| A SURprise in store? All eyes are on the European Parliament next week as it gears up for a definitive plenary vote on the EU’s plan to slash the use and risk of pesticides in half by 2030 – but tensions are high in the run-up to crunch time. Lawmakers from the Parliament’s environment and agriculture committees – who share competence on some areas of the file – are clashing over the inclusion of amendments, with AGRI pushing to table theirs directly at plenary. In the event that the committee responsible “fails to respect” the exclusive competence of the associated committee, that associated committee may table amendments directly in plenary. Meanwhile, the groups are also getting in on the amendment action, with Renew, EPP and Socialists all busy adding their flavours to the proposal – with one source saying that the Spanish Presidency is also playing a key role behind the scenes pushing the Parliament’s proposal towards the Council’s via Spanish MEP Clara Aguilera. The key amendments to watch are: the timeline of the proposal (2030 or 2035); the use of pesticides in sensitive areas; and the length permitted for derogations (which may change from 60 days to 120 days). There’s also a risk that there are too many amendments – meaning there’s a slim chance that the proposal could be sent back to the committee stage for a reshape. According to the Parliament’s agriculture press officer, the threshold for this is 50 amendments – but the number has already surpassed 200, with space for more as the deadline for split amendments is Monday. While the source thought the move unlikely, they warned it is “possible”. Meanwhile, on the Council side, the Spanish Presidency put a new proposal on the table at a working group meeting at the end of last week in hopes of finding some common ground. The draft text, seen by Euractiv, weakens the proposed limitation on the use of pesticides in sensitive areas, and also proposes to scrap a reference to national targets following calls from some member states earlier this month. But the attempt was unsuccessful, according to sources inside the closed meeting, who told Euractiv that the new text “did not bring member states closer together”. The Spanish Presidency has previously said it hopes to negotiate a general approach in December, and told Euractiv it would continue work on the file for the moment. New food chief on the cards? The European Commission’s secretary-general is currently modelling options for potential changes to college makeup for the next mandate, according to sources, who added that they would be “surprised” if agriculture was not considered as part of this remodelling. The news comes on the back of calls from agrifood stakeholders for the creation of an Executive Vice-President of Food – an idea that is backed by industry players and civil society alike. What to expect from the AGRIFISH. EU agriculture ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday (20 November). Key meeting points include; fishing opportunities in the Atlantic and the North Sea for 2024; the approval of conclusions on a long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas; and an update on the state of play of ongoing work on the proposal on new genomic techniques. There will also be discussions on the EU forest strategy for 2030 and the role of farmers in the sustainability of rural areas, while the French are pushing for a derogation on the GAEC 8 environmental measure in the CAP for 2024 (see our ‘CAP corner’ section below for more details). Council adopts position on digital labelling in the fertilisers sector. The Council today adopted its position on the proposed regulation on digital labelling of EU fertilising products. This proposal aims to improve the readability of labels, leading to a more efficient use of fertilising products, and to simplify the labelling obligations for suppliers while reducing costs for the industry. This provides the Council presidency with a mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament, which will start as soon as the Parliament adopts its position. Fishy business. The EU’s seven-year, billion-euro investment in fish farming has failed to deliver “tangible results” in the aquaculture sector, according to the European Court of Auditors (ECA). Aquaculture, also known as fish farming, occurs in marine or inland waters and in land-based facilities equipped with water circulation systems. | 