Naturally, officials in Beijing listened carefully to Ursula von der Leyen during her keynote speech on China policy last week. But despite her clear choice of words, the Commission President and French President Emmanuel Macron are likely to be spared criticism from the Chinese during their trip toChina. Ahead of today’s importanttalks with Head of State Xi Jinping , Jörn Petring and Amelie Richter capture the mood in the People’s Republic. The state media, for example, seem to agree on who is to blame for the cooled relations between Brussels and Beijing: the United States.
50 percent fewer pesticides, 50 percent fewer nutrient losses, 30 percent less fertilizer by 2030 at the latest: these are the goals of the Farm-to-Fork strategy, which is causing heated debate in Brussels. Some experts agree that the ecological turnaround in agriculture cannot succeedwithout digital technologies, as Timo Landenberger reports. But the hurdles, for example for digital precision farming, are high. Politicians must now urgently create the necessary framework conditions, says Thomas Gambke, chairman of the Green Business Dialogue.
The debate has also begun on what climate target the EU is aiming for in 2040. Last Friday, the EU Commission launched a public consultation on this issue. Some members of the EU Parliament are calling for a limited role for technological CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS). Too many sectors are expecting a lot from the technology, criticized Tiemo Wölken, climate policy spokesman for the S&D Group. Yet such solutions would only be used in “extreme niche areas”. Read more in the News.
Your Sarah Schaefer
Feature
Beijing sees EU as hostage to US
Beijing listened carefully last week when Ursula von der Leyen gave her keynote speech on China. The head of the EU Commission called for a readjustment of relations. But despite her clear choice of words, she and French President Emmanuel Macron will probably be spared criticism from the Chinese during their joint trip to China. Beijing has something else in mind: It wants to prevent what it sees as a further drift of the EU toward the United States.
Von der Leyen and Macron landed in Beijing on Wednesday. The Commission President was received by Environment Minister Huang Runqiu at Beijing Airport a few hours after Macron.
Macron warns against arms deliveries to Russia
Upon his arrival, Macron addressed the French community in Beijing. “The accumulation of power” in trade, in the economy and also militarily has changed China, Macron said. Dialogue with the country is nonetheless essential, he added. He warned of possible arms deliveries from China to Russia. In response to questions from journalists, however, Macron indicated that he would not threaten sanctions in this regard during his meeting with Xi Jinping on Thursday.
Today, Thursday, the important talks with Head of State Xi Jinping are scheduled. Chinese state media made it clear even before their arrival that the talks are not to be confrontational. The picture they painted is clear: The EU is being pressured by the United States to turn away from the People’s Republic.
“Both sides should overcome US interference and focus on cooperation”, the party newspaper Global Times wrote. The US is urging Europeans to distance themselves from China, the paper commented in another article: “The crisis in Ukraine has increased the EU’s strategic dependence on the US”.
Beijing understood very well that the war had caused a cooling of European-Chinese relations. But instead of finding fault with themselves, the Chinese blame Washington. The EU has been “kidnapped” by the US, wrote “China Daily“, speaking of a “dilemma” for the EU.
Beijing wants to woo Europeans
China wants to use the visit of Macron and von der Leyen to woo the Europeans. Shortly before the two guests, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was already in China last week. In mid-April, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will travel to Beijing. China sees all these appointments as an opportunity to revive exchanges that were largely suspended during the Covid pandemic.
Europeans are promised rewarding business: China’s economy is experiencing a robust recovery, Fu Cong, Beijing’s top representative in Brussels, said ahead of the visit. The Europeans are certainly also coming “to explore business opportunities in such a large and thriving market”,he said.
BDI: investment agreement must be reassessed
Beijing still wants to sign the CAI investment agreement with the EU, whose ratification is on hold due to the dispute over the human rights situation in China’s Xinjiang region and mutual sanctions.
“Before resuming the ratification process, a reassessment of the agreement would first be necessary“, said BDI Chief Executive Tanja Gönner. The German industry welcomed the investment agreement between the EU and China at the time it was concluded at the end of 2020. Since then, a lot has changed in China and the rest of the world, Gönner said.
The BDI thus echoed von der Leyen’s statements on the CAI. In her keynote speech, she had for the first time publicly suggested that the agreement could not be pursued. Nevertheless, the European business delegation will certainly not return empty-handed from China.
Rough tone in social media
Commentators in the Chinese press have quite different assessments of the European visitors: Macron, with his repeated demands on Beijing as a mediator, and the accompanying business delegation are seen as more constructive. Von der Leyen is portrayed more like an uninvited guest because of her keynote speech.
Sima Nan, one of the country’s leading political commentators and propaganda bloggers, accuses the Commission president of forcing China to choose between Russia and Europe: “She doesn’t understand the idea of the middle way, and she doesn’t understand China’s concept of a human community of destiny”, Sima writes on his blog. In China’s social media, the assessment of the European guests is far more drastic. There, the head of the EU Commission in particular is also addressed in an insulting manner.
Iran and Saudi Arabia meet in Beijing at the same time
Progress on the Ukraine issue is unlikely to be made during the visit. The Chinese are also stressing that the conflict will be discussed. But almost two weeks after his trip to Moscow, Xi has still not spoken on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky. Serious mediation efforts would look different.
