NEW GENOMIC TECHNIQUES: a two-speed Europe

While in Italy and in France, the scientific community is calling on their governments to ease the regulation on plants derived from new genome techniques and that times are ready to move forward, in England the Parliament has approved legislation that ease the acceptance of gene-editing field trials, and Kenya adopts guidelines on genome-editing techniques […]

FARM TO FORK NEWS: war in Ukraine hinders F2F and divide institutions

The war in Ukraine has opened discussions on targets of the Farm to fork strategy, with institutional figures taking opposite sides. Notably, the Commission (Timmermans, Kyriakides) is still defending the objectives of this strategy, arguing that the renewed call on EU independence from, for instance, fertilizers and pesticides imports is very topical and that the […]

NUTRITION & FOOD POLICIES: time for a real EU nutrition strategy

In the context of the French presidency of the EU and the upcoming French presidential elections, two French doctors called for the next President to establish a real, coherent, and efficient European nutrition strategy that should find its basis in education and, notably schools as a tool to address the obesity pandemic and reverse the trends in childhood […]

WINE NEWS: war threatens the sector

In the face of the conflict in Ukraine, the month of March was punctuated by government announcements of new sanctions against Russia, and decisions by businesses and citizens to boycott certain products from Russia. The conflict is nevertheless threatening the production of certain crops, notably barley, for which producers fear a shortage and warn of […]

LIVESTOCK IN THE EU – PERIODIC NEWS

The European livestock sector is facing a growing number of concerns. These include the rising costs of energy, fertiliser and feed, as well as the growing economic impact of veterinary diseases (African swine fever and highly pathogenic avian influenza).  In Germany, the federal government wants to reduce the proportion of food of animal origin (up to 80% for meat) […]

WINE NEWS: BECA report approved without damage for the sector

The month of February was marked by debates in the European Parliament on wine consumption. The European Parliament’s rejection of rapporteur BECA’s proposal equating excessive alcohol consumption with moderate wine consumption is noteworthy, while there is growing concern about the international situation. The war between Ukraine and Russia threatens the wine sector, especially in Spain, […]