The European Commission and the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU invited the EU’s agriculture ministers to discuss, on Wednesday 7 January in Brussels, the situation in the agricultural sector and to work together to find solutions to the main concerns raised by farmers at the end of 2025.
A letter of invitation was sent on 25 December, stating that “concerns remain, inter alia over the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its funding, reciprocity in production standards and control imports, as well as the impacts of the regulatory burden and rising input costs”, according to the letter consulted by Agence Europe. A European source confirmed that the ministers will also discuss the controversial agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries (see EUROPE 13776/3), which could be signed shortly (see other news).
Commissioners Christophe Hansen (Agriculture), Maroš Šefčovič (Trade) and Olivér Várhelyi (Health), who initiated the invitation, will attend the meeting, which will be held at the Commission’s premises. The meeting is said to be informal, intended to organise an exchange of views, and will not replace the formal ‘Agriculture’ Council, according to a European source.
France takes the lead. On 9 December, the European Commission announced tighter controls on foodstuffs, animals and plants entering the EU (see EUROPE 13769/16). It has also presented a package to simplify the rules in the area of food safety (see EUROPE 13774/15). The Commission is planning measures to ensure that the most dangerous pesticides, banned in the European Union for health and environmental reasons, “are not reintroduced into the EU through imported products”, stressed Eva Hrnčířová, a Commission spokeswoman, on Monday 5 January.
However, France wants to move faster. On Sunday 4 January, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard announced the suspension, from Monday 5 January, of imports from South America of foodstuffs containing residues of several substances banned in Europe.
The substances concerned (mancozeb, glufosinate, thiophanate-methyl and carbendazim) are fungicides and herbicides banned in the EU. However, France must obtain the Commission’s approval within ten days, which Annie Genevard hopes to obtain on Wednesday when she travels to Brussels.
According to Sébastien Lecornu, products such as avocados, mangoes, guavas, citrus fruits, grapes and apples, as well as melons, cherries, strawberries and potatoes, will no longer be able to enter or be sold in France.
On 8 December, Ms Genevard announced her intention to ban imports of products containing substances banned in Europe if the Commission failed to take action. While the EU bans the use of certain substances by its own producers, it authorises their presence in imported products subject to maximum residue levels. France considers these thresholds to be too high, and would like to see them reduced to zero for products entering the country. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)