Agrifood Archives

A delegated act determining the sustainability criteria of biofuels under the new renewable energy directive (RED II) has been blocked in the European Commission as some Commissioners found the criteria “too light”, EURACTIV has learnt.

An atypical case of BSE -- commonly dubbed "mad cow disease" -- has been discovered in Poland, though the isolated case posed no risk to human health, Poland's chief veterinarian said on Monday (4 February).

The European Commission will send a team of inspectors to Poland on Monday after a TV report showed sick cows being butchered for food in a Polish slaughterhouse.

From the olive groves and vineyards of Andalucía to the grasslands of Scotland. We take a look at three cases of EU funds in action - in the UK, Germany and Spain - promoting farm modernisation and generational renewal.

Argentina and the EU reached an agreement to end a dispute over exports of biodiesel from the South American country to the bloc, the Argentine ministry of foreign affairs said on Wednesday (30 January).

The Big Agri industry has launched a multi-pronged attack on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to End The Cage Age – a direct democracy tool that enables European citizens to request an end to the use of cages for farm animals, writes Olga Kikou.

There is no universal solution to producing more and better produce, according to the former head of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), who is now running to become director general of the UN's food and agriculture agency (FAO).

Once regarded as the breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine is now ready to be the ‘supermarket of the world’ as processed and high-end product manufacturing is booming, Ukraine’s deputy agriculture minister, Olga Trofimtseva, told EURACTIV.com.

Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was a big issue at this year's Green Week in Berlin. With all the billions of euros available, the agro-ecological transition is more than possible, especially if subsidies to agribusiness and factory farms were stopped, write Harriet Bradley and Trees Robijns.

The digitisation of agriculture, or the use of new technologies to improve productivity and production, is playing an increasingly important role in the Polish countryside nowadays.

Folklore shouldn’t stop progress: if a car works fine with today’s petrol from EU filling stations, it will work just fine with the new E10 petrol, writes Ethanol Europe's James Cogan.

A lower carbon balance can be achieved by sequestering CO2 through plant growth, a notion that has a major influence on how Finland manages its forests and croplands, says Liisa Pietola. EURACTIV Germany spoke to the Finnish agronomist in an interview.

The Commission is set to offer Washington a way out from current trade tensions with China authorising imports of soybeans from the US to produce biofuels. However, the new imports to help ease trade relations are not helping the environment.

The European governments have to decide whether science or politics are applied when it comes to issues such as new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs), EU's Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan said.

From global warming to over- and illegal fishing, the ocean on which Arctic communities are so heavily dependent is under threat like never before, delegates heard at the Arctic conference in Tromsø, Norway.

French MEP Angélique Delahaye believes that policymakers must tell citizens what is currently possible and what is not when it comes to pesticides. She also urged lawmakers to working in earnest to fund research and innovation in order to use as few crop protection products as possible.

Obesity affects at least one in six adults and one in eight children aged 7-8 across EU countries, putting pressure on policymakers to fight the crisis and nudge behavioural changes in citizens' lifestyles.

In a rare revolt against the government, the French National Assembly has passed a bill explicitly saying palm oil "is not a biofuel" and won't be eligible for tax breaks as of 1 January 2020. In Europe, a decision is expected in the coming weeks. EURACTIV France reports. 

The European Commission’s Directorate-General (DG) of Energy will only give two days to other DGs to express their opinion about its much-awaited proposal on the sustainability criteria of biofuels, which will determine the future of palm oil in Europe.

As EU member states debate the bloc’s next 7-year budget, no sector should be off-limits. Annika Hedberg argues that each euro spent should provide added value for the EU and its citizens, including the agricultural sector, a major recipient of EU money.

The Greens in the European Parliament have blocked an amendment calling for the ban of Monsanto's controversial weedkiller, as part of a broader political deal with the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) to back a report calling for a rethink of the EU's pesticide approval system.