Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety Ordinary meeting
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ENVI European Parliament
Follow its sittingsEsther Herranz García
Denegada. La enmienda es el 4A, ¿no? No, enmienda 122. Enmienda 122. Enmienda 122.
Votos a favor. Votos en contra. Abstenciones. Lo vamos a controlar. Enmienda 122.
Se abre la votación. Enmienda 122. Se abre la votación. Se cierra la votación. 37 votos a favor, 42 en contra, dos abstenciones.
Denegada. Compromiso 4A. Compromiso 4A. Votos a favor. Votos en contra.
Abstenciones. Aprobado. Compromiso 5A. Votos a favor. Votos en contra.
Abstenciones. Aprobado. Y ahora como voto final con un roll call vote vamos a votar la propuesta así enmendada. Se abre la votación. Se cierra la votación.
64 votos a favor, 18 en contra, una abstención, queda aprobado. Muchas gracias. Bien. I would ask the colleagues that you are leaving the room, please, do it in silence, please, we have we should keep with our work, please.
Queridos colegas, retomamos nuestros trabajos. And now we have the pleasure to welcome Mr. Martin Heydon, Irish Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine.
Mr. Heydon will present us the priorities of the Irish presidency, particularly in the field of agriculture, food and food safety. I will now give you the floor, Mr. Heydon. You have all the time you need.
Martin Heydon
A Chathaoirligh, a bhaill d'Pharlaimint na hEorpa, go raibh maith agaibh as cuireadh a thabhairt dom labhairt libh i rith an lae inniu. Chair, honorable members of the European Parliament, thank you for the invitation to address the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on Ireland's priorities for agriculture during our presidency. I welcome the opportunity to engage with you at the outset of Ireland's presidency of the Council of the European Union. The European Parliament has a central role in shaping the future of European agriculture and rural development, and I look forward to working constructively with this committee over the months ahead. Ireland has assumed the presidency at a time of intense change across Europe and at a time of geopolitical uncertainty.
In relation to agriculture and food, we can see pressures arising on food security, on competitiveness, on food supply chains, and across the three pillars of sustainability: economic, social and environmental.
For farmers, food businesses, and rural communities, these pressures are real. They are seen in higher input costs, in market volatility, in additional regulatory requirements, and they have a real impact on farm families as they face the most important decisions about passing their farm to the next generation, or making environmental investments, or adopting new innovative developments. Those realities must inform European considerations of the future of agriculture and food, and also the environment, and they will inform Ireland's work in chairing the Agricultural Fisheries Council. Ireland's presidency will be guided by the principle in as Gaeilge, in Irish, our native language, Ní neart go cur le chéile, no strength without unity, at a time when unity is ever more important in the face of a rapidly changing and unpredictable global environment. Our presidency will be built around three central pillars and three central themes: competitiveness, security, and values.
These are all of direct relevance to agriculture.
A Europe that is serious about competitiveness must be serious about the viability of farm, food, fisheries, and seafood businesses. A Europe that is serious about sustainability must recognize that economic, social, and environmental sustainability must be balanced and advanced together. A Europe that is serious about rural and coastal communities must ensure that European policy supports the people and places that sustain these communities. At the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, Ireland's work will be guided by the need to support farming families, to protect incomes, and to strengthen competitiveness, to sustain rural communities, and to strike the right balance between the economic, social, and environmental pillars of sustainability. The next EU budget will shape the Union's capacity to respond to the challenges of the decade ahead.
It will also determine the financial framework for the next common agricultural policy and for the wider rural development. Ireland will work intensively during our presidency to advance negotiations on the MFF. As presidency, we will act as an honest broker, working to bring member states closer to agreement on a budget that is balanced, ambitious, and capable of delivering on Europe's priorities.
At Agriculture and Fisheries Council, our central priority is to progress as far as possible the discussions on the future of the common agricultural policy post-2027, with a view to achieving at least a partial general approach on the proposed CAP regulation. The discussions to date at Council have highlighted the fact that the CAP reforms must preserve the policy's ability to contribute to food security, to secure farm incomes, and to support rural resilience with predictability and fairness. It must be workable in practice and simpler for farmers and other CAP beneficiaries to engage with. And it must minimize administrative burdens and facilitate effective implementation on the ground. It must also reflect the diversity of European agriculture.
A common European framework is essential, but that framework must provide sufficient flexibility to allow member states to respond to regional realities, sectoral needs, and different production systems. Striking the right balance in this regard will be key. Alongside the future CAP, Ireland will work to advance the future common market organization framework. Well-functioning agricultural markets are central to resilience and sustainability of the European agri-food sector, and the CMO regulation plays a crucial role in the EU's food security by strengthening farmers' resilience in the face of market volatility.
Again, the Irish presidency will work to advance the file as far as possible with a view to achieving at least a partial general approach. On organic production and labelling, I look forward to working constructively with the Parliament to finalise the regulation with a focus on regulatory clarity, legal certainty and practical implementation for operators, including in relation to certification and trade with third countries. Ireland will also seek to take forward the implementation of the Commission's vision for agriculture and food. A key area of work during our presidency will be to advance discussions on the role of livestock in European agriculture. In this regard, I welcome the Commission's recent publication of the EU livestock strategy and the protein action plan.
Livestock farming remains central to Europe's food production, rural economies, land management and rural communities, and there are opportunities to support the sector to become more environmentally sustainable while also remaining productive. This connects with EU values, including care for the environment, the maintenance of high standards of animal welfare and the promotion of health and well-being of communities across the EU. Closely linked to all of this will be progression of the protein action plan.
Strengthening the resilience and sustainability of Europe's protein system will be important for food security, feed security, and for reducing strategic dependencies. Ireland will facilitate consideration of the livestock strategy and protein plan in a coherent and integrated manner. The exchange of views held at Council yesterday will inform a presidency report which will be published by the end of the Irish presidency. Generation renewal will also be a major theme of our presidency. Europe needs farming to remain an attractive and viable career for young people and new entrants.
That requires fair incomes, access to supports, investment, innovation, advisory services, knowledge transfer, and certainty and confidence in the future direction of EU policy. During the International Year of the Woman Farmer, Ireland will also place a particular emphasis on the role of agriculture in, the role of women in agriculture and rural communities. An exchange of views on this important topic took place at Council yesterday where it was clear the vital contribution women make to the economic and social fabric of rural Europe must be more visible and better supported. Simplification will be another central priority for the Irish presidency.
Farmers and food businesses need rules that are clear, proportionate and capable of being implemented effectively on the ground. Simplification is not about lowering standards, it's about achieving our objectives in a smarter, more practical and more coherent way. Ireland will advance the simplification agenda with a focus on reducing unnecessary administrative burdens while maintaining high standards for food and feed safety, human and animal health, environmental protection and market surveillance. We look forward in this regard to making progress on the food and feed safety omnibus and the current environmental omnibus proposal, including the proposal to amend the regulation on industrial and livestock rearing emissions and the proposal to speed up environmental assessments with the objective of reducing administrative complexity and improving efficiencies. I also note the progress of the stress testing of the Birds and Habitats Directive, which will deliver reductions in unnecessary administrative burdens, enhance economic competitiveness and modernize nature governance while maintaining environmental standards within the EU.
Animal welfare is an important issue for the Council, which is currently focused on progressing the proposed regulation on the protection of animals during transport.
This is a complex file, which has seen extensive discussion over the past few years. It is timely and prudent to deliver updated legislation in this area, and Ireland is keen to do its part, working with other Member States to reach a coreper mandate on this file by the year end, and I trust the Parliament is also progressing towards agreement. Balanced development of rural areas will also be a focus. Rural areas are central to Europe's identity, economy, and social cohesion. They must have access to quality jobs, services, infrastructure, skills, and opportunities for diversification.
The future of EU framework must continue to support rural communities and balanced territorial development. Chair, honorable members, Ireland's approach to this presidency with a clear understanding of the responsibilities that it brings. We will work closely with the European Parliament and the Commission throughout this period. Many of the files before us will require close and constructive engagement between the institutions, and I recognize the central role of this committee in shaping the Union's approach to agriculture and rural development.
