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Negotiations on CAP reform within the European Parliament continue to be slowed down as a result of a unilateral decision by the EP Environment Committee (COMENVI) to end joint work on the reform with the EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI). For the time being, both Committees are looking for ways to continue work on CAP reform. However, according to European media, before COMENVI decided to end its cooperation with COMAGRI within Renew Europe, the EP's third strongest political faction, there was an effort to introduce a minimum financial allocation from the envelope for the first Pillar for eco-schemes (climate and environment regimes). Renew Europe supported allocating 30% of the envelope for the first Pillar for eco-schemes in the first year of the new CAP, and the allocation should gradually increase to 40% of the envelope for the first Pillar in the last year of the future CAP. The introduction of a minimum allocation for eco-schemes is also supported by the largest political faction of the EPP (Group of the European People's Party). Last week, COMAGRI President Norbert Lins (EPP, DE) supported the allocation of at least 30% of the envelope for the first Pillar to eco-schemes to help organic farming. Lins also supported strengthening the CAP budget and allocating new financial resources to meet the targets set in the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies.

Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, said last week that the objectives of the Farm to Fork strategy and the EU Biodiversity strategy could be revised if their implementation threatened to jeopardize Europe's agricultural sector, food safety and food security. The Commissioner rejected the tolerance of double food production standards (EU versus third countries), supported a ban on imports of food produced with pesticides, which are banned in the EU, and supported a move to support local production.

The United Nations (UN) has published a report on the impact of economic activities on biodiversity. According to the UN, economic operators largely ignore the loss of biodiversity and the corresponding economic costs. The UN is therefore proposing to establish criteria for assessing the impact of the activities of entities on biodiversity, the criteria should also be used when deciding on further investments. The UN is also proposing to map activities within value chains in industry (primarily the agricultural or brewing sectors) that could have an adverse impact on biodiversity.
More information is available here.

On 30/06/2020, the European Commission published two additional calls to support the sale of agri-food products (fruit, vegetables, wine, plants, potatoes, milk, and milk products) worth €10 million. The meat was excluded from additional promotional programs. The first call will provide €5 million to support simple programs that can be submitted by one or more producer organizations from the same EU country, another €5 million will be allocated to national government activities. In both programs, promotion can be applied within and outside the EU for a period of 1 year. Applications can be submitted until 27/08/2020.
More information is available here and here.

Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, said on 30/06/2020 that it would be necessary to address the problems associated with intensive meat production in some farms, which, according to the commissioner, had become literally "meat factories". Wojciechowski therefore called for the strengthening of alternatives to intensive meat production, supported the granting of compensation to farmers who voluntarily strengthen animal welfare standards, as well as the shift to organic production.