{"id":112654,"date":"2023-10-03T13:06:35","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T11:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/?p=112654"},"modified":"2023-10-03T16:07:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T14:07:29","slug":"top-candidate-for-green-deal-chief-favours-industry-interests-over-major-commitments-on-food-animal-welfare-and-chemicals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/top-candidate-for-green-deal-chief-favours-industry-interests-over-major-commitments-on-food-animal-welfare-and-chemicals\/","title":{"rendered":"Top candidate for Green Deal chief favours industry interests over major commitments on food, animal welfare and chemicals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, the EU Commissioner set to oversee the future of the EU Green Deal, today received <\/span>a<\/span> <\/span>grilling from the European Parliament<\/span><\/span><\/a> over his expanded portfolio.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite promising to ensure that the \u201c<\/span><\/span>Green Deal continues to thrive<\/span><\/span><\/a>“, Commissioner \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d dodged questions about key Green Deal legislation on food, animal welfare and <\/span>chemicals<\/span> which <\/span>have<\/span> been delayed, raising concerns it may be abandoned entirely.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking urgent action on <\/span><\/span><\/span>chem<\/span><\/span><\/span>ical <\/span>pollution whilst d<\/span>elivering<\/span> healthy and sustainable food systems and strong animal welfare legislation<\/span> is v<\/span>ital<\/span> for the Green Deal, as recognised by \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d. <\/span>But i<\/span>t<\/span> is<\/span> also <\/span><\/span>wanted<\/span><\/em> \u2013 <\/span><\/span>and increasingly <\/span><\/span>demanded<\/em> – <\/span><\/span>by people everywhere<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Direct democratic engagement on animal <\/span>welfare issues show that <\/span>citizens want change, <\/span>with <\/span>five of the ten successful <\/span>European <\/span>Citizens\u2019 Initiatives <\/span>concerning<\/span> animal welfare.<\/span> With diet-related diseases on the rise, <\/span>huge amounts<\/span> of <\/span>food waste<\/span>, and ‘<\/span>greedflation’<\/span>\u00a0putting <\/span>pressure on consumers, civil society<\/a> and <\/span>scientists<\/span><\/a> have <\/span>urge<\/span>d the EU to urgently put forward legislation on food systems,<\/span> warning that<\/a> “‘<\/span>business-as-usual’<\/span>\u00a0is no <\/span>longer <\/span>a viable<\/span> option”<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Yet despite this, the European Commission\u2019s commitment to deliver promised legislation on <\/span><\/span>food<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>, <\/span>and<\/span> the long-awaited <\/span>revision<\/span> of <\/span><\/span>chemicals (<\/span><\/span><\/span>REACH<\/span><\/span><\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> and<\/span> <\/span>animal welfare<\/span><\/span><\/a> legislation <\/span><\/span>rests on shaky ground.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the EU Green Deal, a revision of <\/span>15<\/span>-year<\/span>–<\/span>old <\/span>animal welfare <\/span>legislation<\/span>, <\/span><\/span>a new <\/span><\/span><\/span>law on S<\/span><\/span><\/span>ustainable Food Systems<\/span>\u00a0and <\/span>REACH <\/span>had been promised for the <\/span><\/span>third quarter of 2023<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span> Both the animal welfare and <\/span>food laws <\/span>received a <\/span>green<\/span> light<\/span> from the EU<\/span>\u2019s <\/span>Regulatory Scrutiny Board in July<\/span> – <\/span>REACH <\/span>received<\/span> it back in <\/span>November <\/span>2022<\/span> – <\/span>c<\/span>learing the way for their publication<\/span>.<\/span><\/span> However, <\/span>w<\/span>hen<\/span> pressed by MEPs <\/span>on <\/span>a publication <\/span>date<\/span>, Sefcovic <\/span>responded that<\/span> “w<\/span>ork is ongoing”, a clear sign of the Commission bowing to pressure from <\/span><\/span>industry lobbies<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> and <\/span><\/span><\/span>reactionary political forces<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> who have waged an all-out war on<\/span> agriculture<\/span> and <\/span>chemical <\/span>rela<\/span>ted<\/span> elements of the EU Green Deal in recent months.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the coming weeks, <\/span>t<\/span>he<\/span> Commission is due to publish the last Work Programme of its mandate <\/span>which will give a final <\/span>indication<\/span> of whether the Executive\u2019s commitment to all parts of the Green Deal <\/span>remains<\/span> strong.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

