Food rules: what's cooking in the Parliament?

Legislation on food is on the menu in Parliament over the next couple of weeks. The Environment Committees will vote on GMOs and food labelling, while the Agriculture Committee will present its view on draft measures to boost food quality. Plenary votes for these topics are due in the coming months.

The menu:

Starter
Monday, 11 April

• At approximately 16.00, rapporteur Iratxe GARCIA PEREZ (S&D, ES) will lead the debate on proposed new rules on food quality (which includes origin labelling such as PDO, PGI and TSG) to fight against misuse and imitation of food names, protect EU traditions and reinforce the sector against external competition.
  

Main course
Tuesday, 12 April

• Shortly after 9.00, the Environment Committee will vote on proposals to allow Member States to restrict or ban the cultivation of GM crops that have been given safety approval at EU level. Rapporteur Corinne LEPAGE (ALDE, FR) is seeking to tie the possible grounds to a firmer legal basis.

• The Environment Committee will then (around 11.30) debate its amendments to food information for consumers, a report by Renate SOMMER (EPP, DE), ahead of a vote now planned for 19 April. 

• From 15.00-16.30, Commissioner John Dalli visits the ENVI committee, where MEPs are expected to raise questions on the proposals on GMO cultivation and the failure of novel foods conciliation, following an impasse with Council on the cloning issue.
  

Dessert
Tuesday, 19 April

• The Environment committee will vote on amendments to the Sommer report on food information, ahead of reaching a second reading position in Parliament in July. Mandatory labelling of transfats etc. remains an open issue, as is the debate on extending country of origin indications and several other points that aim to empower consumers to make informed choices (time tbc).