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September 2020

Measures and impacts related to the Covid-19 crisis / Monthly watch end of September 2020

At European Parliament level, Paolo De Castro (S&D), rapporteur on the recovery plan dossier, proposed that at least 2/3 of the total recovery package should be devoted to investment in sustainable development and digitization. 

At the meeting of the Council of agriculture ministers, Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski explained that despite the recession caused by the pandemic, the value of EU agri-food exports reached €75.8 billion in January-May 2020, an increase of 2% compared to the same period of the previous year.

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New breeding techniques / Monthly watch September 2020

This month hot topic on New Breeding Techniques focused mainly on a controversial new study published on “Food” describing experiments which could lead to potentially “detect GMOs derived from genome-editing techniques”. 

In Germany, CDU/CSU underlined its view that “it should not be regulated as genetically modified organisms “. In Germany as well, a new experimental use of CRISPR/Cas by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology succeeded to change genetic sequence within a chromosome. CRISPR/Cas9 has also been used by a joint US-UK research effort on pigs, goats, and cattle to create sperm with genetically enhanced traits for possible offsprings.

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Measures and impacts related to the Covid-19 crisis / Monthly watch mid-September 2020

Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski announced at the informal Council meeting in Koblenz that he is in charge  of drawing up a plan to ensure food security in case of future crises. Furthermore, opening up to pressure from MEPs, the Commissioner expressed his willingness to make the €8 current billion (7.5 billion constant euros) recovery funds decided for the sector available from January 2021.

For details on the Authorisations for State aid schemes: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/home/en

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State of the Union: the president of the commission before the europe parliament

Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, has given today her first ever ‘State of the Union Address’ at the European Parliament in Brussels. This annual event is significant to demonstrate the European Commission’s accountability towards the EU’s democratically elected representatives, the Members of the European Parliament and to be able to debate on the vision and roadmap that the European Commission is proposing.