Wednesday, shortly before the arrival of the Europeans, two more guests suddenly announced themselves in Beijing: On the same day as Macron and von der Leyen, the top diplomats of Saudi Arabia and Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, are also scheduled to arrive on Thursday.
Subtle message to the EU
They will shake hands in China for the first time in seven years. In March, Beijing successfully brokered an agreement to bring the two hostile states back together. The subtle message to the Europeans is that there are other important geopolitical issues besides Ukraine.
If everything goes according to plan, China’s evening news on Thursday will be able to announce two diplomatic successes to the people: on the one hand, successful talks with France and the EU, and on the other, a handshake between Iran and Saudi Arabia for the history books. Jörn Petring, Collaboration: Amelie Richter
The Farm-to-Fork strategy is intended to finally put Europe’s agriculture on the path to transformation. The goals: 50 percent fewer pesticides, 50 percent fewer nutrient losses, and 30 percent less fertilizer by 2030 at the latest. This is ambitious and is causing heated debate in Brussels. After all, food security remains the main task of the Common European Agricultural Policy.
Some experts and associations, including the Green Business Dialogue, are convinced that the goals can only be achieved if the ecological transformation of agriculturegoes hand in hand with digital transformation. Catch phrase: Smart Digital Precision Farming.
Up to now, farmland has mainly been managed uniformly, i. e. fertilizers and pesticides have been applied evenly across the field. However, arable land usually has very heterogeneous conditions. Soil properties, water retention or pest infestation can vary from square meter to square meter. As a result, plants are oversupplied in one place and undersupplied in another.
Digital precision tillage
Digital precision tillage is set to change this, reducing water wastage and the use of fertilizers and pesticides while at the same time increasing yields. This is because satellite or drone images can be used to precisely determine and evaluate the different conditions in an area. The data is then transferred to a machine that uses GPS technology to drive over the field fully automatically and distribute water, pesticides and fertilizers with pinpoint accuracy.
What sounds like a dream of the future has long been technically possible and is already being used in some cases. But the hurdles are high. The changeover is associated with enormous effort, uncertainties and, above all, costs.
Green Business Dialogue urges haste
In order not to leave smaller companies behind in the transformation process, to ensure a level playing field and planning security, the politicians in Berlin and Brussels must create the appropriate framework conditions. There is an urgent need for action, says Thomas Gambke, Chairman of the Green Business Dialogue (GWD).
According to a draft GWD position paper exclusively available to Table.Media, this includes:
Ensuring digital infrastructure, including in particular broadband expansion and coverage with 5G technology;
standardization of technologies and data to ensure fair competitive conditions and to prevent new dependencies and monopolies among individual large corporations;
ensuring data protection – on the other hand, it should also simplify access to weather and geodata, for example, and ensures transparency and monitoring;
promoting training and advice, especially with regard to the necessary IT knowledge, but also with regard to investment needs and profitability.
Cost sharing in cooperatives?
“The cost of transformation is very high, and the question of how to organize that, especially for smaller farms, is very important”, Gambke says. “One possible solution would be to share the facilities through cooperatives“. That’s well-practiced in agriculture, he says.
The socio-economic component should not be underestimated, he said. “These are predominantly family farms. Knowledge about their own land and practices has been passed down, in some cases over several generations. A digital transformation makes sense for the ecological and economic further development of farms. At the same time, it represents a deeper encroachment on farmers’ authority and self-determination“, Gambke says. He advises that the industry be closely involved in the creation of a political framework.
Subgoal of the CAP: modernization
Brussels is aware of the potential. Digital technologies are increasingly finding their way into the EU’s agricultural policy legislation. For example, the Commission’s proposal for a new regulation to reduce the use of pesticides also provides for strategic advice and support with regard to precision agriculture. In addition, further delegated acts are to define criteria for the use of drones, including the possible application of pesticides from the air.
The EU is also pursuing the goal of modernizing agriculture in the new funding period of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Thus, the member states are encouraged to support investments in digital technologies in their national strategic plans.
In addition to optimizing procedures, these could also lead to a reduction in the administrative burden and better monitoring ofindicators, according to EU Commission sources. Digital technologies are at the heart of the control system (IACS) used by member states to ensure the correct payment of aid to CAP recipients, they said.
Better access to data
In parallel, “horizontal” legal acts from the field of digital policy, including the Data Act, are to provide the appropriate framework for data protection and standardization and enable farmers to have better access to geodata or weather data.
In terms of national implementation, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture refers to the “digital experimental fields“. The use of digital technologies has been tested on 14 farms across Germany since 2019. In addition, the new funding project “Farms of the Future and Regions of the Future” is intended to drive forward the sustainable digital transformation of agriculture. Both projects are intended to acceleratethe transfer of knowledge intopractice and give farmers the opportunity to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies in practice.
