Brussels in Brief Newsletter

The ‘Strategic Dialogue for the Future of EU Agriculture’ was published on 4 September. The report is the result of 7 months of closed-door negotiations between 29 EU stakeholders across the agriculture, environmental, academia and civil society sectors established by Ursula Von der Leyen to address polarisation in the sector. The report will inform future policy in the EU, notably the “Vision for Farming and Food” promised in the first 100 days of the new Commission. The key aspects are outlined below:

• The position of farmers in the supply chain must be strengthened. This should be done by several actions including addressing unfair trading practises and ensuring that farmers do not systematically sell their products below production costs.
• On sustainability, an EU-wide benchmarking system should be adopted to harmonise on-farm sustainability assessments.
• Revisions to the CAP to ensure that money goes to ‘farmers who need it most’ (e.g those in less favoured areas, young farmers, and new entrants). A (very) long transition is recommended to move away from area-based payments. 
• On funding, a Temporary Just Transition Fund should be established outside the CAP. Effective bank lending is also required.
• Consumers should be empowered to consume healthy diets (there is no definition of this), but the importance of plant-based proteins is noted. The EU should also conduct a review of food labelling legislation.
• Building of an attractive sector is of the utmost importance. There is a focus on young farmers and women.

Whilst the document may not have any immediate impacts on farmers in the UK, it will influence our relations with the EU and future policy. The report also addresses trade and outlines that there should be stronger alignment of imports with EU food and farming standards. Farmers in Northern Ireland may be directly impacted if new legislation is proposed or if existing legislation is amended because of the dialogue.

Read more here.

A Dutch administrative court has ordered the Dutch agriculture ministry to present new research on the use of farrowing crates by late October, following a case from animal welfare group Pigs in Need. The group called on the Dutch agriculture ministry to ban the use of farrowing crates. The court ruled that there is currently insufficient information to settle the case, and the following research is needed:

• on the use of farrowing crates, particularly the necessity of using crates for longer than three to four days after the birth of the piglets;
• the age of the piglets kept in a farrowing crate; and
• the Minister must determine a position on the question of whether the use of farrowing crates in general already constitutes a violation of the Decree on Animal Keepers, and if so, why action cannot be taken against this. 

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that additional duties proposed on imports of cognac because of EU companies supposedly ‘dumping’ brandy on the Chinese market will not be imposed immediately. This is broadly seen as an attempt by China to curtail the rising trade tensions with the EU over EU electric vehicle imports. The investigations on imports of EU pigmeat and dairy are ongoing.   

Under EU State aid rules, the Commission has approved a €20 million Danish scheme to support higher animal welfare standards for pigs. The scheme will support pig farmers in the implementation of measures that reduce the risk of tail-biting. The measures supported by the scheme include extra supervision, extra feeding and drinking places, and improved housing conditions. The scheme will run until 31 December 2029 and the aid will take the form of direct grants and subsidised services (such as training and development activities) and will cover up to 100% of eligible costs. 

The European Commission has approved a €53 million (DKK 395.6 million) Danish scheme to support a more climate-friendly dairy production. The scheme will support livestock farmers in the introduction of mor climate-friendly dairy production by reducing methane emissions. It will contribute to meeting the national binding reduction target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural and forestry sectors. Additional aid will be granted to farmers who commit to further reduce methane emissions beyond the mandatory standards. The scheme will run until 31 December 2027 and will be open to dairy livestock farmers in Denmark. Under the scheme, the aid will take the form of direct grants and will cover up to 100% of eligible costs.