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In March, France will submit to the European Commission for review an amendment to the law on transparency of information on agricultural and food products, which was adopted last year. The amendment to the law prohibits the use of any names used to describe foods of animal origin as well as for their plant-based alternatives. The aim of the Commission's scrutiny, carried out through the TRIS transparency system, is to prevent distortions of the single market by national legislation which could conflict with these rules.
More information is available here and here.

A webinar entitled Future of Plant-Based Proteins focusing on new trends in the market for plant-based food alternatives and on food service trends will take place on 31/03/2021. A webinar on Sustainable PET Bottle Innovation for Brand Distinction and Competitive Advantage, including a discussion of food market developments, will take place on 18/03/2021. Registrations are still open.
More information and registration possible here and here.

On 18/02/2021, the European Commission published a review of EU trade policy and a new trade strategy for the coming years. According to the Commission, the new strategy is based on "the EU's openness to contribute to the economic recovery through support for the green and digital transformations, as well as a renewed focus on strengthening multilateralism and reforming global trade rules to ensure that they are fair and sustainable". Sustainability and a climate-neutral economy should be at the heart of the EU's new trade policy. The reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is therefore a priority, "including global commitments on trade and climate, new rules for digital trade, reinforced rules to tackle competitive distortions, and restoring its system for binding dispute settlement". In published documents, the Commission states that it will continue to support the EU agriculture and food sector, composed mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises, with a view to promoting the sustainability and quality of their products, enabling them to become sustainable food production system standards in the EU.
More information is available here.

The European Parliament adopted its opinion on the circular economy on 10/02/2021, adopting its opinion by 574 votes to 22, with 95 abstentions. In its opinion, Parliament called on the Commission to propose scientifically based binding medium- and long-term EU targets for reducing the use of primary raw materials and the impact on the environment; calls on the Commission to propose binding EU targets for 2030 in order to significantly reduce the EU's material and consumption footprint and align them with the planet's limits by 2050; and urges the Commission to introduce harmonized, comparable and uniform circulation indicators by 2021, consisting of material and consumption footprint indicators. Parliament also calls on the Commission to establish a regulatory framework for the certification of all natural and technological carbon sequestration solutions, including carbon capture and storage. In the food section, Parliament calls on the Commission to submit a legislative proposal to implement the goal of halving food waste by 2030; to integrate the prevention of food loss and wastage across the food value chain into relevant EU policies; and to take measures to close the agricultural nutrient cycle, reduce Europe's dependence on imports of plant proteins for livestock feed and increase the use of recycled animal fertilizers and other natural nutrients.
More information is available here and here.

The rapporteurs of the European Parliament's Committees on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) and the Environment (COMENVI) presented Parliament's draft opinion on Farm to Fork in January 2021, and members of both committees could then table amendments to the draft opinion by 02/02/2021. The amendments have not yet been published, but according to information from European NGOs, MEPs have submitted 2,297 proposals. The rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs are now working on compromise proposals, with the two committees expected to vote on the final form of the opinion in April 2021 and the plenary of the European Parliament in June 2021.