Agriculture Ministers on EU Green Deal: Still Up in the Air

The European Union is holding an urgent 'super-trilogue' on Friday with the Agriculture and Food ministers, the European Commission, and the European Parliament. They are attempting to reach a consensus on the new Common Agricultural Policy. However, recent Agriculture Council meetings have revealed fundamental disagreements remain.

Portuguese Agriculture Minister Maria do Céu Antunes remains confident that a ‘final agreement’ can be reached in the coming months. She previously said it should be finalized by the end of this month at the latest. EU Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski hopes negotiations can conclude in May. The Portuguese EU presidency ends in June.

The ministers argue that the new Climate and Environmental measures (Green Deal) at EU level should be established in a legally binding framework. The European Commission, by contrast, already considers the environmental objectives of the Farm to Fork strategy to be binding. But the European Agriculture ministers clearly reject this: they are calling on the EU for legally binding texts.

Formally, the Green Deal and Farm to Fork are only non-binding strategy documents drafted by the European Commission. They are therefore not legal acts that form part of the CAP legislation. According to the ministers, the Green Deal and Farm to Fork are separate from the CAP, and thus also separate from the distribution of CAP subsidies.

Among others, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Croatia expressed themselves more sharply. They reiterated that the Commission's recent ‘recommendations’ to EU countries have no legal value and therefore play little role.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said countries can incorporate parts of Farm to Fork into their national laws. Brussels will push for the implementation of the respective national targets, Wojciechowski stated.

Spanish Agriculture Minister Luis Planas called for the long-overdue presentation of an ‘impact assessment’ of the Farm to Fork strategy, but Wojciechowski again avoided giving a date. According to him, it is important not only to estimate the (financial) drawbacks but also the benefits. However, an evaluation of the advantages is “technically complex.”

Criticism regarding the still missing impact assessment also came from France. Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie pointed out that national strategic plans can only be drafted based on legally binding texts. Nonetheless, he emphasized that France supported and approved the general direction of the Green Deal.