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German Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner said that Germany is ready to deal with a possible spread of African swine fever infection in its own territory. In recent weeks, the disease has spread in Poland towards the German border, according to the European Commission the nearest outbreak is now approaching 40 kilometres from the German border, and the first cases of the disease in Germany could be confirmed as early as Christmas. The state of Brandenburg is considering building fences in order to prevent the spread of the disease to its own territory, the German agricultural organization DBV fears a possible reduction in the demand for German pork by third countries in the event of the spread of the disease. France is also worried about the spread of African swine fever, the disease remains in neighbouring Belgium. France has already built 132 kilometres of fences in three risk areas.

On 18/12/2019, the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on an EU Pollinators Initiative. Parliament called on the Commission to include the EU Pollinators Initiative and its outcomes in the development of an EU post-2020 biodiversity strategy; to address pollinator decline at international level and to promote strong measures to protect pollinators and their natural habitats worldwide; to review the revised National Action Plans and take all possible measures to ensure that Member States make a proper commitment to complying with targets for reducing pesticide use; and to extend the ban on imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam to all neonicotinoid-based pesticides.
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Indonesia has filed a World Trade Organisation lawsuit against the European Union because of restrictions on palm oil imports, Indonesia considers the restrictions unfair. The European Union agreed on restrictions at the beginning of 2019 - from 2030, under the Renewable Energy Directive REDII, palm oil biofuels should be excluded; palm oil would lose legal advantage over fossil fuels. Representatives of Malaysia, the second largest producer of palm oil after Indonesia, plan to negotiate with EU representatives before the next steps. The negotiations are likely to take place in March - April 2020.
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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.
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