News

Most of agricultural political group coordinators in the EP's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development agreed that the European Parliament should vote on the future CAP in plenary in October 2020. Due to the decision to negotiate the CAP within the various political factions, these factions should provide their views on the CAP by early September 2020 at the latest. The vote should take place on 19-22/10/2020.
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The Ministers of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania supported the optional link between the CAP and the objectives of the European Green Deal. According to the ministers, the targets set by the Commission in the Farm to fork strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy should not be legally binding, but should rather be a guide for Member States.
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On 16/07/2020, the European Commission presented guidelines to ensure the protection of seasonal workers in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The guidelines serve to ensure the rights, safety and health of workers who are more at risk from cross-border movement. Member States should, inter alia, take all necessary measures to ensure decent working and health conditions, to increase field inspections or to raise awareness of safety and health.
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The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice issued a non-binding opinion on 16/07/2020 stating that country of origin labelling for milk and milk products should only be used where it has a tangible impact on product quality. Any other conclusions, according to the Advocate General, could lead to the promotion of nationalism. The quality of some products can fluctuate across member countries, and similar labelling makes sense and is defensible. However, according to the Advocate General, milk and milk products do not fall into this category.
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China has seen a sharp rise in African swine fever (ASF) cases since mid-June. The spread of the disease is probably caused by heavy rains in about 20 provinces of southern China, where medium and large farms have been affected. Farmers bury infected pigs and the infection can spread by groundwater. However, in March and April 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture reported 12 new cases, indicating the spread of ASF before the floods.
More information is available here.