It might be the shortest one, but February is also undoubtedly the month in which we’ve heard the most about alcohol in the EU bubble.
Let’s be honest, February doesn’t enjoy a great reputation. It’s mostly grey, a bridge month between winter and spring. It’s a bit the Tuesday of the year: you don’t hate it, you don’t love it, you just bear it.
After having placed Valentine’s Day slap bang in the middle of February, a last-ditch attempt to valorise this extremely neutral month was put forward by the livestock and dairy industry, who launched the campaign Febru-dairy a few years ago in the UK.
Febru-dairy is mainly a spin-off of the endless feud between vegans and meat-eaters, as the awareness month of dairy products was conceived in response to the Veg-anuary campaign, which is designed to promote the vegan way of living.
But it wasn’t milk or plant-based drink that flowed in the streets of Brussels in this cold and windy February – it was alcohol.
Already at the beginning of the month, the European Commission had to put its beer goggles on and finally announce the end of the long-standing spat on: tequila!
The issue dates back to 2017, when the Mexican Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT) started proceedings in France and the Netherlands against multinational brewing company Heineken for its tequila-flavoured beer Desperados, arguing it violates the Mexican geographical indication (G) ‘Tequila’ under EU law.
With reports of difficulties experienced by European brewers to access tequila, the beer lobby Brewers of Europe filed a complaint under the EU’s Trade Barriers Regulation (TBR) and the Commission started an investigation.
Last July, Heineken and the CRT found an amicable agreement, whose terms remain confidential but are considered satisfactory by both parties.
“We concluded there was no impediment to accessing tequila for other European brewers and there was, therefore, no reason to have The Brewers of Europe complaint pending,” a spokesperson for the EU brewers association told EURACTIV, explaining why they withdrew the procedure.
For one case successfully archived, another one raged on regarding the mention of alcohol in the final report of the European Parliament’s special committee on the fight against cancer (BECA).
The report received the final go-ahead from MEPs in Strasbourg this week, but many turned their nose up at the wording included in the first draft as it considered alcohol consumption in itself a cancer risk factor.
An amendment pushed by two old acquaintances of the Agrifood Brief – the experienced socialist Paolo De Castro and the agriculture spokesperson for centre-right EPP Herbert Dorfmann – tried to water down the text, addressing only “abuse” of alcohol as a risk factor for cancer and not general consumption.
There was cross-sectoral support behind this amendment, from the socialists to the liberals of Renew Europe and even in the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group.
In the end, the amendment passed, bringing the Parliament’s report more toward the line the Commission decided to follow in treating harmful alcohol consumption in the EU’s Cancer Plan one year ago.
But this modification provoked a reaction from farmers organisations and industry, particularly the Italians (we all know how dear wine is for them).
One of Italy’s farmers’ associations, Coldiretti, released a note saying the “European Parliament saved nearly ten thousand years of history” with this vote, which was a bit of a stretch.
As with alcohol consumption, moderation is key. The report was not legislative, and practically speaking, nothing would have changed even if the amendment did not pass and the BECA text remained as it was.
To close the week, another pitched battle (or ‘bottle’) went on stage in Strasbourg yesterday (17 February): the EU protection for the Croatian dessert wine prošek, which according to Italians would be in conflict with the geographical indication of the iconic Italian bubbly wine prosecco.
The debate followed, once again, the same old script, with the heated confrontation of arguments between the two parts (we have summed up the issue in a funnier way here).
The only interesting outcome of the debate was the announcement from Commissioner Helena Dalli of the date on which the EU executive will file the revision of the geographical indications (GIs) – beginning of April.
By that time we will know whether the Commission’s service for agriculture (DG AGRI) will hand over power to the EU’s intellectual property office (EUIPO) on the matter, another rumour spread in Brussels.
(By Gerardo Fortuna)
Podcast
This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team explores what the EU-Africa summit holds for the agrifood sector, we are joined by Brendan Coolsaet, associate professor of environmental politics at the European school of political and social Sciences at Lille Catholic University, to talk about what he learned in his trip around Italy visiting farms, and, in honour of the fact that Valentine’s Day coincided with the EU-AU summit this week, we bring you some fun facts about chocolate.
Agrifood stories of the week
MEPs demand EU funding for research into gene editing surveillance
A cross-party coalition of MEPs co-signed a letter to the European Commission demanding EU-funded research into the potential risks and analytical detection of genetically engineered organisms, stressing this is needed to create informed policies on the matter. Natasha Foote has more.
GIs producers ask to maintain ties with CAP, rebuff ‘trademark’ umbrella
Food producers have joined the choir of those against moving the bulk of EU competencies on geographical indications (GIs) from the European Commission to the EU’s intellectual property office (EUIPO). Gerardo Fortuna explains all.
IFAD: EU’s food sovereignty is Africa’s shot to boost agricultural growth
Europe’s push to decrease over-reliance on third-country food production is unavoidable due to the pandemic. Still, it could come in handy for encouraging African domestic production, according to the president of the UN’s Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Gerardo Fortuna has the story.
