SCA: Future CAP and trade agreements for organic food. EU country representatives will on Monday (30 September) discuss the forthcoming Council conclusions on the post-2027 CAP, which the Hungarian presidency is "optimistic" will be adopted in October or November at the latest, Budapest's agriculture secretary Zsolt Feldman told journalists last week.
National delegations will also discuss the market situation and international agreements on organic farming. The current recognition of equivalence of standards for organic food with third countries expires on 31 December 2026. The Commission is therefore negotiating with partners to conclude trade agreements on organic products. The number of countries (Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Tunisia and USA) and the lengthy ratification process of EU trade agreements, add to the pressure.
ECA and CAP strategic plans. At 17:00, the European Court of Auditors will publish a report examining the contribution of the CAP National Strategic Plans to the EU's environmental ambitions. Since 2023, the CAP has given Member States more room for manoeuvre in implementing the policy's overall social, economic and environmental objectives. The auditors are expected to highlight the greener nuances of the 2023-27 CAP compared to the pre-2020 set-up, but also its limitations in achieving the EU's climate and environmental ambitions.
Hugo will give you the details later today.
INTA Committee: EU-China state of play. MEPs will hold a debate to take stock of the latest developments in the trade dispute involving Chinese battery electric vehicles and EU spirits, pork and dairy products.
Parliament sets the stage for Commissioners-designate hearings. The Parliament’s Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC), including AGRI’s Veronika Vrecionová, will tomorrow (1 October) formally ask to the Conference of Presidents, meeting the following day, to organise the hearings of von der Leyen’s European commissioner nominees, which are expected to take place in early November. Vrecionová will start drafting questions for potential farming chief Christophe Hansen this week.
AGRI Committee: 4th VP seat to be filled and return of force majeure. MEPs in the AGRI committee will vote on Thursday (3 October) to elect the fourth vice-chair, a post that has been vacant since July due to a row over gender balance. The committee will also exchange views with the Commission on cases of force majeure exempting farmers from penalties, on which the EU executive published a communication earlier this year.
ENVI Committee: Debate on gene-edited plants. On the same day, the EU’s food watchdog (EFSA) will present to the Environment committee its assessment of a 2023 opinion by France’s ANSES that questioned the Commission’s criteria to split gene-edited crops into two categories. With Hungary and Poland - the current and future EU presidencies - opposing the proposal, its fate is uncertain.
Also to pencil in your agenda… the EU Ocean Week starts today. Check out the events in Brussels here.
