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Article: Germany seeks Council agreement on F2F by October
21 July 2020
German Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner led her first
AGRIFISH Council on Monday (20 July) at the first meeting back in
Brussels since the start of COVID-19 outbreaks in Europe.
After repeating that she aims to reach a Council position on the
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform by October, Klöckner
revealed that this is also the ambition for the Farm
to Fork (F2F) strategy - the European Commission's 2030
plan to make agri-food supply chains more sustainable.
The German minister had stated earlier that she wants these two
EU policies to be closely aligned to increase the bloc's ambitions
on the environment and climate change.
The new chair further declared that the COVID-19 pandemic
presents the main challenge for Germany's six-month term, during
which it will work on a "properly coordinated response" and a
"sustainable economic recovery".
She told her colleagues that the novel coronavirus will also
cast a shadow over the bloc's future farming policies.
"The experience of the pandemic will have an effect on the CAP
and on any agreement on the 'green architecture'," she said,
referring to the environmental components of the next farming
policy and its ability to meet the Commission's sustainability
objectives.
Reaching an agreement on the next EU budget for 2021-2027 will
also be a "precondition" to finalise the CAP reform, Klöckner
continued to say. However, these talks seem to be completely
blocked following three days of discussions between EU leaders at
the European Council summit that started on 18 July.
Other priorities mentioned include setting up a harmonised EU
animal welfare label and improving
front-of-package nutrition labeling in the bloc.
Klöckner had already shared her key objectives with Agriculture
MEPs on 15 July, where she said she also aims to conclude the
negotiations on the CAP transitional rules by the
end of the year.
Next meetings
Klöckner confirmed that an 'informal' AGRIFISH meeting will take
place in Koblenz at the end of August (30 August - 1 September),
with discussions to be focused on the lessons learnt from the
COVID-19 crisis for the agri-food sector.
Germany will also organise a conference on promoting
digitalisation in farming, which it sees as key to reconcile the
economic and environmental sustainability of the sector.
After the summer holidays, the country will be leading an
AGRIFISH Council every month, with meetings currently scheduled for
21-22 September, 19-20 October, 16-17 November and 15-16
December.