Agriculture
Data Act
Digitization
Farm to Fork Strategy
EU-Monitoring
April 13, 2023; 9-10 a.m. Meeting of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) Topics: Draft report on guidelines for the development of a trans-European transport network.Provisional agenda
News
Climate target 2040: CCS only in ‘extreme niche areas’
Now that the EU Commission has begun the process of setting a climate target for 2040, some MEPs in the EU Parliament are calling for a limited role for technological CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS). Tiemo Wölken (SPD) criticizes that too many sectors still believe that “they only have to pursue ‘silver bullets’ such as CCS” and thus get rid of their climate obligations. In fact, such solutions would only be used in “extreme niche areas”.
In addition to emission reduction targets for 2040, the S&D Group’s climate policy spokesman also calls for a separate target for CO2 storage. However, this must be differentiated “into biogenic and technical removals”. Emissions reductions and the protection of natural sinks must also have absolute priority, Wölken said. He himself assumes a target of at least 80 percent CO2 reduction by 2040.
Focus on natural sinks
Michael Bloss (Greens) also calls for a focus on natural sinks in CO2 storage. He wants the EU Commission to set climate neutrality as a target asearly as 2040, for which negative emissions would also be crucial. “The most efficient and sustainable way to do that is to grow forests”. Forests are not only CO2 stores, but also habitats for many species and recreational places for people, Bloss told Table.Media.
Therefore, more forestsmust beprotected, maintained and reforested. The Greens generally urge caution with CCS, fearing fossil lock-in effects, and want to use it only to offset emissions that cannot be prevented.
Peter Liese, environmental spokesman for the European People’s Party (EPP), had already urged that negative emissions be taken into account in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) during the negotiations on reforming the ETS. In this way, CO2 removals could be scaled and made profitable, he hopes. When asked by Table.Media, he did not want to comment on what role CCS should explicitly play for the 2040 climate target.
Commission to present new climate target in 2024
Last Friday, the EU Commission launched a public consultation. It is the prelude to setting the EU climate target for 2040. The feedback from the consultation will be incorporated into an impact assessment that will serve as the basis for the new climate target.
In addition, a new EU scientific advisory board on climate change, the establishment of which was agreed in the EU Climate Change Act, will present a report with detailed quantitative recommendations before the summer. This, too, is to be authoritative for the new target.
Finally, in the first quarter of 2024, the Commission intends to present the 2040 target. The role of CCS will also be examined. luk
CCS
Climate & Environment
Climate Targets
F-gases: Member states set negotiating mandate
The ambassadors of the 27 EU member states set their mandate for the trilogue negotiations with the Parliament and the Commission on F-gases and ozone-depleting substances on Wednesday. The two legislative proposals are intended to tighten the rules for substances that cause greenhouse gas emissions and deplete the ozone layer.
The Council wants to exempttheheat pump industry in particular from strict bans on F-gases, unless there are alternative refrigerants for the heat pumps. A fast ramp-up of heat pumps is a crucial goal of the REPower EU program for energy independence from Russia.
Differentiation between heat pump technologies
The mandate on F-gases provides:
Exceptions to the ban on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) where it jeopardizes REPower EU targets.
Differentiation between different water pump technologies using HFCs: Council wants an earlier ban on air-to-water heat pumps (2027), where alternatives to F-gases already exist, and a later ban on air-to-air heat pumps (2029), where alternatives are more difficult.
Sanctions for breaching the rules should be less prescriptive so that they could be better adapted to different national systems, writes the Council.
The negotiating mandate to revise the rules for ozone-depleting substances is largely in line with the Commission’s proposal and emphasizes stricter requirements for placing the substances on the market.
The EU Parliament adopted its negotiating mandate last week. This means that the trilogue negotiations can begin soon. luk
Climate & Environment
Climate Policy
F-Gase
Commission wants to accelerate bee protection
At the urging of citizens, the EU Commission is pressuring for more speed in the protection of bees. Against the backdrop of an EU-wide citizens’ initiative, the EU authority called on the European Parliament and EU countries to quickly and unconditionally adoptlegislative proposals already on the table “that contribute to the protection and recovery of pollinator populations in Europe (…)”, the Commission announced in Brussels on Wednesday.
The organizers of the citizens’ initiative hadcollectedmore than one million signatures. This is the threshold that must be reached for the EU Commission to deal with such an initiative.
The Commission recognizes the importance of the initiative, the release said, “particularly as the interlocking crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss pose growing challenges to agriculture and food security in Europe”.
Pollinator population declines dramatically
In the EU, one in three species of bees, butterflies and hoverflies is declining. At the same time, 80 percent of crop and wild plant species depend on pollinators. “Half of the EU’s agricultural land is already facing a pollination deficit”.
The initiative’s aim is to phase out the use of synthetic pesticides, make agricultural production methods more environmentally friendly, and gear EU agricultural policy less towards industrial and conventional farming.
The EU Commission referred to existing legislative proposals, for example, on the sustainable use of pesticides and the restoration of nature. EU countries and Parliament still have to negotiate the proposals before they can come into force. The Commission did not announce any new proposals. dpa
Electricity grid operators to take climate impacts into account
Operators must be more transparent about the consequences of climate change for the security of the European power grid. The European regulatory agency ACER in Ljubljana yesterday called on the association of transmission system operators ENTSOE to do so. The EU authority published its assessment of ENTSOE’s draft ten-year network development plan on Wednesday.
