European institutions are discussing the repercussions of the Farm to Fork Strategy
Presented by the European Commission in May 2020, the Farm to Fork Strategy is an overarching policy framework which is part of the European Green Deal, addressing changes needed throughout the entire food value chain, from production to transformation to consumption. Even though it is only a Strategy and not a concrete legislative proposal, since it has wide reaching implications on several EU policies, all European institutions are intensely working on their responses to this Strategy. The European Parliament is preparing a so-called Initiative Report, where the lead is jointly with the Agriculture and
Environment Committees. A public hearing is planned in November for the draft report which shall probably be published in December 2020. After translation, the report will be open to amendments and be followed by a joint AGRI & ENVI vote, before being carried out to the European Parliament Plenary, envisaged in April 2021. As the Strategy specifically mentions the importance of crop diversity and seed security, and that the Commission has ensured that it will take measures to ensure easier market access for traditional and locally adapted varieties, it is important that this aspect of the Strategy is also highlighted in the European Parliament report. The European Council of Ministers, in its Agriculture configuration, is also
currently preparing its reaction to the Commission’s Strategy. At the time of writing, leaked draft Council conclusions expressly “call for the Commission, together with the Member States, to work on the issue of genetic diversity, e.g. with a European strategy for genetic resources for the agriculture and food sector”. Should the conclusions be adopted, the inclusion of such a statement could be used in future advocacy for crop diversity
