News

French Minister Didier Guillaume presented on 14/10/2014 to the Council of Ministers an opinion supported by DK, EE, IT and LV on new possibilities for the management of wolf populations in the EU. Management should rely on best practices of regional practice, while ensuring flexibility in the implementation of guidelines on the strict protection system for animal species. The population of wolves in Europe is growing rapidly, according to information from the European Parliament in 2018; the population of wolves in the EU was about 17,000. According to Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, it is important to find a balance between the growing population of wolves and the activities of farmers and herdsmen to ensure sustainable coexistence.
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The Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, at the Council of Ministers meeting in Luxembourg on 14/10/2019, asked the European Commission to approve special measures to protect Spanish farmers against customs duties imposed by the US. Planned customs duties on EU goods worth $ 7.5 billion are a response to subsidization of the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. According to Planas, customs duties could affect, in particular, the Spanish production and export of olives, olive oil, wine, cheese, pork and citrus fruits. Although France was one of the largest providers of subsidies to Airbus, it was the only EU exporter exempt from agricultural duties on alcohol, cheese, butter and yoghurt, olive oil, pork and sausages, juices, as well as textiles and machinery. Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan said the Commission would allow some market measures (e.g. storage options) to be used for olives and olive oil.
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On 14/10/2019, the Committee on Budgets of the European Parliament approved a proposal to extend the period of payment of EU agricultural subsidies to UK farmers until the end of 2020 if Britain leaves the EU without an agreement. Thus, in 2019 and 2020, British farmers would still be entitled to receive support from the Common Agricultural Policy. The proposal has yet to be approved by the vote in the Plenary of the European Parliament in the week of 21/10/2019.
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On 08/10/2019 the Polish Commissioner-designate for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski successfully passed the second round of the public hearing in the European Parliament, to which he was invited after the unsatisfactory outcome of the first round. Wojciechowski had to answer several questions in writing before the second hearing, one of which also concerned land seizure, capping and degressivity of direct payments. Wojciechowski said that the Commission proposal for a gradual reduction of direct payments from EUR 60,000 and for capping of payments above EUR 100,000 is considered an acceptable proposal, according to which the data were designed to bring about a real change in the distribution of income support. Currently, around 30,000 farms receive aid in excess of EUR 100,000 (less than 0.5% of supported entities receive more than 15% of direct aid). According to Wojciechowski, upward adjustment of these thresholds would significantly reduce the effectiveness of the mechanism and call into question its importance. Member States will also be obliged to target aid to those who really need it, i.e. to genuine farmers or, in other words, to those whose livelihoods depend primarily on farming activities. In a public hearing, Wojciechowski stated that farmers must be competitive; an adequate budget must be ensured for the CAP; and the CAP must be simplified. Moreover, according to Wojciechowski, imports from third countries should meet all the requirements that European production must meet. In response to a possible revision of the proposal put forward by the European Commission in June 2018, he stated that its main concern was not to reopen this proposal, but would not prevent its possible modification if the European Parliament had adequate incentives to do so. MEPs recommended the Commissioner-designate, and should finally be confirmed at the European Parliament plenary session in the week after 21/10/2019. Wojciechowski is now working on his cabinet - according to initial information, the head of the cabinet should be Maciej Golubiewsky, a Polish representative at the Consulate General in New York. The Deputy Head of Cabinet should become the French representative from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture (DG AGRI), followed by Polish candidates Magdalena Majerczyk, King Wisniewska-Danek and Anna Chuchla.

The Ministers of Agriculture of the Member States will meet at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on 14-15/10/2019. Ministers will discuss in particular forestry issues (new post-2020 strategies and the EC Communication on deforestation). Within the framework of forestry points, the CZ delegation will present a statement of the Ministers of Agriculture of the V4+ countries on sustainable forestry, which was adopted at the meeting of Ministers of Agriculture held on 04/10/2019 in Prague. Ministers will further assess the state of play of the CAP reform after 2020 and receive up-to-date information on the situation on commodity markets. On other matters, the ministers will discuss the current situation in the case of African swine fever, where the CZ delegation will present a declaration, which was also adopted at the meeting of V4+ agriculture ministers. Last but not least, ministers will hear information on the ministerial conference on bioeconomy, addressing the occurrence of wolves in the EU, food safety and fisheries.