With Hungarian Minister István Nagy as chair and Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski present, EU countries’ agriculture ministers will attempt to adopt conclusions on the future of the common agricultural policy (CAP) when they meet in Luxembourg on Monday and Tuesday, 21 and 22 October.
The draft conclusions, prepared by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council, are intended to provide political guidance that the new European Commission must take into account when formulating its vision for agriculture and food (during the first 100 days of its term) and legislative proposals for the post-2027 CAP.
The experts on the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) have examined the draft conclusions several times, and the most contentious issue concerns the references to the CAP budget and to the EU’s next multiannual financial framework (MFF) and the related question of the external convergence of aid (see EUROPE 13502/11).
In addition, European ministers will examine the main challenges that the EU food chain is currently facing. The EU food chain—which includes agriculture, food and beverage processing, wholesale, retail, and catering—employs 29 million people, being 14% of the EU’s workforce, and generates €800 billion in added value. Nevertheless, EU food chain operators are facing a number of challenges, including antimicrobial resistance and the spread of animal diseases and plant pests, as well as problems associated with the lack of harmonisation of food labelling initiatives. Another challenge identified by the Hungarian Presidency is the disparity between EU production standards and non-EU production standards in areas such as sustainability, animal welfare, and consumer information.
The EU Council will discuss the latest trends in agrifood trade, an item that regularly appears on the Council’s agenda.
Portugal—with the support of several countries (Croatia, Greece, Italy, etc.)—will bring up the EU’s response to extreme climate events. The European Commission will be invited to present an integrated strategy for managing climate risks and crises in the agricultural and forestry sectors (https://aeur.eu/f/dyc ).
Romania will request that the application of the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework be extended in the agricultural sector and that the individual limit of support per agricultural enterprise be increased (to €560,000 per beneficiary, compared with half that amount today) (https://aeur.eu/f/dyd ).
France and Spain will argue in favour of European coordination for livestock vaccination in the event of epizootics. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)