During the Agricultural and Fisheries Council on 19 and 20 October 2020, European ministers adopted Council conclusions on the Farm to Fork Strategy, focusing on ensuring “sufficient and affordable food while contributing to EU climate neutrality by 2050 and ensuring a fair income and strong support for primary producers”.
As regards food waste, the Council reaffirms its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 and welcomes the Commission’s proposals to prevent or reduce food losses and food waste, in particular through the revision of EU rules so as to prevent the misunderstanding or misuse of date marking.
The Council also recalls the Commission’s obligation in the Directive 2008/98/EC Waste Framework Directive), as revised by Directive (EU) 2018/851, to consider in 2023 the feasibility of establishing an EU-wide food waste reduction target to be met by 2030 on the basis of the data reported by Member States and in accordance with the common methodology established.
You can find the conclusions in English here, the text will be available in all EU official languages soon.
Julia Klöckner, German, Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture of Germany comments: “For the first time, the entire food system is taken into account as a whole – from producers to consumers. It is a solid starting point and we are looking forward to working altogether the coming years towards a truly sustainable and fair food system in Europe and beyond.”
The Council also adopted a general approach for the Common Agricultural Policy, that includes mandatory eco-schemes and enhanced conditionality to reach environmental goals, while still providing necessary flexibility to Member States.
Read the main results here.
