 | | October 1, 2024| View online Estimated reading time: 4-5 minutes |
| Hello Welcome to your daily Agrifood briefing. From the latest buzz on the commissioner hearings to fresh updates on novel foods, we’ve got the perfect blend of politics and policy for you today.
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| | AGRI committee wants front-row seat in Fitto’s hearing |
| The chairs of all European Parliament committees are meeting this morning from 10:00 to 12:00 to determine which Commissioner each will question during the highly anticipated hearings, now expected to take place in early November.
Lawmakers at the agriculture committee (AGRI) are pushing to have a prominent role in the hearing of Italy’s Commissioner-designate, Raffaele Fitto, who will oversee agriculture and fisheries as part of his broad portfolio as vice-president for cohesion and reforms.
According to an internal document seen by Euractiv, Fitto is currently set to be questioned by the Parliament’s committee for regional development (REGI), while AGRI has only been “invited” to the hearing.
Herbert Dorfmann, the EPP coordinator in AGRI, told Euractiv that the group will push for a "joint hearing" with REGI. A similar view was shared by Thomas Waitz, coordinator for the Greens/EFA in AGRI. “It’s part of his portfolio, and we will scrutinize his capabilities. He must show us that he plans to work for the EU and not just serve his national interests,” he told Euractiv. The Socialists and Democrats (S&D) are also pushing for the AGRI committee to play a key role in Fitto's hearing, sources in the group told Euractiv.
Fitto, a member of the hard-right ECR, is set to face some serious grilling, with the Socialists and the liberal Renew group expressing doubts about whether the cordon sanitaire should apply to the Commission’s top jobs.
According to S&D sources, the group is still discussing whether to vote down his candidacy, with no clear “red lines” yet. |
| | | EFSA’s new guidance for novel food applications |
| EFSA, the EU’s food safety authority, has published updated guidelines for novel foods applications. The new scientific and administrative guidance will apply to all applications submitted to the European Commission from 1 February 2025. The proposed document was the subject of a lengthy public consultation, attracting more than 700 contributions —highlighting an unusually high level of interest in the technical specifications.
Food innovation is currently a hot topic in Europe. In January, Italy and other countries challenged the criteria for approving cultured meat, and in July, the Hungarian EU Presidency reiterated the need to protect the EU’s culinary traditions against all types of novel foods.
The Good Food Institute (GFI), a think tank that promotes alternative proteins, welcomed the guidelines as they respond to the needs of food innovators, while maintaining the EU’s "gold standard regulatory system." "However, with Italy trying to enforce its controversial cultivated meat ban while countries like the Netherlands invest, Europe is sending mixed messages to companies who need certainty to deliver on the potential of alternative proteins to boost food security and drive green growth,” Seth Roberts, a regulation expert at the GFI told Euractiv.
For more on the ongoing political debate over novel foods and cultivated meat, we highly recommend tuning in to this conversation between Sofia and our podcast host Evi. |
|  | | | Member states seek balance on the future of the CAP |
| The CAP should reward farmers' efforts for providing food and public goods, be crisis-proof and simpler for national administrations, according to a document discussed by member state delegations yesterday. The paper, seen by Euractiv, is the first draft of conclusions that the Hungarian EU presidency plans to present as a contribution to the Commission's vision for agriculture and food, due in the first 100 days of the mandate.
According to EU sources, delegations raised issues of risk management, farmers’ bargaining power in the food chain and the financing and the distribution of funds. On the latter point, last June the Belgian presidency's failed to reach unanimity on its conclusions on the future of agriculture.
The Hungarian Presidency will present a new draft at the SCA meeting on 11 October with a view to adopting the text at the Council meeting on 21 and 22 October.
Measuring sustainability on the farm In another meeting, EU countries approved the implementing regulation that sets out the final details for the transformation of the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) into a Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN). The FSDN aims to promote sustainability in agriculture by collecting and sharing data from farms. |
| National agricultural plans miss EU green goals, say auditors |
| The national strategic plans for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023-2027 fall short of the EU's environmental ambitions, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) published yesterday.
