Agrifood Brief

EURACTIV's agrifood team brings you the latest from Strasbourg where MEPs voted their position on two important files for the future of the EU’s agriculture: the industrial emissions directive and the nature restoration law. We take a deep dive into the latter along with EURACTIV’s very own energy and environment reporter Kira Taylor and Olliver Moore, editor-in-chief of ARC2020.

This week, EURACTIV talks you through everything you need to know on the presentation of the Commission’s ‘sustainable use of natural resources’, and EURACTIV’s Natasha Foote talks with Vice President Frans Timmermans about his message to farmers amid rising tensions over the EU’s nature restoration plans and his vision for the future structure of the institutions dealing with food policy.

This week, EURACTIV's agrifood team debriefs the agriculture ministers' meeting in Luxembourg and looks ahead at the "Food and Biodiversity Package," a set of legislative proposals expected from the European Commission on Wednesday. Over in New York, Gerardo Fortuna spoke to Bayer’s Rodrigo Santos and Axel Trautwein about regenerative agriculture and different regulatory approaches to agricultural policies.

This week, EURACTIV's agrifood team talks you through the leaked draft of one of the most contentious proposals from the European Commission in the past months: gene editing. EURACTIV's Paula Andres talks to Mette Uldahl, Vice President of the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe, about the state of animal welfare in EU farms and what is lacking.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team brings you an exclusive interview with Spain’s agriculture minister, Luis Planas, who details the country’s agricultural priorities ahead of the Spanish presidency starting in July. We also talk you through a leak of an additional Commission study on the EU’s plans to slash the use and risk of pesticides in half by 2030, which was requested by EU member states, and last week’s confusion over the Parliamentary vote on the EU’s nature restoration law.

This week, EURACTIV's agrifood team talks you through the EU's decision to extend trade restrictions on select agricultural commodities coming from Ukraine and why this has proven controversial on both sides, and Gerardo Fortuna, together with EURACTIV's very own Transport Editor Sean Goulding, speaks with Indonesia's coordinating minister for economic affairs, Airlangga Hartanto, about palm oil.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks you through the controversies at a recent meeting of EU agriculture ministers, including how the EU’s agriculture Commissioner is increasingly prioritising Polish issues, and discusses the pushback to the EU’s nature restoration law, both within the institution and around it. EURACTIV’s Julia Dahm also speaks to Annette Schneegans and Kerstin Rosenow from the Commission’s DG AGRI about the EU’s upcoming soil health law.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team walks you through two key votes in the European Parliament on the nature restoration law and EU rules to slash industrial emissions and EURACTIV’s Natasha Foote speaks with Helmut Burtscher-Schaden from the Austrian environmental NGO GLOBAL 2000 about how the environmental exemptions in the CAP, which were taken to help boost food production, failed to live up to their promises.

This week, EURACTIV's agrifood team brings you to a young farmers' conference discussing sustainability in agriculture, where EURACTIV also spoke to EU's Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans. EURACTIV's Julia Dahm walks you through the potential voluntary animal welfare labelling system in the context of the upcoming revision of the Commission's animal welfare rules.

This week, EURACTIV's agrifood team brings you all you need to know on the centre-right's attack on the agricultural parts of the EU Green Deal, including the EU's plans to slash the use and risk of pesticides and the EU's nature restoration law, and EURACTIV's Natasha Foote speaks to liberal MEP and chair of the European Parliament's environment committee, Pascal Canfin, to hear his take on the development.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team tells the story of a Portuguese delicacy that has a strong, unsuspecting link with a foundational moment of the EU’s integration process. We also spoke with French liberal MEP Irène Tolleret about a proposal filed by a coalition of EU lawmakers to proclaim 2024 as the European Year devoted to ‘sustainable and resilient food systems’.

This week, EURACTIV’s Natasha Foote explores the fallout of the unilateral decision of frontline EU countries to ban agricultural imports from Ukraine with the help of Ukraine’s deputy agricultural minister, Markiyan Dmytrasevych, who explains the impact of the decision on Ukrainian farmers and how he sees it playing into Russia’s hands.EURACTIV also speaks with Romanian agricultural expert, Cezar Gheorghe, who talks us through the lead up to this decision and what he thinks the future holds.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood editor Gerardo Fortuna walks you through the key issues around the controversial ban from Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia on the import of agricultural goods from Ukraine.EURACTIV’s Paula Andrés talks about a leaked impact assessment on the ongoing animal welfare legislation revision and interviews Eva Lindström, a member of the European Court of Auditors who led a new review on live animal transport in the EU.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks you through the main things to keep an eye on in the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, and EURACTIV’s Paula Andrés explores the water politics of the Spanish National Park of Doñana, which has recently become the epicentre of a clash between local fruit producers, environmentalists, and national and regional authorities.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood OG’s talk about the divides in the Commission and the increasing marginalisation of EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, and EURACTIV’s Natasha Foote talks reflects on her recent trip to Ireland to the ‘Feeding Ourselves’ gathering and the issues facing the agrifood sector in the country, including soaring land prices and finding markets for organic produce.

