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In the second half of November 2019 over 14,300 sheep drowned in the Romanian port, because of the overthrow of a ship carrying animals. In this context, MEPs and environmental organizations call for strong European initiatives on the transport of animals, and environmental organizations also called on the European Commission to launch infringement proceedings against Romania. MEP Anja Hazekamp (NL, GUE/NGL), President of the European Parliament's Welfare and Animal Welfare Intergroup, supported discussing unacceptable animal welfare conditions when transporting live animals to third countries during the European Parliament plenary session. In addition, Hazekamp has supported for the long time the establishment of a commission of inquiry to assess whether European rules on the transport of live animals are respected. Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis (replaced by Stella Kyriakides from 01/12/2019) called on Romania to stop all transport of live animals by ship until the current case has been investigated. However, Romania stated that it had complied with all European rules and that the space allocated to animals on board was 10% larger than required by European legislation. This is the second animal welfare problem in the transport of live animals in Romania in recent months - in July 2019, Romania exported over 70,000 live sheep to the Gulf countries, with outdoor temperatures up to 40 ° C. The issue of transport of live animals should also be one of the items on the agenda of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture on 16/12/2019.

On 25/11/2019 the British BBC broadcast document focusing on livestock breeding for the production of meat products and meat. The BBC emphasized the need to reduce meat consumption in the context of environmental and climate protection. According to the BBC, to meet the demand for meat products, cattle populations have risen by 400 million over the past 50 years, the number of pigs has doubled, and the number of chickens increased five times, with devastating effects on ecosystems, intense river pollution and global warming. A number of British farmers have already opposed the document.
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Member State experts voted in the last week of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed on the ban on emergency authorizations for the use of neonicotinoids in Romania and Lithuania. Romania and Lithuania are among the EU Member States most permitting the extraordinary uses of three types of neonicotinoids which have been banned in the European Union except for use in greenhouses, due to their negative impact on pollinators. Given the current rules on voting in committees, elections by Member States are secret, so Member States not need to indicate whether they have voted in favour or against. If the committees repeatedly disagree, the decision is returned to the European Commission, which prepared the draft legislation or opinion under discussion. Former President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker has repeatedly criticized the system, stating that it is not democratic for Member States to transfer responsibility for decision-making to the European Commission in the event of a disagreement. However, the rules on voting in committees have not been changed, so the issue of emergency permits for the use of neonicotinoids in Romania and Lithuania will probably have to be decided by the European Commission.

An environmental NGO dedicated to the production of sustainable food and the promotion of short food supply chains, Slow Food, called on the European Commission to approve national plans to ban the use of glyphosate before the EU license expires. The license for the use of glyphosate expires on 15/12/2022, but some Member States (DE, FR, AT) are planning to introduce a national ban on the use of glyphosate before that date. In Austria, in particular, the proposal has raised a critical response from farmers' representatives who are considering taking legal action if Austria actually imposes a ban before the license expires. The main argument of farmers is the fear of jeopardizing their own competitiveness in the EU market.

The European Parliament approved on 26/11/2019 the European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and Ukraine amending trade preferences for poultry meat and poultry meat preparations import quotas of 50 000 tonnes. The resolution was adopted by 444 votes to 128 with 74 abstentions. The modified regime will enter into force after Council’s approval and when Ukraine has ratified the agreement.
More information is available here.