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Agrifood
French ‘farmfluencer’ slams attempts to politicise farmers’ protests
Est. 5minFrench 'farmerfluencer' Étienne Fourmont, who is using his YouTube and social media to make farmers' voices heard at a time when they are protesting heavily in France and the rest of Europe, told Euractiv about the urgent need to change the way farming is viewed.
French agrarian party chief wants a ‘rural group’ in next EU Parliament
Est. 6minThe leader of the recently-founded "Alliance Rurale" party in France, Willy Schraen, told Euractiv in an interview that if he is elected as an MEP, he aims to create a 'rural affairs' group in the EU House with like-minded lawmakers.
French biodiversity minister assesses 2023 progress on key measures
Est. 5minIn an interview with Euractiv, French Secretary of State for Biodiversity Sarah El Haïry reflected on the EU's progress this year, following the COP28 summit in Dubai, the adoption of France's national biodiversity strategy as well as the EU's pesticides directive and nature restoration law.
Dutch experts warn of challenges in meeting ambitious nitrogen emission targets
Est. 5minAn EU-approved €1.5 billion buyout scheme for Dutch farmers to halve nitrogen emissions by 2030 has divided opinion, with some stakeholders questioning how to keep meeting targets decided in Brussels while stepping up production to meet demand.
How renewable hydrogen can help decarbonise fertiliser production
Est. 5minThe EU is taking steps to boost the production and use of renewable hydrogen, a low-carbon alternative to natural gas, in the fertiliser sector and beyond, according to Christian Holzleitner, Head of Unit for Low Carbon Solutions at DG CLIMA.
Food safety standards ‘cannot be part of politics’, top Ukraine official says
Est. 5minUkraine has an effective control system on food safety and pesticides which should not be dragged into political squabbles about grain exports, Olha Shevchenko, acting head of Ukraine’s food safety body, told Euractiv in an interview.
EU needs a Commissioner for animal welfare, says Green MEP
Est. 5minAnimal welfare should be explicitly mentioned in the title of a Commissioner in the next legislative mandate to make it a priority of the next EU executive and avoid the risks of having more animal testing in Europe, according to Green MEP Tilly Metz.
German official: EU farm crisis funds must be ‘well thought through’
Est. 5minEmergency funds from the EU agricultural reserve, such as those recently received by Poland and Hungary, should not be given out so lightly, Ophelia Nick, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Agriculture Ministry, warned in an interview.
Lawmaker: Food sector woes ‘overlooked’ in EU packaging law
Est. 5minWith its new packaging rules, the EU aims to curtail exponentially-growing waste. But for the food sector, the proposal has unintended ramifications that have so far stayed under the radar, lawmaker Ulrike Müller warned.
Expert: Investment in integrated pest management paying off in Italy
Est. 5minThe number of farms implementing integrated pest management (IPM) in Italy has skyrocketed over the past few years. EURACTIV Italy spoke with Donato Rotundo from farmers' association Confagricoltura to learn more about the impact this has had and how this success can be built upon.
African Union farming chief: Crisis offers a chance to produce our own food
Est. 4minThe disruption of grain deliveries from Ukraine can be a chance for African countries to step up food production at home, the African Union’s Commissioner for rural economy and agriculture, Josefa Sacko, told EURACTIV in an interview.
Scrapping the CAP was never on the table, says former Commissioner
Est. 4minWithdrawing the original proposal for the post-2020 EU farming subsidy programme was never an option for the European Commission, the originator of the reform Phil Hogan told EURACTIV in an interview.
MEP: ‘Ideologically driven’ EU packaging law endangers food value chain
Est. 4minAn ideologically driven EU packaging law based on rigid targets could end up endangering the food packaging and the food system value chain, Finnish MEP Elsi Katainen told EURACTIV in an interview.
More actions needed to reduce energy costs, EU winemaker chief says
Est. 5minBoth food security and environmental sustainability for agri-food businesses depend on lower costs - particularly energy - for farmers, according to Luca Rigotti, president of the wine working group of the European farmers association COPA-COGECA.
GIs will not be treated as ‘trademark’, EU intellectual property head says
Est. 6minGeographical indications (GIs) will not lose features that make them different from other Intellectual Property (IP) rights by moving competencies from the European Commission to the EU’s intellectual property office (EUIPO), its head told EURACTIV in an interview.
German women still face ‘greater hurdles’ in EU farm fund access
Est. 5minGerman women tend to benefit less than men from the support programmes of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Juliane Vees, the first vice-president of the German Association of Women in Agriculture, told EURACTIV Germany in an interview.
WOAH chief: Protecting environment key to ensuring human, animal health
Est. 5minThe COVID-19 crisis has underscored that there is no way to ensure human and animal health without wider consideration of environmental health, Monique Eloit, Director General of the World Organisation for Animal Health, told EURACTIV in an interview.
Grain now a ‘means of war’, says German official
Est. 5minWhile grain has become a "means of war" and solidarity with Ukraine is a top priority right now, pressing the pause button on environmental and climate protection would be fatal because "climate crisis will not pause either", a senior official at the German agriculture ministry told EURACTIV.
Ukraine’s deputy agri minister: Winning the war, unblocking ports only way to restore grain exports
Est. 6minDespite an adequate and friendly global response, the only option to restore grain exports from Ukraine is to win the war as Russia can not be trusted in any plan aimed at unblocking seaports in the South of the country, Ukraine's deputy agriculture minister told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Choosing agroecology is not an option but an obligation, says researcher
Est. 6minAgroecology is the necessary solution to face this problem and generate gains in production, agroecology researcher Xavier Reboud told EURACTIV at a European conference on phasing out of pesticides in Dijon.
Germany must send aid, change diet amid global food crisis, says official
Est. 5minTo help solve the food price crisis, Germany must quickly send aid to import-dependent countries but also change its diet and consume less meat, Niels Annen, parliamentary state secretary at Germany's economic cooperation and development ministry told EURACTIV Germany in an interview.
FAO official: EU’s rethinking of food system fundamentals is legit amid Ukraine, COVID, climate crises
Est. 7minIt is understandable that the EU is reorganising the fundamentals of its agricultural model in terms of strategic autonomy after the Ukraine war and the effects of both COVID-19 and climate crises, an official of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation told EURACTIV in an interview.
Agribusiness chief: State of Ukraine agriculture ‘bad to catastrophic’
Est. 10minRussia's invasion of Ukraine has created major hardships for the country's agricultural sector, with fields not being accessible for cultivation, farm animals facing starvation, and the food delivery system collapsing, Alex Lissitsa told EURACTIV Germany in an interview.
EU farmers boss: War might hit our food supplies, but will hit Africa, Middle East harder
Est. 5minThe EU is unlikely to go hungry as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, but it could have a devastating impact on areas of Africa and the Middle East, according to farming boss Pekka Pesonen, who called on an 'enhanced' Green Deal package to maintain both quality and quantity in the European food supply.