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Mon 14 October 2024 | View online Estimated reading time: 4-5 minutes |
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Hello
Welcome to your daily agrifood briefing! In this Monday roundup, we’ll bring you up to speed on the key developments to watch in the agrifood sector and beyond, including discussions on the CAP budget, EUDR, and more. |
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| Commissioner Šefčovič receives Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister for High-Level Dialogue on Fisheries and Ocean Governance |
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| Commissioner McGuinness receives the Irish food chain organisations |
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| PAFF Committee on Novel Food and Toxicological Safety of the Food Chain |
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| Dublin, Ireland. Commissioner McGuinness speech on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive |
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AGRI committee: Today (14 October), MEPs will hold a public hearing on the Strategic dialogue (see below). MEPs are expected to urge for resources to match the ambition of the stakeholder’ recommendations, including more support for farmers to switch to more sustainable farming practices.
The other main item on the committee’s agenda is an exchange of views with Commission representatives on a delegated regulation amending EU rules for recognising authorities responsible for certifying organic products from third countries.
ENVI committee: The committee will today (14 October) debate with the Commission the proposal to delay the implementation of the anti-deforestation regulation (EUDR) by one year (see below).
MEPs will also discuss about several resolutions to reject last week’s decision by the EU executive to authorise two new genetically modified (GM) crops for import, maize and cotton, and to renew the approval of two GM maize varieties.
Also to pencil in your agenda... Dijon will host the 45th World Congress of Vine and Wine from 14-18 October (see below) Compassion in World Farming and a coalition of NGOs will stage a demonstration against farm cages in Brussels’ Place du Luxembourg on 14 October Fertilisers Europe will hold its annual conference at the Residence Palace on 15 October, with Euractiv as media partner. |
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Parliament and Commission reduce CAP budget cuts for 2025 |
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Today (14 October) MEPs in the Budgets Committee will adopt their position on the 2025 expenditure ceilings with a view to approving the mandate for negotiations with Council at the second plenary session in October (21-24).
As reported in the 8 October Agrifood Pro Brief, compared to the draft 2025 budget proposed by the Commission last June, MEPs will call for an increase of €21 million for the fruit and vegetable sector, €40 million for young farmers, €25 million for promotion programmes and €10 million for the CAP schools scheme.
The demands of the MEPs are reinforced by the Amending Letter to the 2025 budget published by the Commission on 10 October. In the mid-term review of the 2021-27 budget, the EU cut the agricultural guarantee fund by €440 million in 2025-27. The Commission proposed a €136 million reduction in the 2025 budget.
In the Amending Letter, the bloc's executive updated its calculations and, compared to its first proposal, increased funding for promotion programmes, the fruit and vegetable sector and school programmes by €94 million.
Following the floods in central Europe, the Commission's amendment also adds €3 billion in liquidity for the Regions affected. |
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Greens want to counter ‘monologue’ on Strategic Dialogue |
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The AGRI committee will today (14 October) hold a public hearing with a keynote speech by the chair of the Strategic Dialogue forum, Professor Peter Strohschneider, and two panel discussions with sector representatives and statements from the Commission. But the initiative will face criticism by Green MEPs, who claim that the selection of speakers failed to include representatives of small farmers.
"The EPP, ECR and far right want a strategic monologue instead of a dialogue," Thomas Waitz, the Green’s agriculture coordinator, told Euractiv, adding that the platform chaired by Strohschneider did manage to gather a "broad variety of participants" and find common ground despite differences.
Debates on the diversity of the food sector are likely to be repeated in the coming months, as the conclusions of the Strategic dialogue proposed the creation of a "European Board of Agriculture and Food" (EBAF) with representatives appointed by the Commission to discuss policy developments on a regular basis. |
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MEPs speed-up process to change deforestation law |
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The ENVI committee MEPs will today (14 October) debate the Commission’s proposal to postpone the full implementation of the anti-deforestation regulation (EUDR) by one year. But do not expect a heated discussion.
Despite some criticism, last Monday (7 October), the political group coordinators in ENVI decided to use the urgent procedure to speed up the process, Parliament sources confirmed to Euractiv. This would allow the Commission’s proposal to go directly to a plenary vote, bypassing an ENVI committee report.
According to the source, the request for urgent procedure will most likely be announced at the Strasbourg plenary on 21-24 October and voted at the following session in Brussels on 13-14 November.
With the clock ticking on the implementation of the EUDR, originally scheduled for December, a decision to let the text go through the committee and reopen the file would be the worst scenario, according to some MEPs.
"It would mean the postponement will not be in place before the end of the year, creating an enourmous uncertainty for companies," Pascal Canfin, Renew’s coordinator in the ENVI committee, told Euractiv, adding that this would be "not responsible nor desirable". |
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China hits cognac with tariffs, France and EU to support producers |
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As announced on 8 October, last Friday (10 October) China began imposing anti-dumping measures on European cognac producers last Friday (10 October) in the context of the EU-China trade dispute over electric cars.
France and the EU will support the producers hit by the tariffs, said Benjamin Haddad, Paris's minister for European affairs, in an interview with Bloomberg television. On Tuesday 8 October, Beijing announced it would impose anti-dumping duties on imported European spirits - most of them French cognac - in retaliation for the EU's intention to impose tariffs on Chinese electric cars. Hugo covered the story.
For the French minister, the Chinese initiative is "illegal". France has already set up a compensation mechanism for producers. “We have tools at our disposal to address injurious impacts on EU producers from situations of market disturbance, or threat thereof,” the Commission said in a press statement last week. |
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The wine world holds its congress amid great uncertainty |
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Tough times for EU wine - struggling with changing consumer preferences, full cellars and climate change - will be one of the topics discussed by wine stakeholders in Dijon, at the 45th World Congress of Vine and Wine, which starts today. The Commission painted a pretty gloomy picture last Friday (11 October) when it presented an overview of current market trends to national delegations in the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA), according to EU sources. The source said that the EU executive also highlighted that global wine consumption has reached its lowest level in three decades. There's a "polarised" market at the moment, with premium and low-cost options doing better than the mid-range. The Commission also pointed to fluctuating production levels, with climate change making them more unpredictable. Member state representatives welcomed the launch of the EU’s High-Level Group on Wine Policy, with some calling for simplification and harmonisation of labelling rules and stressing the need to adapt to new consumer preferences. |
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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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