MEPs divided over alcohol consumption in fight against cancer
An EU report on beating cancer was adopted by a large majority of MEPs on Wednesday (16 February), after conservatives’ amendments loosened up zero-alcohol recommendations. Clara Bauer-Babef reports from Strasbourg.
Commission: EU committed to guiding Africa in raising sustainable food standards
The EU “is there” for African farmers and food producers with development support should the increased European green agriculture standards create trade barriers, according to a Commission official. Learn more.
EU watchdog cautions Commission over fairness, transparency of CAP reform
The EU Ombudsman has written to the Commission to query how it will ensure transparency and a balanced representation of interests during the implementation of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) reform. Natasha Foote has more.
MEPs, Commission share concerns over ‘severe’ Iberian drought
As Spain and Portugal are hit by the worst drought in 15 years, MEPs have voiced worries over the situation. EU Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli raised hopes that support could come from funds in the EU’s farming subsidies programme. Julia Dahm has more.
News from the bubble
African food sovereignty: Ahead of this week’s AU-EU summit, more than 40 small farmers’ organisations and NGOs published a common declaration denouncing unequal power relationships in the Africa-EU partnership and the fact governments have not put in place “adequate fiscal policies and regulations to protect African food sovereignty”. Learn more.
EU-Kenya trade: The EU and Kenya agreed this week to advance negotiations on an interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA). According to the European Commission, the future EU-Kenya iEPA will liberalise trade in goods on a mutual basis and give duty-free quota-free access to the EU market for all Kenyan exports and partial and gradual opening of the Kenyan market, including agriculture and fishery products. It will also set up trade-related rules on sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, technical barriers to trade and customs and trade facilitation.
Animal welfare: EFSA launched an open consultation on the draft guidance methodology it will use for a series of scientific opinions on the welfare of farmed animals this week. The opinions, which will be published between June 2022 and March 2023, were requested by the European Commission as a key component of its flagship food and farming policy, the Farm to Fork strategy. They will cover the welfare of animals during transport, as well as on-farm welfare of specific species – calves, laying hens, broilers, pigs, ducks, geese and quail, and dairy cows. The consultation runs until 28 March 2022. More details here
Organic: The Research Institute on Organic Agriculture (FiBL) published their yearly statistics on organic in the world and in Europe this week. It showed that organic recorded a record growth in 2020 and organic land in the EU grew to 14.9 million ha, although at a slower rate than in the previous years. The EU organic market marked a record increase of 15.1%, reaching €44.8 billion, making it the second-largest market after the USA and China. France is the new champion among EU countries and now hosts the largest organic agricultural area (2.5 million ha) – followed by Spain and Italy. See here for more.
AGRIFISH Council: Ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday (21 February). Topics on the menu include a debate on the proposal from the Commission for a regulation on deforestation-free imports, as well as discussions on the current market situation with specific reference to agricultural products. The Commission will also provide information about a report on phytosanitary matters, while the Danish delegation will inform ministers about EU legislation on the commercial keeping and sale of dogs.
Contamination concerns: Food safety news reports that a number of European countries have again expressed concerns about how the ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic surface disinfectant, contamination incidents are being handled. An EU harmonised approach was agreed on in 2021 but has yet to be fully applied in practice by all of them.
LIFE funding: This week, the Commission announced an investment of over €110 million into LIFE programme integrated projects for environmental and climate protection, selected after a call for proposals covering the year 2020. The funding will support new major environmental and climate projects in 11 EU countries – Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia.
Organic awards: The European Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), COPA-COGECA and IFOAM Organics Europe launched the first-ever EU organic awards this week. These awards will recognise excellence along the organic value chain, rewarding the best and most innovative actors in organic production in the EU. Applications will be open from 25 March until 8 June 2022.
Pact for Skills: FoodDrinkEurope, together with EU farmers’ association COPA-COGECA, launched their ‘Pact For Skills’ partnership for Europe’s agrifood sector this week to help boost an innovative, educated, highly-trained agri-food workforce.
Know your botanicals: According to a new report from consumer group Safe Food Advocacy Europe (SAFE), despite the fact that 18.8% of Europeans take at least one botanical food supplement a day, there is still a lack of a tailored risk assessment procedure and a common harmonised system for those products. Learn more about the campaign here.
CAP corner
Rural areas: EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski met with MEP Isabel Carvalhais, who is the rapporteur on the long-term vision for rural areas report, due in September. The Commissioner took the opportunity to stress that, from the Commission’s side, they are currently assessing the draft CAP strategic plans and in particular the “specific objectives of greatest relevance to the rural vision”. This is in a bid to “ensure the needs of rural areas in each country are addressed through adequate interventions,” he said.