It was not possible to assess whether the system’s resilience to the impacts of climate change had been adequately addressed in the draft power sector network development plan, the agency said. It also said the resilience of the power grid to extreme weather events was insufficiently presented.
Drought affects underground cables
Extreme weather events will occur more frequently as a result of climate change. According to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the power supply can be restricted in several ways. Grid infrastructure could be damaged by heavy rain, floods and storms, it said. “High temperatures also degrade the transmission capacity of high-voltage lines. In the case of underground cables, dryness in the ground can prevent heat from escaping and cause power distribution to back up”, the ministry writes.
Resilience to climate change must be taken into account by network operators in their expansion planning in accordance with the TEN-E Regulation on Trans-European Energy Infrastructure. ENTSOE submits the ten-year network development plan every two years. It also serves as the basis for national expansion plans for electricity transmission networks.
The reasons for the construction of new electricity highways include the connection of new offshore wind farms and better European networking of national electricity markets. ber
Electricity market
Renewable energies
Antitrust agency takes a close look at Apple’s market power
The German Federal Cartel Office now also wants to keep a closer eye on Apple. The competition watchdogs in Bonn have decided that the US group is “a company with outstanding cross-market significance for competition“, as they announced on Wednesday. This means that the Cartel Office can take stronger action against the smartphone manufacturer thanks to new rules.
“Apple has a position of economic power across markets that gives the company scope for conduct that is not sufficiently controlled bycompetition“, said Andreas Mundt, head of the Federal Cartel Office, explaining the decision. Apple intends to take legal action against the decision. “The Cartel Office’s classification misrepresents the fierce competition Apple faces in Germany”, a spokesperson criticized.
Procedure for tracking rules
Mundt’s goal is to work with other antitrust authorities to safeguard competition in the digital economy. The Bonn authorities had also found that Amazon, Google and Facebook parent Meta were of overriding importance for competition across markets.
Apple occupies the entire value chain around high-quality mobile digital devices, the antitrust agency said. In addition, the group develops the software for these devices, which enables Apple to bind consumers to its products. The antitrust agency had also already initiated proceedings against Apple in connection with the group’s tracking rules. rtr
Competition
Digitization
Column
What’s cooking in Brussels? Belgian bickering
By Claire Stam
The European bubble takes a brief leave during the Easter break. An opportunity to take a look at a date that is not so far away: On Jan. 1 of next year, Belgium will take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU. What then?
In a political context that may remind you of the Asterix comic strip “La Zizanie”, this date falls right in the middle of the election hustle and bustle: 2024 European elections will be held, most likely between the end of May and the beginning of June – at the same time, the mandate of the von der Leyen Commission will end. And at the national level, the Belgian EU Council Presidency falls in the middle of the federal, regional and municipal elections.
‘Save Belgium’
This situation is similar to the one France found itself in last year when the French elected their president during the French presidency of the EU Council. However, in a country as centralized as France, the political challenges associated with the federal structures of a country like Belgium do not arise.
The political crisis of 2010/2011 is still well remembered in Belgium. It took 541 days for a new government totake charge of the country after the 2010 elections. Even comic book writers – an art for which Belgium is known and recognized worldwide – intervened in the hope of untying the political and linguistic Gordian knot: Belgian comics newspaper Spirou published a special “Save Belgium” issue in July 2011.
Whether the authors succeeded in shifting the lines is not clear from the story. What is certain is that Belgium also had to contend with a political stalemate back in 2007/2008. At that time, two Belgian politicians known from Brussels had poked a political wasps’ nest in one way or another: MEP Guy Verhofstadt (Renew) and EU Commissioner Didier Reynders (LRP). A government agreement was not possible at the time because of too many differences between the parties on institutional reforms. The outgoing Prime Minister at the time was Guy Verhofstadt, Didier Reynders was Deputy Prime Minister, responsible for finance and institutional reforms.
Flemish blockade for ‘Fit for 55’
This is not the place to speculate on how Belgian politics and the squabbling between the Flemish- and French-speaking communities will affect the Belgian EU Presidency. It is just that these national political tensions are already making themselves felt at the European level, most notably in the dossiers related to the Fit for 55 package.
The Flemish-language weekly Knack, for example, notes that “Flanders has for some time beentakingan increasingly assertive stance on European issues“. The government of Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA) increasingly blocks the Belgian position in the European Union when the regions and the federal government cannot agree.
Multiple abstentions
This often involves environmental and climate dossiers, for which Flemish Environment Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) is responsible, the weekly notes. “Demir makes it a neck-and-neck race: The European Commission’s green proposals must not harm Flemish families and industry”.
Thus, at the instigation of the Flemish government, Belgium has had to abstain from voting on the European stage no less than five times in recent months – a first in recent history. Two more abstentions are expected shortly, Knack proclaimed. “Each time, the issue is the Green Deal, the European Union’s plan to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050”, the weekly says.
These are not dreams of the future, but an outlook of what awaits Belgium starting Jan. 1, 2024 – and the European Union too.
