‘EU’s best asset’ needs to be safeguarded, not only improved
While celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Single Market last year, the Commission called it 'Europe’s best asset in a changing world'. But Single Market’s resilience to internal and external shocks...
View ArticleHogan: No risk of re-nationalising the next CAP
Although member states will play a greater role in the future EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), it will not lose its 'Common' dimension as the Commission will continue to watch over the...
View ArticleBattle over unfair trade practices ends, its champion rejoices
On Tuesday (12 March), the European Parliament approved long-awaited legislation on unfair trade practices (UTPs). EURACTIV.com spoke with the lawmaker who shepherded the new rules over the line.
View ArticleKatainen: Same level of priority for food and medicine in no-deal Brexit
Medicine supplies and food safety standards are both vital and the EU cannot prioritise one over the other in the event of a no-deal Brexit, Vice President of the Commission Jyrki Katainen said on...
View ArticleProtecting the people behind the barcodes
European ministers meeting in Luxemburg today (9 April) will formally approve new European rules that ban abusive trading practices by supermarkets and large buyers in the global food supply chain,...
View ArticleFood industry hails new EU rules on mutual recognition of goods
Food industry representatives welcomed the recently revised EU legislation on mutual recognition of goods as a major step forward in the completion of the EU single market. But they said more efforts...
View ArticleRomania cuts VAT rate for ‘healthy and traditional food’
The Romanian government has decided to promote the consumption of healthy and traditional foodstuffs by cutting the VAT rate from 9% to 5%. EURACTIV Romania reports.
View ArticleDual food quality: no East-West divide, but different compositions persist
A report published by the European Commission's research body on Monday (24 June) found that there is no 'East-West food quality discrimination in Europe'. It said there was no consistent geographical...
View ArticleCivil society abandons EU Commission’s anti-obesity forum
A number of public health NGOs have decided to leave the European Commission-led EU Platform for Diet, Physical Activity and Health, in protest at the lack of progress in combatting obesity and related...
View ArticleBulgaria mulls a simplified VAT system to boost local fruits and vegetables
The Bulgarian government is planning to boost production of local fruits and vegetable by introducing a new VAT reimbursement system, local media quoted Deputy Minister of Agriculture Chavdar Marinov...
View ArticleSix million fewer chickens slaughtered weekly in EU after Mercosur pact
The EU poultry meat sector was sacrificed in order to convince Brazil to seal the Mercosur trade agreement. But the impact on the sector in Europe is expected to be very heavy, the association of...
View ArticleMEPs have high hopes for the EU’s new food policy
Lawmakers in the European Parliament expect an ambitious Commission's proposal on the new EU long-term and integrated food policy, that ensures safe, quality and affordable foodstuffs to all European...
View ArticleBrave new food world
At the dawn of a new legislative term, Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen seems determined to increase the ambition on a new integrated food strategy that will involve the entire food...
View ArticleCo-ops show that other side of the food chain can be ‘greened’ too
Focusing the debate over the new EU food policy only on greening the agricultural production may detract from the other side of the food chain which has ground to become more sustainable, as the...
View ArticleEU comes to olive producers’ rescue, Spaniards call for more
The exceptional private storage aid proposed by the European Commission won't be enough to fix the "messed" olive oil market, according to Spanish producers who have called for new measures to save the...
View ArticleAustria on course to become first EU country to ban glyphosate
Austria is set to be the first EU country to ban glyphosate, having completed the EU’s single market notification procedure on Friday.
View ArticleWith a ‘Farm to Fork’ Strategy on the cards, is the EU finally listening to...
The Farm to Fork strategy will reveal whether the new Commission is ready to overhaul some of the EU’s most unsustainable policies and the vested interests behind them but leaked drafts suggest that it...
View ArticleEU’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).
View ArticleCollaborative 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...
View ArticleFuture 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...
View ArticleUK Environment secretary: Brexit is opportunity for UK to ‘shake off shadow...
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...
View ArticleWelfare 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...
View ArticleNew 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...
View ArticleNew UK Agriculture Bill to move away from ‘inefficient and overly...
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...
View ArticleEU 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...
View ArticleSinkevicius: 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...
View ArticleCommission 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...
View ArticleUS 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.
View ArticleStruggling 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 keep the sector, pointing to a drop in production across the EU and a rise in cheap imports.
View ArticleCOVID-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...
View ArticleCOVID-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”...
View ArticleCOVID-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...
View ArticleFrench 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.
View ArticleMEPs 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...
View ArticleMEPs 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...
View ArticleMinisters 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...
View ArticleCOVID-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...
View ArticleEU-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...
View ArticleNew 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.
View ArticleEU 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.
View Article‘Made locally and globally’: An alliance of common sense for consumers
Whether they offer the promise of produce 'made locally' or 'globally', all farmer have an important role to play and offer to consumers, writes Elena Valenciano.
View ArticleKyriakides: Investments will match EU’s ambition on sustainable food systems
The EU's determination to become a global leader in sustainability will be matched by investments in solutions to deliver on the commitments set out in the EU's new food policy, Commissioner Stella...
View ArticleMember states coalition presents latest challenge to colour-coded nutrition...
The fight against France’s Nutri-Score system reigning supreme as the mandatory EU-wide nutrition food label has kicked up a notch with the addition of a new non-paper backed by multiple member states.
View ArticleCzech parliament backs food law obliging stores to prioritise local products
The Czech Republic is on its way to introduce a protectionist food law despite warnings that this could be in violation of the EU's free movement of goods.
View ArticleEU goes easy on alcohol in cancer plan
Alcoholic drinks have been treated differently to tobacco products in Europe's Beating cancer plan, as overuse, not its use, will be targeted by the Commission's initiatives.
View ArticleGreek fires decimate honey sector, opening floodgates for cheap, fraudulent...
The wildfires that swept across Greece this summer have decimated the country's beekeeping sector, leaving it vulnerable to a barrage of cheap and potentially fraudulent honey imports, EU farmers’...
View ArticleGerman supermarket chain REWE to remove most foreign pork from shelves
German supermarket chain REWE aims for 95% of its pork to be homegrown to help the sector struggling from disease and high feed prices, prompting the European Commission to warn that over-reliance on...
View ArticleCommission report: EU countries have exceeded expectations on unfair trade...
Most EU countries have chosen to go beyond the minimum protections set out in the EU rules banning unfair trading practices in the agri sector, a new report has found, but stakeholders warn much work...
View ArticleBrussels looks at phytosanitary loophole at Bulgarian-Turkish border
Experts from the European Commission arrived on Thursday (7 July) at a problematic border crossing between Bulgaria and Turkey in an attempt to sort out long-running phytosanitary problems that are...
View ArticleEU ministers relaunch call to improve honey labelling
EU agriculture ministers have reiterated their call on the European Commission to revise legislation on the labelling of honey blends and protect producers and consumers when choosing the honey of...
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