Our objective is to maintain momentum across the key files, to achieve practical and balanced outcomes, and to ensure the Council's work contributes to agricultural policy, European agricultural policy that supports a competitive, sustainable and resilient sector, which in turn ensures the maintenance of vibrant rural communities across the EU. We will not resolve every issue in the six months, but we will make meaningful progress, structuring the debate, identifying areas of convergence, and preparing the ground for agreement on a future framework for European agriculture and food in a spirit of openness, fairness and cooperation. Tá mé ag tnúth le fáil amach anseo inniu agus le bheith ag obair leis an gcoiste seo le linn uachtaránacht na hÉireann. I look forward to hearing your views today and to working with this committee during Ireland's presidency. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.
Esther Herranz García
Muchísimas gracias, señor ministro. Ha sido un placer escucharle. Sabemos que hoy tiene un día muy complicado. Esta mañana hemos tenido la oportunidad de coincidir en su comparecencia ante la Comisión de Agricultura. Yo antes de dar la palabra a los grupos políticos quiero recordarle un tema que ha pasado casi de soslayo en su discurso, que es el tema del etiquetado.
Le decía que sabemos que tiene un día muy duro y que esta mañana hemos coincidido en la Comisión de Agricultura, ahora es la Comisión de Medio Ambiente. Yo quería recordarle un tema que ha pasado casi soslayándolo, que es el tema del etiquetado.
Es uno de los, sobre todo estoy refiriéndome al etiquetado agroalimentario, los productos alimentarios y el etiquetado europeo. Es un tema que está haciendo difícil el mercado único europeo y que me gustaría saber su opinión al respecto porque en este Parlamento esperamos con mucha avidez la propuesta de la Comisión Europea al respecto. Y si ya sin más, le voy a pasar la palabra a los coordinadores o a las personas que hablan en nombre de los grupos políticos y en nombre del EPP le voy a dar la palabra al señor Seán Kelly. Tiene usted la palabra, señor Kelly, por dos minutos.
Seán Kelly
Dia dhaoibh go léir, a chairde, fáilte romhat ar ais go dtí an coiste seo, a Choimisinéir, agus go raibh maith agat as an méid atá ráite agat. So, I was rapporteur for the ENVI opinion on CAP, and that was passed recently by 52 votes to 4.
And in it we proposed the introduction of a voluntary starter pack for protein crops under the CAP, bringing together targeted income and investment support, advisory services, innovation, risk management measures to help farmers diversify into protein crop production. You welcomed the Commission's protein action plan, but given the importance of reducing the EU's dependence on imported protein feed, strengthening food security and creating new market opportunities for farmers, does the Minister and the Presidency merit in such an approach? And would you be willing to support discussions on including a measure of this nature in the future CAP? Ceist a dó. We in the European Parliament have made our position clear that the next CAP should continue to have a dedicated ring-fenced budget, and we've proposed an allocation of 433 billion in current prices.
Parliament believes this is necessary to safeguard food security. Does the Presidency share this ambition for a strong ring-fenced CAP budget, and does the Minister expect negotiations on this issue to develop well over the course of the Presidency? Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh agus a Aire.
Esther Herranz García
Thank you very much, Mr. Kelly. Y ahora, señor Tomás Bajada, dos minutos.
Thomas Bajada
Thank you, Minister Hayden. Your Presidency has rightly placed emphasis on food security, competitiveness, and climate neutrality. But do you see these objectives connected or as separate issues? Because for farmers and fishers, resilience is not an abstract environmental concept.
It is about whether they can continue working, producing, and supporting their families. Food security depends on water availability, healthy soils, stable sea temperatures, and ecosystems that continue to support production. If there is no reliable water, farmers cannot produce. If sea temperatures keep rising, fishing communities lose predictability. If heatwaves make it unsafe for outdoor workers to do their jobs, then this is also a question of quality jobs and safe working conditions.
If the climate is warming up so fast, are we prepared to continue living and withstanding heat with our current infrastructures? These are our citizens' realities. Climate resilience is all of this. Without resilience, there is no food security, no stable livelihood, and no real competitiveness. So I will ask you very directly: will the Irish presidency use its role in the Council to make the European integrated framework for climate resilience a core part in its presidency?
Will you push for a framework that has a link between food security, water security, coastal resilience, and public preparedness? And do you commit to work on the framework expected from the Commission in October, or will you pass it on to the next presidency? Because resilience should not be treated as a side issue, it is our livelihood today. And finally, I would love to hear a little bit more about ocean protection, because I heard nothing about that. Thank you.
Esther Herranz García
Obrigado, Sr. Bajada, em nome dos Socialistas e Democratas. E agora vamos ao ECR, o Sr. Sander Smit tem a palavra.
Jan Huitema
Gracias, señora presidente. Your Excellency, thank you and welcome to our ENVI committee. What befell the Netherlands is now happening to Ireland. The nitrates derogation is also hanging by a thread, driven by the non-deterioration principle, ad absurdum jurisprudence across Member States and opinions within the Court itself has weaponized the Habitats, Nitrates and Water Framework Directives. These have become tools for NGOs serving agendas never intended by this House and co-legislator.
Is the Irish presidency ready to act?
Will you work during your presidency to revise the nitrates directive, as this parliament a majority demanded in 2025, to allow for more room for animal manure? And are you prepared to revise, revise the habitats and birds directives, which are currently, as you said, undergoing a stress test? Our competitiveness, including of your own member state and mine, and the public support for genuine nature conservation in the countryside demand nothing less. Ireland takes the council chair at a moment of acute geopolitical stress. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz sent input costs for European farmers spiraling once again.
And nowhere is that impact more direct than in synthetic fertilizers. Natural gas is the primary feedstock for nitrogen fertilizer production. When energy prices spike, fertilizer prices follow immediately. European farmers are already paying significantly more per ton than their competitors in the US, Brazil or Ukraine, who face no equivalent energy cost burden. The Strait of Hormuz crisis has made a structural problem acute.
Now layer CBAM on top of that. The carbon border adjustment mechanism covers fertilizers.
The timing is wrong. We as ECR are asking European farmers, are not asking European farmers, but this Parliament and this law is asking European farmers to absorb a geopolitically driven energy shock and a regulatory cost increase simultaneously, while their global competitors face neither. Our European farmers, they all depend on manure and synthetic fertilizers. The Commission's protein action plan is welcome, but protein crops cannot and do not replace synthetic fertilizers. We cannot continue to squeeze farmers on input costs through this CBAM and simultaneously expect our farmers to deliver our food security for 450 million Europeans.
I'd be very curious for your reflection on this very acute topic. Thank you.
Esther Herranz García
Thank you very much, Mr. Smith. And now Pascal Canfin on behalf of Renew.
Pascal Canfin
Yes, thank you very much, Minister. Welcome to the European Parliament. A few remarks on a few files, either in your portfolio or really important for the agri community.
The first one will be of course on the CAP. I must say that Renew is very skeptical about the renationalization of the CAP. I mean, we are losing the communality of the CAP, we are losing what made the CAP European. We have now so many options for all Member States to choose to do whatever they want. And at the end of the day, we have internal competition among us instead of having a predictable, stable framework and then a competition with non-EU players on a level playing field.
It's to my view and to our view very potentially very detrimental. I would like to know what is your vision, what is the vision of your country on this backtracking regarding the communality, the Europeanization of the CAP. The second question and the last one is on the food and feed omnibus. I know it's not in your segment, I would say, in the Council, but of course it's a topic very important for farmers. The Council is much more prudent and I think much closer to what we think should be done than the initial proposal of the Commission.
And I would like to praise you for this. When do you think you will be able to land on this text and what is your assessment of the on the contrary very radical report coming from ECR and EPP reopening and killing, sorry, all the authorization regimes that we have built in the last 20-25 years to make sure that pesticides are safer than they used to be. And today in the Parliament we have a report from EPP and ECR which is killing all that. It's very detrimental, very radical. I would like to have your view because in the Council you are going the exact opposite direction.