Naturally, officials in Beijing listened carefully to Ursula von der Leyen during her keynote speech on China policy last week. But despite her clear choice of words, the Commission President and French President Emmanuel Macron are likely to be spared criticism from the Chinese during their trip toChina. Ahead of today’s importanttalks with Head of State Xi Jinping , Jörn Petring and Amelie Richter capture the mood in the People’s Republic. The state media, for example, seem to agree on who is to blame for the cooled relations between Brussels and Beijing: the United States.
50 percent fewer pesticides, 50 percent fewer nutrient losses, 30 percent less fertilizer by 2030 at the latest: these are the goals of the Farm-to-Fork strategy, which is causing heated debate in Brussels. Some experts agree that the ecological turnaround in agriculture cannot succeedwithout digital technologies, as Timo Landenberger reports. But the hurdles, for example for digital precision farming, are high. Politicians must now urgently create the necessary framework conditions, says Thomas Gambke, chairman of the Green Business Dialogue.
The debate has also begun on what climate target the EU is aiming for in 2040. Last Friday, the EU Commission launched a public consultation on this issue. Some members of the EU Parliament are calling for a limited role for technological CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS). Too many sectors are expecting a lot from the technology, criticized Tiemo Wölken, climate policy spokesman for the S&D Group. Yet such solutions would only be used in “extreme niche areas”. Read more in the News.
Your Sarah Schaefer
Feature
Beijing sees EU as hostage to US
Beijing listened carefully last week when Ursula von der Leyen gave her keynote speech on China. The head of the EU Commission called for a readjustment of relations. But despite her clear choice of words, she and French President Emmanuel Macron will probably be spared criticism from the Chinese during their joint trip to China. Beijing has something else in mind: It wants to prevent what it sees as a further drift of the EU toward the United States.
Von der Leyen and Macron landed in Beijing on Wednesday. The Commission President was received by Environment Minister Huang Runqiu at Beijing Airport a few hours after Macron.
Macron warns against arms deliveries to Russia
Upon his arrival, Macron addressed the French community in Beijing. “The accumulation of power” in trade, in the economy and also militarily has changed China, Macron said. Dialogue with the country is nonetheless essential, he added. He warned of possible arms deliveries from China to Russia. In response to questions from journalists, however, Macron indicated that he would not threaten sanctions in this regard during his meeting with Xi Jinping on Thursday.
Today, Thursday, the important talks with Head of State Xi Jinping are scheduled. Chinese state media made it clear even before their arrival that the talks are not to be confrontational. The picture they painted is clear: The EU is being pressured by the United States to turn away from the People’s Republic.
“Both sides should overcome US interference and focus on cooperation”, the party newspaper Global Times wrote. The US is urging Europeans to distance themselves from China, the paper commented in another article: “The crisis in Ukraine has increased the EU’s strategic dependence on the US”.
Beijing understood very well that the war had caused a cooling of European-Chinese relations. But instead of finding fault with themselves, the Chinese blame Washington. The EU has been “kidnapped” by the US, wrote “China Daily“, speaking of a “dilemma” for the EU.
Beijing wants to woo Europeans
China wants to use the visit of Macron and von der Leyen to woo the Europeans. Shortly before the two guests, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was already in China last week. In mid-April, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will travel to Beijing. China sees all these appointments as an opportunity to revive exchanges that were largely suspended during the Covid pandemic.
Europeans are promised rewarding business: China’s economy is experiencing a robust recovery, Fu Cong, Beijing’s top representative in Brussels, said ahead of the visit. The Europeans are certainly also coming “to explore business opportunities in such a large and thriving market”,he said.
BDI: investment agreement must be reassessed
Beijing still wants to sign the CAI investment agreement with the EU, whose ratification is on hold due to the dispute over the human rights situation in China’s Xinjiang region and mutual sanctions.
“Before resuming the ratification process, a reassessment of the agreement would first be necessary“, said BDI Chief Executive Tanja Gönner. The German industry welcomed the investment agreement between the EU and China at the time it was concluded at the end of 2020. Since then, a lot has changed in China and the rest of the world, Gönner said.
The BDI thus echoed von der Leyen’s statements on the CAI. In her keynote speech, she had for the first time publicly suggested that the agreement could not be pursued. Nevertheless, the European business delegation will certainly not return empty-handed from China.
Rough tone in social media
Commentators in the Chinese press have quite different assessments of the European visitors: Macron, with his repeated demands on Beijing as a mediator, and the accompanying business delegation are seen as more constructive. Von der Leyen is portrayed more like an uninvited guest because of her keynote speech.
Sima Nan, one of the country’s leading political commentators and propaganda bloggers, accuses the Commission president of forcing China to choose between Russia and Europe: “She doesn’t understand the idea of the middle way, and she doesn’t understand China’s concept of a human community of destiny”, Sima writes on his blog. In China’s social media, the assessment of the European guests is far more drastic. There, the head of the EU Commission in particular is also addressed in an insulting manner.
Iran and Saudi Arabia meet in Beijing at the same time
Progress on the Ukraine issue is unlikely to be made during the visit. The Chinese are also stressing that the conflict will be discussed. But almost two weeks after his trip to Moscow, Xi has still not spoken on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky. Serious mediation efforts would look different.
