Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety Ordinary meeting
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ENVI European Parliament
Follow its sittings
Pierfrancesco Maran
So, thank you. We move to the position of the shadow rapporteur. You have three minutes each. I don't see from EPP, from Patriots and ECR, I don't see any shadow, also Renew. So we have Lena Schilling from Greens.
Lena Schilling
Thank you so much. Good morning and thank you also for the draft opinion. As you said, this is the last annual budget under the current MFF, what also means for me, we can learn things from the last budgets we have seen for the next MFF. And I think some things you said were quite crucial. So I support especially the points on EFSA and of course also on the point on LIFE program.
But I think we need to look a bit in the broader picture.
We see right now that the climate crisis is escalating and we see also what that will mean for our budgets in the future. There are crucial milestones we are meeting, like 30% on climate targets that we are reaching, but at the same time, and I think there we need to be clear, we are not reaching yet our financing goals on biodiversity at the same time where we need to strengthen our biodiversity policies, but at the same time the budgets. That's exactly what you said and I think there we need to look also into the future how to reach that. And therefore I also think what is the most crucial point is that we keep the LIFE programme alive and that we have dedicated funds to it.
Because as you said, this is the programmes on the ground, this LIFE programme that we debated a lot in this Parliament is not just about, I don't know, some NGOs, it is about regions strengthening biodiversity projects. It's about our, our hometowns. And I think especially in times where we're debating so much about renaturation and heat, about a time where we really would need a budget that is actually answering to the questions that we're facing in the future. And of course as well we are in favor of strengthening EFSA and we think that a science, a scientific approach is needed in times like this. But all in all we know this annual budget will not be the big, the big stone that will start something rolling, but I think we can learn something for the next budget.
So thank you so much for the draft report.
I'm looking forward to work with you and yeah, thank you.
Jonas Sjöstedt
Thank you, Chair. Today I'm on the far left from you. Thank you, Chair, and thank you. Yeah. So thank you very much for your work.
I think the draft report is really pointing in the right direction, but there's still some room for improvement. We'll make a couple of amendments. I think I mean we are in a very obvious climate crisis with all these temperature records being set all over Europe.
And I think we really have to stress that as the Environment Committee, insist on meeting the targets on investments for the green transition, but also on biodiversity. That's really worrying that we cannot fulfill that obligation that we already have. Secondly, I think it's also important to stress the fact that we should no longer accept or allow any subsidies to fossil fuels or investment that increase the use of fossil fuels. So that's really important, and also that we have sufficient resources to implement this work for the relevant agencies and parts of the European Union that actually do the practical work with implementing this. So those will be some of the main points for us.
And I think this is a good foundation for finding a common compromise in the committee. Thank you.
Pierfrancesco Maran
Thank you. I don't know if from the other groups there are some shadow or delegated from the shadow that has to take the floor or some of the other colleagues for catch the eye. I don't see anybody, so I leave the floor to the Commission for the DG ENV, the Head of Unit for Finance, Audit and Budget, Konstantinos Prelidis.
Konstantinos Prelidis
Thank you, Chair. Honorable members, the Commission welcomes the draft opinion and shares its commitment to advancing the Union's environmental objectives. The draft budget of 2027 has been prepared in a particularly challenging context. As the final annual budget under the current MFF, budgetary flexibility is very limited. The Commission has therefore focused on ensuring the financing of all legal obligations and programmed activities while making the best use of available resources.
The LIFE program remains the Union's dedicated instrument for environmental and climate actions.
Demand for LIFE funding remains consistently high, confirming its clear European added value. The Commission takes note also of the committee's emphasis on biodiversity expenditure and the ambition to progress towards the 10% objective through further integration of biodiversity considerations into relevant programmes. The proposed appropriations are fully consistent with the financial programming and based on careful assessment of implementation needs. The Commission will also continue to closely monitor resources needed for the effective implementation of the Union environmental legislation.
Thank you, Chair. I will pass the floor to my colleague from DG Environment, Yannos Assimakakis. Clima, sorry.
Yiannos Asimakis
Thanks for the floor, Mr. Chair. Honorable members, we would like to welcome the draft opinion from our side as well and to note that the Commission remains strongly committed in continuing to deliver the Green Deal and in reaching the set overall climate spending target. Over the past years of the current MFF, the support of the ENVI Committee has been crucial in providing the Commission...
Pierfrancesco Maran
Maybe, I don't know if you are far from the microphone or that, but we can't hear very well.
Speaker 7
Apologies, Chair. So let me repeat the last phrase. The Commission remains strongly committed in continuing to deliver the Green Deal and in reaching the set overall climate spending target.
Over the past years of the current MFF, the support of the ENVI Committee has been crucial in providing the Commission with the means to do so. We expect that this support will continue for the 2027 budgetary procedure. Mr. Chair, members of the ENVI Committee, many thanks for your time and the continuous support, and I pass the floor to our health department.
Speaker 8
Dear Chair, dear honorable members, also from DG SANTE's side, we welcome the draft opinion.
