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Europe's largest political group The EPP Group should publish the name of a new rapporteur for the opinion of the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) on CAP strategic plans in the coming week. The current rapporteur, Esther Herranz García (EPP, ES), has failed in the European elections in May, and there are now several candidates. One of them is German MEP Peter Jahr (EPP, DE), who is a substitute member of COMAGRI, not a full member. According to EPP representatives, however, Peter Jahr is a respected experienced expert and is therefore a favourite for many EPP members in the fight for the post of rapporteur. However, if Jahr became rapporteur, the reform of the CAP after 2020 would largely be the responsibility of German MEPs - in addition to Jahr, in particular Norbert Lins (chairman of COMAGRI, EPP, DE), Ulrike Müller (political agricultural coordinator Renew Europe (DE), Martin Häusling (Agricultural Policy Coordinator of the Greens, DE), and Maria Noichl (Agricultural Policy Coordinator of S&D, DE). The possible German superiority of other EPP members and other political factions is of particular concern for the future of some CAP instruments, which Germany has long opposed to maintaining. These include coupled support (VCS), the abolition of which Germany has long supported. The position of the rapporteur should be decided by the agricultural coordinator of the EPP political group, German-speaking MEP Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, IT) on 18/09/2019.

Last week, the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) published a report assessing the opinion of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) on the CAP Strategic Plans post 2020. According to IEEP, the opinion of the Committee is vague, has only limited potential and lack of ambition. By contrast, the opinion of the EP Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI) is more in line with the European Union's environmental and climate commitments, according to IEEP. According to IEEP, COMENVI's opinion is better focused on achieving the objectives and at the same time it is more ambitious - also in terms of the allocation of funds for individual measures. In its opinion of February 2019, COMENVI proposes to secure 30% of the envelope for the first pillar for climate and environmental schemes (eco-schemes), and to strengthen the envelope for AEKO measures under the second pillar with 30 to 40%. In contrast, COMAGRI proposes to allocate only 20% of the envelope for the first pillar for eco-schemes. According to IEEP, COMAGRI's opinion will lead to environmental policy stagnation in a number of areas, and in some areas the opinion is even less ambitious than the current CAP.IEEP supported the introduction of performance-based criteria for the payment of CAP support, which would strengthen the agricultural sector's contribution to meeting the EU climate targets; and to changes in the structure of direct payments.
More information is available here.

Last week, the European Commission adopted a Communication on Climate Action to achieve Climate Carbon Neutrality by 2050. The Communication will serve as a basis for the UN Climate Change Summit to be held on 23/09/2019. According to the Communication, 25% of the total EU budget for the period 2021-2027 (Multiannual Financial Framework) should be devoted to climate action and initiatives. The Communication was presented by European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, who said that combating climate change is one of the European Commission's main priorities. The strategy for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 should be completed and implemented in 2020, and the strategy as of 20/06/2019 was adopted by almost all EU Member States except PL, CZ, HU and EE, which asked for more time to review the strategy. The European Union should become the first major economic bloc to commit achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
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The European Parliament could relaunch discussions on dual food quality in the European Union's single market. This stems from a statement by Petra De Sutter (Greens, BE), Chair of the EP's Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), who expressed dissatisfaction with the compromise adopted. De Sutter considers the compromise to be too vague, as a result of which it still permits the presence of dual-quality products in the single market, while relying on consumer responsibility - basically expecting consumers to recognize that some foods on their market taste different than the same food in another market. However, according to De Sutter, responsibility for the occurrence of dual-quality food should not lie with consumers but with producers. Therefore, many newly elected IMCO members are likely to seek renewed discussions on dual quality food, first of all IMCO members should discuss with the European Commission the results of a study published in recent months by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) on the occurrence of dual quality food in the EU single market. According to the results of the JRC, only 9% of the products examined were products of the so-called dual quality, i.e. they had the same labelling but different composition. De Sutter believes that the JRC should carry out a greater number of in-depth studies, paying attention not only to food labelling. The compromise reached by the institutions on dual quality still needs to be formally approved by the Council, probably at the turn of October and November 2019. However, De Sutter said it was not necessary to comment on the compromise immediately - the Committee could wait for further JRC double quality studies, and then focus on adapting the Directive in its review two years after its implementation.
More information is available here.

On 10/09/2019, the French Ministry of Agriculture informed of a temporary cessation of Ferme Durr's dairy production from eastern France after the presence of listeriosis in their products. The manufacturer has withdrawn all its natural and fruit yoghurts, cream and cheese from warehouses and markets throughout France. According to a statement from the French Ministry of Agriculture, 7 people were infected with the same strain of bacteria that was also detected in Ferme Durr's food.

The problem of listeriosis is also being tackled by Spain, where this year the largest outbreak of listeriosis in history has been confirmed, with at least 200 confirmed cases and three deaths so far. The outbreak is located in the south of Andalusia, caused by the consumption of Magrudis' defective meat. The factory has been closed; all meat was withdrawn from the market.
More information is available here.