Our latest news and views from Brussels looks at the UK's new immigration policy, trouble for honey producers and more details about the upcoming Farm to Fork strategy from the EU.
Our latest news and views from Brussels looks at the UK's new immigration policy, trouble for honey producers and more details about the upcoming Farm to Fork strategy from the EU.
Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Chief Executive Ian Wright branded the UK government’s post-Brexit immigration plans as “ludicrous” and a “terrible mistake”.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel announced on Wednesday a new points-based system to be introduced after UK-EU free movement ends on 31 December 2020.
Speaking at an event in London on Thursday evening, Wright said: “The announcement that Priti Patel made yesterday... I think it's a terrible, terrible mistake. It shows a shocking lack of understanding on her part of how the dynamics of the labour market work in this country. Actually, it's not as bad for our food manufacturing as it will be for our retailing and in particular our hospitality sector."
Patel claimed that labour shortages caused by her tough new immigration plans could be filled by 8.5 million “economically inactive” people in the UK.
Wright said: “For a senior minister to say there are over 8 million economically inactive people when most of those people are either students, retired or carers is just ludicrous. I'm very cross about that."
He said it was now an urgent priority of the UK's current food strategy to "stabilise and provide the security of labour supply which will assist the entire food chain from farm to fork."
Image: Crédits CharlieAJA
The European Commission will spend €101.2 million for the latest projects under the LIFE programme for the Environment and Climate Action. The funding will support 10 large-scale environment and climate projects in nine Member States, helping Europe’s transition to a sustainable economy and climate neutrality. These projects are located in Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Slovakia, Czechia and Spain.
Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans said: “The European Green Deal is about improving the well-being and prosperity of our citizens, while protecting nature and the climate. LIFE projects have played an important role for many years and have a big impact on the ground. With today’s €100 million investment we will help to preserve precious natural habitats, keep the air clean, and cut pollution in many lakes and rivers in Europe.”
Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius said: “LIFE integrated projects enable Member States’ authorities to make a real difference to the environment and people’s lives. The projects will help Member States to conserve nature, improve air and water quality, and make the economy greener. This will improve our resilience to the changing climate.”
Image: Getty/Alexandrum79
Over 100 companies have signed up to the European Chicken Commitment (ECC), which requires companies to switch to a more robust and active breed of chicken, and to provide them with more space to live and a stimulating environment.
Carrefour France is the latest to sign up to the commitment, joining other key brands such as M&S, Waitrose, KFC, Casual Dining Group, Unilever, Compass Group, Elior and Danone. This has been in response to nearly 30 NGOs across Europe asking the food industry to significantly improve broiler welfare by 2026.
Compassion’s Director of Food Business, Dr Tracey Jones, said: “Momentum is building, and we are on the cusp of a significant change for broiler chickens. Over 40 companies in the UK have signed up to the ECC so far, and we know many more are interested in assessing how they can adopt the same practices across their businesses.
“It’s no small task meeting the requirements of the ECC, and it’s going to take considerable collective action from all stakeholders in the supply chain including suppliers, retailers, manufacturers and food service companies, as well as the assurance schemes, industry bodies and ultimately the consumer, to achieve market success.
“The industry is starting to work on this and it may take time to develop an agreed, joined up approach. However, it is the right thing to do for animal welfare and for those consumers who expect higher welfare standards and want to make an informed choice.”
Image source: GettyImages/ShockMonkey
EU officials were persuaded to weaken their stance on hazardous pesticides found in food imports to appease trade pressure, according to an investigation.
Corporate Europe Observatory’s report ‘Toxic Residues Through The Back Door’ claimed that pressure from key trade powers and pesticide corporations – aided by a few member states - pushed the EU to weaken its stance on hazardous residues in imported food. “Even residues of dangerous chemicals rightfully banned in Europe could now still end up on the plates of unwitting consumers,” it warned.
Corporate Europe Observatory researcher Nina Holland said: “EU leaders keep saying that food standards will not be lowered due to free trade agreements. This story shows those statements to be false. If nothing changes, toxic residues from pesticides banned in Europe will be allowed in imported food. The new Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides should know that this weakening of public health standards will be unacceptable to numerous Member States, the European Parliament, farmers, environmental organisations and the wider public.
“Members of the European Parliament should let the Commission know that ignoring the conclusions of the PEST Committee is not an option. They should also demand that the Commission provides them the opinion by its Legal Service. The six EU Member States (and the UK), who helped pesticide corporations and trade partners like the US and Canada to undermine EU standards, should be questioned in their parliaments about why they are not standing up for the health of their citizens.”
The Commission is planning to publish its farm to fork strategy in March. “If the REFIT report does indeed contain the weak approach outlined in the documents discussed above, this will immediately call into question the new commission’s ambitious European Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy,” the CEO concluded in its report.
Image: iStock/narongcp
European honey producers are sounding the alarm in the face of a distressing market situation and calling for an emergency action plan to be put in place.
The European honey producers and Copa-Cogeca members have launched an appeal from Brussels to the European authorities in order get a strong and rapid response. This call is accompanied by an action plan proposing concrete measures to allow for more than 650,000 European beekeepers to keep their heads above water.
According to the groups, there has been no hike in prices following the drop in honey production in the main producing and exporting countries in the south and east of the EU, which was caused by poor climatic conditions.
Etienne Bruneau, Chair of the Copa-Cogeca Working Party on Honey, said: “If the market situation does not improve, the European beekeepers who derive a significant part of their income from beekeeping will not be able to continue. This threatens the existence of more than 10 million beehives throughout the EU. Yet, beekeeping and the pollination services it provides, together with wild pollinators, are essential for European farming and horticulture as well as biodiversity. This situation therefore threatens other sectors in addition to our own.”
Image: iStock
The EU’s 'Farm to Fork' strategy for a more sustainable food chain and a new biodiversity strategy should be landing in March.
European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides said the strategy “will help the shift towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly food systems and maintain high levels of food safety. The status quo is no longer acceptable.”
Campaigners want the strategy to address what they call ‘Europe’s industrial meat problem’.
Greenpeace is calling on the EU to reduce animal farming, and to raise livestock only via ecological methods on extensive pastures, and to end factory farming reliant on industrial feed production.
Marco Contiero, Greenpeace EU agriculture policy director, said: “The Commission’s ongoing denial of Europe’s industrial meat problem is becoming a farce. Given that two thirds of the EU’s farmland is used to feed animals, a shift to less and better meat could only result in a revival of Europe’s biodiversity. The current system of industrial animal and feed production, bankrolled by the EU, has come with the disappearance of millions of farms. We need extensive animal farming that works for nature and for small farmers, the current EU plans do neither.”
Image: iStock