And I thank you for this.
Esther Herranz García
Merci Monsieur Canfin. Now the floor goes to Greens/EFA, Mrs. Metz.
Tilly Metz
Thank you very much, dear chair, and thank you Minister again for being here with us today also in this committee. I would like to use my speaking time to focus indeed also on the food and feed safety omnibus on which I am shadow rapporteur for the Greens.
I support, of course, the objective of simplifying procedures and reducing unnecessary administrative burdens, but only where this can be achieved without lowering the level of protection for human health, animal welfare, and the environment. My main concerns are the lack of impact assessment underpinning the proposal and the extremely compressed timeline that we have here for negotiating a file with such far-reaching consequences. The Commission proposal was presented without a comprehensive impact assessment and without sufficient evidence that the proposed changes will deliver any meaningful simplification or reduce administrative burdens. The proposed shift towards largely unlimited approvals and authorizations, subject only to narrowly defined exceptions, is particularly concerning here. Periodic reassessment exists for a reason: scientific knowledge evolves, and substances once considered safe have later been restricted or withdrawn as new evidence emerged.
That is logical. So the precautionary principle also requires our regulatory framework to respond to those developments.
So weakening that safeguard would be a significant step in the wrong direction. So I welcome the direction the Council appears to be taking, retaining periodic assessment or reassessment and preserving the role of the precautionary principle in determining when an earlier reassessment is necessary and also introducing the possibility of the Commission to directly request an ad hoc review from EFSA without the intervention of a request from a Member State, although I appreciate that discussions are still ongoing. At the same time, I remain concerned by other elements emerging from the Council discussion, for instance introduction of Member State to grant emergency permits within the same zone, going directly against the exceptional nature of such an emergency permit. So I have two questions. First, I welcome the Council's decision to limit the unlimited approvals of pesticides to only low-risk pesticides.
Could you expand on why and how Member State came to this conclusion? Second, is there a broader concern among Member States within the Council that the original Commission proposal went too far in the name of simplification? Thank you.
Esther Herranz García
Vielen Dank, Madame Metz. And now the floor goes to the left, Mrs. Boylan. You have two minutes.
Lynn Boylan
Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh, agus fáilte an t-Aire anseo. I would like to first just bring up the issue of farm animals' welfare and welcome the fact that you commit in to progressing the important legislation around the EU animal transport legislation. That was one of my questions, but you've answered it in your opening statements. But one other area of animal welfare, is it updated around concerns of the temperature limits during transport? And we know that farm animals experience severe heat stress when temperatures go above 25 degrees, and especially during these summer heatwaves, many are left in overheating barns, left out in the open with no shade, or in tiny transport boxes for hours on end.
So my first question to you, Minister, is I suppose how will the Irish government ensure that animals are on the agenda as the EU discusses climate adaptation and resilience?
And finally, if Ireland is to promote stronger animal welfare standards in the new legislation, then we have to be seen to be serious in our implementation of the already existing rules that we have, where it is prohibited to transport animals in a way likely to cause injury to them. Throughout Israel's genocide in Gaza and the US-Israel war on Iran, animals have been transported from Ireland into the Middle East, and the Commission has said that it is up to the Member States to refuse approval for the transport of animals where their welfare cannot be guaranteed. And I understand that the German state of Saxony has already banned animal transport into the Middle East for this reason. So I would ask that the Irish government would also act as a leader and suspend the transport of animals into conflict zones. And then very finally, very quickly, my final question is, Minister, we've been waiting since 2020 for the Commission to introduce a ban on the export of pesticides that have been banned in the EU for public health reasons.
Will Ireland use its presidency to finally get the Council to put the Commission to bring forward a proposal on this, not only for the public health of the countries we're exporting the products to, but also because of the unfair competition it produces for our farmers in the EU?
Esther Herranz García
I only remind the colleagues who take the floor, please speak slowly in order to make easier the work of our interpreters. And before giving the floor our Irish Minister today, I want to remind you that the catch-the-eye is open for any other members who want to take the floor in the second round.
And now, Mr. Heydon, you have the floor in order to answer the question from the colleagues on behalf of the European political groups.
Martin Heydon
Thank you, Chair. And thank you, colleagues, for the engagement and the detailed questioning. Chair, if I could start with your question regarding food labelling, we are awaiting a Commission proposal. As Presidency, we stand ready to facilitate discussion of any proposal. Food labelling is not under the AGRIFISH Council, but as a Presidency, my colleagues will take forward proposals as and when the Commission put them forward.
First of all, MEP Seán Kelly, Seán, good to see you here today, and thank you for your work. I know as rapporteur, the work you've done to date on behalf of this committee in agreeing your views on the Common Agricultural Policy and to get such consensus in your vote is recognition of that work.
And to acknowledge the proposal you have around the protein starter pack and a voluntary protein element that really ties in very well with the protein action plan as put forward by the Commissioner last week. We had a detailed discussion at Council yesterday on both the protein action plan and the livestock strategy. And I believe we have a great opportunity here to ensure we are producing sufficient protein for European consumers, make sure we have that opportunity for delivering of value and economic return back for our primary producers as well. And your proposal is one I'd be delighted to engage with you on further. And in terms of your second point regarding the ambition, I just to say on the protein plan is to strengthen obviously the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of our protein sectors.
And by investing in and supporting actions that bring concurrent benefits across the three pillars of sustainability, the EU can deliver real change to farmers and citizens and ensure that the sector can thrive sustainably into the future.
So look forward to engaging with you more on your proposal and it's something that will remain under discussion and on the agenda with the Council throughout the presidency. On your second point regarding the ambition around the MFF, and obviously Ireland as presidency are honest brokers, taking on board the views of all member states on the Council. And you know, as I outlined from my perspective in terms of the Common Agricultural Policy, my goal is to agree a partial general approach. If the MFF was all agreed, we could try and get to an agreed general approach. But obviously until the MFF is finalized, you have those bracketed pieces that require finalization.
And I think it's fair to say that there are divergent views around the budget across member states in how money is raised, in how money is spent, in how it's allocated.
I could say to you to answer the question in a in one way when you ask in in terms of prioritization and beyond, if you reflect on you know our presidency priorities of competitiveness, values and security, you know I think it's fair to say across the Agrifish Council all colleagues would see the value that the Common Agricultural Policy has delivered as part of the European project. And you know as I said at the Agri Committee earlier today, I don't see this being a case in a debate around budget of it being food and agriculture and CAP over here and defense spending or environmental spending over here and in silos. They are interlinked. If we fund and support our farmers to be economically sustainable, then they can deliver that environmental sustainability. If they abandon the land in our remote regional areas, who will mind biodiversity, who will help us as custodians of the land?
And similarly in terms of the conversation around defense, I believe you know the EU originally was a and still is the most successful peace project in the world. And the reason the Common Agricultural Policy has been in place and successful for 65 years has been for that very reason that food security is at the heart of a peaceful society. We know hunger is the greatest cause of conflict in the world and the greatest weapon in any conflict as well.
So therefore really important we don't take for granted or that we're not complacent around the policies across Europe that have worked well while recognizing there's lots of competing challenges there. So the MFF is not something I control on my council obviously, but Ireland will engage and there is a large expectation that our presidency will significantly progress those discussions on the MFF and that's something we'll be very much engaged on doing. And thank you for your points and your contributions. MEP Pajada, I hope I've pronounced that near nearly kind of okay. You know you make a point very well in relation to your point around resilience.
And resilience has many different formats and you phrase it rightly the need for us to build resilience in terms of the challenge of climate change in terms of the challenge we face. And we need to build resilience and continue to invest in resilience in our farmers and our fishermen and women for the work that they can do in that in delivering on sustainability. Because I see this very much as a partnership. And I am a farmer myself, my neighbors are all farmers at home and we understand what it is to be custodians of the land that when you inherit the farm from your parents predominantly, your first thought well mine was how can I give this to my children in better shape than it is when I got it while also you know for full-time farmers obviously it being the sole source of income into those families as it can be.
