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On 24/02/2020 Poland organized a ministerial conference on the Common Agricultural Policy beyond 2020, attended by ministers of agriculture from Eastern and Central European countries. The conference was also attended by Polish President Andrzej Duda, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Janusz Wojciechowski, and Ministers of Agriculture from CZ, HU, LT, LV, EE, BG, RO and PL. Ministers discussed the CAP in the context of the European Green Deal and ongoing discussions on the level of the EU budget beyond 2020. According to ministers, the objectives of the new European Green Deal could jeopardize the viability of the European agricultural system if an adequate budget is not provided for agricultural policy. In this context, ministers refused to cut the budget for the CAP and supported it at least at its current level. Ministers also supported the achievement of external convergence of direct payments, according to ministers, it is justified not only in terms of balancing production cost differences within EU Member States, but also in view of the objectives of the European Green Deal, which should apply to all EU Member States (External convergence is opposed by GR, CY, IT, BE, DK, SI, and NL).
More information is available here.

The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA), a body preparing the work of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, in particular on CAP-related matters, composed of officials from the Permanent Representations or the Ministries of the Member States responsible for the CAP, discussed on 24/02/2020 the Common Agricultural Policy and the transitional period. Over twenty Member States supported the provision of a two-year transitional period for the CAP, only Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Portugal supported the European Parliament's proposal for the shortest (one-year) transition period and only if necessary, to extend it to two years. According to the representatives of the Croatian Presidency, the introduction of a two-year transition period is now more likely given the fact that the European Council did not agree on the EU budget beyond 2020 in the second half of February.

The European Commission should present its Circular Economy Action Plan next week. According to the leaked unfinished proposals, in addition to electronics or textiles, the Commission will also include packaging materials, plastics and food in the Action Plan. The Commission is also considering a possible revision of the Ecodesign Directive in order to enhance durability, reusability, reparability, reduce carbon and ecological footprint, enhance the quality of recycled materials, facilitate high quality recycling, and reduce the single use of products. As regards packaging, the Commission plans to strengthen the mandatory basic requirements for packaging that will be allowed on the EU market and will consider introducing further measures to reduce packaging overuse, reduce packaging waste, consider prohibiting the use of certain packaging materials in specific cases (for example, packaging for fruits and vegetables), and will focus on reducing the polymers used. The Commission will also consider introducing a harmonized European label to facilitate the sorting of packaging waste. As regards plastics, the European Commission will seek to reduce the occurrence of micro-plastics by banning the deliberate supply of micro-plastics; harmonization of rules for the inadvertent occurrence of microplastics; and the introduction of a microplastic labelling and certification system. The Commission will also seek to strengthen the role of bioplastics, biodegradable and compostable plastics. On the food side The Commission will target the reduction of food waste across the food supply chain.
More information is available here, leaked version from 17/02/2020.

On 04/03/2020, the European Commission should publish the new European Climate Law, together with the EU Industrial Policy Strategy. According to previous observations of the European Commission, Climate Law should set a binding target for achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and set other climate targets to be achieved by 2030 and 2050. In the context of the European Climate Law, the Commission should also implement a review of all climate-related legislations or legislations regulating sectors that have an impact on the climate (including the Renewable Energy Directive). The revision should be completed by June 2021. The Industrial Strategy should set the way for the transformation of European industry towards greening and digitization. The strategy will require the full involvement of European industry, focusing on robotics, digitization and nanotechnology. The industry strategy should propose measures to take advantage of industry opportunities for recycling or resource efficiency.

The Eurogroup is an informal EU body in which euro area ministers discuss matters related to the euro's shared responsibilities (more information on the Eurogroup is available here). Last week, Eurogroup President Mario Centeno said the European Union should direct public investment in environmental projects to help combat climate change and strengthen environmental protection. According to Centeno, there must be consistency between strategic policy priorities and economic policies.
Interview with Mario Centeno is available here.