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During the plenary session of 08/06/2021, the European Parliament adopted an opinion on a European biodiversity strategy. Parliament called for new EU biodiversity legislation, which should ensure adequate protection of European ecosystems by 2050. Parliament also opposes the re-authorization of the active substance glyphosate after 31/12/2022, and therefore calls on all Member States to carry out the relevant preparatory work to provide all farmers with viable alternatives following the ban on glyphosate. Parliament proposes to introduce some of the objectives that the European Commission has included in the EU's biodiversity strategy on the principle of obligation. These include targets for the protection of at least 30% of the EU's marine and terrestrial areas, and the strict protection of at least 10% of the EU's marine and terrestrial areas, including all remaining native forests and rainforests and other carbon-rich ecosystems. According to Parliament, these targets should be binding and implemented by the Member States at national level. Legally binding targets for the protection of forests and forest ecosystems should also be set, which should also be reflected in the forthcoming EU Forest Strategy (likely to be presented in July 2021). The opinion was adopted with 515 votes in favour, 90 against and 86 abstentions.
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On 10/06/2021, the European Parliament voted in plenary on a non-binding opinion on the European Citizens' Initiative "End the cage age". Although the European Parliament's opinion is not in itself a legislative act and does not impose any direct obligations on farmers, the opinion will be an important document for the forthcoming debate on strengthening animal welfare in the context of the objectives and initiatives of the European Green Deal. Parliament supported a ban on cage farming for all caged animals after 2027, as well as the introduction of rules to strengthen the welfare of rabbits kept in caged. However, Parliament emphasizes that the phasing out of cages must be backed by a scientific basis and an impact assessment, that farmers should be given sufficient support to move to cage-free systems, and that the ban on cages should be reflected in EU trade agreements with third countries. The European Commission should present its opinion on cage farming on 30/06/2021. Parliament's opinion was adopted by 558 votes in favour, 37 against and 85 abstentions.
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Representatives of a total of thirteen European agricultural organizations, including the largest Copa and Cogeca, called on the European Commission on 27/05/2021 to carry out a cumulative assessment of the effects of the Farm to Fork strategy on the agricultural sector, before any legislative action is taken. According to representatives of agricultural organizations, an impact assessment is necessary to identify areas where activities need to be strengthened, but also the tools that should be used to implement these activities. Agricultural organizations also call on the Commission to ensure that the objectives covered by the European Green Deal are coherent, that they respect economic, environmental, and social sustainability, that they are measurable, realistic, and achievable.
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The European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI) adopted its opinion on the EU biodiversity strategy on 28/05/2021. Although the COMENVI has key competences for this strategy, the EP Committee on Agriculture (COMAGRI) has also adopted its opinion on areas related to the agricultural sector. Following the vote in COMENVI, COMAGRI members sharply criticized the COMENVI final report, stating that COMENVI had not considered any of the COMAGRI's recommendations. COMAGRI members therefore decided to table their amendments directly to the plenary of the European Parliament. Parliament should debate the opinion on 07/06/2021, the vote should take place on 08/06/2021. In its opinion, COMENVI supported making the objectives of the biodiversity strategy legally binding, however, COMAGRI calls for the opinion to be added that, to reduce the need to use pesticides and to reduce the risks associated with the use of chemical pesticides, a range of alternative, effective, affordable, and environmentally friendly plant protection methods and practices must be available to farmers. COMAGRI is also calling for adjustments in the sections on forestry and bioenergy.

On 01/06/2021, the European Commission published a new report on the assessment of the Impact of the CAP on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the results of the evaluation, emissions from agriculture in the EU fell by more than 20% between 1990 and 2020. However, the report points out that after 2010, agricultural production increased by 9%, and since then the process of reducing emissions from agriculture has slowed down significantly. According to the authors of the report (Alliance for the Environment), only a minimum of CAP instruments is targeted at adaptation to climate change, the authors of the report included, for example, crop diversification, redistributive payments, coupled support for protein crops, organic farming, and payments for areas with natural or other constraints (ANC) among the tools beneficial to the climate. According to the authors of the evaluation, CAP direct payments represent a suitable investment opportunity for further adaptation to climatic conditions. On the contrary, the report criticizes, for example, risk management tools, which help to protect farmers from economic losses caused by emergencies, but do not motivate farmers to prevent these losses and to strengthen the resilience of agriculture.
More information is available here and here.