This week, EURACTIV’s Agrifood team brings you the latest from the European Council where UN Secretary-General António Guterres asked EU leaders to lift sanctions on Belarus fertiliser potash. We also talked about the Commission’s decision to trigger the agriculture reserve to support Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania in coping with increased imports of cereals and oilseeds coming from neighbouring Ukraine.

This week, EURACTIV’s Agrifood team brings you the latest on the industrial emissions directive (IED) and leads you through the agenda of this week’s Agrifish Council with a focus on Mercosur talks in Europe. EURACTIV’s Julia Dahm speaks with Tadeja Vidmar, a beekeeper and small farmer from Slovenia who is the current honey queen as elected by the Slovenian beekeepers' association.

This week, EURACTIV discusses a leaked draft of EU member states’ compromise text on the industrial emissions directive, and we hear from EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski for his take on the controversies surrounding the directive. We also speak with Isabel Paliotta, policy officer at the European environmental bureau, for her take on a leak of the impact assessment on the upcoming sustainable food systems (SFS) law proposal.

This week, EURACTIV's Agrifood news team reports from a large-scale Flemish farmers' protest in Brussels and Natasha Foote speaks with Sybren Vos, a team leader at the European Food Safety Agency's Plant Health division, to learn more about the first appearance of the fall armyworm in Europe - a pest which can damage and destroy a wide variety of crops and has already wreaked havoc across Africa and Asia.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team walks you through the Commission’s fisheries package which includes the ambition to ban bottom trawling from all marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2030, and EURACTIV’s Paula Andrés talks to Enrico Somaglia from the European trade union of food and agriculture (EFFAT) about the new social conditionality tool in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks about the leaked Commission’s document that suggests some livestock sectors will be hit more than previously thought by the revision of the Industrial emissions directive (IED). We also speak about the clash between two European Parliament committees over the competence of the new EU’s pesticide rules. EURACTIV’s Julia Dahm discusses the pesticide file with Sarah Wiener, Austrian Green MEP and Parliament’s rapporteur on the file.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team brings you the latest from the European Parliament’s front of the EU’s pesticide framework revision. We comment on the leaked draft document put forward by Austrian Green MEP and Parliament’s rapporteur on the file, Sarah Weiner and we listen to the take on the ongoing reform of the deputy director of the European Commission’s food safety service DG SANTE, Claire Bury.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team walks you through all the goings-on of the first meeting of EU agriculture ministers under the Swedish Presidency, including the latest on agri-trade with Ukraine and a push from ministers for more say over environmental matters, and EURACTIV’s Gerardo Fortuna talks to Arancha Gonzalez, former Spanish minister of foreign affairs and current Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po, about all things agri-trade.

The one-year scheme to suspend import duty on all agricultural products from Ukraine is coming to an end. Now, the Commission is reconsidering the arrangement. EURACTIV Germany’s Julia Dahm spoke to EU agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski about this and Gerardo Fortuna talks about his chat with agriculture Director General Wolfgang Burtscher. We also highlight an investigation on why the EU isn’t taking action in light of mounting evidence on China’s illegal fishing, as well as the successful European Citizen Initiative ‘Save bees and farmers’ with campaigning group Slow Food’s Madeleine Coste.

How is it that pesticides that are banned in the EU still in routine use across the bloc? This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team takes a look at this question with the help of the Pesticide Action Network Europe’s Martin Dermine, delving into how things will change after a recent ruling from the EU’s highest court. We also interview FarmEurope’s Luc Vernet on the impact of soaring inflation on the Common Agricultural Policy budget and EURACTIV Germany’s Julia Dahm speaks with Inka Lange, the spokesperson of the ‘We are fed up’ NGO coalition who are protesting in Germany this week.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team brings you a sneak peek of what 2023 has in store when it comes to the EU agri-food agenda. In our weekly focuses, EURACTIV France’s reporter Hugo Struna spoke to Stephan Malchow, chef of the Paris’ Brasserie Mollard, about rising costs for restaurants while EURACTIV’s journalist Paula Andrés interviewed Jannis Funk and Jakob Schmidt, directors of the documentary Who we eat.