We would like to thank the ENVI Committee for the support to provide the necessary resources for the Single Market Programme food chain strand, and in particular also for to the EFSA agency to allow reducing the backlog of renewals. We also like to stress that in terms of financing of the Single Market Programme food chain strand, the Commission would need additional financial resources to cover for the co-financing of the high number of outbreaks of animal diseases, such as highly pathogenic avian influenza, African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, and small ruminant diseases.
Thank you very much.
Pierfrancesco Maran
Thank you. So. So, I thank you all the shadow rapporteurs, the one that took the floor and the one that supported by distance. And the deadline for amendments for the budgetary opinion is the 7 of July at 11:00, while for the budgetary amendments it's the 14 of July at 11:00 AM.
The vote in ENVI will be the 1st of September. The vote in budget on budgetary amendment will be the 5th of October, while for the budgetary resolution will take place the 12th of October. The vote in plenary is supposed to be for the mandate at the second session of October for the adoption in November. So now we have a break. I ask kindly the colleague from ENVI to leave the room because now the room is, belongs to another committee and we will be back for the joint committee at 9:45.
Javier Zarzalejos
Morning, dear colleagues, please take your seats and have your cards ready so we can proceed with our meeting and voting session. Please take your seats and have your cards ready. Well, first let me inform you that the ECON chair will be joining us in the next voting session. Please keep quiet so we can start our meeting. The first item is the adoption of the agenda.
I understand if there is no objection, so the agenda is deemed adopted. During the session, we will have the vote on the amending directives as regards the extension of certain mitigating measures available for small and medium-sized enterprises to small mid-cap enterprises and further simplifying measures.
Before we move to the vote, well first I can see that we have quorum. And then let me announce the following LIBE and non-LIBE members that will participate in today's vote.
There are no replacements in EPP as I understand. On S&D, Jean-Marc Germain is replacing Marie Keller's, I'm sorry, is replacing Matjaž Nemec. On PfE, Sebastian Cruz is replacing Marie Keller's, Thomas Busek is replacing Jaroslav Joch, Catherine Griset is replacing Fabrice Leggeri, Virginie Joron is replacing Mathieu Valet, Elisabeth Dieringer is replacing Petra Steger, and Julien Leonardelli will replace András László. On ECR, Emmanouil Fragkos will be replacing Assita Kanko, and there are no replacement reported in LIBE from Renew, Greens, The Left, or ESN and non-attached members. So, we will start with the test vote to make sure that the voting system is working.
Yes, no, abstention, just to check. Vote is open now as a test. Someone hasn't voted already.
Please proceed to the test vote.
Vote is closed. Well, it seems that the system works properly, so now we move to the real thing. Again, the vote on amending directives as regards the extension of certain mitigation measures available for small medium-sized enterprises to small mid-cap enterprises and further simplifying measures. Vote is open. There's still some members who haven't voted.
And I close the vote.
And it is widely adopted. Thank you, thank you very much, dear colleagues, this meeting then is hereby closed and now we will continue with the ECON LIBE ENVI meeting and the vote on the Omnibus 4 regulation. Please ECON and LIBE members you're invited to stay and ENVI members will be joining us in this room.
Pierfrancesco Maran
I invite everybody to take his place so we can start. Good. I welcome everybody to this meeting in which we will vote on the provisional agreement on the Omnibus 4 file. A very welcome to the co-rapporteurs Maria Teresa Vivaldini, Nils Hansen and Lukas Mandl, to the shadow of the file as well as to our colleagues in the room from the Commission.
If no objection is raised, the agenda is deemed adopted. And now I give the floor to my colleagues starting from the ECON chair.
Aurore Lalucq
Thank you dear chair. Good morning everyone. And welcome to the co-rapporteurs, the shadows and the representative of the Commission. And I would like to thank the co-rapporteurs for their good collaboration in the context of the inter-institutional negotiations and for successfully concluding the second trilogue on June the 9th.
Interpretation is available today in 21 languages and you are invited to speak in your mother tongue when available.
During the second and final trilogue on the Mid-Caps Omnibus, the negotiating teams of Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on the proposal, which extends certain mitigating measures available for SMEs to small mid-cap enterprises and introduces further simplification measures. The aim is to avoid cliff-edge situations where a company's obligations drastically increase when they grow beyond the SME threshold and to support companies in scaling up. In line with the European Parliament position, small mid-cap enterprises are defined in principle as companies with fewer than 1,000 employees and either up to 200 million in turnover or up to 172 million in total assets. The new category will be introduced in various laws ranging from data protection, batteries, stock exchanging, listing of companies, etc., with existing SME exemptions extending to the new category, and I give the floor to the LIBE chair.
Javier Zarzalejos
Thank you, chair, and good morning to all of you. I join my colleagues from ECON and ENVI in welcoming the co-rapporteurs and the shadows and congratulating them on the successful outcome of the trilogue on the 9th of June. This is the second file included in the Omnibus IV package, and I already had the pleasure to congratulate the negotiating team for the outcome on the first vote on the directive, which took place right before this session.