C\u00e9lia Nyssens-James<\/strong><\/a>, Policy Manager for Agriculture and Food Systems at the EEB said: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“<\/span>Our food system <\/span>drives<\/span> enormous environmental <\/span>destruction<\/span> and <\/span>makes<\/span> us sick<\/span>, with <\/span>diets now the leading c<\/span>ause of <\/span>early<\/span> death<\/span>. <\/span>The<\/span> EU must<\/span> deliver th<\/span>e promised new<\/span> la<\/span>w<\/span> on sustainable food systems <\/span>now<\/span> to address these huge challenges. A<\/span>ny <\/span>further <\/span>delay is a<\/span> blow to<\/span> the<\/span> millions of Europeans struggling to access healthy food<\/span>, <\/span>to<\/span> the farmers<\/span> being pushed out of business by a cut-throat <\/span>food system, and to future generations<\/span> who will have to deal<\/span> with the environmental degradation we <\/span>are<\/span> caus<\/span>ing<\/span>.”<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Isabel Paliotta<\/span><\/b><\/a>, Policy Officer for Sustainable Food Systems said:<\/p>\n

“This Commission promised to deliver on EU citizens’ express will and revise the outdated and unscientific EU legislation on animal welfare. After years of work on this file, \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d today gave no explicit indication that the revision will be published and instead insisted it is a \u201ccomplicated matter\u201d. It’s not. The science is there, the work has been done, and EU citizens have spoken. Anything short of delivery would show a blatant disregard for the suffering of millions of animals as well as EU democratic process.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tatiana Santos<\/strong><\/a>, Head of Chemicals Policy<\/span><\/span><\/span> at the EEB said: <\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“<\/span><\/span>The Green Deal will be broken if the toxics-free and zero-pollution pillars fail. Fixing REACH is the only way forward to our common future. <\/span><\/span><\/span>It is the most <\/span><\/span><\/span>important tool<\/span><\/span><\/span> to achieve these goals, but the long-awaited revision is under threat, as the European Commission <\/span><\/span><\/span>remains<\/span><\/span><\/span> ambiguous on the future of the chemicals law reform. The EU cannot <\/span><\/span><\/span>turn a blind eye to<\/span><\/span><\/span> chemical pollution. Our citizens are astute and discerning, and they will recognize if their health and well-being as well as the planet and all living beings are being sacrificed for empty gestures as a gift to polluters.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

END<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Notes to editors<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maro<\/span>\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, the Slovak Commissioner, is the leading candidate set to replace Frans Timmermans, who resigned on 22 August to run as a candidate in the upcoming <\/span>general elections in the Netherlands<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Part of the appointment process involves an assessment of <\/span>\u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d’s skill,<\/span> experience and suitability by MEPs from relevant Committees, followed by a vote in Plenary on Thursday 5 October. While the Parliament only holds a consultative role in this selection, the Commission is obliged to take its opinion on board.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Further information available on the Commission’s website<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, the EU Commissioner set to oversee the future of the EU Green Deal, today received a grilling from the European Parliament over his expanded [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":112655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,130,569,3,4,144],"tags":[145,889,52,890],"class_list":["post-112654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-chemicals","category-eu-green-deal","category-news","category-press-release","category-homepage","tag-agriculture","tag-animal-welfare","tag-chemicals","tag-food-systems"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screenshot-2023-10-03-113225-2.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eeb.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}