Farm Europe warmly welcomes the approval by the ENVI Committee, today, of the provisional agreement resulting from interinstitutional negotiations on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs).
The favourable vote in the ENVI Committee sends an important signal of the European Parliament’s commitment to promoting responsible, science-based innovation, in support of the sustainability and competitiveness of EU agricultural enterprises. European farmers and consumers alike need this text to be adopted as swiftly as possible, in order to be equipped with the necessary tools for a more resilient, competitive and sustainable agricultural sector.
Farm Europe believes that the compromise reached during trilogue negotiations represents a crucial step towards providing European agriculture with a clear, balanced and competitive regulatory framework, finally enabling the concrete application of innovations that have become indispensable to address the challenges posed by climate change, increasing pressure from pests and diseases, water resilience, and the progressive reduction in available crop protection products.
The agreement offers a much-needed opportunity for both farmers and consumers. This will support the path towards sustainable intensification, enabling European agriculture to produce more and better, while laying the foundations for a resilient and increasingly carbon-neutral economy in which agriculture is part of the solution.
While the deal is necessarily a compromise, it nevertheless represents a light at the end of the tunnel after years in which European farmers have been constrained by political choices that placed ideology ahead of science, and consumers have been left uncertain about the real nature of their food options.
Regarding the next steps, the Council is expected to adopt its formal first reading position in the AGRIFISH Council of 30th March allowing a formal adoption by the EP plenary scheduled for 27th April.
O artigo foi publicado originalmente em Farm Europe.
