Rapporteur Talks

Member States are in the process of submitting their recovery and resilience plans that set out a coherent package of reforms and public investment projects. To support them in their emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission presented its plan for a more resilient European economy: the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). This key instrument, at the heart of NextGenerationEU, is expected to mitigate the economic and social impact of COVID-19.

Because of its magnitude (€672.5 billion), rapid deployment (6 years) and innovative financing and implementation mechanisms, the RRF will pose significant new challenges to the EU and Member States, namely in terms of oversight and fraud prevention and control. It also raises important questions about how far conditionality should go and whether such large amounts of money will contribute to true reform.

How will the funds be used? How to ensure that they will be implemented in a transparent way?

According to a recent study, cogeneration or, as it is also called, Combined Heat and Power (CHP) in district heating, is thought to be an efficient enabler for reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.

With the latest Council conclusions, gas CHPs remain an important technology with a significant role in reducing emissions, especially in regions transforming away from coal and dense urban areas. 

An important product that can be achieved through cogeneration is district heating. Together with cooling, heating in buildings and industry accounts for 50% of the EU’s annual energy consumption, with 60 million people using it across Member States.

While on one hand district heating produced in a cogeneration system requires considerable upfront investment, on the other, the technology, if well used, has the potential of reducing Europe’s heating infrastructure carbon footprint. 

As the European Commission works on the revision of the European Energy Efficiency Directive, the Renewable Energy Directive II and the EU Emission Trading System, the energy industry is concerned about what this will mean for cogeneration plants and district heating in the future, especially in those Member States where energy transition relies on switching from coal to gas generation. More specifically, what will this entail in terms of meeting criteria and costs?

Animal health and welfare are key dimensions of the Farm to Fork strategy (F2F), the European Commission’s pivotal agri-food policy at the heart of the EU Green Deal. High-level standards of animal health and welfare not only improve food quality, but also reduce the need for medication with antibiotics on farms and in aquaculture and contribute to preserving biodiversity.

Adequate animal nutrition combined with good hygiene practices on farms and proper housing are key in promoting and enforcing animal health and welfare. The feed sector has developed animal nutrition strategies as part of a multidisciplinary approach involving animal nutrition expertise in the design of farm health management plans. A balanced diet of compound feed supported by specialty feed ingredients meets the animal’s physiological requirements and maintains the balance of the gut flora. Gut health is in fact a key factor in keeping animals healthy and resilient to stressors, such as heat or pathogens.

How can the EU stimulate and support innovation in animal nutrition to successfully address societal demands for sustainable animal products and animal welfare? And how can the potential of the feed sector be fully exploited through better regulation?

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, has set the way forward for all countries to act together in curbing climate change.

The EU is fighting climate change through ambitious policies at home and close cooperation with international partners.

Climate action is at the heart of the European Green Deal – an ambitious package of measures ranging from cutting greenhouse gas emissions, to investing in cutting-edge research and innovation. The EU plans to cut emissions by at least 55% by 2030. By 2050, Europe aims to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent.

President Biden has fulfilled his pledge to rejoin the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, he set a target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, a move that mirrors Europe’s own commitments.

The US and the EU, the world’s second and third-largest emitters of greenhouse gases, respectively, are now committed to renewing their alliance in the effort to deal with the climate crisis. Their aim is not only to reduce their own emissions but, by cooperating with their global partners, particularly other major economies, to strengthen the world's climate ambitions.

The transition towards a net zero greenhouse gas economy puts the power sector in the spotlight. The clean energy transition should result in an energy system where primary energy supply would largely come from carbon free sources.

 The lower carbon intensity of natural gas – which produces half the emissions of coal when burned in power plants – and the emergence of new technologies like hydrogen are setting gas apart from other fossil fuels in the clean energy transition.

 Some stakeholders argue that a partnership between renewables and gas is key because renewable power sources like wind and solar are dependent on external factors such as weather. Gas infrastructure also plays an important role in offering sustainable and cost-effective solutions in transmission, storage and LNG terminals.

But climate campaigners remain suspicious of gas. The debate isn’t just an academic one. Whether or not gas infrastructure is deemed to be part of the green energy transition will determine whether it is eligible for EU funding, which now has to be compatible with the EU Green Deal.

