The French Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, once again cited the subjects of reciprocity of standards and low-carbon agriculture as the two main priorities of the French Presidency of the EU Council on Tuesday 25 January.
These priorities, outlined to the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture, were presented on 17 January at the last meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers (see EUROPE 12870/4).
Reciprocity of standards. The first battle is the implementation of mirror clauses on growth promoters in the field of animal husbandry, Mr Denormandie reminded, responding to questions from several MEPs. The 28 January 2022 deadline is planned for, but the European Commission will not be able to meet it, lamented Mr Denormandie.
Furthermore, he added that the forthcoming revision of Directive 2009/128/EC on the sustainable use of pesticides should: - harmonise practices at European level; - introduce the issue of maximum residue levels (MRLs).
Carbon storage. This will be the topic of the informal meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers from 6 to 8 February in Strasbourg. Mr Denormandie told Ulrike Müller (Renew Europe, Germany) that it will be necessary to identify best practices (soil conservation agriculture, hedges, agroforestry, wetlands) and to discuss the creation of a ‘carbon label’ (which exists in the context of the creation of carbon credits).
‘Farm to Fork’. Mr Denormandie said, in response to questions from Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italy), that legislation implementing the Farm to Fork strategy would be presented in “one and a half or two years”. He stressed the importance of having feasibility studies.
This political vision of the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy must be translated into “ambitious but pragmatic” legislation, said the French Minister. “Because if this is going to mean a decline in food sovereignty at EU level or a substitution of our environmental efforts by imports, it makes no sense”, he insisted.
Market situation. Mr Denormandie defended the adoption of market measures for pork in particular. He referred to the storage and volume regulation measures for pork.
The subject will be raised again at the March Agriculture Council.
Geographical indications. Faced with concerns from Paolo De Castro (S&D, Italy) about the revision of the geographical indications system, the President-in-Office of the EU Council said that it was necessary to wait for the Commission’s proposals. Geographical indications should be protected, insisted the French Minister.
‘Nutriscore’. Mr Denormandie stressed, in particular in response to Mr De Castro, that there will be no texts on this subject under the French Presidency, but he defended European measures. “A group of seven EU countries has been created to move forward on the Nutriscore issue and agree on methodologies that preserve the products of our territories”, said the Minister. There are quantity issues, Mr Denormandie recalled.
Finally, the French Minister considered the statements of Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, Germany) on the decrease of aid in France for organic farming as “false”. Mr Denormandie noted that the “organic line item of the national strategic plan on the CAP is being increased from 250 to 340 million euros”. The French Minister also pointed out that organic areas had doubled in France since 2017. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)