Wednesday, shortly before the arrival of the Europeans, two more guests suddenly announced themselves in Beijing: On the same day as Macron and von der Leyen, the top diplomats of Saudi Arabia and Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, are also scheduled to arrive on Thursday.
Subtle message to the EU
They will shake hands in China for the first time in seven years. In March, Beijing successfully brokered an agreement to bring the two hostile states back together. The subtle message to the Europeans is that there are other important geopolitical issues besides Ukraine.
If everything goes according to plan, China’s evening news on Thursday will be able to announce two diplomatic successes to the people: on the one hand, successful talks with France and the EU, and on the other, a handshake between Iran and Saudi Arabia for the history books. Jörn Petring, Collaboration: Amelie Richter
The Farm-to-Fork strategy is intended to finally put Europe’s agriculture on the path to transformation. The goals: 50 percent fewer pesticides, 50 percent fewer nutrient losses, and 30 percent less fertilizer by 2030 at the latest. This is ambitious and is causing heated debate in Brussels. After all, food security remains the main task of the Common European Agricultural Policy.
Some experts and associations, including the Green Business Dialogue, are convinced that the goals can only be achieved if the ecological transformation of agriculturegoes hand in hand with digital transformation. Catch phrase: Smart Digital Precision Farming.
Up to now, farmland has mainly been managed uniformly, i. e. fertilizers and pesticides have been applied evenly across the field. However, arable land usually has very heterogeneous conditions. Soil properties, water retention or pest infestation can vary from square meter to square meter. As a result, plants are oversupplied in one place and undersupplied in another.
Digital precision tillage
Digital precision tillage is set to change this, reducing water wastage and the use of fertilizers and pesticides while at the same time increasing yields. This is because satellite or drone images can be used to precisely determine and evaluate the different conditions in an area. The data is then transferred to a machine that uses GPS technology to drive over the field fully automatically and distribute water, pesticides and fertilizers with pinpoint accuracy.
What sounds like a dream of the future has long been technically possible and is already being used in some cases. But the hurdles are high. The changeover is associated with enormous effort, uncertainties and, above all, costs.
Green Business Dialogue urges haste
In order not to leave smaller companies behind in the transformation process, to ensure a level playing field and planning security, the politicians in Berlin and Brussels must create the appropriate framework conditions. There is an urgent need for action, says Thomas Gambke, Chairman of the Green Business Dialogue (GWD).
According to a draft GWD position paper exclusively available to Table.Media, this includes:
Ensuring digital infrastructure, including in particular broadband expansion and coverage with 5G technology;
standardization of technologies and data to ensure fair competitive conditions and to prevent new dependencies and monopolies among individual large corporations;
ensuring data protection – on the other hand, it should also simplify access to weather and geodata, for example, and ensures transparency and monitoring;
promoting training and advice, especially with regard to the necessary IT knowledge, but also with regard to investment needs and profitability.
Cost sharing in cooperatives?
“The cost of transformation is very high, and the question of how to organize that, especially for smaller farms, is very important”, Gambke says. “One possible solution would be to share the facilities through cooperatives“. That’s well-practiced in agriculture, he says.
The socio-economic component should not be underestimated, he said. “These are predominantly family farms. Knowledge about their own land and practices has been passed down, in some cases over several generations. A digital transformation makes sense for the ecological and economic further development of farms. At the same time, it represents a deeper encroachment on farmers’ authority and self-determination“, Gambke says. He advises that the industry be closely involved in the creation of a political framework.
Subgoal of the CAP: modernization
Brussels is aware of the potential. Digital technologies are increasingly finding their way into the EU’s agricultural policy legislation. For example, the Commission’s proposal for a new regulation to reduce the use of pesticides also provides for strategic advice and support with regard to precision agriculture. In addition, further delegated acts are to define criteria for the use of drones, including the possible application of pesticides from the air.
The EU is also pursuing the goal of modernizing agriculture in the new funding period of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Thus, the member states are encouraged to support investments in digital technologies in their national strategic plans.
In addition to optimizing procedures, these could also lead to a reduction in the administrative burden and better monitoring ofindicators, according to EU Commission sources. Digital technologies are at the heart of the control system (IACS) used by member states to ensure the correct payment of aid to CAP recipients, they said.
Better access to data
In parallel, “horizontal” legal acts from the field of digital policy, including the Data Act, are to provide the appropriate framework for data protection and standardization and enable farmers to have better access to geodata or weather data.
In terms of national implementation, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture refers to the “digital experimental fields“. The use of digital technologies has been tested on 14 farms across Germany since 2019. In addition, the new funding project “Farms of the Future and Regions of the Future” is intended to drive forward the sustainable digital transformation of agriculture. Both projects are intended to acceleratethe transfer of knowledge intopractice and give farmers the opportunity to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies in practice.
