Food security and ways of exporting Ukrainian agricultural products to third countries will be the priority areas of work for the Czech Presidency of the Agriculture Council, confirmed the Minister of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, Zdeněk Nekula, on Monday 11 July.
Mr Nekula presented the priorities of the rotating Presidency of the EU Council to the MEPs of the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture.
The war in Ukraine started by Russia has disrupted the global food system, he acknowledged (see EUROPE 12985/4). There should not be a food security problem in Europe, but European citizens are being hit by rising food prices while EU farmers are facing a shortage of fertiliser, Mr Nekula explained. He also mentioned the EU’s dependence on certain third countries for fertilisers (potash).
In response to numerous questions from MEPs on the effects of the war in Ukraine on food security, including Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italy), Clara Aguilera (S&D, Spain), Ulrike Müller (Renew Europe, Germany) and Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, Germany), Zdeněk Nekula said that every month in the Agriculture Council, the effects of the war in Ukraine on agricultural markets would be reviewed and that food security would even be the topic of the informal meeting of Agriculture Ministers in mid-September in Prague.
The Czech Minister said that the Agriculture Council on 18 July will discuss these issues, as well as the possible extension to 2023 of the derogations from the rules on crop rotation and set-aside land in order to increase production on this land (see EUROPE 12971/6).
Mr Nekula also wants the EU Council to make progress on the sustainable use of pesticides and on geographical indications. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)