Hugo has the details of the report and the answers of the Commission. |
| Organic sector condems ‘fake’ pesticide reduction |
| The European organic industry organisation IFOAM, the European Citizens’ Initiative “Save Bees and Farmers” and the NGO Global 2000 are sounding the alarm over the Commission’s data on pesticide cuts, which they say is based on a “misleading” methodology that and uses weighting factors that discriminate against biological alternatives.
At the end of August, the Commission published the latest trends in pesticide use, showing that European farmers halved their use of chemicals in 2022 compared to 2011-13. However, this baseline is not the same as the one used by the EU executive in its proposal to reach a 50% reduction target by 2030, which was withdrawn. |
| New grassroots initiative to relaunch ‘wine culture’ |
| The “Vitaevino” campaign, aimed to “defend” the wine culture, was launched yesterday (30 September) by European stakeholders with the support of national and regional authorities in Austria, the Czech Republic, France Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Slovakia. The sector is facing challenges such as changing consumer tastes, full cellars and production constraints due to climate change. Last month, the EU’s High-level Group for the wine sector held its first meeting to prepare policy recommendations to be presented in December.
Read Hugo’s story here.
Oenological practices update After more than a year and a half of consultations with member states’ experts, the European Commission published a draft delegated act to adapt oenological practices in the EU to technical progress and new resolutions by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) in 2022 and 2023. |
| | | Concerted ban on fishing in the Bay of Biscay |
| The Commission has implemented a joint recommendation with France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium to stop certain fishing practices in the Bay of Biscay for one month in 2025 in order to reduce the incidental capture of dolphins and small cetaceans, according to an announcement published yesterday. A one-month closure had been decided by France in February 2024, sparking protests from French and Spanish fishermen who had been prevented from fishing in the area. Scientists from ICES, the international reference body, recommend a three-month closure during the winter, which is considered a high-risk period.
According to the Commission, around 300 EU vessels should be affected by the closure. |
| France accused of illegal bottom fishing |
| The NGOs Client Earth and Bloom are taking the French government to court over its practice of bottom fishing in marine protected areas (MPAs) that host vulnerable habitats, according to a press release published yesterday.
The NGOs are basing their case on the 2006 Mediterranean Regulation, which bans bottom trawling, pelagic trawling, purse seining and dredging in all MPAs hosting certain vulnerable habitats. In their view, France continues to engage in these practices, as demonstrated by a recent study - which we analysed - showing that most European MPAs are ineffective against bottom fishing.
As a leader in the European maritime domain, a condemnation of France could have repercussions in other Member States, the NGOs point out. |
| | | | Madrid - VAT returns to basic foodstuffs at a 2% rate until 2025 VAT on basic foodstuffs, including olive oil, will be reintroduced from today (30 September) at an initial rate of 2% between October and December, according to Euractiv’s media partner EFE. Following this, the rate will return to the “super-reduced” level of 4%, as it had been prior to the temporary removal of the tax in January 2023 to address the economic impact of the war in Ukraine.
Zagreb – Apple producers warn of challenges facing the sector Croatian fruit growers are sounding the alarm about the impact of climate change on apple production, which accounts for about a third of the country’s fruit output. In an interview with national media, industry representatives complained of labour shortage and price caps for some varieties. |
| | | | London – Government to pass new rules to simplify access to gene editing technologies The UK government announced yesterday (30 September) that it will soon pass legislation to complement last year's Precision Breeding Act to simplify the approval process for marketing crops produced using new genomic technologies (NGTs). Research trials underway in the country include tomatoes with high levels of vitamin D and sugar beet that is less reliant on pesticides. |
| | | | | Today’s brief was brought to you by Euractiv’s Agrifood team |
| | | 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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