On the initiative of the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, a letter dated 27 January signed by 16 EU agriculture ministers and obtained by EUROPE calls on the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council to initiate a “legal review of competence on the current and upcoming European Commission proposals addressing soil, agricultural and forest land”.
This request is, according to these countries, aimed at reconciling environmental protection objectives with food safety requirements.
The ministers in question are calling for the EU ‘Agriculture’ Council and its preparatory bodies to be given “scrutiny rights ” over texts that have an impact on the agricultural sector.
“It is of utmost importance that these legislative proposals, such as carbon farming as part of the carbon removals framework, nature restauration targets and the soil health law, are also under the scrutiny of agricultural ministers”, they write.
They also recommend setting up an ad hoc working group bringing together experts from the EU Council’s environment and agriculture formations, along the lines of the cross-cutting group that was set up to examine the regulation on imported deforestation.
The Austrian request was also supported by Member States that had not signed the letter at the EU ‘Agriculture’ Council on 30 January, including France and Spain.
“It is clear that the EU agriculture ministers have a very strong interest in discussing proposals that have a major impact on the agricultural sector”, the Swedish Minister, Peter Kullgren, told the press.
He added that governments should have “a good dialogue between the members of the government, because it doesn’t matter what form the EU Council will take” on this or that issue. He assured that he would respond to the letter and discuss it bilaterally with his European counterparts.
Neonicotinoids. French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau spoke at the EU Council on Monday about the Court of Justice of the EU’s ruling on neonicotinoids. He said he wanted to “ensure that the decision will apply at EU level and that the Commission has this position”. He also called on the Commission to speed up the approval procedures for alternative substances. Another area of concern brought to the EU Council: “How do we prevent beets and sugar from crops that have used prohibited products from entering our borders in the EU?” When asked by the press, Janusz Wojciechowski replied that the Commission was analysing the Court’s ruling.
Link to the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/54x (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)