Agrifood brief: Well, that didn’t go to Plan(as)

Even the best-laid plans go awry – and this is certainly something that both camps of lawmakers can attest to after a whirlwind past few months, which saw the last push on the remnants of the EU’s flagship food policy, the Farm to Fork Strategy.

After pretty much the whole ‘fork’ side of the plan failed to materialise, hopes rested on two major files on the ‘farm’ side – a proposal on new genomic techniques (NGTs) and one on a plan to slash the use and risk of pesticides (SUR). 

But the EU has ended up ‘far’ rather than farm after a failure to make much progress on either. 

Over in the Council, Spain’s Agriculture Minister Luis Planas, who has sat at the helm of EU agriculture ministers meetings over the past six months, has been desperately pushing on his pet NGT file.

The contentious file, which proposes a loosening of rules governing the use of gene editing technology, was high on the Spanish Presidency’s Christmas wish list, with Planas telling Euractiv in an interview back at the start of his tenure that his goal was to have “political conclusions that precede the legislative part of the work”. 

So high, in fact, that in the very first press conference with the Spanish Presidency, they pushed reporters to ask questions on the file (it was around the time of rising tensions over trade restrictions with Ukraine, so naturally eyes were elsewhere at that point). 

But things didn’t quite go to Plan(as), after he failed to rally enough support for a compromise on the file this week in the last meeting of EU ministers before the end of his presidency. 

And while the Spanish are still hoping for a Christmas miracle and pinning their hopes on a change of heart by the newly-formed Polish government, it will most likely fall to the Belgians for a last ditch attempt.

Well, you know what they say – shoot for the moon, you’ll end up in the… SUR? 

But not in this case, with the EU’s sustainable use of pesticides regulation – the EU’s plan to slash the use and risk of pesticides in half by 2030 – hanging in by the skin of its teeth and limping on to the end of the year (sound familiar, anyone?) after a shock rejection in the European Parliament. 

This means that, while ministers are moving on pesticides but not NGTs, it is the exact opposite in the Parliament, leaving both files with only half the ingredients needed to progress. 

And while two halves usually make a whole, in this case it just makes a whole mess. 

So while Commission President Ursula von der Leyen may insist that nearly 90% of the Green Deal proposals on the list are ticked, there’s very little to show for it on the agrifood side of things. Pretty much all the fork parts, and now most of the farm parts, have either fallen foul of politicking or are floundering. 

It seems the EU is really missing its Santa to help drive these files home for Christmas.

By Natasha Foote 

Subscribe to EURACTIV’s Agrifood Brief, where you’ll find the latest roundup of news covering agriculture and food from across Europe. The Agrifood Brief is brought to you by EURACTIV’s Agrifood Team – Natasha Foote (@NatashaFoote), Julia Dahm (@dahm_julia) and Maria Simon Arboleas (@msimonarboleas).

Please note: This will be the last Agrifood Brief of the year, and also the last for Natasha and Julia. We’ve loved bringing you the latest agrifood news from Brussels over the past few years, and now leave you in the very capable hands of our successors. A very happy Christmas from the whole Euractiv Agrifood team – we wish you all a lovely, restful break! 

What to expect after Christmas

Since this is the last agrifood brief of the year, let’s have a look at the fun to come in the new year.

Going into 2024, several key Farm to Fork files are still open, notably including the aforementioned proposals on new genomic techniques (NGT) and pesticide use (SUR), but also the Commission’s proposed Soil Monitoring Law, the proposal on plant reproductive material, and the newly proposed tweaks on animal transport rules.

Meanwhile, the Strategic Dialogue on agriculture announced by Commission president von der Leyen in her State of the Union Speech is set to launch in January – but so far, it remains fairly open to what end it will serve.

And finally, EU elections are fast approaching, which means not only that the time to adopt files is getting ever tighter, but also that parties are going into campaign mode and increasingly less likely to compromise – just look at the SUR drama in the Parliament for an example.

So, after a hopefully restful holiday season, strap in for a wild ride!

