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Following complaints from NGOs, European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly has launched an inquiry into the European Commission's actions in negotiating a trade agreement with Mercosur. It will focus mainly on presenting a draft trade agreement before finalizing the updated version of the Sustainability Impact Assessment, whereby the Commission has not considered its own guidelines for the use of the Impact Assessment. The Commission must now comment in writing on the situation and defend its action.
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On 10/07/2020, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, presented a revised proposal for the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework and the recovery instrument Next Generation EU (NGEU). Based on the proposals presented by the Commission on 27/05/2020, the aim of the revisions is to reach an agreement on the budget with the countries that have so far refused to increase it. The allocation for the EU's Next Generation EU (NGEU) plan remains an allocation of €750 billion (€250 billion in loans, €500 billion in grants). According to Charles Michel's revised proposal, the Multiannual Financial Framework could amount to €1.074 trillion, €26 billion less than proposed by the Commission in May. The budget reduction will not affect the CAP allocation, but Charles Michel proposes to reduce the allocation for Horizon Europe (€5 billion less) or InvestEU (€10 billion less). According to Michel, the repayment of the loans should start in 2026, the Commission proposed 2028 in May. Under the new own resources chapter, Charles Michel continues to count on the taxation of non-recycled plastic waste, which should be taxed from 01/01/2021. Michel expects a tax of 0.80 eurocents per kilo. The new revised proposal will be discussed by the leaders of the EU member states at the Summit on 17-18 / 07/2020.
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On 09/07/2020, the EP Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI) confirmed its lack of interest in continuing the joint negotiations on the CAP Strategic Plans with the EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI). Negotiations should now take place at the level of political factions, which will weaken COMAGRI's role in shaping Parliament's position on the CAP. COMAGRI offered COMENVI a joint meeting on the CAP, to be held on 14/07/2020. However, COMENVI also rejected this option.

During a meeting of the EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) on 06/07/2020, representatives of the European Commission threatened to withdraw the proposal on transitional rules unless the Council and Parliament supported reducing the transitional period to one year. Both the Council and Parliament reached an agreement on the length of the transitional period on 30/06/2020, but the Commission continues to support a transitional period of one year. According to the Commission, a transitional period of two years could limit the contribution of the CAP to meeting the objectives of the European Green Deal. Following the Commission's speech, COMAGRI members expressed their surprise and concern at the EC's position, Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, IT) said that the pressure from Commission representatives was the result of pressure from Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, who seeks to reform the CAP according to his own ideas. Paolo de Castro (S&D, IT) rejected the possibility of Parliament joining the one-year transitional period. Parliament, the Council and the Commission are now waiting to reach an agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework, with the final EP, EC and Council trialogue meeting on the transitional period only scheduled after an agreement has been reached on the budget.
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European Commission is preparing an action plan for organic farming, its submission is expected by the end of this year (so far tentatively planned for November). Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said last week that the Commission plans to support the demand for organic farming as part of an action plan, in particular by promoting organic food, by promoting green public procurement, by strengthening the share of organic food in public catering establishments and by strengthening canteens offering organic food. The action plan will also be based on the Farm to Fork Strategy's goal of strengthening organic farming to 25% of total EU agricultural land. A public consultation on the organic farming action plan should be launched during the summer months.