News

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.

MEPs of the five largest political factions of the European Parliament launched the European Food Forum (EFF) on 10/12/2019, which aims to conduct a policy-oriented debate on the sustainability of the food chain. With around 200 MEPs, NGOs and producers, the Forum should be a platform to discuss how to increase the sustainability of the food supply chain. Co-founder of the Forum, Polish MEP Róża Thun, stated that food labelling, food quality, pesticide use and animal welfare will be key EFF topics. The EFF will also work in the context of the European Commission's new Farm to Fork Strategy. In Parliament, the work of the EFF will be monitored by the Committees on Environment, Agriculture, Internal Market and Consumer Protection.
More information is available here.

According to Professor Atz von der Goot, plant alternatives to animal proteins will remain a permanent part of the diet of consumers. Van der Goot (NL) informed about further development of plant alternatives during FiE (Food ingredience Europe) in Paris on 03-05/12/2019, he personally started researching new way of production of plant proteins already in 2004, his biggest success was a "grown" piece of meat weighing 7 kg, almost indistinguishable from the animal product, but composed only of soy concentrate and wheat gluten. According to van der Goot, the main challenge now is to find healthier forms of animal protein alternatives with improved flavour, so that food does not contain a long list of additives, to suit consumers suffering from gluten intolerance and not to be associated with deforestation in third countries. According to a FiE spokesperson, there is a visible change in consumer preferences towards vegetarianism and flexitarianism based on cycles in which dairy products, fish and meat are consumed in addition to vegetables. Consumers are looking for new plant-based foods that have a beneficial effect on health and new ingredients. These trends are mainly led by young people.
More information is available here and here.