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The European Commission presented on 25/03/2021 an Action Plan for Organic Farming. According to the Commission, the main objective of this plan will be to support the production and consumption of organic agricultural products, to achieve 25% organic farming by 2030, and to significantly increase the share of organic aquaculture. The sustainability of organic farming should also be strengthened. According to the European Commission, organic farms under organic farming have about 30% more biodiversity, while farmed animals enjoy better living conditions. Organic farming is also beneficial to farmers due to higher incomes. The European Commission states that the action plan is designed to provide the fast-growing organic production sector with the appropriate tools to achieve the 25% target. The plan presents a total of 23 measures to help boost consumption, increase production, and strengthen the sustainability of the sector. EU Member States should draw up their own national organic action plans to increase their national share of organic farming, complement the national strategic plans for the CAP, and set out measures that go beyond agriculture and what the CAP offers.
More information is available here and here.

In November 2020, the European Commission launched a public consultation on a delegated act on sustainable finance - the EU green investment classification system. The aim was to present the text of the delegated act in December 2020, but almost 50,000 contributions were sent to the public consultation, so the Commission postponed the delegation act to April 2021. The new initiative will create a classification system for sustainable economic activities ("taxonomy") and focus on the EU's environmental goals of climate change mitigation and adaptation. According to the Commission, this taxonomy will be a common language that investors around the world can use to invest in projects and economic activities that have a significant positive impact on the climate and the environment. The taxonomy is part of the European Green Deal, which aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. According to the European Commission, taxonomy as such should not be a mandatory initiative, for example, European banks will be able to commit themselves to fulfilling the taxonomy voluntarily. The Dutch Rabobank has already confirmed its interest in implementing the taxonomy rules. In the draft delegated act of November 2020, the European Commission included several agricultural areas among the areas of interest (including the cultivation of permanent crops, animal production or forestry). Last week, another working version of the Commission document leaked, which has undergone several changes from the November version. All agricultural chapters and references to plant or animal production have been excluded from the document for the time being, the current wording of the working draft continues to mention only forestry. However, negotiations on the final form of the delegated act are still not over. The largest European agricultural organization, Copa & Cogeca, is currently discussing whether it would not be better to keep agricultural chapters in the taxonomy - excluding them would prevent the agricultural sector from accessing new green investments, which could have a negative impact on the agricultural sector, according to Copa & Cogeca.

On 24/03/2021, the European Commission issued new guidelines clarifying the concept of "environmental damage", which are part of the Environmental Liability Directive. The aim of the new guidelines is to help meet the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, the theme of which will also be reflected in the forthcoming Action Plan on Zero Pollution. The guidelines explain in detail the extent of damage caused to watercourses and resources, soil, protected species, and natural habitats; it should help Member States to assess whether, in their case, it is necessary to take measures to prevent damage or to restore damaged areas.
More information is available here.

On 23/03/2021, the European Commission published the results of the second part of a study of a Europe-wide comparison of the quality of food products sold under the same brand with different compositions to see if any differences in composition could be recognized by the human senses. Sensory differences reflecting the composition of the samples were found in ten of the twenty food samples tested purchased in different EU Member States. The European Commission also confirmed in this study, carried out by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), that, as in the first part of the study, the differences were not related to certain geographical areas, they occurred across Member States. FoodDrinkEurope, an organization representing the food industry, supported the Commission's report and emphasized that there was no evidence of differences in food quality in the Eastern and Western EU countries. Consumers' product purchasing decisions can be influenced not only by taste but also by price.
More information is available here and here.

Due to the rules of the World Trade Organization, the European Commission does not have the power to stop the import of food and agricultural commodities from third countries where pesticides are banned in the EU. As part of the Farm to Fork Strategy, the Commission is therefore considering lowering the MRLs for banned pesticides on imported food - for the first time, the EU would reduce MRLs not only for human health but also for environmental impact. The European Union is under pressure from South American countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Paraguay), which are calling for a precise definition of sustainable practices and EU sustainability criteria to be followed. At the same time, they draw the EU's attention to the application of the so-called double standard, because the Union itself allows for the issuance of emergency permits for the use of banned pesticides, thereby helping the presence of banned pesticide residues on the EU market.