The European Commission has delayed four key pieces of Green Deal legislation, according to the new Commission program seen by POLITICO.
With European elections now set for June 6-9, 2024, the holdup will increase pressure on Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission to push through its green agenda before the clock runs down on its mandate.
The executive will not publish the food and biodiversity package until July 5 — a month later than originally planned.
This package includes a new Soil Health Law, regulation on plants produced by new genomic techniques (NGTs) and revisions of the food waste and textiles aspects in the EU Waste Framework Directive and of legislation on seeds and other plant and forest reproductive material.
The delay comes as the EU’s green policies face pushback from the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), which has been pitching itself as a defender of farmers ahead of next year’s vote.
The conservative party recently adopted a resolution rejecting two other key Green Deal proposals: new rules on pesticides and nature restoration. The EPP is von der Leyen’s political home and its campaign is putting her and her signature environmental project in the firing line.
Environmental advocacy groups are, meanwhile, urging the Commission to resist pressure from the political right and advance “ambitious” proposals for the food and biodiversity package.
But most are critical of Brussels’ decision to regulate NGTs — which use genetic engineering to make crops more drought- or pest-resistant — differently from classic genetically modified organisms (GMOs), fearing the new rules would be less stringent.
The last meeting of agriculture ministers in Brussels before the summer recess is set for July 24 and 25, leaving them only a short window to look at the proposals before the European capital goes into vacation mode.
