Julien Denormandie, the French Minister of Agriculture, said, on Monday 17 January in Brussels, that, as President-in-Office of the Council of the EU, he wanted to move the debate on reciprocity of standards forward.
It is necessary to “create a framework conducive to agricultural transition by introducing greater reciprocity of standards”, he said when presenting to the Agriculture Council, the priorities of the French Presidency of the EU Council in the field of agriculture and fisheries.
He added, referring to the EU’s new targets under the European Green Deal, that if higher standards mean more imports that do not meet standards, “we will have gained nothing in terms of climate nor in food sovereignty”.
Julien Denormandie also referred to the studies of the EU Joint Research Centre on the impacts of the European Green Deal objectives. The results of these studies (increased imports and decreased EU agricultural production) shocked citizens, he said.
France intends to work on three axes related to reciprocity:
Build political momentum: France will present a policy paper for discussion at the Agriculture Council in February (EU Council conclusions expected in March), before the presentation of the European Commission’s report on the application of EU health and environmental standards to imported agricultural products. Mirror clauses should concern in particular the application to imported products of the rules on the use of veterinary medicines (by 28 January, the Commission is expected to adopt delegated acts on this matter).
Combating imported deforestation: France is requesting that the Agriculture Council discuss this issue in February “to feed into the work of the Environment Council”, which decides on this issue.
Pesticides: Mr Denormandie said he wants the Agriculture Council to “initiate work” on the revision of Directive 2009/128/EC (use of pesticides compatible with sustainable development). According to the French minister, alternatives must be deployed and care must be taken not to create situations where farmers are left without a solution, otherwise this will result in an increase in imports.
In addition, France is advocating for principles for the revision of maximum residue levels and import tolerances for substances banned in the EU to ensure such reciprocity.
The EU Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, confirmed that the Commission is preparing a report in June on the feasibility and legal arguments for improving environmental standards for imported food products.
The proposal to revise the pesticides directive will be presented in March, she confirmed.
“We need to review all the instruments that can be used so that EU producers work on an equal footing with their counterparts on the international scene”, said the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski. “All standards must be applied and respected”, he insisted. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)