This week, EURACTIV picks the best bits from our recent Twitter space where we explored the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform ahead of its entry into force on 1 January 2023. Are farmers ready for crunch time and what does this new CAP look like? Listen on to find out all you need to know.

This week, EURACTIV’s OG’s talk you through two major proposals presented by the Commission - one on carbon certification and another on packaging - explaining how this will impact the agrifood sector and how they have been received by stakeholders.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team walks you through everything you need to know from the most recent meeting of agriculture and fisheries ministers, from algae to fertilisers, and we discuss hints from the Commission that they may look to deregulate gene editing in efforts to appease critics of its pesticide reduction plans.We also take a deep dive into avian influenza, exploring the impact this is having on the EU industry with the help of several ‘eggs’perts, including EFSA’s Francesca Baldinelli, Gerard Leveque from the European Poultry breeders, and Paul Henri from AVEC, the voice of Europe's poultry meat sector.

This week, EURACTIV's agrifood team explains the latest on glyphosate and why the Commission is expected to unilaterally extend the approval for the controversial herbicide for one more year, EURACTIV's agrifood editor Gerardo Fortuna speaks with the previous EU agriculture Commissioner, Phil Hogan, to hear his take on the roll out of this Common Agricultural Policy reform and reflections on his part in this, and Paula Andrés what happened at the COP27 when it comes to agriculture.

This week, EURACTIV’s Natasha Foote speaks to EU agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski in an exclusive interview detailing his vision for the future of the Common Agricultural Policy and EURACTIV’s agrifood team takes a look at what is involved in the Commission’s new fertilisers communication and the reactions to this.

This week, EURACTIV's agrifood team speaks with Damien O'Connor, minister of agriculture of New Zealand and co-chair of the OECD agriculture ministerial meeting, about the OECD declaration and EU-New Zealand relations, including thoughts on the EU's farming subsidy programme and the recently signed Free Trade Agreement, and EURACTIV France's Hugo Struna joins us to explain the controversy over a water reservoir in Western France.

This week, to get into the ‘spirit’ of Halloween, EURACTIV’s agrifood team spoke to EU stakeholders about their biggest fears about the future of farming and food production. From sleepwalking like zombies into a dark and scary future, to rural areas turning into ghost towns, it’s time to eat, drink, and be scary as we take a look at the nightmares that haunt the EU’s agrifood sector.Featuring contributions from: Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius; Diana Lenzi, president of young farmers’ association CEJA; Gina Geală, Cătălina Rogozan and Elena Ion from rural Romanian consultancy Highclere Consulting; Morgan Ody from the European Coordination Via Campesina; CropLife Europe’s Anika Gatt Seretny; centre-right MEP Herbert Dorfmann; Green MEP Tilly Metz; European Consumer Organisation BEUC’s Camille Perrin; Celia Nyssens-James, senior policy officer for food and agriculture at green campaign group the European Environmental Bureau; Eric Gall, deputy director for EU organic’s association IFOAM; and DG MARE’s Charlina Vitchcova.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team explores the main aspects of the current reform of geographical indications (GIs), the EU’s food quality scheme.We spoke to the key players in the reform on a range of pending issues, from online protection for GIs to the simplification of registration procedures, not to mention the increased role of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). We discussed the nitty-gritty of the reform with the help of Amandine Legros representing oriGIn EU - the association of GI producers – as well as Paolo De Castro, rapporteur on the dossier for the European Parliament, to conclude with a long interview with Christian Archambeau, EUIPO’s executive director.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks about the Commission’s reluctance to commit to a timeline for the EU chemicals regulation, REACH, and how changes in the temporary state aid framework will impact farmers. We also explore the launch of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) network and what this means in practice with the help of its newly appointed team leader, David Lamb, as well as David Armellini, in charge of the rural agenda in the French national agency of territorial cohesion. We also speak to Santeri Rahkamaa about the most pessimistic town in Finland and how one innovative rural project has turned this pessimism into a positive marketing tool.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team brings you the latest on the Commission’s plans for a fertilisers communication, and why this falls short of the strategy called for by stakeholders and we explore how the EU’s plans to relax green measures in farming fell short of expectations. We also take a deep dive into what is going on in the Netherlands, where farmers continue to protest, with the help of Dutch farmer Iris Bouwers, BirdLife Europe’s Ariel Brunner and associate professor of food and agricultural policy, Jeroen Candel.

