single market for food
EU food stocks: Should gear up for a rise of food protectionism?
The EU is preparing to change its agricultural storage policy at a time when the COVID-19 health crisis has highlighted the weaknesses of its reserves. EURACTIV France reports.
New EU food policy to be presented in two weeks
After being delayed twice, the European Commission is ready to unveil on 20 May its much-awaited food policy, the Farm to Fork Strategy (F2F), according to its weekly 'indicative' agenda.
EU-wide food label should not fall to the back-burner, say advocates
Advocates for an EU-wide mandatory Nutri-score food label want the European Commission not to overlook the long-awaited harmonisation of front-of-pack nutritional labelling, despite the focus on tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 causing spike in unfair trade practices, farmers complain
Farmers are noticing an increase in the use of unfair trade practices (UTPs) in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, while the implementation of the EU regulation that should protect them is still in its early stages.
Ministers press Commission to trigger private storage against food price shocks
In a joint statement agreed last Friday (17 April), all EU-27 farm ministers called for activating the private storage aid (PSA) to support those agri-food sectors where significant market disturbances and price impacts have been assessed due to the COVID-19 crisis.
MEPs urge Commission to directly intervene on market to help farmers
The European Parliament's Agriculture Committee wrote a letter to the Commission on Friday (17 April), calling on the EU executive to intervene on the market so that farmers avoid further losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. However, as money is scarce, the Commission is hesitating. EURACTIV Germany reports.
MEPs call for volume reduction in dairy sector to avoid ‘milk lakes’
In response to the COVID-19 sanitary crisis, 14 MEPs from three political groups have asked to implement without delay a compulsory percentage of volume reduction in the dairy sector in order to avoid milk storage or destruction due to the spring peak production of milk.
French farmers and MPs call for the creation of European food stocks
French agricultural producers and MPs are urging the European Commission to set up food stocks to avoid falling prices and the destruction of certain food products. EURACTIV France reports.
COVID-19: France calls unemployed to work in fields as borders stay closed
The French government has called on the technically unemployed French to make themselves available to help farmers with seasonal harvests. But such 'agricultural patriotism' does not bode well with the tightening of containment. EURACTIV France reports.
COVID-19 measures could cause ‘devastating’ labour shortage in EU farming
Europe’s farming sector could face a dramatic shortfall in workers as a consequence of the border restrictions put in place to stem the spread of novel coronavirus, which could lead to “devastating” impacts, according to Pekka Pesonen, secretary-general or farmers association COPA-COGECA.
COVID-19: Agri-food sector calls on EU to avert agricultural disruption
Europe's ability to provide food depends on the preservation of the Single Market, agri-food stakeholders stressed in a joint statement published on Thursday (19 March) and directed to the European Commission.
Struggling beekeepers undercut by cheap honey imports, says new report
European honey producers are calling for an emergency action plan to be put in place to save the sector, pointing to a drop in production across the EU and a rise in cheap imports.
US packaged foods juggernaut under EU antitrust probe
US consumer goods group Mondelez International is being investigated for suspected anti-competitive practices covering EU several member states, a European Commission spokesperson confirmed to EURACTIV.
Commission bemused by consumer information conundrum
The European Commission has started sketching the new EU-wide food labelling scheme, expected to be proposed in the context of the new Farm to Fork Strategy (F2F), but the debate over what kind of information to provide to consumers has just started.
Sinkevicius: EU aims to ensure viable food packaging recycling by 2030
The Circular Economy Action Plan and the Farm to Fork strategy (F2F) have the same overarching objective of reducing unsustainable resource use by promoting sustainable production and consumption and reducing waste generation, Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius told EURACTIV.
EU farmers tread carefully on Green Deal, as balance with CAP is not easy stuff
Policymakers are being called to take up the challenge of finding a place for bloc’s farm aid provided under the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the ambitious new environmental flagship policy of the European Commission.
New UK Agriculture Bill to move away from ‘inefficient and overly bureaucratic’ CAP system
The UK Government revealed a new version of their post-Brexit agriculture legislation Thursday (16 January) as part of a radical shift to move subsidies away from the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) system of direct payments, which correlates payments with the total amount of land farmed.
New UK farming bill guarantees subsidies for 2020
The UK government has introduced new legislation which ensures that farming subsidies will continue to be paid to UK farmers for 2020, during the transition period that will follow the country's departure from the EU on 31 January.
Welfare of rabbits farmed in Europe not up to scratch, says EFSA
The welfare of adult rabbits kept in conventional cage systems is worse than that of those housed in other systems used in the EU, EFSA has concluded in an extensive study which investigated rabbit welfare in the EU.
UK Environment secretary: Brexit is opportunity for UK to ‘shake off shadow of CAP’
After Brexit, the UK must “shake off the shadow of the CAP” and instead begin a transition in 2021 towards “radical” new policies that work for planet, people and the farming sector, Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers has said.
Future of France’s organic products may lie in hands of large supermarkets
If the production of organic products continues to grow every year in France, mass distribution will supply even more of these products by 2022, according to an analysis note from the Xerfi Precepta Institute. But could such a development prove to be risky? EURACTIV's partner Le Journal de l'environnement reports.
Collaborative initiative aims to improve sustainability of EU dairy farming
Eight agricultural sector leaders have announced Farming for Generations, a global collaboration to support dairy farmers to adopt regenerative agricultural practices that preserve and renew our planet’s resources, respect animal welfare and ensure the long-term economic viability of farms for the next generation.
EU’s new agriculture Commissioner vows to promote organic farming
The EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, highlighted the promotion of organic farming as a key aim for the new European Commission in his inaugural speech yesterday (10 December).