According to OECD projections, by 2030, the “Blue Economy” could outperform the growth of the global economy as a whole, both in terms of value added and employment.

The EU is a global leader in offshore wind energy, one of the fastest growing sectors, but also in developing other emerging and promising technologies like tidal and wave energy and floating solar panels and wind turbines.

The EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy aims to adopt a more coherent European approach to maritime issues in order to contribute to the creation of sustainable growth and jobs from sea-related activities. But tensions and potentially conflicting activities (transport, fisheries, energy production or leisure) are present in EU and international waters. These challenges require joint efforts through enhanced international cooperation.

It is argued that truly integrated maritime policies, adequate economic and legislative incentives, supportive public and private financial and investment flows should be the basis for sustainable ocean development.

The rise of antimicrobial resistance is a looming global crisis, threatening our ability to treat common infectious diseases, resulting in prolonged illness, disability, and death.

Over-use and misuse of antibiotics in animals and humans is contributing to the rising threat of antibiotic resistance. 

The Farm to Fork Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the sales of antimicrobials for farmed animals by 50% by 2030. To further limit the use and promote prudent and responsible use of antimicrobials in animals, the new regulations on veterinary medicinal products and medicated feed, to apply as of 2022, will provide for a wide range of concrete measures.

The meat sector has already made significant progress in the reduction of the use of antibiotics in recent years. For example, the EU poultry sector has seen their use slashed by 82% in Italy and by 75% in the Netherlands, with significant reductions also seen elsewhere in the EU.

The agricultural sector is faced with exponential population growth and is under pressure from different challenges, including climate change and changing socio-economic dynamics.

Farmers need the best tools and technological solutions available to be able to grow enough crops using fewer natural resources.

The EU glyphosate re-approval process is on the agenda. The renewal of glyphosate is an example of an issue that needs in depth discussion among all stakeholders involved. For some farmers, glyphosate already plays an important role in their efforts to achieve sustainable agriculture. Stakeholders are asking how its use will develop in the future.

The Glyphosate Renewal Group (the GRG) is a collection of companies seeking the renewal of the EU authorisation of the active substance glyphosate in 2022. To this end, the GRG member companies joined resources and efforts, as provided for in Regulation 1107/2009 and encouraged by the EU institutions, and prepared a single dossier with scientific studies and information on glyphosate safety. The dossier was submitted on 8 June 2020, was found admissible by the European authorities, and is currently undergoing a scientific evaluation.

La dynamique de l'agriculture biologique en France s'est renforcée depuis 2018, principalement du côté de la production. 

Pour la première fois, les ventes de produits biologiques dans les supermarchés et sur Internet ont dépassé les circuits alternatifs, ce qui montre à la fois la spécificité de l'environnement de la vente au détail en France par rapport aux autres États membres de l'UE et l'évolution du bio traditionnel en France. Néanmoins, cette croissance générale a suscité la méfiance des consommateurs, qui doutent de la véracité des produits biologiques en France.

La stratégie « De la ferme à la fourchette » de la Commission européenne, lancée au printemps 2020, comprend de nouvelles exigences fortes de la part des consommateurs en matière de durabilité dans le secteur agroalimentaire : production, distribution et consommation. La CE entend également promouvoir une consommation alimentaire plus durable ainsi que la transition vers des régimes alimentaires sains et durables. Bruxelles considère ainsi qu'il est primordial d'inverser la tendance des taux d'obésité en réduisant la consommation de viande rouge, de sucres, de sel et de graisses. Pour ce faire, il faut donner aux consommateurs les moyens de prendre des décisions saines et éclairées.

To become climate-neutral by 2050, the EU plans to transform its energy system, which accounts for 75% of its greenhouse gas emissions.

In July 2020, the Commission presented an EU strategy for energy system integration. The strategy aims to link the various energy carriers - electricity, heat, cold, gas, solid and liquid fuels - with each other and with the end-use sectors, such as buildings, transport or industry. Linking sectors will allow the optimisation of the energy system as a whole, rather than decarbonising and making separate efficiency gains in each sector independently.

The new EU strategy will involve various existing and emerging technologies, processes and business models, such as ICT and digitalisation, smart grids and meters and flexibility markets. Together with a new strategy on hydrogen, it aims to lay the foundation for the decarbonised European energy system of the future.