This week, EURACTIV’s original agrifood duo reunite to bring you the latest on gas supply prioritisation and how member states’ decisions may impact the agrifood sector. We also give you the rundown on the backlash from EU countries over the EU’s ambitions to slash the use and risk of pesticides, and EURACTIV’s Agrifood Editor Gerardo Fortuna travels to Italy to learn all about the world of biostimulants.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team discusses the agenda of the EU agriculture ministers’ meeting in Brussels, including industrial emissions and carnivores - and what this has to do with Ursula von der Leyen’s pony. Yaroslave Bukhta also reports from on the ground at the EU’s newly introduced organic awards, and our flavour of the week is a very special traditional Ukrainian bread called korovai.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team comments on the agri-food parts of the State of the Union address delivered by Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and we question agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski about the current crisis in the European fertilisers supplies with agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski. We are also joined by Green MEP Thomas Waitz to dig into the nitty-gritty of the recent vote at the European Parliament on agriculture imports linked to deforestation.

This week, EURACTIV's agrifood team takes a look at the ways in which the agrifood sector is starting to feel the brunt of the energy crisis, we speak with Andreas Schweiger, professor for plant ecology at the University of Hohenheim, to hear about the ways in which solar panels can be incorporated into the farming sector and the potential problems and opportunities this could bring, and we bring you a very special flavour of the week all the way from Brazil.

Hello and welcome back to the EURACTIV Agrifood Podcast! This week we discuss the very first approvals of the Common Agricultural Policy national strategic plans, and we give you a run down of a particularly fiery debate over pesticides in the European Parliament. We also hear from EURACTIV’s very own Yaroslava Bukhta about what has been happening in Ukrainian agriculture in August, and we welcome Mi Young Kwon of the Korean cultural centre to discuss a special Korean festival for our flavour of the week.

This week in our last agrifood podcast of the season, EURACTIV's agrifood team looks ahead at the key topics of the summer, including the impact that drought is having, and will continue to have, on the agricultural sector across the EU, the Russia-Ukraine grain deal brokered by Turkey and some sneaky dealings around the sustainable use of pesticides regulation. We also speak about the recent proposal to extend derogations to Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) environmental measures into 2023, and the latest on all things CAP plans, the first of which we expect to win approval in early September. That's all from us this season - we look forward to bringing you the latest EU agriculture news each week back after the summer break!

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team discusses the long-awaited outcome of the European Court of Justice’s ruling on feta cheese, which sets a precedent for the protection of geographical indications outside the EU’s borders, and we take a look at the latest on the glyphosate debate as well as the crucial EU reform on agricultural statistics. We are also joined by Stelios Arhondakis, CEO at BioCoS, a company developing an olive oil anti-fraud tool, and we explore a mystery Game of Thrones themed flavour of the week.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks food security and concerns over grain shortages, as highlighted in the European Commission’s latest agricultural outlook report, we are joined by Kristian Sniter from the EU court of auditors to hear about their latest report on fraud risks in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), including practices such as land-grabbing, and we take a closer look at a natural 'LSD' for our flavour of the week.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks about the implications of the newly signed EU-New Zealand free trade agreement on the agrifood sector, we speak with Dmitrij Černikov, COREPER I spokesperson for the Czech permanent representation to the EU, about the priorities of the Czech Presidency when it comes to agriculture and, in keeping with the main theme of the week, we take a closer look at kiwis for our flavour of the week.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team discusses the much-awaited unveiling of the EU’s new pesticide framework and what we expect to be discussed on food security by the G7 leaders gathered in Schloss Elmau, Bavaria. For the flavour of the week, we tasted the diversity of mangoes grown in India and spoke to the Indian agriculture attaché to India’s permanent representation to the EU about the importance of this fruit for the country’s agriculture production and how geographical indications bring value to it.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks you through the EU’s pesticide framework revision and the 12th World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting. We also spoke to Simonas Šatūnas, head of cabinet of the EU's environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius, about nature restoration targets and we had a very special tasting session of this week’s flavour of the week: the first insect approved in EU for human consumption.

This week, we welcome the EURACTIV agrifood team’s newest recruit, Yaroslava Bukhta, to speak about her interview with the Ukrainian deputy-minister of agriculture and his take on the EU’s solidarity lanes proposal. We also hear from Gerardo about his recent adventures in the salt marshes of Cadiz bay national park in Spain, and we learn all about the Ukrainian berry Kalyna, which also holds significant symbolism for the country.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks you through what happened in last week’s meeting of EU leaders, which had a strong emphasis on food security, we hear from a tour guide on the island of Sardinia about the role prisoners played, and continue to play, in its agricultural sector, and we take a closer look at honey and the sad reality for beekeepers dealing with a changing climate.