The European Commission postponed the implementation of four key laws of the Green agreement shutterstock

The European Commission postponed the implementation of four key laws of the Green agreement

Katerina Belousova

The delay will increase pressure on Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission, as she must have time to implement her green agenda before the end of her mandate.

The European Commission has postponed the adoption of four key legislative acts of the "Green Deal" on food and biodiversity.

This was due to opposition from the center-right European People's Party (EPP), which positions itself as a defender of farmers ahead of the 2024 vote, POLITICO reported.

It is noted that this package of laws will be published on July 5, that is, a month later than planned. The package contains laws regarding:

  • soil health;
  • plants obtained with the help of new genomic technologies (NGT);
  • revision of aspects of food and textile waste in the EU Waste Framework Directive;
  • seeds and other plant and forest reproductive material.

The article emphasized that since the European elections are scheduled for June 6-9, 2024, such a delay will increase the pressure on Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission. She must have time to implement her green agenda before her mandate expires.

The authors explained that the Conservative Party recently passed a resolution rejecting two other key Green Deal proposals, namely new regulations on pesticides and nature restoration.

"The EPP is von der Leyen's political homeland, and her campaign puts her and the environmental project she signed into the line of fire," the article says.

Environmental rights groups are calling on the EC to resist pressure and push forward ambitious proposals for a package of food and biodiversity laws. The European Commission's decision to regulate NGTs, which use genetic engineering to increase crop resistance to drought or pests, other than classical genetically modified organisms (GMOs), has also been criticized. After all, there are fears that the new rules will be less strict.

The article emphasized that the last meeting of agriculture ministers in Brussels before the summer vacation is scheduled for July 24 and 25, which leaves them little time to consider the proposals.

Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that in November 2022, the European Commission asked to remove the modernization of the international agreement of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) from the agenda of the ECT summit, which since 1998 has promoted investments in oil and gas in the former Soviet bloc.

As EcoPolitic previously reported, the European Commission presented the Green Deal industrial plan, which is designed to increase the competitiveness of the European industry with zero emissions and promote a rapid transition to climate neutrality.

Related
Energy giant BP has changed its mind about cutting oil and gas production
Energy giant BP has changed its mind about cutting oil and gas production

The company also suspended investment in new offshore wind and biofuel projects and reduced the number of low-carbon hydrogen projects to 10 from 30

EU countries have adopted the long-awaited law "On the Restoration of Nature"
EU countries have adopted the long-awaited law "On the Restoration of Nature"

It will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU

A plant for the production of green hydrogen will be built in Odesa region
A plant for the production of green hydrogen will be built in Odesa region

The business plans to produce ecological fuel on an industrial scale