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Under the farm to fork strategy, part of the European Green Deal, the EU has set itself a double target: a 50 % reduction in the overall use of and risk from chemical plant protection products, and a 50 % reduction in the use of more hazardous ones by 2030. The proposal for a regulation tabled by the European Commission on 22 June 2022, which would replace the 2009 sustainable use directive, would require Member States to contribute collectively to achieving these EU-wide targets through the adoption ...

The marketing standards established by the 'breakfast directives' are more than 20 years old. Over time, food markets have evolved substantially, driven by innovation and changes in consumer demand and expectations. Taking this shift into account, on 21 April 2023 the European Commission proposed to update some of the rules governing a set of directives on food products – the 'breakfast' directives – including the marketing standards they introduced. The revision also echoes key messages of the EU's ...

On 5 July 2023, the Commission tabled a proposal for a regulation on certain new genomic techniques (NGTs). It establishes two categories of plants obtained by NGTs: plants comparable to naturally occurring or conventional plants, and plants with modifications that are more complex. The two categories will be subject to different requirements to reach the market, taking into account their different characteristics and risk profiles. Feedback from stakeholders is mixed. While industry interest groups ...

This IA supports the proposals for a revision of the plant and forest reproductive material legislative framework. It effectively presents the need for a revision, to avoid further divergence in implementation across Member States, thus ensuring a level playing field on the EU market and availability of high-quality reproductive material adapted to align with the European Green Deals' sustainability objectives. The baseline would have benefited from a qualitative analysis of the foresight trends ...

The IA argues that existing GMO legislation is not fit for purpose for plants and their food and feed products developed using certain new genomic techniques (NGTs) and that their resulting limited uptake in the EU might lead to missed opportunities to reach the EU's sustainability objectives. It suggests four policy options (POs) in addition to the baseline and assesses their economic, environmental and social/health impacts. The assessment is predominantly qualitative and is based on the stakeholders ...

A large share of tourism in the European Union takes place in rural areas. However, not all tourism in rural areas is necessarily considered to constitute rural tourism. Rural tourism, whose origins lie in agritourism and farm stays, is typically built on experiences that are specific to the countryside, often includes physical activities connected with nature, is usually small in scale and involves a large number of small private businesses. It can bring numerous benefits to local communities, in ...

The EU is largely self-sufficient in agricultural products, thanks to its common agricultural policy (CAP). However, the EU livestock sector is critically dependent on imports of plant-based proteins for animal feed, especially soybeans, from Argentina, Brazil and the United States (US). The links between protein imports and deforestation, on the one hand, and the substantial greenhouse emissions (GHG) from animal farming, on the other, are also lending greater prominence to the use of plant-based ...

This briefing provides a pre-legislative synthesis of the positions of national, regional and local governmental organisations on the European Commission's forthcoming proposal on sustainable food systems. It forms part of an EPRS series offering a summary of the pre-legislative state of play and advance consultation on a range of key European Commission priorities during its 5-year term in office. It seeks to present the current state of affairs, examine how existing policy is working on the ground ...

The European Union is the world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of wine. It accounts for half of the world's production, with three quarters of EU wine produced in Spain, France and Italy. The EU had 2.2 million vineyard holdings in 2020, varying in size from an average of 0.2 hectares in Romania to 10.5 hectares in France. The EU also accounted for 48 % of global wine consumption in 2021, with the largest overall consumption recorded in France, Italy and Germany. Globally, only the United ...

In June 2023, trilogue negotiations between Parliament and the Council started on the Commission's proposal for a regulation on geographical indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products. The proposal, put forward on 31 March 2022, would bring together in a single legal document the provisions on the procedures for registering geographical indications (GIs) for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products that are currently spread over three regulations. It would increase the powers ...