Plants and genes, the unfinished business in the run-up to EU elections

As the clock ticks down to the last plenary session of the European Parliament in April, and with the European Elections in June, it is becoming increasingly clear which laws will not see the light of day before the end of this legislative term.

Two major policy initiatives remain ‘unfinished business’ on the agriculture front, these are the new controversial rules on plants obtained by new genomic techniques (NGTs) – scientific methods used to genetically engineer certain traits into plants –  and legislation on the marketing of seeds and plant reproductive material (PRM).

Both were proposed by the European Commission last July and their fate is likely to lie in the hands of the new Parliament, whose future President and group leaders will decide in October whether to pursue them.

Belgium, currently holding the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council, has effectively given up on sealing the deal for either of these dossiers during the current mandate.

While the Parliament adopted its position on new genomic techniques (NGTs) in February, negotiations in the Council have stalled since December.

Speaking on the sidelines at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) on 26 March, Belgian Agriculture Minister David Clarinval, confirmed that there is no time left to conclude negotiations with the European Parliament, as EU countries remain divided over the traceability, labelling, and how to patent NGT plants.

Seed marketing rules may appear not as controversial as biotech food, but they too could end up on the sidelines.

Though Parliament is expected to reach a position this month, there is neither hope nor time in the Council. 

“It is a super technical and very big file,” a source close to the negotiations in the Council told Euractiv, confirming that a general approach was “not yet on the horizon”. 

In July, it will be up to Hungary- part of the blocking minority opposed to NGTs –  to chair the Council meetings and show leadership in bringing member states closer to an agreement on these two issues. 

The current mandate will also end with unfinished business on the Commission side, with promises that have not been translated into proposals. 

The EU executive’s flagship sustainable food policy, the Farm to Fork strategy, has several missing pieces, such as the expected sustainable food systems law and the promised overhaul of animal welfare legislation.

While the ongoing strategic dialogue on EU food systems offers some hope that these initiatives may be revived in the future, they have certainly fallen victim to the electoral headwinds blowing against the certainty in EU decision-making.

Nibbles of the week

Member states provide billions in aid to the agri-food sector amid protests. Following a temporary relaxation of the bloc’s state aid rules to help businesses cope with the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, EU countries have spent billions of euros supporting agricultural and food industries over the past two years to appease demonstrating farmers.

Euractiv’s analysis shows significant disparities between countries, with Poland topping the list with almost €4 billion in public subsidies for agri-food, particularly the grain sector.

The EU recommends stricter surveillance against bird flu. After Monday’s news of the transmission of the avian influenza virus (H5N1 bird flu) from cattle to a dairy worker in the US, the European Commission and EU agencies on health and food safety told Euractiv that the risk of infection to humans remains low, but vigilance must remain high. 

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published on Wednesday a new report on the possible “drivers and critical steps for an influenza pandemic due to avian influenza.”

New French agricultural law makes food sovereignty a priority. Following a promise made to protesting farmers, Paris presented on Wednesday a new draft of the agriculture law that puts food sovereignty on equal footing with environmental sustainability.

The proposed law keeps some of the promises made by the French executive on the removal of tax on diesel fuel used in agriculture, and various administrative simplifications.

Belgian health authority backs the European Commission’s proposal on gene-edited plants. The Superior Health Council has endorsed the EU executive’s proposal to loosen rules on gene-editing techniques, highlighting its potential to improve sustainability in agriculture in a report published on 21 March.

The Belgian agency’s report takes a much more supportive position than that of France’s food safety authority Anses, whose critical assessment of the proposed NGT legislation has stirred controversy.

The week ahead

Monday – 8 April:

•   Informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers – Genk, Belgium
•   Trilogue meeting on the extension of trade benefits with Ukraine – Brussels, Belgium
•   Coreper II
•   Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA)

Tuesday – 9 April:

•   Informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers – Genk, Belgium
•       Meeting of the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee (INTA)
•       Meeting of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI)

Wednesday – 10 April:

•   Plenary sitting of the European Parliament – Brussels, Belgium
•   Coreper I
•   Coreper II

Thursday – 11 April:

•   Plenary sitting of the European Parliament – Brussels, Belgium

Friday – 12 April:

•       Coreper I

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and Rajnish Singh ]

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