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Agriculture Ministers during the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 18/07/2022 discussed with the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides the Commission's proposal regarding the revision of the directive on the sustainable use of pesticides. Ministers welcomed the sustainable use of plant protection products and raised concerns about setting a 50% reduction in chemical pesticides, both at EU and national level. They recalled, according to a summary on the Council's website, that before mandatory reduction targets for chemical pesticides are set, there is a need for viable sustainable alternatives to these pesticides. The ministers further urged that it is necessary to consider geographical and climatic differences and different starting positions in individual Member States. They also emphasized that sustainability should not be pursued at the expense of food security or the competitiveness of EU agriculture, especially in the current context of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
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Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus said last week that the key to ensuring food security in the long term is to create healthy and sustainable ecosystems in Europe. The biggest threat to European agricultural production is currently heat and drought, which is intensifying at a time when Russia is blocking grain exports from Ukraine. The Commission's legislative proposal from the end of June 2022 on the EU's nature restoration targets, which includes the goal of returning at least 10% of the EU's agricultural areas to high biodiversity landscape features, should help to ensure that the EU's ecosystems are in the best possible condition. This target has been set as a benchmark and will be used by the Commission to assess progress across the EU when analysing national recovery plans.
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Last week, the EP Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (COMENVI) approved its opinion on the introduction of products from third countries into the EU markets, which cause deforestation. The aim of the European Commission's proposal is to ban products that cause deforestation from entering the internal market. The opinion was approved by 60 votes for, 2 against, 13 MEPs abstained. COMENVI supported a substantial extension of the regulation to new commodities, namely pigs, sheep, goats, poultry, rubber, maize, charcoal and wooden musical instruments. The COMENVI opinion also broadens the definition of what can be considered forest degradation to include commodities produced on "other forested land" that have been converted to agricultural land.

German farmers have joined the protests of the neighboring Netherlands against reducing the use of fertilizers and limiting the size of farm herds. In June 2022, the Dutch government introduced targets to reduce harmful nitrogen compounds by 2030, which for farmers there means reducing the use of ammonia in fertilizers and reducing the number of livestock by 30%. In solidarity, German farmers blocked bridges, highways and busy roads in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Bavaria and Hamburg. Some even went to the Netherlands to join the protests there. The protests are likely to continue until August.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference after the G20 meeting that Russia is ready to negotiate with Ukraine and Turkey to unblock Ukrainian Black Sea ports to create safe passages for food exports by commercial ships from Ukraine. However, he did not specify the dates of the meeting. The United Nations (UN) and Turkey are trying to broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine to safely reopen sea lanes. According to Lavrov, the UN has received a memorandum from Russia with a proposal for a food export organization, but the UN is not commenting on the submitted proposals due to the delicate nature of the talks. The parties do not yet agree on which navy should ensure the safe passage of ships from Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea and whether the Russian military or the fleets of other NATO members should accompany Turkish warships.
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