News

Meatable, a Dutch company that produces lab-grown meat-mimicking tissues, plans to enter the market by 2024. According to Meatable (which has the word "Meat" in its name), its entry will be aided not only by recent applications for lab-grown meat-mimicking tissues in Switzerland and the UK, but also by Meatable's recent €32 million investment in development. Meatable plans to enter the market in Singapore in 2024 and subsequently in the US, where some lab-grown imitation animal products are currently already approved. Representatives of Meatable said that they are also currently working with the European Commission and EFSA authorities to secure future entry for lab-grown tissues into the European Union markets.
More information is available here.

Germany plans to implement changes to the CAP national strategic plan to make eco-schemes more attractive and encourage their use among farmers. Given that far fewer farmers than originally expected have become involved in eco-schemes in Germany, the Länder agreed in consultation with the Federal Government at the end of July 2023 on a common position on how eco-schemes should be amended for 2024. Flexibility should be strengthened, rewards to farmers who opt for eco-schemes should be increased (up to 130%), cross-compliance rules should be simplified. Support for the maintenance of agroforestry practices could be increased most significantly, from €60 to €200 per hectare.
More information is available here.

In early July 2023, the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) decided to postpone the vote on its opinion on the sustainable use of pesticides from mid-July until at least September, but possibly until the first half of October 2023 (probably 09/10/2023). The main mandate for negotiating Parliament's position on sustainable use of pesticides lies with the EP Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI), which must adopt its position after COMAGRI's opinion has been adopted. Given the postponement of the vote on COMAGRI's opinion until September/October 2023, COMENVI has therefore also decided last week to postpone its own vote from mid-September to 24 October 2023. The plenary vote on the sustainable use of pesticides, originally scheduled for mid-October 2023, will therefore also be postponed. The new date has been set for 20-23 November 2023. However, the European Parliament elections in June 2024 may still interfere with the adoption of Parliament's position on sustainable use of pesticides, with MEPs working until April 2024 before the election campaigns start.

On 27/07/2023, the European Commission published new guidelines for sustainable forest management and payment schemes for forest ecosystem services. The new guidelines aim to strengthen the multifunctionality of forests and their resilience to climate change, while promoting the long-term economic and other societal benefits of forests. According to the European Commission, forests are under threat due to a lack of stand diversity. The Commission is therefore promoting more diverse forests, less dependent on human intervention, under the new rules. Natural dynamics and structural complexity, which help to strengthen forest resilience and adaptive capacity, should be strengthened. Forests provide not only timber and non-timber materials and products, but also a range of other services such as habitats for biodiversity, water purification and flood and climate regulation. They have carbon sequestration and cooling capacity and play a role in providing renewable raw materials, food and medicines. These services are essential for combating climate change, transitioning to a circular bio-economy and maintaining a healthy society. However, only timber production remains the main source of income for forest owners and managers, and the Commission considers that financial rewards or benefits from other ecosystem services are very limited. In the new guidelines, the Commission also provides information and advice that could help public and private actors and forest owners and managers to design and implement payment systems for forest ecosystem services.
More information is available here.

David Laborde, director of the agri-food economics division of the UN's Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO), said last week that risking the productivity of European agriculture for the sake of sustainable agriculture and food system goals could cause global tensions as other countries would not be able to make up for the European Union's reduced production. Laborde is one of the authors of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023 report, published in July by FAO together with the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) - the report is available here. According to Laborde, Europe must strike a balance between its global and regional actions and commitments and its domestic sustainable development agenda. Greening European agriculture is important, says Laborde, but this does not mean that the EU should sacrifice the productivity of European agriculture. Laborde said that the Union should look for ways to achieve sustainable intensification of production so that the EU maintains its leadership on the world stage in the area of food and nutrition.
More information is available here.