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The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published an opinion on the welfare of pigs at slaughter. The report states that 29 of the 30 errors identified are due to staff failure and lack of training. Animal welfare is a key theme of the Farm to Fork Strategy, with specific legislative proposals planned by the Commission in 2023.
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Estimates of European cereal and oilseed production have fallen again from the previous month, according to a survey by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), due to persistent rainfall shortages in northern and western Europe. The estimated percentage yield was more significantly reduced for triticale by 2.2%, for wheat by 2.0% and for rape by 1.7%. The overall European declines are more modest than last month due to improved conditions in RO, ES, HU, and BG.
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The Greens joining the Irish government with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will pursue their agricultural priorities at European level in a coalition agreement. The coalition agreement includes a reduction in the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers by 2030 as well as an increase in organic farming, which should be partly financed by a strengthening of the carbon tax. The new government will also work to adjust the CAP and strengthen biodiversity.
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Last week, the coordinators of the political groups in the EP's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI) decided to conclude joint negotiations on the rules of the new Common Agricultural Policy with the EP's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI). The COMENVI decision was unilateral, COMAGRI members criticized the COMENVI decision during the 11/06/2020 Committee meeting, and generally supported the continuation of the negotiations in the current format. The COMENVI decision was initiated by some COMENVI members from the Renew Europe and S&D political factions, while Renew Europe members within COMAGRI emphasized that the Renew Europe faction had not given a mandate to end the negotiations to any of its members. The situation is still being discussed, and the Committees are looking for solutions. However, there is a risk of further delays in discussing CAP reform within the European Parliament (the plenary should vote on the opinion as early as October 2020), as well as the opening of a number of articles, including an article on capping, which should not be reopened under the current agreement.

During the Council of Ministers on 08/06/2020, agriculture ministers discussed the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the Farm to Fork Strategy (F2F). Ministers generally welcomed both strategies, but called for an adequate budget for the Common agricultural policy (CAP), and warned against the unsustainability of imports from third countries. Ministers also expressed uncertainty among the parties as to how the strategies would be implemented. Representatives of CZ, BG, PT, ES, PL, IE, GR, LU, HU, and AT called for an impact assessment. Representatives of DK welcomed the ambitious goals of the strategies, and also welcomed the Commission's willingness to support the introduction of a minimum budget allocation for eco-schemes from the budget for the first pillar, and also agreed on the allocation of 10% of agricultural land for non-productive elements. Representatives of IE warned against a decline in competitiveness in connection with the reduction of pesticides, with the allocation for eco-schemes, unlike DK, did not agree. Representatives of the FR called for the extension of the market measures introduced in relation to COVID-19 pandemic to include a private storage regime for veal, pigmeat and goatmeat. Ministers from IE, AT, NL, BE, and FI stressed the need to ensure income and viability of farmers, IT supported the strengthening of the emphasis on country of origin labelling, SK highlighted the role of forests. IT and AT representatives warned of the risks associated with linking the objectives of the F2F and the CAP - especially in the context of the risk of further prolongation of negotiations. At the end of the ministerial meeting, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides emphasized that sufficient quality data would need to be provided to monitor the success of the implementation of both strategies. She confirmed that the Commission would carry out an impact assessment on all the legally binding objectives of the Biodiversity Strategy and F2F, and identified the F2F Strategy as the beginning of a process of transformation of the EU food system. Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, said that Member States would have to put forward proposals to reduce emissions from livestock production to help meet the goal of achieving climate neutrality under the European Green Deal.
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