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The European Commission presented the Farm to Fork Strategy on 20/05/2020. The Strategy itself does not take the form of a legislative act, however, in connection with this Strategy, several current European legislations will be revised, and new legislative proposals will be submitted. The European Commission begins by emphasizing the importance of implementing the objectives of the Farm to Fork Strategy in the context of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, stressing the need to ensure sustainable food systems, and highlighting opportunities to move towards a healthier lifestyle. According to the Commission, sustainability should be strengthened throughout the food supply chain (primary production, processing, trade, packaging, transport) to meet the European Commission's main goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. All links in the whole supply chain should therefore be by 2030, contribute to ensuring that the food supply chain has a neutral or positive impact on the environment and that all EU citizens have access to a sufficient supply of healthy and sustainable food. The European Commission states that EU citizens exceed nutritional recommendations, not only when consuming fat, sugar, or salt, but also red meat. The European Commission in several places of the Strategy aims to strengthen the sustainability of livestock production through various tools - evaluation of EU promotional programs, which should newly support sustainable production; voluntary coupled support to support livestock production should be properly reviewed and rigorously assessed; or by moving away from advertising marketing campaigns that offer meat at too low a price. As a part of the Farm to Fork Strategy, the European Commission is setting a number of other objectives for which relevant legislation will be presented and, if necessary, revised to ensure compliance: strengthening animal welfare rules, including a review of live animal transport and slaughter rules; 50% reduction in the volume of pesticides used; reduction of risks associated with the use of chemical pesticides by 50%; reduction of high-risk pesticides used by 50%; reduction of nutrient losses (especially nitrogen and phosphorus) by 50%; reduction of the volume of used fertilizers by 20%; reduction of sales of antibiotics for livestock by 50%; increasing the share of organic farming to 25% of total agricultural land; reduction of food waste and losses by 50%. In the food sector, the Commission will support the reformulation of food to meet nutritional recommendations; will aim to reduce the environmental footprint of food production; and to reduce the volume of packaging materials. In this context, the Commission will also propose nutritional profiles for foods to ban the promotion of foods that are high in fat, salt, or sugar. To strengthen the information provided to consumers, the Commission will propose a mandatory harmonized nutrition labelling system on the front of food packaging. The Commission will also target the tax system to encourage the consumption of, for example, organic fruit and vegetable production through tax adjustments. According to the Commission, the European tax system should reflect the "real costs" of food production, including the costs associated with the use of natural resources, pollution, or the production of greenhouse gases. Although the Commission does not explicitly mention the introduction of meat taxes, it is indirectly moving towards this through an assessment of the "real costs" and any externalities. All targets are valid until 2030. The European Commission adds that all targets should be subject to an impact assessment, stakeholders should be consulted, and attention should be paid to the different starting positions of Member States when identifying national targets or contributions to EU targets. The European Commission also emphasizes the link between the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Common Agricultural Policy - the National CAP Strategic Plans must, according to the Commission, take into account the objectives identified in both the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy; according to the Commission, the requirement to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of direct payments through capping and better targeting of income support to farmers who need such support and who meet environmental ambitions, and not to entities and companies that only own agricultural land, also remains an essential element of the future CAP. The ability of Member States to ensure this must be carefully assessed in the Strategic Plans and monitored during implementation. The Commission also newly states that it will support the setting of a financial allocation for eco-schemes under the first Pillar of the CAP. The Commission concludes that it will pursue a zero-tolerance policy on food fraud, support the transition to sustainable food systems through Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe (including support for the development of plant alternatives to animal products), and assess all investments through so-called taxonomy (environmental impact assessment of planned investments). The strategy should be revised in mid-2023.
The Strategy is available here.

The European Commission presented the EU Biodiversity Strategy on 20/05/2020, the Strategy itself does not take the form of a legislative act, however, in connection with this Strategy, a number of current European legislation will be revised, and new legislative proposals will be submitted. The European Commission emphasizes at the outset the importance of introducing the objectives of the Biodiversity Strategy in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; The Commission emphasizes the need to strengthen the protection of pollinators, on which up to 75% of the world's total crop production depends, and emphasizes that the environment, climate and biodiversity are facing an unprecedented crisis. The European Commission reaffirms its commitment to becoming a world leader in protecting and restoring biodiversity and sustainability. The objectives that the Commission has included in the Strategy, and which will be followed by further legislative proposals and amendments to current legislation, include: restoring all the world's ecosystems by 2050; 30% of the total land area in the EU and 30% of the sea area will fall under protected natural areas; 10% of the EU's land area and 10% of its sea area should then be subject to strict protection; Member States should ensure that at least 30% of non-favourable species and habitats reach favourable status by 2030 or at least show a strong positive trend (Member States will need to identify these areas to the European Commission as early as 2021); 50% reduction in the use of chemical pesticides; 50% reduction of risks associated with the use of chemical pesticides, 50% reduction of the use of high-risk pesticides; full implementation of the EU Pollinator Initiative; at least 10% of the utilized agricultural area must be defined for highly diverse landscapes, such as buffer strips, rotating or non-rotating eels or landscape features (hedges, non-productive trees, terraces, ponds, etc.); at least 25% of agricultural land must be managed under organic farming by 2030; the Common Agricultural Policy will need to support the afforestation of both damaged forests and completely new areas, as well as the planting of trees; at least 25,000 km of rivers will be restored to free-flowing rivers; zero nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from fertilizers through the goal of reducing nutrient losses by at least 50%; reduction of fertilizer use by at least 20%; reduction of the number of native species endangered by the occurrence of non-native invasive species by 50%; protection of all native forests and rainforests in the EU. At least EUR 20 billion / year should be made available to meet the needs of this Strategy, including investment priorities for Natura 2000 and green infrastructure, and these funds will be used for nature protection. A total of 25% of the EU's climate budget will focus on supporting biodiversity conservation and nature-based solutions. Under EU Invest, a € 10 billion natural capital and circular economy initiative (a combination of public / private funding) will be set up over the next ten years. The European Commission will also target the tax system to adjust product prices to reflect environmental costs, including biodiversity loss. This should lead to a shift in the tax burden from labour to pollution. The "user pays" and "polluter pays" approaches should also be applied. International trade parties The European Commission states that trade agreements will reflect the European Union's Farm to Fork and Biodiversity objectives; The Commission will assess the impact of trade agreements on the state of biodiversity; propose measures to minimize the volume of production associated with deforestation entering the European market; and work to meet EU sustainability requirements in trade agreements. All targets (except global ecosystem restoration) are valid until 2030. The European Commission adds that all targets should be subject to an impact assessment, and stakeholders should be consulted. The strategy should be revised in 2024.
The Strategy is available here.