News of the week

Spain’s last push on NGTs. After EU agri ministers failed to find an agreement on the Commission’s proposal for a liberalisation of new genomic techniques (NGTs) during their meeting on Monday, it looks like the Spanish Council presidency is making a last ditch attempt at reaching a compromise before the end of the year, when Belgium takes over the reins of the rotating EU Presidency.

As a spokesperson of the presidency confirmed, a vote of member states representatives (COREPER) is scheduled for Thursday next week.

A key player to watch will be Poland: The country voted against the compromise proposed by Spain during the ministers’ meeting, but in the meantime, the new government led by Donald Tusk took office and might have a different opinion. If Warsaw votes pro next week, this would be enough to tip the balance in favour of an agreement (all else equal).

At the same time, the Spanish are still trying to convince additional countries before Thursday in order to ensure the necessary majority, according to a source close to the matter.

Either way, however, the window to pass the law before the EU election next year is tightening – also due to delays on the Parliament’s side, where the leading environment committee pushed back a vote on the file to 24 January, delaying the plenary vote to February.

UnSURe situation. This week’s agri ministers’ meeting also came as the first one after the Parliament showdown on the Sustainable Use Regulation (SUR) in late November, when the plenary voted against the file but also against further talks on it, leaving the proposal in limbo.

Despite the Parliament’s blockade, most ministers voiced their commitment to continuing their work on the file on the Council side, even though several sticking points are still left to overcome before an agreement between ministers could be reached.

However, it remains uncertain whether the SUR would be adopted even if member states do find an agreement, since both them and the European Parliament ultimately have to agree on a version of the text.

Since the Parliament did not adopt a position, the usual negotiations between the two lawmakers would be skipped, and the only way forward is for the Parliament to reject or amend the Council’s position by an absolute majority of lawmakers – a step that seems relatively unlikely after its outright rejection of the file at the last vote.

Ukraine imports row reloaded. Tensions are once again flaring over the impact of Ukrainian agrifood imports into the EU amid mixed messages from the bloc’s Commission. Speaking to journalists following a meeting of EU agriculture ministers on Monday (11 December), Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said there was a “problem” with agrifood imports from Ukraine and called for “some appropriate safeguard instruments to react if import[s are] too high and disruptive for [the EU] market”. 

However, asked about the Commissioner’s comments, a Commission spokesperson told journalists on Wednesday that “there are no plans to make any changes” to the current framework. “There are no plans to extend the [safeguard] measures, but we keep an eye on the situation, we monitor it as it evolves,” the spokesperson said.

While cereals and oilseeds account for most of the imports – Ukraine being one of the world’s largest grain exporters – EU ministers also raised concerns about other agricultural products during the meeting. For instance, Slovak Agriculture Minister Richard Takáč told journalists that Bratislava is considering banning the import of poultry, eggs and sugar from Ukraine. Slovakia, along with Hungary and Poland, currently have unilaterally imposed national bans on some Ukrainian imports in place.

Tricyclazole – no thank you. The European Parliament has voted against a proposal by the Commission which, among other things, would allow the import of foodstuffs produced using tricyclazole, a pesticide whose use is banned in the EU.

In the motion adopted on the matter during the plenary session on Thursday, the Parliament notes that the proposal “does not comply with the commitments made to preserve competitiveness in the Union market and high consumer safety.”

Liberal lawmaker and chair of the responsible ENVI committee Pascal Canfin welcomed the step, saying in a tweet that allowing such imports would have meant “unacceptable unfair competition for our farmers.”

CAP corner

Prepping the CAP for enlargement. As EU leaders decided to launch accession talks with Ukraine during their summit this week, the discussion around how to prepare the EU’s farm subsidies programme for enlargement is picking up steam. With a large agriculture sector made up from farms that are, on average, much bigger than those in the EU, the accession of Ukraine poses a challenge to the First Pillar of the CAP, where direct payments are disbursed based on farm size.

In the view of EU agri Commissioner Janus Wojciechowski, direct payments should therefore be compulsorily capped – meaning member states would be obliged to put a ceiling on how much CAP aid a single farm can get. “A big part of Ukrainian agriculture is dominated by big agro holdings,” he said, adding that the EU should “avoid pay[ing] subsidies for such big companies”. 

