There will not even be an additional study on previously unforeseen aspects, and the crop protection plans should not be delayed either. This was the outcome of the EU Agriculture Council meeting last weekend in Brussels.
It had already become clear that the proposals from Commissioners Timmermans (Climate), Sinkevicius (Environment), and Kyriakides (Food Safety) would not be postponed despite pressure from some EU countries, following several concessions by the Commission. In addition, Commissioner Kyriakides reiterated on Monday (December 12) that she wants to find solutions for the remaining objections and concerns of the Agriculture Ministers.
In the coming months, there will only be a further description and clarification of what was called 'vulnerable areas' in the June proposals. The new (temporary) Swedish Presidency of the Council of Ministers will have this task. It must be completed within half a year.
Afterwards, Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski was unable to answer journalists’ questions about what exactly the ministers want with their calls for 'renewed research.' The Polish commissioner had also expressed his support for such requests.
The (soon to step down) Czech Presidency minister Nekula must submit the request of the Agriculture Ministers to the European Commission to the first responsible party, Commissioner Kyriakides. The new Swedish Presidency must handle the matter. But what exactly Nekula will ask remains unclear for now.
This effectively gave Dutch Agriculture Minister Piet Adema exactly what he wanted. From the start, the Netherlands had supported the direction of the crop protection proposals: fewer chemicals, more organic, and other green aids for agriculture.
And the Netherlands did not join the EU countries that continued to demand a full impact assessment because they were unsatisfied with an earlier research report of 371 pages. Moreover, the Netherlands requested (and received) a promise that negotiations would simply continue during that half year of additional research.
The European Parliament has meanwhile formed the delegation that will negotiate with the EU Agriculture Ministers in the coming months over the Commission’s crop protection proposals. Dutch VVD Member of the European Parliament Jan Huitema is part of that EP delegation. Which ministers will negotiate on behalf of the EU countries is not yet known.