On 20/05/2020, the European Commission, together with the Farm to Fork Strategy, also published an analysis assessing the link between the CAP Reform and the European Green Deal, focusing, inter alia, on the role of the eco-schemes. The European Commission presented a legislative proposal for the CAP 2020+ in the first half of 2018, in the legislative proposal the Commission proposes to replace greening measures with so-called eco-schemes, however under the first pillar the Commission proposed almost no financial allocations other than support for young farmers (2%) and sectoral measures (3%), proposing to limit the level of coupled payments to 10 + 2%. No allocation has been proposed for basic income support payments for farmers or for eco-schemes, so in the past two years there has been a debate across institutions and NGOs about how much money should be allocated to eco-schemes. Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development supported the allocation of 20% of the envelope for the first pillar, the Environment Committee supported 30% (in 2019, now the Committees are negotiating amendments to opinions), some environmental NGOs have called for up to 40%. As part of the new analysis, the European Commission is now calling for the allocation of funds for eco-schemes to strengthen the environmental ambitions of the CAP but is not proposing a specific share of the budget for the first pillar. As part of the analysis, the Commission also favours not only a revision of EU animal welfare legislation, but also a revision of the rules on antimicrobial resistance. The European Commission should now communicate with the Member States the options and recommendations of the parties for compliance with environmental commitments in the CAP and in the national Strategic Plans. However, the Executive Vice-President of the Commission, Frans Timmermans, said that the Commission saw no reason to recast the CAP proposal; according to Timmermans, the current proposal had ample scope for truly strengthening the ambitions of the CAP.
More information is available here.

On 20/05/2020, the European Commission, together with the Farm to Fork Strategy, issued an evaluation of the Regulation on the placing of plant protection products on the market and an evaluation of the Regulation on maximum residue levels of pesticides, which have been carried out over the last four years. According to the document, many pesticides are used longer than would be appropriate due to delays in the approval process of EU Member States. According to the European Commission, this automatically extends licenses for substances that no longer meet the criteria for approval in the EU. Delays also occur in the case of the authorization of alternative active substances. The European Commission is therefore proposing sixteen steps to strengthen the implementation of the regulation and states that, if the situation does not improve, it will consider instituting infringement proceedings against EU countries that repeatedly fail to meet the legal deadlines for submitting their pesticide opinions. European Commission criticizes 300% increase in emergency authorizations for plant protection products, so the Commission plans to strengthen Harmonized Risk Indicators under the Sustainable Pesticides Directive & work with Member States to develop improved guidelines for emergency authorizations for plant protection products. The Commission notes that between 2011 and 2018, the licenses for 22 specific active substances were not approved or renewed, which significantly reduced the risks for consumers, citizens, and agricultural workers. The Commission is reviewing all authorizations for active substances, the review should be completed in 2025. The Commission will also aim at rigorous implementation of both regulations, strengthen the implementation of defining criteria for plant protection products, simplify the evaluation system for alternative substances, develop a methodology for assessing cumulative risks of plant protection products, or to identify solutions for minor uses.
More information is available here.

On 20/05/2020, the European Commission, together with the Farm to Fork Strategy, also published an evaluation of the implementation of the national targets of the EU Member States in the field of sustainable use of pesticides. According to a European Commission document, only 8 Member States (AT, BE, DK, FR, DE, LT, LU, ES) completed revisions of their national action plans on time, i.e. within the required deadline of 5 years. Following revisions, 7 of these 8 Member States have revised their action plans. Revisions of the national plans were subsequently completed by CY, CZ, EE, FI, HU, IE, LV, MT, PL, PT, RO, SE and SE, but the Commission notes that these countries did not meet the required revision deadline after five years. Based on the revisions, Germany established a target of a 30% reduction in potential risk to the environment by 2023 compared to a baseline of the average for 1996-2005. Denmark established targets for a 40% reduction in the Pesticide Load Indicator and a 40% reduction in the load from substances of very high concern by the end of 2015, compared to 2011. Finally, France set a target for a 25% reduction in plant protection product use by 2020, and a 50% reduction in use by 2025, compared to 2015. However, according to the European Commission, most Member States did not learn from weaknesses (the Commission identified weaknesses in individual action plans), and therefore, most Member States' action plans lack the required ambitions and do not set the required reduction targets.
More information is available here.