The EU agriculture ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday 24 February, under the chairmanship of Poland’s Czesław Siekierski, to discuss the state of agricultural markets and ways of ensuring that EU policies are well adapted to the specific characteristics of rural areas.
The European Commission will present its ‘Vision for Agriculture and Food’, but the real policy debate will take place at the EU ‘Agriculture’ Council in March.
Agricultural markets. At the meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on 14 February, the European Commission highlighted the growing number of positive signals pointing to a return to a more normal situation in terms of prices, production and input costs on most markets (see EUROPE 13581/6). It acknowledged that challenges remain in the wine, cereals and livestock production sectors.
Many delegations voiced their concerns about European imports of agricultural products from Ukraine, mainly from neighbouring countries, as the European Commission delays presenting its proposal to revise the EU/Ukraine Association Agreement. Several delegations stressed the need for caution regarding import duties on fertilisers from Russia and Belarus (duties proposed by the European Commission).
Rural Proofing. The ministers will also exchange views on the implementation of the ‘Rural Proofing’ principle, a voluntary practice applied from 2021 onwards consisting of re-examining all policies to ensure that they are adapted to the needs of people living in rural areas. The Commission’s report, a ‘Long-Term Vision for the EU’s Rural Areas: key achievements and the way forward', published in March 2024, shows that the solutions proposed so far have neither verified the real impact of EU policies on rural development nor ensured that the different sources of funding for rural development are combined effectively.
In a document (https://aeur.eu/f/flp ) prepared for this debate, the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU poses two questions to the Member States: how can the Rural Proofing mechanism be improved and how can rural development be better integrated into EU strategies, policies and funds other than the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in order to increase their impact on cohesion and reduce disparities in urban/rural development?
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, will present his 'Vision for Agriculture and Food', adopted on 19 February (see EUROPE 13583/5). No formal debate is planned at this meeting of ministers, but it is very likely that some delegations will take the floor to react to this document. An in-depth discussion on the Commission's agricultural ‘Vision’ is scheduled for the EU ‘Agriculture’ Council on 24 and 25 March.
Germany will discuss the conclusions of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture conference, which was held on 18 January to coincide with Green Week in Berlin and brought together 62 agriculture ministers. In their final declaration, the ministers pledged to promote a sustainable bio-economy, global food security, biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.
Lastly, Slovakia will alert the EU Council to the need to take account of the special situation of hunting dogs in the provisions of the proposed regulation on the welfare of dogs and cats, currently being examined by the European Parliament, prior to the trilogues with the Council of the EU.
To see the Slovak note: https://aeur.eu/f/flq (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)