I am particularly welcoming the swift manner in which our co-rapporteurs have concluded this file with the Cypriot presidency. As I can see from the number of members present, that we have a quorum, and as far as LIBE committee is concerned, no further replacements have been reported. So, I think that we can move to the next item, which is the adoption of minutes. If no objection is raised, the minutes of the meeting of the 4th of December 2025 are deemed adopted.
Pierfrancesco Maran
Now we go to the voting procedures. I have to inform that of the substitutes, Gomez substitutes Fernandez, Guzenina substitutes Papandreou, Knotek substitutes Kubin, Jimenez Larraz substitutes Evans Garcia, Ziedowski substitutes Lukasiewska, Joran substitutes Andreu, Griese substitutes Frigou, Langsiepen substitutes Paulus, Sondal substitutes Bai, Freund substitutes Marino. So now we will have a test vote. I open the vote.
I close the vote. Okay. So now we can proceed with the vote. It will be a roll call vote. I open the vote.
I close the vote. And it's adopted by 123 in favor, 10 against, 6 abstentions.
We congratulate with the rapporteur. Now we have a small break to allow people that are not from the ENVI committee to leave the room, while for the ENVI members we will go on with the next votes, so stay here.
Okay, colleagues, we can go on with our voting session.
I have to inform about the substitutes for the votes here in ENVI. So, Jiménez Laras substitute Aras García, Złotowski substitute Łukacijewska, Pirinci substitute Mora... no, sorry, it's not here. Sorry, the Greens are not more... it's the same than this one. Ah, okay. So, Jørgensen substitute Andreu, Griese substitute Freigut, Langensiepen substitute Paulus, Søndahl substitute Sbai, and Freund substitute Marino.
We move now to the item number seven. We have to roll call vote the number ten and eleven asked from Patriots and ECR. We start with the compromise number one raising our hands. Who's in favor?
Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted. Compromise number two, who's in favor? Who's against?
Who abstain? Adopted. I kindly ask people to raise your hands. Compromise number three, who's in favor? Who's against?
Who abstain? Adopted. Compromise number four, who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain?
Adopted. Compromise number five, who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted.
Compromise number six, who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted.
Compromise number seven, who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstains? Adopted. Compromise number eight, who's in favor?
Who's against? Who abstains? Adopted. Compromise number nine, who's in favor? Who's against?
Who abstains? Adopted. Compromise number ten by roll call vote, I open the vote. I close the vote and it's adopted. Compromise number eleven by roll call vote, I open the vote.
Pardon, there is a plus one in Renew. It doesn't work. Yes, it doesn't work because we have one Renew more than the allowed, so I... well, it's solved. Now we can open the vote. I close the vote.
And it's adopted. Compromise number 12, raising our hands. Who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain?
Adopted.
Compromise number 13. Who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted.
Compromise number 14. Who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted.
Compromise number 15. Who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted.
Compromise number 16. Who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted.
Compromise number 17. Who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted.
Compromise number 18. Who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted.
Compromise number 19. Who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted.
Compromise number 20. Who's in favor?
Compromise number 20, who's in favor, who's against, who abstain, adopted. Compromise number 21, who's in favor, who's against, who abstain, adopted. Compromise number 22, who's in favor, who's against, who abstain, adopted. We ended compromise. So amendment 976, who's in favor, who's against, who abstain, check.
I open the vote.
I close the vote. And it's rejected. Amendment 977, who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain?
I'd say rejected because I see the same hands. Amendment 30, who's in favor? Who's against? Who abstain? Rejected.
And the final vote by roll call vote, I open the vote.
I close the vote. And it's adopted by 52 votes in favor, 4 against, and 16 abstentions. Now we... Thank you. Now we move to the item number 8.
We have two requests for roll call vote for amendment 2 and 9 from EPP. We start the vote with compromise number 1. Who's in favor?
Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted. Compromise number 2 by roll-call vote. I open the vote.
I close the vote. And it's adopted. Compromise number 3. Who's in favor?
Who's against? Who abstain? Adopted. Compromise number nine by roll call vote. I open the vote.
I close the vote. And it's adopted. Compromise number ten. Who's in favor? Who's against?
Who abstain? Adopted. Compromise number eight. Who's in favor? Who's against?
Who abstain? Adopted. Final vote by roll call vote.
I open the vote. I close the vote. And it's adopted. 57 in favor, 14 against, one abstention.
Pierfrancesco Maran
Thank you. Okay. Now we vote for the objection, the item number nine. It will be a roll call vote.
I open the vote. I close the vote and it's adopted 49 in favor, 22 against, one abstention. Now we have the item number 10 that is another objection by roll call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote and it's adopted 48 in favor, 22 against, one abstention.
Now we go to the objection item number 11. I open the vote. I close the vote and it's adopted 48 in favor, 23 against, one abstention. Now we will have a break, thank you all the colleagues, we will have a break till 10:30.
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