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The rapporteur of the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development for its opinion on the Farm to Fork strategy, Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, IT), reiterated last week that the strategy must strengthen the emphasis on consumers. According to Dorfmann, consumers will play a key role in the success of the parties' strategy of moving towards more sustainable agricultural and food practices. According to Dorfmann, the strategy is now focused primarily on farmers, neglecting the role of consumers. The strategy mentions targets for reducing pesticides by 50%, fertilizers by 20%, antibiotics by 50%, but also expanding the area of organic farming to 25% of the total agricultural area in the EU. According to Dorfmann, however, it is precisely these goals that completely exclude consumers from the equation - in organic farming there are absolutely no goals set to target the demand for organic production, only goals are set setting the minimum area of organic farming in the EU According to Dorfmann, for example, a target for the share of organic food on store shelves could be introduced, which he said could be a 20% target. Dorfmann also did not support the widespread introduction of NutriScore, which he said was too simplistic and which could lead to the promotion of more processed foods. According to Dorfmann, this is the paradox of the NutriScore system - it aims to combat highly processed foods, but its introduction could motivate producers to replace problematic ingredients with, for example, artificial ingredients.
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The EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI), together with the EP Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI), is working through its rapporteurs to draft the EP's first draft opinion on the Farm to Fork Strategy. The draft opinion was due to be finalized on 11/12/2020 and should be presented in committee during the public hearing on 07/01/2021. It will then be possible to send amendments by 15/01/2020, with technical and shadow rapporteurs taking place during February and March. The committees should vote on the opinion in April 2021, and the opinion should be approved by the EP plenary in May. The rapporteur for COMAGRI is Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, IT), the rapporteur for COMENVI is Anja Hazekamp (GUE/NGL, NL). The shadow rapporteurs are Asger Christensen (Renew, DK), Sarah Wiener (Greens, AT), Clara Aguilera (S&D, ES), Ulrike Müller (Renew, DE), Tilly Metz (Greens, LU), and Mazaly Aguilar (ECR, ES).

The European Commission launched the European Climate Pact on 09/12/2020, "an EU-wide initiative inviting people, communities and organisations to participate in climate action and build a greener Europe". The Climate Pact is part of the European Green Deal, which aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The European Commission also launched an open call on 09/12/2020, calling on citizens and organizations to join the climate pact and to take the position of ambassadors for the climate pact. According to the Commission, ambassadors should lead by example and involve their communities in climate action. The Pact calls on regions, local communities, industry, schools, and civil society to exchange information on climate change and environmental degradation and on ways to address these existential threats. Through an online platform and civil dialogue, the Pact will strengthen the link between digital and environmental transformation. The inaugural conference on the Climate Pact will take place online on 16/12/2020 and will be attended by the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans.
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On 08/12/2020, the European Commission extended certain state aids paid in the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors. These state aids were to end at the end of 2020 and were newly extended for two years until the end of 2022. The extension concerns the Community Guidelines for State aid in the agriculture, forestry, and rural areas; Block Exemption Regulation on State aid in the fields of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and aquaculture (702/2014); and the De minimis Regulation (1407/2013).
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French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie expressed his opposition to the approval of artificial meat grown from cells just a few hours after the laboratory meat of the American company Eat Just was approved for human consumption by the Singapore Food Agency. On the contrary, support for the Singapore Agency's decision was expressed by European stakeholders involved in the development and production of laboratory meat, including the Dutch company Mosa Meat, which is investing heavily in the development of cell-based meat in the EU.
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