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Rapporteurs for the proposal for a European Parliament recommendation to the Council and the Commission on compliance with animal welfare during transport Daniel Buda (RO, EPP, COMAGRI) and Isabel Carvalhais (PT, S&D, COMAGRI), both members of the EP Committee of Inquiry into Animal Protection during Transport (ANIT), presented a draft EP recommendation last week. The draft recommendation does not currently propose a ban on the transport of live animals, but the rapporteurs state that conditions need to be created to allow the transition from the need to transport live animals to carcasses over time. The rapporteurs also state that the only way to address some animal welfare issues during transport in a harmonized way across the EU and to incorporate the latest scientific knowledge is through a revision of the Animal Transport Regulation. The rapporteurs propose to call on the Commission to put in place a harmonized and effective EU sanctions system, setting out common minimum criteria for sanctions for infringements, to lay the foundations for an effective, proportionate, and dissuasive system across the EU. Amendments can be tabled until 01/07/2021, voting in the ANIT Committee is scheduled for the second half of the year, and the plenary should vote on the recommendations in December 2021.
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In June 2021, the European Parliament's Research Service (EPRS) published a new study entitled Animal welfare on the farm - ex-post evaluation of the EU legislation: Prospects for animal welfare labelling at EU level. This document presents the main conclusions of the assessment of the implementation of legislation at European level published by the EPRS, which is intended to serve as a supporting document for the ongoing work of the EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) to assess the implementation of European legislation on animal welfare. The EP Environment Committee (COMENVI) will prepare its opinion to assess the implementation of the legislation, but the lead committee is COMAGRI. The study was carried out by Arcadia International and the Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning (ÖIR) in the period from December 2020 to May 2021 and included a total of 11 EU countries. The main conclusions of the study include: most European animal welfare legislation is outdated and needs to be revised, the wording of the legislation is in many cases too vague, and provides too many exceptions; general European animal welfare legislation and pig welfare legislation have not achieved some of their objectives, for example in many member states pigs are still kept in unenriched cages; of all the animal welfare directives considered, the general European directive has the least impact on the scope; moreover, due to the vague nature of the requirements and the great flexibility in the interpretation of the directive, it has not been possible to characterize the links between improvements in practice and the directive itself. Regarding animal welfare labelling at EU level, the EPRS assessed the currently used voluntary animal welfare labelling schemes in the EU. The findings show that labelling in most cases includes, in addition to welfare, other product-related aspects, including traceability, sustainability and health. Labelling of animal welfare is most used for pigs, dairy cows, and broilers, most often fresh, frozen, and processed meat. The study states that, despite support from agriculture ministers for the introduction of animal welfare labelling at EU level, the prospect of introducing mandatory welfare rules at EU level does not currently meet with support for EU businesses, including agricultural organizations, especially given concerns about the economic impact of introducing such labelling on food business operators and farmers. On the contrary, the introduction of welfare labelling at EU level is supported by NGOs working on animal welfare.
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The informal Council of Ministers for Agriculture and Fisheries will take place on 14-15/06/2021 in Lisbon. Ministers will exchange views on food systems, innovation, and natural resource management in the context of the post-2020 CAP and the future of the Common Fisheries Policy. The informal ministerial meeting will be preceded by an informal meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on 14/06/2021, which will have a single item on the agenda: the post-2020 CAP reform package.

On 08/06/2021, the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA) published a document on the resilience and sustainability of the agri-food chain. In the document, CEJA called for simplification of risk management tools and supply chain support within the CAP to strengthen the position of farmers in the agri-food supply chain. The CEJA proposal should also lead to more effective crisis forecasting through better matching of supply to demand.
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On 08/06/2021, the European Commission presented a draft EU budget for 2022 totalling €167.8 billion. In addition, the EU budget should be complemented by around €143.5 billion from the EU's Next Generation Fund. The budget for the CAP is set at €53 billion in 2022, complemented by an additional €5.7 billion from the EU's Next Generation Fund and €550 million for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. In total, therefore, the agricultural sector could manage almost €60 billion. At least 30% of the total EU budget should be set aside to combat climate change. The new CAP rules will probably not enter into force until 2023, so most of the current rules will remain in force for a transitional period, i.e., in 2022. For 2022, the Commission proposes to strengthen the market intervention budget by €43 million to a total of €2.66 billion (compared to 2021). However, the Commission does not plan to allow private storage schemes or any additional market measures for 2022. According to the Commission’s proposal, the budget for direct payments should be reduced by €55.4 million in 2022 compared to 2021 to a final €37.8 billion, the first pillar should reach a total of €40.8 billion (by €137 million less than in 2021). For the budget for the second pillar - Rural Development Programs - the Commission proposes to allocate a total of €18.4 billion, including €5.7 billion in EU Next Generation support. The crisis reserve for 2022 should amount to €497.3 million.
More information is available here and here.