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The EP political factions have chosen their agricultural coordinators

The European Parliament's individual political factions have elected their agricultural policy coordinators; each faction will have one chief coordinator. Norbert Lins, a German MEP, was elected the Agricultural Coordinator for EPP, but he was also elected Chairman of the Agricultural Committee, therefore he had to leave the coordinator post to another candidate. Italian MEP Herbert Dorfmann was subsequently elected the new EPP coordinator; Spanish MEP Juan Ignacio Zoido was elected his deputy. Paolo De Castro, an Italian MEP, was elected the agricultural coordinator of the EP's second largest political group, S&D, and German MEP Ulrike Müller was elected the Renew Europe coordinator. German MEP Martin Häusling has become the Agricultural Coordinator for Greens, for GUE/NGL it is Irish MEP Luke Ming Flanagan. The ECR faction has not yet selected the Agriculture Coordinator. Among other things, the coordinators will decide on the future of the report on the CAP Strategic Plans, which was adopted by the EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in April 2019.

France seeks the post of Commissioner for Trade

According to preliminary information, France will seek to win the post of Commissioner for Trade, a position that the current Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, has been keen to pursue. France might also be interested in the post of Commissioner for Competition. Among the candidates for the post of FR Commissioner are Michel Barnier, EU Brexit Negotiator, or Pascal Canfin, MEP for Renew Europe, Chairman of the EP Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

France seeks the post of Commissioner for Trade

According to preliminary information, France will seek to win the post of Commissioner for Trade, a position that the current Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, has been keen to pursue. France might also be interested in the post of Commissioner for Competition. Among the candidates for the post of FR Commissioner are Michel Barnier, EU Brexit Negotiator, or Pascal Canfin, MEP for Renew Europe, Chairman of the EP Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

The European Commission will provide Italy with extraordinary support of EUR 32.1 million for the poultry sector as compensation for losses caused by bird flu

The European Commission has confirmed that it will provide extraordinary support to the Italian poultry sector, which has suffered losses related to the spread of avian (bird) flu in 2017 and 2018. A total of EUR 32.1 million will be provided from the European Union budget, while Italy may increase support from national sources.
More information is available here.

Commissioner for Health and Food Safety urged Member States to intensify activities to eradicate African swine fever in the European Union

During the Council of Agriculture Ministers on 15/07/2019, Ministers of Agriculture discussed the current situation of the occurrence of African swine fever in the EU. Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis urged Member States to strengthen activities to eradicate this disease in the EU. According to Andriukaitis, the situation in the EU is still not under control, as evidenced by recent cases of new outbreaks in Bulgaria. Moreover, the disease is spreading uncontrollably in countries outside the European Union, especially in China, Mongolia, or Vietnam. The Belgian Minister of Agriculture Denis Ducarme also commented on the situation, criticizing the lack of action by the European Commission to fight lifting of the ban on imports of pig meat from the EU affected by African swine fever, which has been introduced by about 20 third countries, including China, the Philippines and South Korea.
More information is available here.