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A representative of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture Tassos Haniotis said last week that targets for reducing the amount of fertilizer used could be set at different levels depending on local and regional conditions, soil quality, and nutrient content in the soil. According to Haniotis, the nutrient content of the soil could help to identify not only areas where the volume of fertilizer used needs to be significantly reduced, but also areas where the supply of nutrients to the soil needs to be strengthened. Haniotis also stated that while the EU reduced agricultural emissions by 22% between 1990 and 2016, agricultural emissions in the US increased by 6%, in China and India by 24%, and in Brazil by 47%.
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In an interview with Politico last week, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Executive Director Bernhard Url said that any pan-European target for reducing pesticide use would not be based on scientific grounds, but would be a purely political step. All figures that appear so far in this context are scientifically unfounded.

On 17/02/2020, the European Commission announced a plan to invest over EUR 100 million in new LIFE projects aimed at promoting a green and climate neutral European Union. In its observations, the Commission stated that “The funding will support 10 large-scale environment and climate projects in nine Member States, helping Europe's transition to a sustainable economy and climate neutrality. These projects are located in Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia, Czechia and Spain.”
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Elsi Katainen (FI, Renew), Vice-Chair of the AGRI Committee & Rapporteur for the EP report on the transitional period, presented on 18/02/2020 a draft opinion that the transitional period should be as short as possible but extension for two years. According to Katainen, if the European Institutions reached an agreement between the parties to the Multiannual Financial Framework and the Common Agricultural Policy by June 2020 (Trialogue discussions on CAP reform would take place in the second half of the year), only a one-year transition period should be set up to give farmers a sense of security and stability. However, if no agreement is reached by June, the transitional period should be extended up to two years. Katainen also proposed to extend transitional State aid for the duration of the transitional period. During the discussion in the AGRI Committee, MEPs supported the two-year transition period as well as maintaining the CAP budget. The draft opinion will be voted on by the Committee on 27-28/04/2020, and could then be adopted in plenary on 15-18/06/2020.
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The Rural Coalition (Copa and Cogeca, European Landowners Organization, CEJA, and others), in a conference held on 18/02/2020 in Brussels, refused to cut the budget for the CAP after 2020 compared to the current situation. Under the post-2020 CAP, not only an adequate budget but also an ambitious strategy for the development of rural areas should be ensured, also in the context of the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy.
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