EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said on Monday 4 April that the Farm to Fork strategy was beneficial for food security, while several MEPs from the EPP, ID and ECR groups called for a review of the strategy.
At the meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture in Strasbourg, the Commissioner for Agriculture recalled the measures proposed to guarantee food security at this time of war in Ukraine and to help EU farmers (support of €500 million and use of the crisis reserve, pigmeat storage, derogations from the rules on greening to grow on set-aside land, State aid, etc.)
Most MEPs welcomed the proposed measures. Clara Aguilera (S&D, Spain) unsuccessfully requested that the Commission agree, as it did for the Covid-19 crisis, to release funds from rural development programmes against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. Mara Bizzotto (ID, Italy) felt that the proposed measures were insufficient.
The Farm to Fork strategy is divisive. Once again, Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italy) called for an analysis of the proposals arising from the European Green Deal in the light of food security needs. Alongside others including Ms Aguilera and Luke Ming Flanagan (The Left, Ireland), he also called for the publication of an impact assessment accompanying the new legislation, including that on pesticides.
Commissioner Wojciechowski promised that impact assessments would be published when legislative proposals are adopted. He also said that he had ensured that provision was made for monitoring the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies in relation to food security.
He said these strategies strengthen food security thanks to more sustainable agriculture (carbon neutrality, reduction of pesticides, animal welfare, crop diversification, etc.)
Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, Germany) reiterated that famine problems will occur in places other than in the EU (Africa) and in Ukraine.
The Commissioner replied that the new rules (derogations) will allow production on an additional 4 million hectares to avoid supply shortages in these countries.
He also said that the EU was safe from food supply problems. “There is no threat of shortages thanks to our farmers and thanks to the CAP”, he said.
Strategic plans. The Commissioner confirmed that after sending observation letters to 19 countries on the assessment of their Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) strategic plans, he was giving these countries three weeks to submit a revised version of these plans (see EUROPE 12925/17). According to the Commission, this period should also be used to adapt strategic plans to the context of the war in Ukraine (the resilience of agri-food systems, risk management tools, reduction in the use of fertilisers and pesticides, etc.)
Jérémy Decerle (Renew Europe, France) spoke about the new proposal for a directive on industrial emissions, deeming it “incomprehensible and intolerable” that the Commission wants to “classify cattle farms as large industrial polluters” (see other news). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)