Agriculture
Data Act
Digitization
Farm to Fork Strategy
EU-Monitoring
April 13, 2023; 9-10 a.m. Meeting of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) Topics: Draft report on guidelines for the development of a trans-European transport network.Provisional agenda
News
Climate target 2040: CCS only in ‘extreme niche areas’
Now that the EU Commission has begun the process of setting a climate target for 2040, some MEPs in the EU Parliament are calling for a limited role for technological CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS). Tiemo Wölken (SPD) criticizes that too many sectors still believe that “they only have to pursue ‘silver bullets’ such as CCS” and thus get rid of their climate obligations. In fact, such solutions would only be used in “extreme niche areas”.
In addition to emission reduction targets for 2040, the S&D Group’s climate policy spokesman also calls for a separate target for CO2 storage. However, this must be differentiated “into biogenic and technical removals”. Emissions reductions and the protection of natural sinks must also have absolute priority, Wölken said. He himself assumes a target of at least 80 percent CO2 reduction by 2040.
Focus on natural sinks
Michael Bloss (Greens) also calls for a focus on natural sinks in CO2 storage. He wants the EU Commission to set climate neutrality as a target asearly as 2040, for which negative emissions would also be crucial. “The most efficient and sustainable way to do that is to grow forests”. Forests are not only CO2 stores, but also habitats for many species and recreational places for people, Bloss told Table.Media.
Therefore, more forestsmust beprotected, maintained and reforested. The Greens generally urge caution with CCS, fearing fossil lock-in effects, and want to use it only to offset emissions that cannot be prevented.
Peter Liese, environmental spokesman for the European People’s Party (EPP), had already urged that negative emissions be taken into account in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) during the negotiations on reforming the ETS. In this way, CO2 removals could be scaled and made profitable, he hopes. When asked by Table.Media, he did not want to comment on what role CCS should explicitly play for the 2040 climate target.
Commission to present new climate target in 2024
Last Friday, the EU Commission launched a public consultation. It is the prelude to setting the EU climate target for 2040. The feedback from the consultation will be incorporated into an impact assessment that will serve as the basis for the new climate target.
In addition, a new EU scientific advisory board on climate change, the establishment of which was agreed in the EU Climate Change Act, will present a report with detailed quantitative recommendations before the summer. This, too, is to be authoritative for the new target.
Finally, in the first quarter of 2024, the Commission intends to present the 2040 target. The role of CCS will also be examined. luk
CCS
Climate & Environment
Climate Targets
F-gases: Member states set negotiating mandate
The ambassadors of the 27 EU member states set their mandate for the trilogue negotiations with the Parliament and the Commission on F-gases and ozone-depleting substances on Wednesday. The two legislative proposals are intended to tighten the rules for substances that cause greenhouse gas emissions and deplete the ozone layer.
The Council wants to exempttheheat pump industry in particular from strict bans on F-gases, unless there are alternative refrigerants for the heat pumps. A fast ramp-up of heat pumps is a crucial goal of the REPower EU program for energy independence from Russia.
Differentiation between heat pump technologies
The mandate on F-gases provides:
Exceptions to the ban on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) where it jeopardizes REPower EU targets.
Differentiation between different water pump technologies using HFCs: Council wants an earlier ban on air-to-water heat pumps (2027), where alternatives to F-gases already exist, and a later ban on air-to-air heat pumps (2029), where alternatives are more difficult.
Sanctions for breaching the rules should be less prescriptive so that they could be better adapted to different national systems, writes the Council.
The negotiating mandate to revise the rules for ozone-depleting substances is largely in line with the Commission’s proposal and emphasizes stricter requirements for placing the substances on the market.
The EU Parliament adopted its negotiating mandate last week. This means that the trilogue negotiations can begin soon. luk
Climate & Environment
Climate Policy
F-Gase
Commission wants to accelerate bee protection
At the urging of citizens, the EU Commission is pressuring for more speed in the protection of bees. Against the backdrop of an EU-wide citizens’ initiative, the EU authority called on the European Parliament and EU countries to quickly and unconditionally adoptlegislative proposals already on the table “that contribute to the protection and recovery of pollinator populations in Europe (…)”, the Commission announced in Brussels on Wednesday.
The organizers of the citizens’ initiative hadcollectedmore than one million signatures. This is the threshold that must be reached for the EU Commission to deal with such an initiative.
The Commission recognizes the importance of the initiative, the release said, “particularly as the interlocking crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss pose growing challenges to agriculture and food security in Europe”.
Pollinator population declines dramatically
In the EU, one in three species of bees, butterflies and hoverflies is declining. At the same time, 80 percent of crop and wild plant species depend on pollinators. “Half of the EU’s agricultural land is already facing a pollination deficit”.
The initiative’s aim is to phase out the use of synthetic pesticides, make agricultural production methods more environmentally friendly, and gear EU agricultural policy less towards industrial and conventional farming.
The EU Commission referred to existing legislative proposals, for example, on the sustainable use of pesticides and the restoration of nature. EU countries and Parliament still have to negotiate the proposals before they can come into force. The Commission did not announce any new proposals. dpa
Electricity grid operators to take climate impacts into account
Operators must be more transparent about the consequences of climate change for the security of the European power grid. The European regulatory agency ACER in Ljubljana yesterday called on the association of transmission system operators ENTSOE to do so. The EU authority published its assessment of ENTSOE’s draft ten-year network development plan on Wednesday.
