So far, Italy is the most outspoken opponent of permitting lab-grown meat. An Italian law has even been enacted against it, but this is currently being examined by the EU for possible violations of internal market rules.
The twelve countries have issued a kind of pre-warning to the Agriculture Ministers in a document regarding potential effects of artificial meat. “This practice poses a threat to primary, farm-based authentic food production methods,” according to the document.
The note was prepared by the Austrian, French, and Italian delegations and is supported by the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, and Slovakia. The stance of these twelve countries could cause a split within the Agriculture Council.
Currently, lab-grown meat is not sold in supermarkets across Europe. This can only happen after European approval by EFSA, according to current rules for the approval of new foods, known as the Novel Food Regulation. It has recently become permitted in Singapore, the United States, and Israel; in Switzerland, that procedure is ongoing.
The Netherlands is a frontrunner within the EU in cell-based meat production, after the first laboratory-grown hamburger was presented in 2013. Three years ago, Brussels awarded two million euros to the Dutch ‘Feed for Meat’ project.