News

Negotiations on the so-called new consumer package, which includes provisions to limit the occurrence of dual product quality in the EU single market, will continue in the Council, EP and EC Trialogues. According to the EP rapporteur Daniel Dalton (UK, ECR), the only trialogue is planned for 21/03/2019, with a compromise solution being expected. The trialogue itself will be preceded by a number of technical consultations between the Romanian Presidency, the EP and the EC. The first technical consultations took place on 06/03/2019 and 08/03/2019. On 01/03/2019, the Permanent Representatives Committee of the EU member states (COREPER I) approved the Romanian Presidency’s mandate to resolve the draft directive before the EP elections in May 2019.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki presented on 02/03/2019 Poland's plans to introduce national legislation against retail chains in order to limit the volume of products marketed under chains’ own brands. In addition, Poland has an interest in forcing the chains to take at least half of their supply from local sources. Poland is to draw on legislations already in place from other member states. National legislation prohibiting chain brands and at the same time setting a minimum share of supply from local production could be contrary to European law and the functioning of the single market in the EU as it would lead to a restriction on the free movement of goods in the EU. Similar legislation was introduced by Romania in 2016; the Commission has initiated proceedings against the RO.
More information is available here.

The European consumer organization (BEUC) has sent a letter to the European Commission (available here), asking the Commission to establish binding rules to reduce the content of acrylamides in food. Acrylamides result from the heat treatment of certain foods (typically biscuits or fries) with temperatures of 120°C or more and they are carcinogenic. The Commission has so far provided only indicators to encourage producers to reduce the content of acrylamides in food. However, according to BEUC research, a large amount of food still contains more acrylamides than the recommended limit. The worst results were discovered in the case of biscuits and waffles, where the recommended limits were exceeded in a third of the tested products. BEUC therefore requests the European Commission to set maximum values that manufacturers should not exceed.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg decided on 07/03/2019 in favour of MEPs from the Green political faction - Heidi Hautala (FI, Vice-President of the European Parliament), Benedek Jávor (HU, Vice-President of the Environment Committee), Michèle Rivasi (FR, Member of the EP Environment Committee) and Bart Staes (BE, substitute for the EP Committee on the Environment) on allowing access to scientific studies on glyphosate safety. In May 2017, these MEPs filed a complaint to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which denied access to these studies determining the safety of glyphosate, on the grounds that disclosure could jeopardize economic investment and businesses’ know-how. Studies have led to the claim that glyphosate is unlikely to pose carcinogenic risks for humans. EFSA now has 2 months to appeal against the ECJ's decision. More information is available here.

The number of confirmed cases of African swine fever in Belgium is increasing, despite the hunters' efforts to eradicate infected boars on the French border. As of 01/03/2019, 619 cases of infection were confirmed; in a single week, the number of confirmed cases rose from 573 by nearly 50 to 619. More information is available here.