EU

European Commission increases support for the EU's beekeeping sector

The European Commission will provide €120 million to the EU's beekeeping sector over the next three years to support its essential role in agriculture and the environment. This represents an increase of €12 million compared to the support provided for the period from 2017 to 2019.

Commission proposes to increase price transparency

Having banned unfair trading practices and improved producer cooperation, the Commission is today presenting the third element to improve fairness in the food supply chain by introducing greater transparency in the way prices are reported throughout the chain. 

The European Commission today tabled a proposal that will make available crucial information on how prices are determined as agri-food products move along the food supply chain.

Young farmers: €1 billion to facilitate access to finance

The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) launched today a €1 billion loans package targeting specifically young farmers. In 2017, 27% of the loan applications submitted to banks by EU young farmers were rejected, compared to only 9% for other farms.

The €1 billion package announced today by Commissioner for agriculture Phil Hogan and EIB Vice-President Andrew McDowell, aims at increasing access to funding for EU farmers, especially young farmers.

New rules to boost consumer trust approved by MEPs

New rules to ensure reliability and transparency in EU food safety risk assessment procedure were adopted on Wednesday (April, 17).

MEPs have approved new rules, already agreed with EU ministers, which ensure the EU’s risk assessment procedure for food safety is more reliable, transparent and objective, passing with 603 votes in favour, 17 against and 27 abstentions.

Poultry meat production in EU at new high in 2018

The European Union (EU) produced 15.2 million tonnes of poultry meat in 2018, a new high. This represents a cumulative rise of about one quarter or 3.2 million tonnes since 2010.

In 2018, about 70 % of the EU production of poultry meat came from just six Member States: Poland (16.8 %), the United Kingdom (12.9 %), France (11.4 %), Spain (10.7 %), Germany (10.4 %) and Italy (8.5 %).

Source: Eurostat

Commission welcomes agreement to better protect geographical indications

The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have reached a political agreement on the rules that lay down how the EU will operate as a member of the Geneva Act, a multilateral treaty for the protection of geographical indications managed by the World Intellectual Property Organization.