So resilience has many different forms and sustainability has many different forms. And I fundamentally believe that, you know, again I said earlier at the AGRI committee, farmers and fishermen and women can't go green environmentally if they're in the red financially. You have to have economic sustainability where they can make a livelihood, where they can sustain their family in their rural and coastal communities. And by being there and being economically sustainable, they can deliver on that environmental sustainability by adopting new innovative measures, by addressing the area of the bioeconomy which is central to our presidency for AGRIFISH. We will host a global bioeconomy summit in Dublin on the 20th and 21st of October where we look at, and nowhere better than agriculture and our seafood sector, to address what were previously seen as waste streams and identify the opportunity to turn them into a value proposition and in turn deliver for a circular economy as well.
So keeping our farmers and our fishermen and women active and economically sustainable will allow them to deliver on that environmental sustainability. And I really do believe that.
And that links in with the framework that you talked about about which I understood to be the interlinkages between all of these areas. If no more than the point around funding, if we treat these all as silos, they will all be separate whereas they're interdependent and interlinked and I don't believe they're in competition with each other but I believe we have to get the balance right on all such measures. So thank you for your points. MEP Schmidt, I'll move a little bit quicker now. The raised the points around nitrates and where's the page now?
Have it here. Ah yes, the Nitrates Directive, so there is no proposal relating to this on the table in terms of the Nitrates Directive. My current focus is on the legislative packages which the Irish Presidency is seeking to progress. Simplification is a key focus of the Irish Presidency and I welcome progress being made under the current environmental simplification package and we'll see whether the Commission bring forward other proposals. Regarding the stress tests for the Habitats Directive and take on board the points you made, there is undoubtedly strong support from Member States for Commission simplification agenda with targeted simplification of EU environmental rules while at the same time maintaining the robust environmental protections of the EU acquis.
Simplification is a key focus of the Irish presidency and I welcome progress being made under the current environmental simplification package. MEP Canfin, where you as a presidency Ireland will seek to build on the progress achieved to date and focus on the discussions on the key outstanding issues including commonality versus flexibility. It is a key focus, it is something that comes up a lot at our Council in terms of getting that balance right. It is a delicate balance. The common market has really delivered for agriculture, for farmers and for fishers and at the same time we operate differently in different Member States.
So we have to get that balance right between protecting the common nature and the benefits of being in the common market but allowing enough subsidiarity or flexibility at Member State level to deliver on that and we will act as honest brokers and it is our aim to achieve partial general approach on that CAP regulation by the end of this year. MEP Canfin also raised points around the food and feed omnibus as did MEP Boylan and Lynn, good to see you here, and MEP Mets, thank you for attending two committees I'm at today MEP Mets.
And you know, the points around pesticides were raised as well, which also comes in under the food and feed omnibus. So omnibus 10 is subject to the ongoing discussions, and I can't comment on the detailed substance of which, but the presidency is committed to advancing these discussions, and obviously I've spoken at length on simplification already. Yes, Lynn, you also raised the points around animal welfare. And look, we're really strongly committed to improving animal welfare standards during transport and support the revision of the EU regulation for this sector. During our presidency, Ireland is chairing the Council working party on proposal and as such is committed to act as the honest broker and work on behalf of all member states to reach a consensus.
As presidency, our objective is to reach a coreper mandate on this file by the end of our tenure, but we are fully aware that this is challenging given the complexity of the file. It's a file that has been around for a significant while and we are determined to make progress on that, which I think would be in everyone's interest. So I think they're the points, I think I have them all covered, Chair.
Esther Herranz García
Thank you very much. Now we start with the second round and we give the floor to Mr. Cullinan.
András Tivadar Kulja
Thank you, Chair.
Dear Minister, it's a pleasure to welcome you to our committee today. Water scarcity and droughts are becoming a major challenge all across Europe, particularly in central and eastern parts of Europe. My question would be that how will the Irish presidency ensure that the upcoming review of EU water legislation strengthens both Europe's water resilience and the competitiveness of our economy, rather than treating these objectives as conflicting priorities? Given the increasingly severe impacts of the climate change on Europe's water resources, do you believe that these two objectives can realistically be achieved together? If so, what concrete measures will be needed?
Thank you very much.
Heléne Fritzon
Thank you, and thank you Minister for being here.
It's really an ambitious program from the Irish presidency. I welcome your wording about sustainability, resilience, and security, but I must put a question because this summer we live in Europe with heatwaves and fires, and it's here and now. And therefore, how can we in the short term secure the climate transition in this agriculture sector, and also related to what you said about how to use circular economy? And also a question because you mentioned women and farmers. And we know that in Europe, one in three women, they have no work at all.
They have no salary and not the power of their own lives. So we need more women on board, and especially in this sector. So please, if you can tell us about this priority a little more, about the how to be visible and better support this ambition. Thank you.
Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy
I didn't know that I asked for the floor, but getting another minute is something I won't give away. My question is maybe in line with a few other questions.
Yes, agriculture is crucial and also for food security. At the same time, the best move towards food security is to move towards a more plant-based diet, which might not be a very popular message in Ireland, but it's listening to scientists, that is absolutely true. The other question I have is that many of the problems that we do have in the field of the environment, whether it's climate, whether it's biodiversity, the agricultural sector is playing a negative role there. And I fully align with your positive remarks about the role that farmers play in nature, etc., etc., but it seems listening to your answers that you are sort of closing your eyes for the negative effects. And we see quite often that the agricultural sector is not, well, getting the same targets as other sectors.
So maybe you can reflect on that as well. Thank you.
Esther Herranz García
And now instead of giving the floor to Mr. Häusling, I'm going to ask him if he has asked for the floor or not. Yeah?
Thank you, Mr. Gerbrandy.
Martin Häusling
Yes. Ja. Herr Minister, wir sehen mit großer Sorge den Vorschlag der Kommission und aber auch Ihre Stellungnahme im Ausschuss im beim in beim Rat. Wir sehen, dass es in Richtung einer Renationalisierung geht. Ende der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik, wenn man so will.
Die Mitgliedsländer wollen viel Flexibilität, aber das geht halt nicht. Wenn wir einen gemeinsamen Markt haben, müssen wir gemeinsame Regeln haben. Ich sehe mit großer Sorge, dass die Umweltmaßnahmen mehr oder minder freiwillig ins Belieben der Mitgliedsländer gestellt werden. Und wir haben ja versucht, in der letzten Reform immer mehr Geld sozusagen zu binden an Umweltmaßnahmen. Das wird jetzt alles zurückgefahren.
Keine Bindung Gelder für den Ökolandbau. Wir haben immer noch das Ziel 25 % Ökolandbau, aber nichts verpflichtend. Leader ist nicht mehr festgeschrieben. Und überhaupt die Architektur, Wegfall der zweiten Säule ist natürlich etwas, was viele im ländlichen Raum mit Sorge umtreibt. Wollen Sie das so hinnehmen oder wird sich der Rat dafür einsetzen, doch wieder mehr in die Richtung der alten GAP zu gehen?
Sie haben die Bio-Verordnung erwähnt. Da gibt es ja einen Vorschlag, dass man die Weidepflicht aufhebt.
Ich halte das für sehr gefährlich. Ein Kern der ökologischen Verordnung ist die Weidepflicht und ich sehe nicht, dass wir das aufheben, das würde den ganzen Maßstab, die ganzen Maßstäbe der Ökoverordnung infrage stellen. Beim Thema Leguminosen, da finde ich ja das Ziel der Kommission nicht sehr ambitioniert, von 25 auf 35 Prozent Selbstversorgung zu gehen. Leguminosen spielen ja nicht nur eine Rolle in der Eiweißversorgung der Europäischen Union, sondern sie haben ja auch ein Potenzial, den Einsatz von mineralischem Dünger zu senken. Das wird überhaupt nicht beachtet und das wäre auch eine Lösung unserer Probleme mit Fertilizern.
Und ich sehe auch mit Sorge, dass der Rat und auch beim Parlament immer nur einfällt, wir reagieren auf die Klimakrise, ja, da brauchen wir halt eine Versicherung für die Landwirte. Das wird das Problem nicht lösen. Wir müssen tatsächlich unsere Klimapolitik wieder ernster und mehr in den Mittelpunkt stellen und nicht als Randthema betrachten. Vielen Dank.
