On Monday 11 January, EU politicians and experts disagreed about how to guarantee the conservation of biodiversity in agriculture.
At a hearing in the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture on ways to improve biodiversity (see EUROPE 12633/13), Humberto Delgado Rosa, the Director of the European Commission’s DG Environment, gave an assurance that the targets in the European Green Deal (the ‘biodiversity’ and ‘Farm to Fork’ strategies) were “realistic” and based on “scientific studies”.
The targets in these strategies can and must be achieved, because some agricultural practices have become “the driving force behind species decline”, he said. This then raises the question of farming practices, he said.
Delgado Rosa gave an assurance that implementing these strategies did not constitute a “threat to the food security” in the European Union. He promised “comprehensive impact assessments”.
Palle Borgström, a Vice President of Copa-Cogeca, felt, however, that implementing the targets would make the EU an “importer of agricultural products”.
Herbert Dorfmann MEP (EPP, Italy) and Samuel Masse, the Vice President of CEJA (the European Council of Young Farmers) both criticised the target to return 10% of farmland to its natural state.
Ulrike Müller (Renew Europe, Germany) said that implementing the targets would result in higher production costs for farmers. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)