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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.
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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.
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The Citizens' Initiative 'End the Cage Age' to end the use of animal cages was terminated on 11/09/2019. The organizers managed to get more than 1.5 million signatures of EU citizens from a total of 18 EU Member States. The petition was launched in September 2018 by Compassion in World Farming in cooperation with Eurogroup for Animals. The result of the petition will now be dealt with by the European Commission (but the European Commission has no obligation to amend existing legislation) and the European Parliament. The success of the petition is an important milestone in the history of the animal protection movement, and it is expected that the new President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will reflect on initiatives in this area. The initiative could also be supported by the new Commissioner for Agriculture, presumably Polish candidate Janusz Wojciechowski. Last week, Wojciechowski suggested using CAP funds to promote higher animal welfare standards.

France is considering a ban on the use of two active substances - sulfoxaflor and flupyradifuron, which have similar effects as neonicotinoids. In particular, their impact on bee and other pollinator populations is of concern. The French government has launched a public consultation (here) on a possible ban on the use of these substances in order to find out the views of the public. In turn, the active substance producers, Bayer and Corteva, responded to the situation by declaring that France would, in the event of a ban on sulfoxaflor and flupyradifuron, counteract all the scientifically sound data available for these substances. Sulfoxaflor was approved for use last month by the US government in accordance with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conclusions that there is no risk of any adverse effects on bees or other pollinators.