NL, CY, EL, DK, RO, ES, FI, CZ, IE, LV, HR, LU, and IT supported the call for an impact assessment in case of end of this practice and of the review of the Regulation. The Austrian delegation called on the Commission to set maximum stocking densities for turkeys to improve animal welfare standards in line with the Farm to Fork strategy. The FR, DE, SK, BE, CY, NL, EL, LU, DK, PL, LT, CZ, IE, IT and LV delegations supported the Austrian request.
More information is available here and here.

On 14/07/2021, the European Commission published the FitFor55 climate package, consisting of a total of twelve draft regulations and revisions of legislation. Most of the proposals concern the decarbonisation of the transport, heavy industry, and energy sectors. The Commission also plans to achieve full carbon neutrality in the agricultural, forestry and land use sectors by 2035. According to the European Commission, the agricultural sector should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20%, while the remaining emissions would be offset by enhanced carbon sequestration in land use and forestry (LULUCF). The European Union should also increase carbon sequestration by 2030 from the current 268 million tonnes to 310 million tonnes. The Commission should therefore present a new carbon certification scheme by the end of 2021 (provisionally in the third quarter of 2021). The Commission should present a legislative proposal for carbon certification at the end of 2022. According to the Commission, carbon agriculture should also be supported from CAP resources, starting in 2023.
More information is available here and here.

The FitFor55 package, presented by the European Commission on 14/07/2021, also includes a proposal for a regulation establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). The CBAM mechanism will introduce carbon prices for imports of selected products from all countries outside the EU and will become fully operational in 2026. The aim is to prevent relocation of production to third countries and to prevent carbon leakage. CBAM will initially apply only to cement, iron, steel, aluminium, and fertilizers. Under the proposed measure, a charge would be levied at the borders in proportion to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contained in certain goods and the amount of carbon emitted during the production process of the products to which they apply. Once the scheme was launched in 2026, companies would receive certificates corresponding to the amount of emissions they contain in the goods they import into the EU, and enforcement provisions would be put in place to address the practices introduced to circumvent the Regulation. According to the Commission's plans, importers of goods will have to register either individually or through a representative with the national authorities, where they will also be able to purchase CBAM certificates. To be able to import CBAM-covered goods into the EU, they must report by 31 May each year the amount of goods and emissions involved in those goods imported into the EU in the previous year and submit the corresponding number of CBAM certificates. This mechanism, which aims to balance the price of carbon between domestic products and imports, will be integrated into the EU's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) under the draft regulation. The price of the certificates will be calculated depending on the average weekly auction price of EU ETS allowances expressed in EUR / t CO₂ emitted. CBAM should motivate importers in third countries to take measures comparable to EU ambitions. The transitional period for the introduction of CBAM should apply from 01/01/2023, lasting three years. From 2023, importers should start reporting emissions from imported products, and from 2026 payment obligations should apply. The European Commission launched a public consultation on the draft regulation on 15/07/2021, which will be open until 12/09/2021.
The consultation is available here, proposal for a regulation here.

The FitFor55 package, presented by the European Commission on 14/07/2021, also includes a revision of the Renewable Energy Directive. The European Commission proposes to increase the binding target for renewable energy at EU level to 40% by 2030. All Member States should contribute to this target through reinforced ambitions in the national energy and climate plans. The Commission is also working to increase the consumption of advanced biofuels to 2.2% in transport. The Commission plans to ban the extraction of woody biomass for energy production from primary forests, peatlands, and wetlands, and should only be allowed to be obtained from forests with high biodiversity. This proposal is criticized by environmental organizations, which refuse to see wood burning as a climate-friendly source of energy. In addition, according to them, the revised text does not contain any further restrictions on the use of food and feed crops to produce biofuels and biogas. The European Commission launched a public consultation on the draft regulation on 16/07/2021, which will be open until 14/09/2021.
The consultation is available here, proposal for a regulation here.