On Tuesday 2 June, the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development examined the amendments tabled on the implementation of the European agri-food promotion policy, revealing differences over the possible exclusion of certain products, notably meat and alcoholic beverages.
Salvatore De Meo (EPP, Italian), the rapporteur, said that 293 amendments had been tabled. “We are looking at around 20 compromises, some of which will concern the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises, simplification and geographical balance”, he explained (see EUROPE 13842/3).
With regard to issues such as flexibility or geographical indications, the amendments are broadly moving in the same direction. Discussions are still needed, however, on questions such as country-of-origin labelling, geographical balance and the underuse of funds earmarked for organic products in third countries.
Salvatore De Meo then warned against amendments aimed at establishing a closer link with other European policies, in particular those that would make the objectives of the promotion policy conditional upon the exclusion of certain products, such as wine or meat. “Introducing such a major issue would risk distorting a programme which, on the contrary, should be improved in its implementation”, he warned.
The vote in the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development is scheduled for the end of September, most probably on 29 September.
For his part, Dario Nardella (S&D, Italian) considered that the failure to make use of the funds earmarked for organic farming, particularly marked in projects carried out in third countries, does not reflect a lack of interest on the part of operators. “The causes are structural: the administrative complexity of the programmes and the scale of the projects are not suited to SMEs active in this sector”, he explained. Amendments will therefore seek to encourage broader participation by operators in the organic sector. Like other speakers, however, he opposed amendments aimed at excluding certain products from the promotion policy, notably meat and alcoholic beverages, including wine.
By contrast, Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourgish) argued for a “phasing-out of European promotion funding for processed meat and alcoholic beverages”, citing their proven impact on public health.
Link to the amendments tabled: https://aeur.eu/f/m5h (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)