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Ministers of Agriculture of the EU Member States will meet on 16-17/12/2019 at the Council of Ministers in Brussels, the last under the Finnish Presidency. Ministers will discuss in particular the state of play of the post-2020 CAP reform. On this point, they will report on the progress of the negotiations. At ministerial lunch, ministers will discuss the current state of international forestry and will assess the Council conclusions adopted on the problem of global deforestation. On other issues, ministers will exchange views on an updated EU bioeconomy strategy, discussing minor pesticide use and origin labelling of food products. Last but not least, Ministers will discuss the impact of US tariffs on EU agricultural and food products and, and at the request of the Czech delegation, budget flexibility under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund for the period 2014-2020. On the second day, the Council will deal with fishing points.

Ministers for European Affairs met at the General Affairs Council on 10/12/2019, during which they discussed, among other things, the Multiannual Financial Framework beyond 2020 - the EU budget for the next 7 years. The Ministerial discussion was based on the Negobox (negotiating document) submitted by the Finnish Presidency, Finland proposed to increase Member States' national contributions to the budget to 1.07% of EU 27 GNP, and to allocate € 323 billion to cohesion policy (29.7%), 334 billion for agriculture and development (30.7%), and 356 billion for other programs & new priorities (32.8%). At least 25% of the EU budget should be earmarked to support the achievement of the climate targets. The Council did not deliver any opinion on the document; the Negobox was further discussed on 12-13/12/2019 during the European Summit, i.e. during the meeting of the Prime Ministers and Presidents of the EU Member States (European Council). No agreement was reached within the European Council, and negotiations will therefore continue under the Croatian Presidency (January-June 2020). The European Council confirmed the objective of achieving a climate-neutral EU by 2050, in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. One Member State has not yet been able to commit to this objective, the European Council will return to this issue in June 2020.
More information is available here and here.

On 11/12/2019, the European Commission presented its first Communication on the European Green Deal. Performance of the Green Deal falls under the mandate of the new Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Franz Timmermans. One of the parts of the European Green Deal should be the Farm-to-Fork Strategy. The aim of the European Green Deal should be to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality (by 2050), and economic growth should be decoupled from the use of natural resources. By 2030, greenhouse gas production should fall by 50% (compared to 1990). The European Green Deal will be the main priority of the European Commission, a highly ambitious climate and environmental plan for the future. The Communication stresses the need to decarbonise the EU energy system, to boost the use of renewable energy sources (especially wind energy), to move to a carbon-neutral EU, or to strengthen support for the circular economy. According to the European Commission, the European Union must become a world leader in setting global standards for the production of safe, nutritious and high quality food. At least 40% of the budget should be earmarked from the CAP to support climate, environmental and biodiversity objectives, an additional 30% should be earmarked from the fisheries budget. According to its representatives, the European Commission is ready to assist the areas and sectors that will have to adapt their activities most effectively to achieve the objectives set. The Commission will also work with Member States to adequately include the European Green Deal and From Farm to Fork Strategy in the National Strategic Plans for the CAP. Attention will also be paid to the issue of deforestation & strengthening organic farming. The European Green Deal is estimated to require an additional investment of EUR 260 billion per year. The From Farm to Fork Strategy will be published in spring 2020, and a public consultation should be launched in February. By 2021, tools and, where appropriate, legislation should be brought forward to significantly reduce the use and risks of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and antibiotics (aiming to reduce the use of pesticides by up to 50% by 2030). By June 2021, all policies affected by the new European Green Deal should be reviewed. The review should also cover the EU REDII Renewable Energy Directive. The new European Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change should be published at the turn of 2020 and 2021, and in March 2020 the Commission will launch the Climate Pact, which will enable the general public to participate in the debate. According to the Greenpeace environmental organization, the proposal for a European Green Deal is insufficiently ambitious, and Greenpeace has called on the Commission to present concrete detailed measures to govern production and consumption in the EU. Reducing emissions by 50% by 2030, according to Greenpeace, is also not a sufficient goal - Greenpeace encouraged a shift to only 100% renewable energy as soon as possible.
More information is available here and here.

On 11/12/2019, the Ministers of Agriculture of France and Spain supported the provision of an adequate budget for the CAP to ensure that environmental and climate objectives are met. According to ministers, the budget should not be cut for any of the pillars of the CAP; the proposal for the introduction of a new green architecture should not jeopardize the overall budget and functioning of the CAP. Ensuring an adequate budget was also supported by EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski during the EU Outlook Conference on 10/12/2019. Wojciechowski also said that 3% of owners own more than 50% of agricultural land in the EU, describing the concentration of agricultural land as a problem. In his speech, Wojciechowski also mentioned the issue of conflict of interest in setting rules and paying out European subsidies.

Member States' representatives should come forward with a proposal to combat food fraud in the coming week. According to the draft document, Member States should support the strengthening of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and other control systems, the development of an integrated EU strategy against food fraud and an analysis of the existing EU structure for the investigation and control of food fraud. Member States will also support the introduction of a clear definition of food fraud in the proposal.
More information is available here.