It was not possible to assess whether the system’s resilience to the impacts of climate change had been adequately addressed in the draft power sector network development plan, the agency said. It also said the resilience of the power grid to extreme weather events was insufficiently presented.
Drought affects underground cables
Extreme weather events will occur more frequently as a result of climate change. According to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the power supply can be restricted in several ways. Grid infrastructure could be damaged by heavy rain, floods and storms, it said. “High temperatures also degrade the transmission capacity of high-voltage lines. In the case of underground cables, dryness in the ground can prevent heat from escaping and cause power distribution to back up”, the ministry writes.
Resilience to climate change must be taken into account by network operators in their expansion planning in accordance with the TEN-E Regulation on Trans-European Energy Infrastructure. ENTSOE submits the ten-year network development plan every two years. It also serves as the basis for national expansion plans for electricity transmission networks.
The reasons for the construction of new electricity highways include the connection of new offshore wind farms and better European networking of national electricity markets. ber
Electricity market
Renewable energies
Antitrust agency takes a close look at Apple’s market power
The German Federal Cartel Office now also wants to keep a closer eye on Apple. The competition watchdogs in Bonn have decided that the US group is “a company with outstanding cross-market significance for competition“, as they announced on Wednesday. This means that the Cartel Office can take stronger action against the smartphone manufacturer thanks to new rules.
“Apple has a position of economic power across markets that gives the company scope for conduct that is not sufficiently controlled bycompetition“, said Andreas Mundt, head of the Federal Cartel Office, explaining the decision. Apple intends to take legal action against the decision. “The Cartel Office’s classification misrepresents the fierce competition Apple faces in Germany”, a spokesperson criticized.
Procedure for tracking rules
Mundt’s goal is to work with other antitrust authorities to safeguard competition in the digital economy. The Bonn authorities had also found that Amazon, Google and Facebook parent Meta were of overriding importance for competition across markets.
Apple occupies the entire value chain around high-quality mobile digital devices, the antitrust agency said. In addition, the group develops the software for these devices, which enables Apple to bind consumers to its products. The antitrust agency had also already initiated proceedings against Apple in connection with the group’s tracking rules. rtr
Competition
Digitization
Column
What’s cooking in Brussels? Belgian bickering
By Claire Stam
The European bubble takes a brief leave during the Easter break. An opportunity to take a look at a date that is not so far away: On Jan. 1 of next year, Belgium will take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU. What then?
In a political context that may remind you of the Asterix comic strip “La Zizanie”, this date falls right in the middle of the election hustle and bustle: 2024 European elections will be held, most likely between the end of May and the beginning of June – at the same time, the mandate of the von der Leyen Commission will end. And at the national level, the Belgian EU Council Presidency falls in the middle of the federal, regional and municipal elections.
‘Save Belgium’
This situation is similar to the one France found itself in last year when the French elected their president during the French presidency of the EU Council. However, in a country as centralized as France, the political challenges associated with the federal structures of a country like Belgium do not arise.
The political crisis of 2010/2011 is still well remembered in Belgium. It took 541 days for a new government totake charge of the country after the 2010 elections. Even comic book writers – an art for which Belgium is known and recognized worldwide – intervened in the hope of untying the political and linguistic Gordian knot: Belgian comics newspaper Spirou published a special “Save Belgium” issue in July 2011.
Whether the authors succeeded in shifting the lines is not clear from the story. What is certain is that Belgium also had to contend with a political stalemate back in 2007/2008. At that time, two Belgian politicians known from Brussels had poked a political wasps’ nest in one way or another: MEP Guy Verhofstadt (Renew) and EU Commissioner Didier Reynders (LRP). A government agreement was not possible at the time because of too many differences between the parties on institutional reforms. The outgoing Prime Minister at the time was Guy Verhofstadt, Didier Reynders was Deputy Prime Minister, responsible for finance and institutional reforms.
Flemish blockade for ‘Fit for 55’
This is not the place to speculate on how Belgian politics and the squabbling between the Flemish- and French-speaking communities will affect the Belgian EU Presidency. It is just that these national political tensions are already making themselves felt at the European level, most notably in the dossiers related to the Fit for 55 package.
The Flemish-language weekly Knack, for example, notes that “Flanders has for some time beentakingan increasingly assertive stance on European issues“. The government of Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA) increasingly blocks the Belgian position in the European Union when the regions and the federal government cannot agree.
Multiple abstentions
This often involves environmental and climate dossiers, for which Flemish Environment Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) is responsible, the weekly notes. “Demir makes it a neck-and-neck race: The European Commission’s green proposals must not harm Flemish families and industry”.
Thus, at the instigation of the Flemish government, Belgium has had to abstain from voting on the European stage no less than five times in recent months – a first in recent history. Two more abstentions are expected shortly, Knack proclaimed. “Each time, the issue is the Green Deal, the European Union’s plan to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050”, the weekly says.
These are not dreams of the future, but an outlook of what awaits Belgium starting Jan. 1, 2024 – and the European Union too.
