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On 13/06/2023, the European Commission presented a package of measures that provide a new set of EU taxonomy criteria (sustainable financing) for economic activities that make a significant contribution to environmental objectives. These are criteria for the sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, the transition to a circular economy, the prevention and reduction of pollution and the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems. The European Commission had already submitted these criteria for public consultation at the end of March and has backed away from its original intention to include agricultural and food criteria in the package. The criteria presented largely reflect the proposals of the Sustainable Finance Platform in March and November 2022. The criteria have been presented in the form of delegated acts and will be transmitted to the Parliament and the Commission once translated into all official languages. The institutions will have 4 months to assess the criteria and approve or reject them, with a two-month extension if necessary for a total of 6 months. The criteria should then enter into force in January 2024.
More information is available here.

On 13/06/2023, during the informal Agriculture Council in Sweden, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Janusz Wojciechowski informed about the European Commission's plan to increase the agricultural crisis reserve to €530 million for 2023. Of the original €450 million crisis reserve, part of the funds had already been allocated in particular to help some European countries affected by the impact of the Russian war in Ukraine, leaving some €230 million in the reserve. These funds should now be increased to €330 million and redistributed among countries that have not yet benefited from the reserve. The support should therefore go to the 22 EU countries affected by climate change or the Russian war in Ukraine and the associated high energy or fertiliser prices.
More information is available here and here.

On 07/06/2023, the European Commission published its draft budget for 2024. €53.8 billion would be allocated to the Common Agricultural Policy; €1.1 billion to the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund; and €2.4 billion to environment and climate action. The 2024 CAP budget would thus see a slight increase of €200 million compared to 2023. The Commission said the proposed funding would support the green and digital transition, create jobs and strengthen Europe's role in the world.
More information is available here.

The EU Council agreed on 07/06/2023 that industrial installations should provide better data on their environmental emissions under the proposal on environmental data reporting by industrial installations and the establishment of an industrial emissions portal. The aim of this proposal is to modernise the existing European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register to create a more comprehensive and integrated industrial emissions portal. The revision of the rules should make progress towards the zero-pollution objective by providing the public with access to a more integrated and coherent set of data on major environmental emissions from industrial installations. The revision should also ensure better compliance with the still pending Industrial Emissions Directive and other related environmental legislation. The new portal should also include data on the use of water, energy and raw materials by industrial installations to enable monitoring of progress towards a resource-efficient circular economy. Compared to the Commission's proposal, the Council proposes in its opinion to reduce the administrative burden and optimise the added value of data reporting. The Council also proposes to limit the Commission's power to adopt delegated acts to amend the scope of activities, thresholds and pollutants covered by the Regulation. Finally, the Council proposes to extend the entry into force of the Regulation by two years to give Member States sufficient time to implement the new rules. Negotiations will now take place in trialogue between Parliament, the Council and the Commission.

On 08/06/2023, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, sent an unofficial document to representatives of the European Parliament and national ministers, in which he provides arguments in defence of the pending nature restoration law. This follows the move by the EPP, the Parliament's largest political group, to withdraw from negotiations on the planned law because of the potential threat to food security. In the document, Sinkevičius rejects the criticism, stating instead that climate change and biodiversity loss are the real threats. According to the Commissioner, nature restoration is a necessary condition for adapting to climate change and is essential for increasing the productivity and resilience of agricultural land and forests. Commissioner also stresses that restoration measures and active economic activity are not mutually exclusive. However, in the light of the events of the past year, the Commissioner suggests possible adjustments. One of these is flexibility for the re-irrigation of drained peatlands, which would only apply to peatlands not in agricultural use. Although both Member States and the Parliament are calling for financial compensation for farmers and foresters affected by restoration measures from earmarked funds, Sinkevičius only mentions in the document the resources of existing instruments such as the CAP. The vote on the adoption of the position on the Nature Restoration law in the EP Committee on the Environment (COMENVI) will take place on 15/06/2023, and the plenary of the European Parliament could take a position on the proposals during July 2023. The Council of Agriculture Ministers is expected to adopt its position on 20/06/2023, after which trialogues will be launched.
More information is available here and here.