Edition: International | Greek
MENU

Home » EU Actually

‘Sneaky’ Commission tried to conceal important study

MEP’s were furious that the Commission put an important study for half a year ‘in somebody’s draw in an office’ to keep it away from the EP

By: N. Peter Kramer - Posted: Wednesday, October 20, 2021

The report concludes that environmental improvements of the Farm to Fork strategy would be accompanied by a 10% reduction of EU supply for agricultural products, reaching a maximum of 15% reduction for meats.
The report concludes that environmental improvements of the Farm to Fork strategy would be accompanied by a 10% reduction of EU supply for agricultural products, reaching a maximum of 15% reduction for meats.

N. Peter Kramer’s Weekly Column

MEP’s were furious that the Commission put an important study for half a year ‘in somebody’s draw in an office’ to keep it away from the EP. The JRC (Joint Research Centre) study, an evaluation of the Commission’s food policy called the Farm to Fork strategy, was published mid-August but was clearly earmarked for publication in January. A note dated 13 January addressed to the Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski read: ‘The study has now been cleared’.

EP rapporteur on the Farm to Fork strategy, Herbert Dorfmann, said it was ‘quite obvious’ that the Commission didn’t want to publish this study, so did it ‘in the middle of summer, so nobody would read it’. The discovery that the study was ready months before official publication made MEP’s even more angry.

MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen mentioned that the Commission was pressuring the EP to make the Farm to Fork strategy targets binding and to conclude the negotiations of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) while ‘concealing’ the results of the study. “Throughout those negotiations, this study was put in somebody’s drawer in an office. But it is really going to have an impact on farmers and consumers’, he said. His colleague MEP Clara Aguilera, ‘we need to clarify the issue’. MEP Gilles LeBreton said he was ‘scandalised’ adding that the Commission was ‘sneaky’ because the impact assessment announces ‘catastrophic consequences for agriculture’.

And where is it all about? The report concludes that environmental improvements of the Farm to Fork strategy would be accompanied by a 10% reduction of EU supply for agricultural products, reaching a maximum of 15% reduction for meats.

It makes me think of Niccolo Machiavelli, who once wrote ‘The end justifies the means’. May be the new way of working for the Commission?

READ ALSO

EU Actually

PM Francois Bayrou’s ‘moment de verite’

N. Peter KramerBy: N. Peter Kramer

France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou has proposed cutting two public holidays as part of a 2026 budget proposal to slash overall spending

Europe

Europe’s 2040 climate target isn’t just for environmentalists

Europe’s 2040 climate target isn’t just for environmentalists

Europe can’t decarbonise the world on its own. But it must develop policies that work so that other nations can copy and adapt them

Business

To save the Single Market, bring back Delors’ 1992 playbook

To save the Single Market, bring back Delors’ 1992 playbook

Most people familiar with EU affairs know the single market is a myth. Hailed as the bedrock of the European Union, it was never completed and is now crumbling.

MARKET INDICES

Powered by Investing.com
All contents © Copyright EMG Strategic Consulting Ltd. 1997-2025. All Rights Reserved   |   Home Page  |   Disclaimer  |   Website by Theratron