News

The European State Forest Association (EUSTAFOR) has called on the European Commission to give greater recognition to the role of forests in the 2030 climate plan. In a statement of 25/09/2020, the association points to the significant impact of climate change on forests, with a total of 1.2 million hectares of forests in the European state sector suffering serious damage from extreme weather and climatic events, pests and diseases. The association calls on the Commission to reduce overall EU greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable forest growth and support for the bioeconomy. EUSTAFOR also calls for additional funding and incentives for the adaptation and restoration of EU forests affected by climate change.
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The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruled on 01/10/2020 on the introduction mandatory indication of the country of origin for milk. According to the CJEU, this is only possible in cases where it is demonstrated that the reason is the specific characteristics of the product or that the label is beneficial to competition in the single market. The CJEU stated that the introduction must also be supported by evidence that most consumers consider it important to provide this information. The decision will now be sent to the French Council of State, which has asked the CJEU for an opinion. As part of the Farm to Fork Strategy, the European Commission is considering allowing mandatory origin labelling for other foods beyond milk and dairy products.
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An analysis of the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) has shown that 74 pesticides banned in the EU are present in foods placed on the European market. Pesticide residues were found in 5,800 tested foods, about 6% of all samples examined. Exotic fruits such as guava, cherimoya, or gooseberry had the largest percentage of positive samples, followed by other products, including teas or coriander.
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As of 30/09/2020, the German Ministry of Agriculture had announced two more cases of African swine fever (AMP), with a total of 38 cases in feral pigs in the Brandenburg region. As of 02/10/2020, the number had risen to 40 cases. Brandenburg shall adjust the protection zone accordingly. Conventional pig farming in Germany has not yet been affected. On 12/09/2020, China announced a ban on pork imports from Germany, and shortly afterwards, Japan and South Korea also banned pork imports from Germany.
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The European Citizens' Initiative entitled End the Cage Age, which aims to ban caged livestock, has received the necessary number of signatures by 02/10/2020, so it can submit a petition to the Commission, which is obliged to respond to the initiative. According to the rules, each citizens' initiative must obtain at least one million signatures from at least seven EU Member States within 12 months. The End of the Cage Age initiative received over 1.3 million signatures in the given period, most of the signatures came from DE, NL, IT, FR and ES. The initiative was supported by citizens from 18 Member States. Over the next month, the petitioners will meet with Commission representatives to discuss the initiative, and a public hearing in the European Parliament could take place within the next three months. European Parliament may decide to respond to the initiative by adopting its own opinion. The European Commission does not have to meet the requirements set out in the petition but must state within six months what (if any) action it will take following the initiative.
More information is available here.