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Fri 4 October 2024| View online Estimated reading time: 4-5 minutes |
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Hello Welcome to your daily Agrifood Pro Briefing. Today is all about EU rulings, from fisheries to organics, alongside updates on the new Parliament.
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A day packed with rulings |
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The beef over meat names. The ECJ will rule today on whether a French decree banning the use of names such as “burgers”, “sausages” and “steaks” for plant-based products is in breach of EU rules. The law was passed in 2021. In February this year Paris approved a new decree, which was suspended a month later by the country’s highest administrative court pending the EU’s court ruling. But the row goes far beyond French borders – and back in time. Meat names were the subject of a heated debate in the European Parliament during the last CAP reform.Â
Maria will give you the details of the ruling later today.Â
EU-Morocco deal on fisheries, at risk? The four-year sustainable fisheries partnership between the EU and Morocco, signed in 2019 and with a €208 million EU contribution in exchange for fishing opportunities, is in question. In March, Advocate General Tamara Capeta said in an opinion that the agreement should be annulled because it does not consider the disputed territory of Western Sahara and its waters as “separate and distinct” from the North African kingdom. Today’s ruling from the EU’s top court will reveal if they follow Capeta’s advice.Â
Melons, tomatoes and geopolitics. The court will also clarify whether melons and tomatoes from Western Sahara should be labelled as such, instead of Moroccan, as Capeta suggested in March. Retrieve our story here. The dispute began in 2020, when by farmers’ union ConfĂ©deration paysanne urged France’s highest administrative court to ban mislabelled imports. The French court then referred the case to the ECJ. Â
Organic or not. The Court will rule on the use of the EU organic production logo on imported products from countries recognised by the bloc as having equivalent organic standards. The case in question involved a fruit-based drink made from both organic and non-organic ingredients.  |
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AGRI’s 4th vice-chair remains in limbo |
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The socialists yesterday won the support of most MEPs in a vote to postpone the election of the fourth vice-chair of the AGRI committee. S&D agriculture coordinator Dario Nardella said the group was awaiting a legal opinion on gender parity rules, which were waived for some committees in July.  Â
MEPs also exchanged views with experts on food price inflation and with the Commission on the cases of “force majeure” exempting farmers from CAP penalties. In line with the communication published earlier this year, the EU executive reminded MEPs that it is up to member states to designate areas as “gravely affected” by exceptional events and bypass the usual case-by-case analysis to grant exemptions from CAP requirements.  |
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France called out for failing to transpose packaging rules |
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The Commission has launched an infringement procedure against France for failing to properly transpose some definitions under the bloc's Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) into national law.   The directive is to be amended by the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which was agreed by the Parliament and member states in March but has yet to be formally adopted by the Council. France now has two months to respond to the formal notice and address the issues raised by the EU executive. |
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An in-depth look at the EUDR benchmarking criteria |
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Countries responsible for much of global deforestation may avoid being labelled "high risk" under the EU’s new anti-deforestation regulation (EUDR), according to documents released on Thursday by the Commission. As part of the new rules, the EU executive was required to classify countries as high, standard, or low risk based on their deforestation levels—a move that sparked diplomatic tension even before its release. A high-risk brings bad publicity but also more bureaucracy, while low-risk countries face simpler procedures and fewer inspections.Â
Find out which member states could potentially be labelled as high risk and more in the recently published guidelines in Sofia’s article. |
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Progress in removing technical barriers |
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The EU’s agriculture and fisheries sector made significant progress in removing market barriers by trading partners in 2023, according to the Commission’s annual report on the implementation of trade policy. The agrifish sector got 22 trade barriers lifted (out of a total of 37), notably gaining recognition of the bloc’s regionalisation system to control animal diseases - meaning that outbreaks in one region or member state should not lead a block on EU exports from disease-free areas. For instance, South Korea lifted its ban on pork imports from some German regions in 2023, despite outbreaks of African swine fever in the country, and did the same for Ireland and France in 2024. |
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MEPs to propose intergroup on sustainable livestock |
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A group of MEPs is working to launch an intergroup on sustainable livestock farming, Belgium’s Benoit Cassart (Renew) announced following a conference on the topic held in the European Parliament yesterday. A letter urging political groups to support the initiative will be sent today (4 October), Cassart's staff told Euractiv on the sidelines of the event, and it will be signed by French MEPs Romania’s Maria Grapini (S&D) and Austria’s Alexander Bernhuber (EPP). Â
The aim of the intergroup is to highlight the role that the livestock sector can play in facilitating a sustainable transition. To be constituted, the group needs a positive vote from the Parliament’s Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC), to be expected in December. |
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Simplification of the School scheme |
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The European Commission has launched a consultation on a delegated act to reduce the amount of information that member states must provide when reporting on the EU’s school fruit, vegetable and milk scheme. Under the proposal, reporting on the average price of portions and the authorities and stakeholders involved would no longer be compulsory. The move is part of the EU executive’s package of measures to respond to national requests to make it easier for administrations to monitor the agricultural policy.  |
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Commission ready for NGT trilogues |
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The Commission reiterated its "full" readiness to enter inter-institutional negotiations “as soon as the Council is ready”, DG Sante official Irene Sacristan Sanchez yesterday told MEPs in the Environment committee (ENVI) when asked about the timeline for new rules on gene-edited plants. “I am afraid I cannot answer to this question, this is in the hands of co-legislators,” the EU official added. The European Parliament adopted its position in February, but the file is deadlocked in the Council. After several failed attempts to find a compromise between member states under the Belgian presidency, NGTs are now stuck with the Hungarians.  |
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Fishing ban in the Bay of Biscay criticised by European fishermen |
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Following the Commission’s proposal on Monday 30th September to ban certain fisheries in the Bay of Biscay this winter to protect dolphins, the European fishing industry welcomed the consultation method and the involvement of the various member states concerned, in contrast to the unilateral decision taken by France last winter. But while the Commission's proposal could have been "worse", the sector considers it hasty. Hugo spoke to French, Spanish and EU fishermen’s representatives. |
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Paris – Barnier to announce measures on livestock Prime Minister Michel Barnier and Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard will today make the first announcements of the new government to the farming community at the "Sommet de l'Ă©levage". The measures are likely to include financial support for the French livestock sector, which is currently facing several diseases, including support for vaccination. As Genevard explained in an interview with the local newspaper La Montagne on 2 October, "in addition to the necessary short-term response, we need to think about a prevention and anticipation strategy at European level".Â
Bucharest – Government under pressure from farmers to ban Ukrainian poultry imports Romania’s Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu yesterday responded to farmers’ calls to halt imports of Ukrainian poultry products by saying that he was waiting for the European Commission to intervene.  Barbu said in a press release that, if no EU solution is found, the country is ready to apply to Ukrainian poultry the same licensing mechanism introduced to control the imports of cereals, sugar and flour. |
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Today’s brief was brought to you by Euractiv’s Agrifood team |
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Today’s briefing was prepared by the Agrifood team; Angelo Di Mambro, Maria Simon Arboleas, Sofia Sanchez Manzanaro, and Hugo Struna. Share your feedback or information with us at digital@euractiv.com. |
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