Esther Herranz García
I only remind you that you give the floor, I give the floor for two minutes. The next one is Mr. Everdeen, two minutes please.
Sebastian Everding
Thank you, Chair, I will continue in German. Vielen Dank auch von meiner Seite aus, dass Sie sich hier dem Austausch stellen. Ich würde gerne noch kurz über ein Thema reden, eigentlich zwei Themen, die aber eigentlich eins sind, das sind antimikrobielle Resistenzen und die intensive Tierhaltung.
Und viele Ratspräsidentschaften vorher haben schon die Wichtigkeit der AMR-Bekämpfung hervorgehoben. Wirklich konkret passiert ist aber nichts. Und deswegen die Frage: Will die irische Ratspräsidentschaft da auch mal die Ursachen angehen oder nur an den Symptomen weiter herumdoktern? Weil aus meiner Perspektive kann man nicht glaubwürdig gegen antimikrobielle Resistenzen vorgehen, wenn man gleichzeitig die intensive Tierhaltung unterstützt mit Millionen von Tieren auf engstem Raum, wo es manchmal einfach nicht ohne Antibiotika geht. Und deswegen frage ich Sie halt ganz konkret: Brauchen wir nicht einen grundlegenden Wandel in der Landwirtschaft hin zu höheren Standards in Sachen Tierschutz, zu mehr Nachhaltigkeit?
Und deswegen die Frage: Wird die irische Ratspräsidentschaft den Mut aufbringen, bei der AMR-Bekämpfung den Tierschutz in den Mittelpunkt zu stellen? Vielen Dank im Voraus für eine Antwort.
Esther Herranz García
Thank you. Now Mr. Andriukaitis, you have the floor for two minutes. Mr. Andriukaitis.
Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis
Aš taip pat pasistengsiu kalbėti savo gimtąja kalba.
Gerbiamas ministre, dėkoju, jūsų portfelis nepasakytai sudėtingas. Jūs apimate ir žemės ūkį, ir maistą, ir jūros, kaip sakyti, jūrinės veiklos dalykus. Man teko būti kaip komisarui atsakingam už maisto saugą ir žmonių sveikatą, teko spręsti taip pat tuos aplinkosaugos klausimus, maisto saugos klausimus ir apsirūpinimo maistu klausimus, ir vienas iš jų buvo labai įdomi sritis, kurioje Airija parodė savo pirmininkavimo, savo lyderystę. Airijoj nemažai ūkininkų ėmė naudoti technologijas, padėdami gaminti maistą, turtingą omega plius riebiųjų rūgščių. Jie pasinaudojo moderniomis technologijomis, kad būtų galima maitinti paukščius maistu, kad po to kiaušiniuose ir paukštienoj atsirastų daugiau omega rūgščių, kurios labai padeda, prisideda prie sveikesnio maisto.
Mano klausimas būtų susijęs, ar jūs bandysite pristatyti gerąją Airijos praktiką siekiant pateikti daugiau rinkai saugaus ir sveiko maisto, ir ypač maisto turtingo reikalingomis omega rūgštimis? Ar jūs galėtumėt pasakyti, kad ta šaka šiandien gerai pasistovėjusi Airijoj ir ar pristatytumėt tą gerąją praktiką kitoms šalims, kad mūsų organinė žemdirbystė ir kitos maisto gamybos sritys galėtų iš tiesų pasekti pažangia praktika, kur maisto kokybė ir maisto, kaip sakyt, kaloringumas bei sveikumas tampa dideliu turtu? Ačiū labai.
Esther Herranz García
Thank you very much. And now we give the floor to Mr. Kelleher, two minutes please.
Billy Kelleher
Thank you very much and thanks to the Minister for his presentation. Tá fáilte romhat arís agus do dhaoine as an Roinn chomh maith, agus beidh sibh ag obair go dian as seo amach le linn an Uachtaránachta. Just a few issues, Minister, and firstly to wish you all well. Denmark at the moment, about 40% of its gas consumption comes from biomethane, so about 40%.
Other countries are making a lot of progress on it as well. And I'm just wondering, as a Minister for Agriculture, do you see the potential in biomethane, in anaerobic digestion into the future in terms of addressing some of the fundamental challenges facing agriculture around the issue of byproducts from farming itself, the impact that that is having on the environment, and just the opportunities to explore those particular areas? And the reason I say that is, I mean, obviously there is challenges across Europe with regard to groundwater, for example, air quality as well. And if you look at the countries that have made a lot of progress — Germany, France, obviously Denmark — in the area of anaerobic digestion, it does two things. It underpins agriculture in terms of viability, but also it reduces the agricultural footprint on the environment as well by using waste materials from agriculture, feedstocks, etc., for the production of gas.
So do you see during the Presidency the opportunity to look at best practice across Europe to see where we can learn from each other, in view of the fact that some countries have made extraordinary progress and others haven't, and whether or not there needs to be a revisiting of incentives, for example, at a European level to underpin the increase that is needed around the issue of biomethane?
And bear in mind as also strategic autonomy is critically important in all of this as well. We speak consistently about the fact that Europe is under threat from its dependence on fossil fuels and yet we have potential to, if we follow Denmark's lead, to really reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels. And I suppose that leads on to the other area as well with regard to the environment itself and just whether or not you see that there is potential for co-financing of environmental schemes on the issue of funding of the environment. Thank you very much, go raibh míle maith agat.
Esther Herranz García
I will ask you to respect the time you have for the floor. Please, Mr. Kelly, one minute and a half because you are replying.
Seán Kelly
Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh, a dhuine uasail, míle buíochas. Just briefly, Minister, and thanks for the answers you gave, very comprehensive and knowledgeable. A lot of anxiety has taken place amongst farmers about the proposal to define an active farmer.
And some of it has circled around part-time farmers or farmers who have off-farm income. Now, I was pleased to say that you were a farmer yourself. That should not preclude you, if you're doing your job properly, which I'm sure you are, or someone on your behalf, from getting CAP funding. So, so would it not be an idea during the Irish presidency to put that to bed, those who are genuinely farming to be entitled to CAP funding when it comes? Because there are an awful lot of professions where people will do one job and maybe part-time another job, because in farming it's necessary.
They don't have probably enough, especially small farmers. So should the emphasis not be on eliminating the non-farmer who's pretending to be farming, the armchair farmer as sometimes they're called, rather than trying to distinguish between farmers who are doing their job 100% and might be doing it part-time and doing some other job as well? Go raibh maith agat.
Esther Herranz García
And finally, we give the floor for reply to Mr. Smith, but respect the time because the most important thing now is to have enough time for hearing the Minister's answers.
Stephen SMITH
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Just wanted to ask you, I had a brief or quite extensive remark on CBAM. Maybe you could also come back to that.
That's just a very brief request. 13 seconds. Thank you.
Esther Herranz García
Now, Mr. Minister, you have time for the answer. You have more or less 10 minutes.
Martin Heydon
Great. Thanks, Chair. Apologies, MEP Smith, I had a note on CBAM, I have too many pieces of paper now. So I might answer that last one first because I missed it. Under the Cyprus Presidency, the Council have agreed a mandate on CBAM.
The Presidency is committed to making significant progress in trilogues with the European Parliament, and we're looking forward to starting negotiations after the plenary vote in September. So I know CBAM is of great significance and of importance, and the Cyprus Presidency did progress it. So with anything that comes to the Irish Presidency, we will look to move it on, progress it, engage across all the different levels on that one.
Again, to thank colleagues for their extensive range of questions and constructive points that they've made. First of all, MEP Kulja, thank you for your point and your focus on water resilience and economic, can they deliver together or are they in competition? That is a very fair point. It's about, I think you can see from a number of my different answers, it's the interdependency of issues on each other and you can't fix one problem and it's avoiding black and white, that's the problem and this is the solution. Generally, there's an interplay between both and we know that.