Agrifood news from the CAPitals
SPAIN I PORTUGAL
EU lawmakers and Commission share concerns over Iberian drought. During the plenary session on Thursday (17 February), MEPs, as well as Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli, voiced concerns over the “serious drought situation” suffered on the Iberian Peninsula. Dalli also said that it might be possible for affected farmers to get support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), as well as the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF). Spain’s and Portugal’s agriculture ministers had been pointing to the severity of the situation for several weeks and have called on the Commission to mobilise EU funds to support the farming sector in the two countries. (Julia Dahm | EURACTIV.de)
FRANCE
French wine and spirits exports reach record highs. After a two-year slump induced by the Covid-19 crisis, exports of French wines and liquors overtook pre-pandemic levels again in 2021. With € 16 million, they saw a growth of almost 30% compared to the previous year. Apart from the easing of Covid restrictions, which have led to a recovery of consumption in bars and restaurants, alcohol exports have also benefited from punitive tariffs for imports into the US being lifted. (Julia Dahm | EURACTIV.de)
GERMANY
Calls to end marketing of unhealthy products to children amass. As Germany’s government coalition is working on plans to ban advertisements for unhealthy products aimed at children, stakeholders have called for a stringent regulation. A strict ban on ads for high-fat or high-sugar products would be necessary for the “protection of children and teenagers,” a joint position paper released on Wednesday (16 February) by the national consumer centre, health insurance company AOK, and the German Alliance for Non-communicable Diseases (DANK) states. The organisations also stress that, especially since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of children with obesity has been growing. However, the advance was criticised by the advertising industry, who said it was “misleading” to say obesity in children was caused by marketing alone. (Julia Dahm | EURACTIV.de)
LUXEMBOURG
Luxembourg confirms avian flu case. As the country’s agriculture ministry confirmed, a case of avian flu was detected last week in a wild goose found in the North of the country. In order to avoid the spread of the disease to poultry flocks, the relevant administration called on farmers to respect the precautionary measures that were introduced at the end of last year. With the detected case, Luxembourg joins a range of other European countries with confirmed cases, including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy. (Julia Dahm | EURACTIV.de)
GREECE
Greece sounds alarm over rising commodity prices. In an interview on Sunday (13 February), Greece’s deputy minister for rural development, Simos Kedikoglou, pointed to the problem around Europe’s energy supply as a factor in the price hike of livestock feed and fertilisers. He stressed that “the increase in fertiliser prices brings an increase in livestock feed prices,” calling the issue a “problem with long-term consequences”. To tackle the issue Kedikoglou presented a series of proposals in cooperation with the competent services of the European Commission. “We propose, for example, to give out codes for purchasing fertilisers which would give an across-the-board reduction of €150 to 200 per ton of fertiliser”, he said. (EURACTIV.gr)
IRELAND
Ireland opens up beef market in Saudi Arabia. This week, Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, along with representatives from the Irish food board and 14 of Ireland’s most successful agri-food companies, took off on a weeklong trade mission to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The trip proved fruitful, ending with an agreement to expand the market access for Irish beef in Saudi Arabia. Until now, there has been a restriction meaning that Irish beef exported to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia had to come from cattle slaughtered under 30 months of age, but this will now be lifted. The minister added there were also some commitments from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority for more technical engagement on sheepmeat access, and raised the possibility of poultry meat access in the future. (Natasha Foote | EURACTIV.com)
SLOVAKIA
EU green goals inconsistent with the needs of Slovak agriculture, minister warns. Speaking after a meeting with Slovak MEPs on Tuesday (15 February), agriculture minister Samuel Vlčansaid said the ministry had based its CAP Strategic Plan on EU environmental strategies, such as the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy. However, he said these policies are in contradiction with the main goal of Slovak agriculture, which is to ensure sufficient high-quality, safe food for the people in Slovakia. According to the Minister, the “fundamental problem” is the Commission’s pressure to reduce the amount of fertilisers and pesticides, as Slovak farmers already apply them less than in other member states. This is also confirmed by Eurostat data. “This is why we are pushing for the Commission to set maximum quantities for the use of fertilisers instead of setting a percentage reduction in current consumption, as this puts us at a disadvantage compared to other countries,” Vlčan explained. Although the Slovak Strategic Plan contains several measures to support the reduction of the use of pesticides and fertilisers, it does not set any specific goals in this regard. (Marián Koreň | EURACTIV.sk)
CROATIA
Millions earmarked towards a mine-free Croatia. A de-mining project financed with 31.7 million kuna (€4,22 million) in grants from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) has been carried out in Požega-Slavonia County, with the aim of de-mining 3.7 square kilometres of agricultural land. Head of the Civil Protection Directorate, Damir Trut, presented the mine situation and mine clearance activities in the county on Tuesday (15 February), underscoring that mine clearance activities had become one of the government’s priority tasks, into which systematic investments had been made for nearly 25 years. The results of that, he said, have been deemed very successful by stakeholders in the mine removal community and local communities, who are getting back demined areas. Trut thanked local representatives for many years of successful cooperation and expressed confidence in ultimately reaching the goal of a mine-free Croatia. (Željko Trkanjec, Euractiv.hr)
Events
19 February | European Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy conference at the Dubai Expo
21 February | AGRIFISH Council meeting
22 February | Impact of European sustainability standards on global food systems
24 February | Permaculture and Sustainable Agricultural systems
Starting 26 February | Salon International de l’Agriculture 2022 (Paris)