On Wednesday 18 March, the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee called for an ambitious future European strategy for livestock farming.
The European Commission is expected to adopt a strategy of this kind in June or early July, while the European Parliament’s plenary vote on the report will take place next April.
In adopting (40 votes in favour, 8 against and no abstentions) the draft own-initiative report by Carlo Fidanza (ECR, Italian) on this strategy, MEPs considered that the livestock sector is a “strategic pillar of European agriculture”.
A total of 70 compromise amendments, negotiated between the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe and ECR groups, were approved by MEPs.
MEPs are calling for the creation of a “High-Level Group on livestock farming”, along the lines of the existing group on wine policy. This group is expected to develop “concrete solutions to the challenges of competitiveness, generational renewal and preventing production from relocating outside the EU”.
The diversity of European farming systems is recognised as a key factor in resilience.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) remains the key tool for ensuring the viability of the sector. MEPs support the strengthening of direct payments, coupled support for animal production and investment support.
They are also defending a robust post-2027 agricultural budget, including strengthened crisis management, compensation and insurance tools in the face of climatic, health and economic risks.
Particular attention is requested for mountain, disadvantaged, island and outermost zones, as well as for generational renewal, access to land and credit, with appropriate transition periods for any reforms affecting livestock farming.
The essential role of animal products in balanced diets is emphasised, while a cautious approach is advocated towards cellular meat and synthetic proteins, in the absence of conclusive evidence as to their health safety, industrial viability and real environmental benefits.
Any future initiative on ‘cellular meat’ must be subject to full, independent and science-based impact assessments, as well as clear and transparent labelling, say MEPs. They are also calling for a ban on the use of meat names for non-animal products, including cellular or hybrid products.
MEPs stress the importance of animal disease prevention, vaccination, effective compensation mechanisms and strict reciprocity of standards in trade agreements, in order to preserve the competitiveness, food self-sufficiency and future of European livestock farming.
“In ten years, the European Union has lost nearly three million farms, the majority of them in livestock farming. At the same time, there are more and more health crises across Europe, while production costs and the administrative burden are rising sharply. Added to this is the major challenge of generational renewal”, said Benoît Cassart (Renew Europe, Belgian).
Other measures include the need to halt the decapitalisation of the sector, the development of a European strategy on plant proteins and a plan for the genetic improvement of European livestock.
Compromise amendments: https://aeur.eu/f/l8s (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)