So in terms of review of the Water Framework Directive, the ENVI Council lead and I know that Commissioner Roswall has had a series of exchanges with the ENVI Council on this important issue and I'm sure they will bring it forward and MEP Fritzon raised this point also. So it is a key consideration and one that will be progressed and we will keep a close eye on it. And while it doesn't fall to our council, we will obviously monitor it because it does matter to all farmers obviously. MEP Fritzon as well, you asked to expand a little bit on the point around the role of women in agriculture. I think it's fair to say we had a very good debate on this in council yesterday.
And for some member states, this is to the forefront of their mind. For others, they reflected more about how they could have measures in their next CAP strategic plan that could strengthen the role of women in agriculture. In Ireland, our experience is there are many, many women actively involved in the family farm who are making key business decisions, but their name doesn't appear on any piece of paper. They're not a recognized partnership as such. Yet I know of many farms where no big decision would be made without the input of the partner in that space.
But also the fact it's around a change of culture. It's around a farm family having the discussion around who is the next generation to take on the farm and the daughter having every bit as much of a chance of inheriting the land as the son. That would be a change of culture. It is changing, but not quick enough. And we have to recognize that we are all better in agriculture and food production and our food business will be much better with more women directly involved.
And you don't change that with one intervention.
You, that's a cultural change that we're looking to drive. And the United Nations year of the, International Year of the Woman Farmer is a great opportunity for us to have this discussion, to keep it to the forefront and to look at a range of initiatives, including like we did in Ireland, having an ambassador to represent the best of the roles that women in agriculture play. Taking on board your broader point that one in three women across the EU don't work at all or have an income, and the lack of independence that that provides and the challenges that provides beyond this as well. MEP Gerbrandy, you were very articulate for somebody who wasn't expecting to ask a question. So, thank you for raising your points.
It was a question, but it was kind of a statement as well when you made your statement around a plant-based diet and you talked about listening to science. And farmers grow plants too, so you know, that's, that's one element of it. But I would say your point around science is absolutely true. The Irish presidency will have a clear focus on sustainable livestock, that we have a science-led and very clear focused debate around that. And it feeds into MEP Kelly's points earlier around protein and beyond.
And I made the point in the Agricultural Council this morning that, you know, consumers' habits are changing rapidly.
We see the proliferation and use of GLP-1s weight loss drugs now, where one in eight citizens in America are on these weight loss drugs that are reducing food intake by up to 30%. But what is really significantly changing is the fact that their focus when consuming less food has to be making sure it's protein-rich, nutrient-dense. And there's a massive opportunity for European farmers who produce safe, nutritious food and doing that. And I believe sustainable livestock, you know, is a key part of that in terms of that discussion and the opportunities that there are there. So sustainable livestock being a key part of our approach will be a part of that.
MEP Hausling, thank you for your points regarding the concern of renationalisation of the CAP. And that should be a concern for everybody. Yes, Member States want flexibility. I've been warned as a minister to be careful for what you ask for because you might get it. And the more flexibility you have, the more you own every decision you make.
We do not want to undermine the commonality of the Common Agricultural Policy. And we have to be really careful that we don't do that.
That is our strength, being part of a common market. But similarly too, there are flexibilities and there are differences between how we farm in different member states. And we try have to try and get that balance right. In terms of your point around pillar two, you know, I'm not sure about the rest of Europe, but in Ireland no farmer could tell you where their payment came from, whether it came from pillar one or pillar two. But they knew that the income was important.
In our design of it, obviously that has changed. NRPPs are here to stay now. That regulation has moved on. So rather than hankering for a move back to pillar one and pillar two, it's about making this structure work. And from our perspective on the Council, making sure that key decisions that will impact farmers and agriculture are made by those of us on the AgriFish Council in the CAP regulation and not in the broader NRPP regulation.
That is a key, a key element as well. And the organic farming regulation that you questioned as well is really, really important. Under the Cyprus presidency, they've agreed a mandate to begin negotiations with the European Parliament. And we note the file is very technical in nature. And we welcome the strong work and commitment by the rapporteur, her team and the shadows of the table in the five compromise amendments which ComAgri will vote on.
So subject to this vote, we will make ourselves available for informal technical bilaterals before the summer break in advance of beginning technical discussions in September. Vielen Dank, MEP Everding, for the points you raise. You raise concerns or talked about tackling causes or symptoms. You referenced AMR and sustainable livestock, and that whole debate around animal welfare, human health, and nutrition is a really important area that great strides and work has been done on to date. And AMR and animal welfare Council conclusions were adopted yesterday on One Health, One Welfare in the agri-food systems.
So progress is continuously being made in that regard. MEP Androulakis, thank you for your points that were clearly outlined regarding omega-3 content. Vision 2040, you know, the presidency role is for now, but we're happy to share our experiences.
I will host two informal meetings of the AgriFish Council in Ireland, for fisheries in July in Cork and for agriculture in Dublin and Kildare. And a key part of the agriculture informal will be to bring colleagues on the AgriFish Council to farms to demonstrate our pasture-based system, how our system in Ireland is different, that sustainable livestock piece, and how we're managing all of the challenges that can exist, but also, um, the really good practice and the measures that you so kindly complimented us on, like adopting better breeding techniques and technologies, genotyping our national herd, which we will be the first country in the world to do. Um, and of course, I'll be in the presidency capacity, um, but I hope that we'll be able to share some of those positive, um, experiences around sustainable livestock, um, and bring in those points forward as well. So thank you for your comments. Go raibh míle maith agat, Billy.
Um, thank you for your comments, um, and in relation to biomethane and beyond. Look, I've said clearly that I would love a situation, and it's fair to say in Ireland we're not in the lead on biomethane compared to other European countries, but there are opportunities to learn from those who have forged ahead ahead of us. And I would love to see a situation that we have energy co-ops in Ireland the same as food co-ops, and that farmers are in that space where they can make an income from both.
And we see already the changes we've made around planning for solar and rooftops and agricultural sheds. Farmers' core activity of producing food continues in that shed, whether it's livestock or grain, but on the roof they generate a stable income that can offset income volatility measures by generating sustainable income in that space. So our focus on the bioeconomy in the presidency and the Global Bioeconomy Summit is an opportunity to further discuss anaerobic digestion, biomethane and the positives that that can bring. And energy security is just as important as food security and needs to be discussed in the mix there. And they are interlinked, so it's a top priority for the Irish presidency taking forward a range of proposals which will help to make the EU more energy secure through the Energy Council as well.
And Sean, on your final point regarding the active farmer and beyond, one of the most outstanding issues concerning the definitions of farmer and active farmer, while there appears to be broad support for maintaining a farmer definition broadly aligned with the current framework, significant differences remain regarding the active farmer concept, including its scope and potential mandatory application, which I think is a lot of what you're touching on there, you know.
And given the implications for eligibility, targeting and implementation across the CAP, further discussion will be required to identify a workable landing zone. You identified and articulated there very clearly the challenges with this, and it's a good example of the need for flexibility in certain instances as opposed to the mandatory nature of some proposals. But again, getting the balance, things are being proposed in fairness to the Commission from a mandatory perspective because of the importance Commissioner Hansen has put in on the likes of generation renewal and beyond and trying to identify opportunities there as well. So as incoming presidency, Ireland will seek to build on the progress achieved to date and focus discussion on these key outstanding issues. Our objective will be to facilitate constructive engagement, identify areas of convergence and maintain momentum on the file while acting as an honest broker throughout the negotiations.
Esther Herranz García
Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. It's been a pleasure hearing your explanations about this presidency of six months from Ireland. And we will take the opportunity to have you again at the end of your presidency. Thanks so much. And now, colleagues, we are going to have a break for ten minutes and we retake our work.
Dear colleagues, we're ready to get back to work, please. Please, I ask you to take seat and we keep on with our work. The next point on the agenda is an exchange of views with the Commission on the environmental protection in Albania in the context of the accession negotiations. Firstly, I would like to warmly welcome members of AFET. I don't know if there are any one.
