Quick round-up on the state of play Gene editing: According to Spanish agriculture minister Luis Planas, who is the current chair of the EU AGRIFISH meeting, his ambition is to “arrive at political conclusions” on the Commission’s gene editing proposal. “It would be a major achievement […] if we can clarify this,” he said, noting that there is “huge potential” in the technology but also that there are many issues that need to be resolved. Meanwhile, on the European Parliament side of things, the centre-right EPP’s Jessica Polfjärd has won the lead on the file. At the same time, Christophe Clergeau has been appointed the Socialists’ lead negotiator on the file in the environment committee, and the Green’s Martin Häusling will be the shadow rapporteur for the Greens. Pesticides: Asked about progress on the contentious sustainable use of pesticides regulation (SUR), Spain’s Planas was cautious. Stressing that this is a “very complicated file”, the minister said that while he intends to “move forward with the technical issues” under the Spanish presidency, he “doesn’t know if we’ll be able to finalise the proposed legislation”. “But [we] would like to make sure that we can at least move forward with the technical issues,” he said, adding there are “many important issues” that need clarification. Geographical indications: According to sources, a discussion during the preparatory meeting ahead of the meeting of EU agriculture ministers proved a “fruitful” one, with the trilogue endorsing provisional agreements taken at a technical level. The Presidency stated the trilogue meeting “paved the way” for technical work that will take place in the coming weeks. The next trilogue is scheduled for 10 October, and the file will be discussed beforehand during the next preparatory meeting. Among other topics to be discussed at the next trilogue meeting are the role of EUIPO, the wine-related articles, and the adoption of delegated and implementing acts by the Commission. The beginning of the end. Stakeholders have fired up all cylinders this week, desperately trying to drum up support for their pet proposals this week as the window of opportunity closes ahead of the looming EU elections. Firstly, a group of more than 100 European Parliament lawmakers formally asked the Commission president to announce the promised overhaul of the EU’s animal welfare legislation as a pending priority in a bid to present it before her mandate ends next year. Likewise, 637 stakeholders also added their voices into the mix, calling on President Ursula von der Leyen to address the inadequate and outdated legislation that fails to protect animals in Europe. Meanwhile, 160 civil society groups and academics wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urging her to push ahead with the proposal for an EU legislative framework for sustainable food systems amid concerns its fate hangs in the balance, with one NGO warning that it’s currently ‘50/50’ whether the proposal will make it past the first hurdle. “Failing to publish this law will mean failing to deliver on the EU’s climate, environment and health goals,” the signatories stressed. And, keeping von der Leyen on her toes this week, EU consumer’s organisation BEUC also got in on the fun, this time on the front-of-pack labelling proposal. Ukraine The European Commission’s top brass have still not yet found an agreement on the delicate issue of Ukraine’s grain exports in their meeting on Wednesday (6 September), even though there is only a week to go until current restrictions on the matter expire. EU import restrictions for certain Ukrainian agricultural products – wheat, maise, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds – are currently in place until 15 September, but even with this end date fast approaching, it remains unclear if and how restrictions will be extended. The EU executive’s weekly meeting on Wednesday (6 September) proved fruitless, with no definitive decision taken on the matter, meaning that Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, who went into the meeting to argue in favour of prolonging the import restrictions, has not yet managed to convince his colleagues. Meanwhile, MEPs are set to debate with the Commission the impact of Ukrainian grain exports on EU farmers after Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on Tuesday during plenary week in Strasbourg. Wolves The European Commission has hinted it might review the high protection status of wolves on the back of increasing tension around the predator in rural areas, but environmentalists have slammed the move as a political pandering ahead of upcoming elections. Farmers and representatives of countries and regions with big carnivore populations have repeatedly warned that growing populations threaten farming and local communities and that their status should be reconsidered. But environmentalists are up in arms over the move, pointing out that there have been no human fatalities linked to wolves in this century in Europe and risks of attacks are “extremely low”, while others questioned whether the email consultation was in line with the EU’s standards. Fertiliser derogation The German agriculture ministry is considering starting talks with Brussels on partially exempting grassland farms from rules on fertiliser use, three months after the European Commission closed its nitrate pollution case against Berlin after a decade of back-and-forth between the two parties. But, given that fertilisers are a primary agricultural input whose use has a significant impact on a farm’s yields as well as production costs, the rules for their use continue to be a thorny issue, and the end of the infringement case has given rise to fresh calls for tweaks and exemptions to the regulations – one of which is currently being considered by Green Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir. | 