Council agrees negotiating position on strengthening the position of farmers in the supply chain
Member states’ representatives in the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) approved the Council’s negotiating mandate on a targeted amendment of the regulation on the common market organisation of agricultural products (CMO) and of the two other acts governing the common agricultural policy. The Council supports the main elements of the Commission’s proposal, but has suggested a series of changes:
- Written contracts: the Council suggested a series of amendments clarifying who is covered by the obligation for written contracts. It also introduced further exceptions, with the aim of granting more flexibility to member states in adjusting the obligation to their specific needs, depending on the sector and product. Member states will be able to decide that a written contract is not necessary if the first purchaser of agricultural products is a micro or small-sized enterprise, the delivery of goods takes place and payment is made at the same time, or if the value of deliveries does not exceed €20 000.
- Revision clause for contracts: farmers would be able to trigger the revision clause for long-term contracts after 12 months, instead of the six months proposed by the Commission.
- Mediation mechanism: mediation mechanisms should be voluntary, meaning that it would be up to the member states to decide whether to establish them.
- Entry into force: The Council agreed that there would be a transition period of two years, compared with the 18 months provided by the proposal.
The Council is ready to start negotiations with the European Parliament, once the latter has reached its position.
Agriculture pays cost of extreme weather
The EU’s agriculture sector loses more than €28 billion a year due to extreme weather, around 6% of annual EU crop and livestock production, according to an analysis published by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank. Climate change could lead to an increase in average crop loss by up to 66% by 2050. In Italy and Spain alone, the losses could hit €20 billion. The report recommends improving insurance coverage and providing rapid-response funding during disasters. Only 20-30% of climate-induced farm losses in the EU are insured through public, private or mutual systems including those supported by the Common Agricultural Policy. Insurance coverage backed by public funding is often more effective than government compensation programs, according to the study.
UK classed as low risk for deforestation under EUDR
Last week, the Commission published the implementing regulation as regards the list of countries that present a low or high risk of deforestation. The UK has been classed as low risk. All the documents and the list of the countries can be found here https://green-forum.ec.europa.eu/deforestation-regulation-implementation/eudr-cooperation-and-partnerships_en. The risk classification defines the extent of compliance checks that Member States’ competent authorities foresee among operators sourcing from different countries (1% for ‘low risk’, 3% for ‘standard risk’ and 9% for ‘high risk’). Sourcing from low-risk countries entails simplified due diligence obligations for operators and traders.
83% decline in African Swine Fever
Outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) in domestic pigs declined last year by 83 percent to the lowest level since 2017, with big drops in Romania and Croatia. Sweden became free of the disease last year and no new EU country reported infections. The overall number of EU countries affected by ASF fell as a result in 2024 to 13 from 14 the year before. Romania accounted for two-thirds of the total EU number of outbreaks, while nearly four in every five outbreaks occurred on farms with fewer than 100 pigs. Outbreaks in wild boar have, meanwhile, remained stable since 2022 — with Poland accounting for 30 percent of the total, according to EFSA’s annual report.
A new genotype of ASF — which causes a hemorrhagic fever that can be fatal in animals but is harmless to humans — was first detected in Eastern Europe in 2007. It was found in Eurasian wild boar in 2014 within the EU in Poland and the Baltic countries, and later spread further. The EU introduced a regional containment strategy and has put out annual epidemiological reports on the newer ASF strain since 2016.
