00As of December 2025, craft and industrial products will fully benefit from an EU-wide Geographical indications (GIs) protection under Regulation (EU) 2023/2411. Geographical indications are an intellectual property protection that links specific products, which are European, local, and authentic, to their geographical origin, ensuring that these products possess qualities, reputation, or characteristics that are inherently […]
Read More
New wolf protection statute proposal approved
The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention today voted in favour of the EU proposal to adapt the protection status of the wolf from “strictly protected” to “protected”. The change will enter into force on 7 March 2025. After this date, the EU may adapt the relevant annexes of the Habitats Directive. The Commission will […]
Read More
Plant health law: Council adopts improved rules to protect against plant pests
Today the Council has adopted a targeted revision of the EU plant health law, which improves the way the EU fights plant pests, ensures that the plants that enter the EU are safe, and simplifies procedures. Main elements One of the ways in which the revision improves the existing framework and better protects the health […]
Read More
Smart farming applications for more sustainable and efficient agriculture
The EU-funded SQAT project is developing a mapping service to tackle soil quality and sustainability issues in the agricultural industry. There has been a large uptake of precision agriculture applications in the past two decades. However, the way most farmers collect information about their soils remains mostly the same. Better data on soil properties would […]
Read More
Decline in EU livestock population in 2023
In 2023, the EU‘s livestock populations were lower than a year earlier. Compared with 2022, the pig and bovine populations decreased by 1%, while sheep declined by 3%, and goats by 5%. In 2023, the EU had 133 million pigs, 74 million bovine animals, 58 million sheep, and 11 million goats. This information comes from provisional data […]
Read More
EU-New Zealand trade agreement enters into force, opening up new opportunities for EU exporters
EU businesses, producers and farmers are now able to take advantage of a host of new export opportunities with the entry into force of the EU-New Zealand trade agreement today. The deal is expected to cut €140 million a year in duties for EU companies. Thanks to this deal, EU-New Zealand trade is expected to […]
Read More
European Commission launches call for proposals for EU Agri-Food Chain Observatory
The European Commission has launched a call for applications to set up the EU Agri-Food Chain Observatory (“AFCO”). The creation of this Observatory, which will examine production costs, margins and commercial practices, was announced in mid-March as one of the measures to strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain and to reinforce […]
Read More
EU agricultural labour productivity falls by 7% in 2023
According to the first preliminary data for 2023 from the economic accounts for agriculture (EAA), the index of agricultural labour productivity in the EU is estimated to have decreased year-on-year by 6.6%, after growth between 2019 and 2022. This downturn was underpinned by a 7.9% decrease in the real value of the income generated by units […]
Read More
EU and Neighbourhood countries commit to enhanced fisheries management control in the Mediterranean and Black Sea
Among the main measures, the EU and neighbouring countries agreed within the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) to launch new tools to keep track of the activities of all fleets fishing in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas and sharing the various multiannual management plans (MAPs). The new mechanism will follow up on cases of non-compliance through appropriate and […]
Read More