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Richard Wright: EU seeks tough food sovereignty and livestock transport rules

MEPs want tougher rules governing livestock transport.

Sovereignty over market access was one of the rallying calls of the UK Government when it was negotiating its Brexit deal with the EU.

Now France, as the current holder of the rotating EU presidency, has given a new twist to the use of that term.

The French farm minister, Julien Denormandie, told members of the European Parliament‘s agriculture committee that the EU must increase food sovereignty.

He defined this as a focus on ensuing that third countries exporting to the EU met the same standards as those faced by farmers and food processors in Europe.

This is a message that will go down well with farmers and it is no surprise France is pushing it when its president, Emmanuel Macron, is facing a tough election battle.

The French farm minister linked this call to a renewal of the ideals of the EU, stressing that the Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) was one of the first common policies and one of the most significant.

Although this will be popular with farmers, it will be hard to deliver in the context of relatively liberal World Trade Organisation rules.

The EU wants all food imports to be produced to the same standards as European food.

Livestock transport

Members of the European Parliament are stepping up their campaign against the live transport of animals, claiming that over the past decade the number has increased by 19%.

MEPs want tighter restrictions and tougher penalties.

Their findings have been welcomed and publicised by the European Commission as it bolsters its campaign for more action in this area.

It says that annually four million cattle, four million sheep and and 28 million pigs are transported for more than eight hours.

MEPs want a policy based on the principle that journey times should always be as short as possible with transport only used when there is no alternative.

They also want tougher rules on animals being fit to travel and are pressing for parallel regulations in countries exporting to the EU.

The track record for both the Commission and parliament in this area is that rules are more easily created than enforced across all member states.

Climate policies

Meanwhile, both Brussels and London are convinced the pursuit of green policies reflect the wishes of their citizens.

In the EU this is via the Green Deal and Farm to Fork policy for agriculture, while in the UK post-Brexit farm support plans vary but are all rooted in a similar drive for green outcomes.

Politicians believe people want policies to tackle climate change.

Now a report from the European Commission claims climate change mitigation is the top priority for people across all age groups.

This is based on a Eurobarometer survey, which showed 91% of people aged from 15 to 24 saw this as the most important policy priority, dropping to a still high 84% for those above 55.

Not surprisingly the Commission has used this to conclude there is support for its policies and for its new and greener Cap.

Overall more than  half of people deemed climate change the most important future issue for the EU, ahead even of health, living standards and controlling migration.

  • Richard Wright is an agricultural industry commentator.