Well, there were, we were waiting for them. Oh, sorry. Yeah, well, I welcome the members of AFET committee who are joining us today for this important discussion, in particular the AFET standing rapporteur for Albania, Mr. Andreas Schieder. I will give the floor now to the representative of the European Commission, Valentina Superti, Director of Western Balkans, DG NEAR, for introductory remarks. So I give you the floor for ten minutes.
Valentina Superti
Good afternoon. So I don't need this, I think, to speak. Can you hear me?
Speaker 28
No, very slow. If you can talk high or to put your mouth close to the microphone because it's very, the sound is very low.
Valentina Superti
Yes or no? I'll try to shout, although it's fine. Okay. Thank you so much and good afternoon to all of you and Chair, honorable members and also colleagues. So it's a great pleasure for me to join you for this important indeed and timely discussion.
And I would like to start by saying that I'm grateful to you for the invitation to be with you today. And I do hope and I count on this exchange of views to be both constructive and insightful. So I would start by outlining as a matter of context where we stand with regard to Albania's accession process.
So I would like to provide an overview of the current state of play and at the same time highlight key developments achieved so far. So I would start by saying that Albania has shown a clear political commitment and strong determination to advance on its EU path and this is also translated in adopting key EU reforms and this is actually witnessed by and evidenced by the opening of all six negotiation clusters in just over one year. And the most recent, the most recent major step has been the adoption by EU member states of the so-called interim EU common position on cluster one of 26th of May. Now I know this may sound technical to you but actually it's, we are talking about very important things on which there was an agreement on 26th of May.
What are these important things? Just to give you some examples, we are referring to quality of democratic institutions, quality of the judiciary. We are talking about respect for fundamental rights. We are talking here about media freedom. We are talking about anti-corruption, fight against organized crime, but also border control and visa policy.
So what I am trying to say with these examples that a key milestone was achieved recently. And these milestones actually, so these rule of law matters, which are captured by chapters 23 and 24 of the negotiations, are the issues that determine and will continue to determine the pace of accession negotiations. And these topics are the first to be assessed by member states and they will be the last to be assessed by member states. Now that is one consideration.
Another consideration is that this agreement on the so-called closing benchmarks, so what is it, it's criteria on the rule of law, allows Albania to start provisionally closing chapters. And for example, this discussion is very timely today because it is today that there are a number of intergovernmental conferences. Actually, I just come from the Montenegro one and later on today at 7 o'clock, 19 hours local time, the Council will provisionally close three chapters of the negotiations. And this is a big step forward. And the Commission considers that subject to maintaining the pace of reforms, Albania is so far on track to meet its ambitious objective of closing accession negotiations by the end of 2027.
This is not a legal deadline, it's an aspirational objective. And so what we will do from the Commission side is now focusing on planning the next months ahead in close cooperation with our Albanian counterparts. Now, specifically on a topic that is I know dear and important to you, which is the construction in Pishë Poro project within the so-called Nartë protected landscape.
I know that there was a visit from some of you to Albania. And I would want to start by underlining that we are in constant contact with the Albanian authorities and with civil society on this particular project. And in this case, as actually it is the case for all ongoing projects in Albania, it, so the project, will need to comply, again sorry for the technicity, but it is the framework we are operating in, so the project will need to comply with the benchmarks, so with the criteria that have been set by Member States under the environmental chapter, which is technically it's Chapter 27 of the accession process.
So the first important point I would like to make is that we have received assurance from the government of Albania, and this still this morning, we had a meeting still this morning, so it's a repetition of the fact that the Albanian authorities are committed to carry out a full environmental impact assessment and that for that exercise European environmental standards will be respected. And as you know, this chapter 27 is now currently open because the beginning of the process is opening the chapters. However, the current planning is to close it towards the end of next year, 2027, and before we will be able to propose to the Council to close the chapter, the situation will need to be fully and thoroughly clarified. And our role of the European Commission will be to check and verify that all the relevant again benchmarks, criteria are met, fully met.
And the second point is that I would, important point I would like to make is that we have consistently and we are consistently encouraging the Albanian authorities to continue taking steps that support the fulfillment of these benchmarks and help Albania move forward on its EU path. But at the same time, it will be also important that Albania refrains from any action that go against these commitments. What is that we are talking about? First of all, in particular, it's about terminating a 2015 legislation on strategic investments. And secondly, it's about repealing the incompatible provisions, some of the provisions that were enacted through the 2024 amendments to the law on protected areas.
And this law dates back from 2017. So these amendments will have to be repealed. And this is a message that we are constantly passing to the Albanian authorities. And the Commission will continue to assess progress objectively and consistently against these benchmarks. And we will at the same time continue supporting Albania in meeting its accession commitments.
I would want also to add, as a, you know, to complete the picture, that at the same time we are mindful that foreign investment can play an important role in supporting economic development and growth in Albania. However, it is essential that all investments are fully transparent and comply with both national legislation but also with the EU acquis. So let me wrap it up for this introduction and to say that both the Commission and the EU delegation in Tirana, as you know we have a delegation, will continue to closely monitor developments and that we expect Albania to deliver in the area of environment as well as in the all the other chapters of the negotiations. And the accession process sets clear expectations of Albania and we look, we do look forward to working with our counterparts to ensure the objectives are met. So with that I would stop perhaps here because I think the objective is mainly to hear from you and I'm grateful for your comments.
Esther Herranz García
Thank you very much. Now on behalf of EPP, Mr. Kovatchev, you have two minutes.
Andrey Kovatchev
Thank you very much Madam Chair and thank you to the Commission for these introductory remarks on this topic. For sure we we know and we support Albania accession to the European Union and we see that this aim end of 2027 to close the negotiations is feasible. However for almost two months Albanians have been peacefully protesting in defense of transparency, environmental protection and the rule of law. Their voices deserve to be heard. The development projects in Zvërnec and in the Sazan Island could risk causing damages to the Albania's ecosystem and biodiversity if this proceed without a transparent and independent environmental impact assessment concluded in line with the EU environmental standards.
Environmental protection must go hand in hand with sustainable tourism ensuring that economic development does not come at the expense of Albania's natural heritage.
This Parliament has repeatedly expressed its concern and has called for the repeal, as the Commission just mentioned, of the amendments from 2024 to Albania's law on protected area, most recently in our resolutions from the 17th of June 2026. Albanian progress towards European accession depends on its full alignment with the EU acquis, including full compliance with Chapter 27 on environmental and climate change, was also confirmed just by the Commission and also by Commissioner Kos that the Commission has received assurance from the Albanian government that a comprehensive environmental impact assessment will be carried out. And my question was exactly to the Commission if this could be confirmed, and I just heard that this is the case. But we observe very carefully the development, and this is something which for also for AFET Committee, where I am the EPP rapporteur on the Albanian file, but also now here in ENVI, is the topic which we are going to follow. Thank you very much.
Esther Herranz García
Thank you. And now Mrs. Burkhardt, two minutes. And please speak slowly.
Delara Burkhardt
Ja, werde ich machen, vielen Dank. Wir, also Sie haben ja selber zugegeben, dass Ihre Erklärung schon sehr technisch war. Und ich glaube aber, dass man hier noch mal in diesem Haus der Demokratie etwas politischer werden muss und auch klar sagen muss, dass seit Monaten die Menschen in Albanien gegen ein milliardenschweres Luxusresort aus dem Umfeld der Trump-Familie protestieren, im wunderschönen Naturschutzgebiet.
Und dieser Protest ist für die Menschen in Albanien viel mehr als ein einzelnes Bauprojekt. Sie kämpfen für den Schutz ihrer Natur, sie kämpfen für Transparenz, für demokratische Beteiligung und für das Recht mitzuentscheiden, was in ihrer Heimat passiert. Und ich glaube, hier müssen wir sehr klar sein. Natürlich sprechen wir auch über die Auswirkungen, die das auf den Beitritt haben kann. Und Sie haben da ja auch sehr genau auch gesagt, wie Sie das untersuchen.