Meanwhile, Germany’s Cem Özdemir also stressed during Monday’s agri ministers’ meeting that the EU must reform the CAP in order to be enlargement-ready. As opposed to Wojciechowski, however, the Green minister sees this as a chance to fundamentally reform the CAP and move away from mostly unconditional direct payments altogether. Similarly, a study published on Thursday by Berlin-based think tank Jacques Delors Centre estimates that “enlargement can present an opportunity to break decades-old gridlocks on CAP.”

Agrifood news from the CAPitals

VISEGRAD COUNTRIES

Farmers urge EU to halt duty-free imports of Ukrainian products. The EU and its member states should stop importing duty-free, cheaper agricultural products from Ukraine, farmers’ organisations from Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia said in a recent appeal to their governments, calling for a joint approach and protection of farmers and producer interests. Read the full story.

GERMANY

Glyphosate scramble. German agri minister Cem Özdemir is making a last-minute move to prepare for the fact that glyphosate has been approved for use in the EU beyond the end of the year. While an existing German regulation foresaw a ban on the use of glyphosate from January on, this would have been on shaky legal grounds as long as the substance is still approved EU wide. The agri ministry has therefore now temporarily suspended this plan and existing rules allowing the use of glyphosate will remain in place until a new solution for coming as close to a ban with possible within the legal possibilities is found.

Farmers’ fuel tax cuts to end amid budget cuts. Amid efforts to patch a €60 billion budget hole left by a recent court ruling, the German government has decided to no longer grant rebates on fuel and motor vehicle taxed to farmers. The step is part of a bid to lower public spending by cutting climate-damaging subsidies, and was welcomed by environmentalists. However, agriculture minister Cem Özdemir disavowed the decision, despite the fact that it was taken by the leaderships of the three coalition parties, including Özdemir’s own Greens. The minister warned against putting an extra burden on farmers. “I think this is problematic,” he said in a statement.

SPAIN

Planas discusses the priorities for his new term with farmers’ organisations. The Agriculture Minister – who was re-appointed in November – said on Thursday (14 December) that he aims to send his “family farming” bill to parliament within a year, adding that shared ownership and generational renewal would be key points of the legislation. Planas also pledged to resume work on a law against food waste – which was shelved due to the call for elections – and to hold a forum to address the “problem” of livestock farming in Spain, which he said was “one of the most vulnerable” sectors. Meanwhile, he welcomed a “soft landing “ in food prices, according to the latest data. 

FRANCE

The Agriculture Ministry unveils a plan for generation renewal. A plan to tackle the impending mass retirement of farmers was presented on Friday (15 December) by the Agriculture Minister, Marc Fesneau. The “pact for the renewal of generations of farmers” comes amid concern that more than half of French farmers will retire by 2030, and aims at training future farmers and adapting to climate change. Some of the plan’s commitments will be presented in draft legislation in January. While Fesneau pledged in September to increase the number of farmers by 150,000 in ten years, this ambition is not part of the text.

GREECE

The National Bank estimates climate change cost at €2 billion per year. A report by the Bank of Greece published on Friday (15 December) has found that the cost of climate change to the country amounts to €2.2 billion a year, or about 1% of GDP. The study warns of a trend towards soil desertification, which will significantly limit arable land. Meanwhile, extreme rainfall events will become more frequent. This summer, Greek agriculture was hit by unprecedented wildfires, which were followed by massive floods, causing financial damage estimated at more than €2.5 billion.

MOLDOVA

Moldova gets EU funds to help build solidarity lanes. The European Investment Bank signed a €41 million loan with Moldova on Friday, complemented by an EU grant of €12 million in order to improve transport connections in the country and advance the Solidarity Lanes, the EU’s initiative to help Ukraine export grain via alternative routes to the Black Sea. Meanwhile, everyone who’s listened to the 2022 Moldovan Eurovision song about a new train connection between Chisinau and Bucharest can attest to the excitement linked to rail infrastructure in Moldova.

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