Two major agri files EU Parliament will have to tackle in the next term

The failure of EU lawmakers to approve a comprehensive reform of the rules on pesticides at the end of 2023 is emblematic of the difficulties of incorporating the Green Deal in the EU’s agrifood policy. 

This is the area where most of the von der Leyen Commission’s flagship initiative ran aground. And there is no guarantee that it will fly again in a new European Parliament, with a higher proportion of right-wing MEPs following June’s EU elections.

Two big agrifood policy files are pending for the next Parliament.  

New Genomic techniques

During this mandate, the Parliament adopted its position on a new regulation that loosens EU rules on plants modified with new gene-editing techniques – known as NGTs – but the file is still stuck in the Council.  

Negotiations on the legislation are not expected to start immediately after the elections, as EU member states in the Council have been unable to reach a common position on the text.   

A blocking minority of member states are still reluctant to endorse the legislation due to concerns over traceability, labelling and patents of gene-edited food.  

The Parliament’s position addresses some of these concerns, notably by proposing a total ban on patents of NGT crops.   

The Parliament is expected to stick to its position also in the next mandate, although the new hemicycle will have the final word on that.  

Animal transport

The revision of EU animal transport rules is the only proposal left from a long-awaited package to reform the whole bloc’s animal welfare rules.   

The Parliament has not yet approved its position on the dossier. The rapporteur at the Agriculture Committee (AGRI) is the Romanian MEP Daniel Buda, from the European People’s Party (EPP), who is likely to be re-elected and could continue its work on the file after the summer.  

However, his co-lead in the Transport Committee (TRAN), Germany’s Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg from the Greens/EFA, might not be re-elected as the German greens are expected to lose a considerable number of seats according to the latest Europe Elects projections for Euractiv.   

With a potential shift of the Parliament towards the right and a loss of the green co-rapporteur, the next set of MEPs sitting in Brussels and Strasbourg could push for lowering some of the proposed animal welfare provisions, such as transport restrictions if temperatures are higher than 30 degree Celsius.  

This position is likely to go along with that of the Southern European countries. As they very easily see temperatures above 30 degrees, they are likely to push back on temperature limits, as transport would become very complicated during the summer period.

The overall Council position remains to be unveiled, as technical discussions continue.  

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and Zoran Radosavljevic]

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