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On 18/6/2019, the EU General Affairs Council will discuss progress made in the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the EU budget post 2020. One of the issues discussed is the external convergence, which is sought to be achieved especially by Eastern European countries. One of the options the ministers are working with is the European Commission's proposal that all Member States with direct payments below 90% of the EU average should continue the process that was launched in 2014-2020 and close 50% of the existing gap to 90%. The Latvian Minister of Agriculture Kaspars Gerhards rejected the Commission's proposal, stating that by doing so, Latvia would reach the average of direct payments per hectare in 2069. Another option is not to continue in achieving external convergence, which is however an option refused by the Baltic States. According to interim development, the capping of direct payments should, according to the ministers, only be voluntary and, if implemented, should only apply to basic income support for sustainability. Eco-schemes, support for young farmers, coupled payments and redistributive payments should therefore not be included in the capping even if a Member State decides to introduce it.

During the informal Council of Ministers on 04/06/2019, agriculture ministers discussed, besides the question of achieving a partial general agreement on the CAP (above), also bioeconomy and circular economy, with the aim of supporting the development of rural development programs. Romanian Minister of Agriculture Petre Daea said that research and bioeconomy are an important element in seeking to mitigate the impact of agricultural policy on the climate and environment. Ministers agreed that the European Commission and EU Member States must intensify their efforts to develop the full potential of bioeconomy, believing that bioeconomy should be seen as a holistic and strategic aspect of agricultural policy and should be combined with circular economy and the Horizon Europe program. According to representatives of SK and LV, it is necessary to reduce the administrative burden, representatives of NL, BE, BG, SE, UK and DL have supported strengthening investment in research and innovation. In this context, Portugal has rejected any cuts in the CAP budget, in particular the cuts in the second pillar. Strengthening efforts to develop the full potential of bioeconomy was also supported by Italian MEP Paolo de Castro (S&D), Europe's largest agricultural organization Copa and Cogeca, and the organization representing young farmers (CEJA).

At an informal meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers, Belgian Minister of Agriculture Denis Ducarme reported on the presence of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Belgium. According to Ducarme, the Belgian authorities are continuing in the slaughter of wild boars as planned, but it may take up to 2 years to eradicate ASF in Belgium. The disease appeared in the south of Belgium near the border of Luxembourg in September 2018, but it did not affect commercial farms with pigs. Denis Ducarme also mentioned the occurrence of ASF in China, which previously banned the import of pork from Belgium due to ASF.
African swine fever continues to spread in Poland; since the beginning of 2019, the fourth outbreak of ASF (03/06/2019) has been confirmed in PL in one commercial farm and one boar. The third outbreak of ASF was found in a commercial farm on 31/05/2019 in the south of the country where more than 8,000 pigs were isolated and more than 1,800 piglets were killed.

More information is available here and here.

By 31/05/2019, more than one million of EU citizens have signed the European initiative "The End the Cage Age" to support abandoning the usage of livestock cages. The petition was launched in September 2018 by Compassion in World Farming in collaboration with Eurogroup for Animals, the initiative received support from more than 170 other animal welfare and environmental organizations. By September 2019, the organization expects at least 1,3 million signatures. A representative of the Eurogroup for Animals, Elena Nalon, said that the final report will be sent to the European Commission by the organizers of the initiative, requesting abandonment of all livestock cages of all agricultural animals in the EU. The Commission will accordingly within three months from receiving the report organize a meeting with the initiative organizers to discuss its content, the initiative will be allowed to present itself at a public hearing in the European Parliament, and then the Commission will issue a statement indicating whether and what action it will take in response to the initiative. This statement of the Commission will be available in all EU languages. The Commission is not obliged to prepare a legal act on the basis of a citizens' initiative, but if a legal act is decided, the Commission’s proposal will be discussed in the European Parliament and the Council of the EU and subsequently, it might become EU legislation.

More information is available here and here.

Spirits Europe, organisation representing spirits producers in the EU, has concluded a non-binding agreement on the indication of calories and ingredients on spirits labels with Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis. Over the next six months, according to the agreement, the number of calories should start to be indicated on the spirit labels, moreover, consumers will be able to find a list of ingredients on the Internet via a bar or QR code. Calories will be given for both 100 ml and one portion. Although the memorandum is not binding, Spirits Europe believes that the agreement will encourage producers to implement these measures. By 2020, 25% of spirits sold could be labelled in this way, 50% by 2021, and 66% by the end of 2022. According to Vytenis Andriukaitis, wine producers are likely to be forced to adapt to the new labelling as well due to market pressure.