News

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich concluded in their study that organic beef and lamb production has a comparable impact on the environment and climate as production from conventional farms. A study based on calculated greenhouse gas emissions was published in the journal Nature Communications. The demand for more land per farmed animal compared to conventional farms, older age, and less meat produced, according to scientists, balance or even refute the often-mentioned positive aspects of organic farming.
More information is available here.

Slaughter pig prices in most EU Member States did not stabilize even at the turn of 2020 and 2021, they remain extremely low. According to the German Association of Cattle and Beef Producers, prices in Germany have remained at €1.19 per kilogram in recent weeks, the lowest price since January 2011. The German company Westfleisch, which focuses on slaughtering, cutting, and processing pork in the north-west Germany, reduced the so-called "solidarity contribution" for defeats last week. At the time of the introduction of the contribution, the company reduced by €2.50 per slaughter pig, now it has reduced the contribution to €2.0.
More information is available here.

Last week, the European Statistical Office Eurostat published Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Statistics for 2020. Eurostat statistics show that the risks posed by pesticides to the environment and human health fell by 17% between 2011 and 2018. Eurostat considered the sales of pesticides and the stress factor of substances contained in pesticides when calculating the risk. Eurostat has suggested using this calculation method also to calculate the results of EU Member States in meeting the objectives of the Europe Green Deal.
More information is available here.

The European Commission is considering a possible ban on the export of pesticides whose use is banned in the European Union. In recent months, European environmental NGOs have pointed out that European companies continue to produce pesticides that must not be used in the EU and then export them to third countries. However, according to environmental organizations, this not only runs counter to the EU's efforts to strengthen climate and environmental ambitions by moving the problem from the EU to third countries, but also increases the risk of banned pesticides in the form of residues in imported food and commodities returning to the EU. In response to criticism from NGOs, the European Commission has stated that it is now considering the possibility of effectively implementing a new EU strategy for chemicals, including a possible ban on the export of banned pesticides.
More information is available here.

The European Commission reached an agreement with the United Kingdom on future relations on 24/12/2020, after almost four years of negotiations. The draft trade agreement is based on three main pillars: the free trade agreement (it provides for zero tariffs and zero quotas; it covers goods, services, investment, competition, state aid, tax transparency, air and road transport, energy and sustainability; fisheries, data protection, and social security coordination); partnership for the security of European citizens (provides a framework for law enforcement and judicial cooperation); and a horizontal governance agreement (to provide maximum legal certainty for businesses, consumers and citizens). The agreement does not apply to foreign policy, nor to cooperation in the field of external security and protection. From 01/01/2021, despite the agreement reached, Britain will leave the customs union and the EU's single market, ending the free movement of people, goods, services and capital between the UK and the EU. The EU and the United Kingdom will then form two separate markets, creating barriers to trade in goods and services and cross-border mobility. The agreement should be applied for a temporary period (for the time being), until 28/02/2021. Until then, the Member States and the European Parliament should examine and confirm the wording of the EU-UK agreement. The implementation of the agreement should then be extended permanently.
More information is available here.