European officials deny that there has been any ‘decision’ within the EU to indefinitely delay two proposed legislative texts on pesticide use. Nor will the Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategies be entirely abandoned due to delays. Officially, the two legislative texts are said to be ‘no longer on the short-term agenda’.
Only Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski acknowledged on Wednesday that food security has become top priority due to the Russian war in Ukraine. That is why not only the agricultural emergency fund is being opened, but also (for this year only!) the obligation to leave land fallow is being waived on about four million hectares.
However, Wojciechowski reiterated that the entire European Commission, including himself, remains committed to the long-term vision of the Green Deal and Farm to Fork. Maintaining European food production now was described as preventing an emergency situation, while the transition to more sustainable agriculture is ‘a medium-term’ matter, without specifying a date.
In the European Parliament, the political debate about environmental and climate restrictions on agriculture is also being reignited. The European Parliament supports the agri-action package with its own resolution, co-submitted by Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) member Mohammed Chahim.
He calls not only for the use of previously fallow land but also for combating food waste. Every year, around 88 million tons of food are wasted in the EU.
“For about a month now, the world has been turned upside down. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has many effects that we in Europe will also feel. We must secure our own food supply without compromising the goals of the Green Deal, biodiversity, and the Farm to Fork strategy,” said Chahim.
However, the Christian democratic EPP wants to include a provision in the resolution, together with the liberals, independents, and the conservative ECR, to completely discard a ban on chemicals in agriculture. Chahim warns that ‘we must not use the war in Ukraine mainly as an excuse to put climate measures on hold.’ If a center-right majority in the EP seeks to do so, PvdA members will still vote against the resolution, Chahim hinted.
SGP member Bert-Jan Ruissen is one of the European politicians calling for a postponement of the Green Deal. He calls for an impact assessment that takes into account the effects of the war in Ukraine on food security. “It would have been very inappropriate if the Commission had proposed today to take 10% of agricultural land out of production,” Ruissen said when asked.
GreenLeft MEP Bas Eickhout has also previously expressed concern that the situation in Ukraine is being used as a pretext to roll back the sustainability of agriculture. Moreover, according to him, the current crisis should actually serve as a lesson that European agriculture must become less dependent on imports of raw materials from non-EU countries.