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On 01/06/2023, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the Commission and Member States to introduce mandatory measures to tackle antimicrobial resistance. The resolution calls on the European Commission to assess animal diseases caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria and consider including them in the European regulation on communicable animal diseases. Diseases included in the regulation could then be subject to specific regulatory measures for monitoring and control. Parliament also calls for the promotion of biosecurity, support for veterinarians in providing advice and the use of alternative methods to the use of antimicrobials.
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The European Food Safety Authority will present its long-awaited report on the risk assessment of glyphosate for humans, animals and the environment in July 2023. Following this process, the European Commission will develop a draft regulation to be discussed in the EU Standing Committee on Pesticides Legislation. The licence authorising the use of glyphosate in the European Union was due to expire at the end of 2022, but delays in processing the EFSA assessment have led to a temporary one-year extension of the licence until mid-December 2023. Negotiations on the future of glyphosate will therefore start in July 2023 and are likely to run until the end of the year.
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Last week, Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski expressed concern about a possible exodus of farmers from the Common Agricultural Policy system due to ever-tightening rules. According to the Commissioner, there is a risk that farmers will stop applying for CAP aid because the rules are too strict. According to the Commissioner, a higher budget will have to be secured for the future CAP after 2027 as the European Commission continues to create new rules, challenges and requirements for European farmers. In terms of supporting agricultural production and protecting the environment and climate, Wojciechowski said the CAP after 2027 should be more balanced. The Commissioner said that beneficial initiatives such as eco-schemes, carbon farming or animal welfare should be supported. The Commissioner said that intensification of production was not desirable, but a shift towards sustainable agriculture and support for organic and less intensive farming was desirable. Ministers also discussed how the CAP could be reconfigured to respond effectively to future crises. The discussion was based on a three-page briefing paper by the Croatian delegation entitled "Tools for dealing with crises: the need to support EU farmers in the short, medium and long term". The document highlights a series of unforeseen and unprecedented shocks to the internal market, ranging from the COVID pandemic and extreme weather events to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which have placed a huge burden on farmers and society in general. A debate should therefore be launched in the Council of Ministers on the political orientation of the CAP with a view to discussing how the current crisis management instruments can be improved in the future CAP.
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On 01/06/2023, the European Patent Office launched the unitary European patent system to help businesses protect their innovations in Europe and benefit from their intellectual property. According to the European Commission, the unitary patent system will boost innovation and competitiveness in the EU and complete the creation of a single market for patents. It will initially cover 17 EU Member States, with the remaining countries able to join in the future. According to the European Commission, the main benefits of the unitary system should include reducing the cost of patent protection in Europe, establishing a one-stop shop for patent registration, ensuring uniform patent protection in all participating EU countries, providing greater legal certainty in patent enforcement and promoting innovation, competitiveness and economic growth.
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The largest political group in the European Parliament, the EPP, decided last week to withdraw from negotiations on the planned Nature Recovery Act. The June 2022 proposal aims to reverse the decline of European nature, with 81% of habitats in poor condition and 1,677 European species threatened with extinction, according to the Commission. EPP European Group President Manfred Weber and EPP Chief Rapporteur Christine Schneider (DE) said the proposal was wrong in the first place, with the Commission having so far failed to allay EPP concerns about the potential impacts of the rules under consideration. According to Weber, implementing the Nature Recovery Targets as proposed would lead to a reduction in food production in Europe, which would lead to further increases in food prices, further threaten food security in Africa and block infrastructure projects necessary for climate transformation. The EPP faction said it could therefore not negotiate further on the proposal until a realistic impact assessment was available. Representatives of European agricultural organisations, including Copa-Cogeca, Europe's largest agricultural organisation, and agricultural organisations from Finland, Austria, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Ireland, Italy and Spain also protested against the Nature Recovery Objectives on 01/06/2023 outside the European Parliament. The representatives called for a rejection of the Commission's proposal. A number of MEPs, mainly from the EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI), also spoke at the protest in support of rejecting the proposal. COMAGRI rejected the Commission's proposal in its vote already at the end of May 2023. The EP's Environment Committee (COMENVI) has yet to adopt its position, probably on 15/06/2023 during a special session. The plenary of the European Parliament could take a position on the proposals during July 2023, and the Agriculture Council should adopt its position on 20/06/2023. After that, trialogues between the Parliament, the Council and the Commission could start.
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