Und ich glaube, das ist auch der richtige Weg, dort klar zu sein, zu sagen, dass Umweltstandards nicht aufgeweicht werden dürfen, dass die auch nicht aufgeweicht werden dürfen, wenn mächtige ausländische Investoren beteiligt sind. Schutzgebiete sind keine Ware, die man verscherbeln kann. Das ist EU-Recht. Aber ich glaube, hier aus diesem Haus muss noch ein anderes Signal rausgehen. Wir müssen darüber sprechen, dass sie genau das fordern, was ja auch in dem Versprechen des EU-Beitritts Albanien auch liegt, nämlich das Versprechen auf Rechtsstaatlichkeit, auf Demokratie, auf Teilhabe und europäische Werte.
Und viele Menschen, wenn wir das wieder zu einer technischen Diskussion machen, fühlen sich in ihrem Protest übersehen. Und deswegen wünsche ich mir auch von der Kommission ein klares Zeichen darüber, dass sie den Protest der Zivilgesellschaft sehen und auch den ernst nehmen, weil Albanien eben auch nicht nur die Regierung ist, sondern auch die Menschen in der Zivilgesellschaft, die unsere Hand verdient haben.
Deswegen werde ich Sie da beim Wort nehmen, was Sie über die Impact Assessments gesagt haben, dass wir da eben auch klar sein müssen und wir da auch an der Seite der Zivilgesellschaft stehen müssen. Die Proteste sind mutig und sie sind ein großartiges Zeichen einer lebendigen Demokratie, die geschützt werden muss.
Esther Herranz García
We don't have any representative from Patriots or ECR, so I give the floor to Mr. Gerbrandy on behalf of Renew.
Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy
Thank you, Madam Chair. Between order and chaos stands the rule of law, and that is a very, very crucial element of the EU. And when we look at the situation in Albania, it's very questionable whether the law is being followed. First of all, there's the important legal question of who owns the land on the island. Several Albanians claim that they own it, but that the communist regime took it away from them illegally, and that legal problem has still not been solved.
And obviously there is the legal question regarding the nature protection status of the Vjosa-Narta Park. This Narta Lagoon is one of the most important wetlands of the Balkans, more than 200 bird species, more than 70 endangered species, one of Europe's most critical migratory corridors, and it's clear that its importance goes far beyond Albania. And that's why this is an issue not just for the local or national authorities in Albania, but goes much further than that. And as we speak, unrepairable damage is being done there. So I started with the rule of law for a reason, because that is the most fundamental element at stake here, because if the law does not apply to the rich and famous anymore, then there is no law at all.
And I think that is that is one of the most fundamental issues here. My concrete questions to the Commission are, I mean, I fully understand your position and you've criticized the Albanian national government, but are all the activities now stopped at the island? And has the Albanian government publicly stated that a thorough impact assessment will be take will be taken place?
Otherwise, I think the government might be in problem itself, also because of the flamingo protests that we are seeing. Maybe they should listen to what former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan once said when asked, do you have the feeling that your government might be in trouble? And he said, well, the only thing that might bring it in trouble are events, dear boy, events. And this might be one of the events for Albania and I hope that they realize that. Thank you.
Jutta Paulus
Thank you very much, Chair, and thank you, Commission, for being here. And I think this is a very important debate as Albania is pretty close to joining our European Union. Our delegation of five MEPs went there two weeks ago to see for ourselves what's going on, to talk to the citizens, to the head of our EU delegation to Albania, to ambassadors of member states, to the Albanian ombudsman, several civil society associations, as well as the Albanian Minister for the Environment.
And we also took a trip to Vjosa-Narta, which is virtually the last remaining intact coastal ecosystem in the Mediterranean, which foreign investors want to turn into a luxury resort with 10,000 hotel beds, taking advantage of the 2024 change to nature protection legislation, which exempts five-star hotels from all environmental restrictions. And right now, without any public permit, roads have been built, trees have been cut down, dunes destroyed, a wetland drained, allegedly in preparation of the environmental impact assessment. We have pictures, you can even see it on satellite images, so there's enough proof. And on top, as Shaban has said, the legality of the ownership of the land is unclear. Many shell companies were involved, the land was sold numerous times and the legal claims of the families which used to live there are not being followed up by the courts.
And this is certainly not in line with EU law. And it is certainly not in line with people's hopes and dreams. That's why the Albanians have been in the street for more than 40 days. They're fed up with a system where only those can thrive who have close ties to certain people and organizations. They're fed up with 30,000 young people leaving the country every year because they don't see possibilities for themselves at home, and they are fed up with corruption and fraud.
Their motto is Albania's not for sale, and they put all their hopes on us, on the EU. When I talk to them, I promised them to take their voices back to Brussels, and this I'm doing here. Colleagues, we must keep a close eye on the process. And I must ask the Commission again, will you make sure that all Copenhagen criteria are fulfilled? How will you independently verify compliance with Chapter 27, including the situation in Vjosa-Narta?
And if breaches are confirmed, how will they affect the accession process? And last but not least, what is the timeline to realign environmental legislation with EU criteria? People of Albania put their faith in you.
Esther Herranz García
Sorry. Please, I ask you to respect the time you have for the floor. And now the next one is Mr. Martin Günther on behalf of the Left.
Martin Günther
Vielen Dank, Frau Vorsitzende, ich kann mich meinen Vorrednerinnen eigentlich nur anschließen. Will aber sagen, die Kommission untergräbt die Glaubwürdigkeit ihrer EU-Erweiterungspolitik, wenn es um Umweltpolitik sowie kritische Rohstoffe geht, gerade massiv. Die Kommission betont zu Recht, dass die Einhaltung des Umweltrechts für den EU-Beitritt Albaniens verpflichtend ist. Und ich erwarte angesichts der Proteste in Albanien, dass die EU da standhaft bleibt.
Gegenüber Serbien verfolgt sie jedoch einen anderen Ansatz offensichtlich. Trotz demokratischer Rückschritte und massiver öffentlicher Widerstands vertieft die EU die Rohstoffkooperation mit Belgrad. So unterzeichnete Kommissionspräsidentin von der Leyen im Juli 2024 eine Absichtserklärung über nachhaltige Rohstoffe und das umstrittene Lithium-Projekt Jadar wurde jüngst als strategisches Projekt im Rahmen des Critical Raw Material Act nachträglich eingestuft. Zudem wirft eine Spiegel-Recherche Fragen zu einer von Deutschland unterstützter Beratung im serbischen Präsidialamt auf, das verfassungsrechtlich gar nicht für Umwelt-, Wirtschafts- oder Bergbau zuständig ist. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellen sich folgende Fragen: Wie rechtfertigt die Kommission die strengen Umweltauflagen für Albanien, was vollkommen richtig ist, während sie in Serbien trotz erheblicher Bedenken bezüglich Demokratie, Rechtsstaatlichkeit und Umweltschutz ein Lithium-Abbauprojekt unterstützt?
Wie können die Bürger im Westbalkan darauf vertrauen, dass die EU bei allen Beitrittskandidaten dieselben Standards anlegt, unabhängig von deren strategischer Bedeutung? Wie antwortet die Kommission auf die Frage, die mir erst jüngst im Belgrad gestellt wurde, ob es einen Beitritt Serbien auch ohne das umstrittene Jadar-Projekt geben würde?
Esther Herranz García
Excuse me, the next one is Madam Arndt, and I ask you to respect the time you have, two minutes, if not we are going to close the micros.
Anja Arndt
Danke, Frau Vorsitzende. Der Green Deal beruht ja auf der Behauptung, dass Natur- und Biodiversitätsschutz höchste Priorität haben. Deshalb werden Landwirtschaft, Industrie und Infrastruktur in der Europäischen Union mit immer strengeren Umweltauflagen drangsaliert, aber gleichzeitig verhandeln Sie als Kommission mit Albanien über den EU-Beitritt weiter, obwohl dort das genaue Gegenteil passiert.
Erstens, und das wurde hier schon mehrfach angesprochen, das albanische Parlament hat ein neues Schutzgebietsgesetz beschlossen, damit können selbst Nationalparks und streng geschützte Naturgebiete für den Bau von Fünf-Sterne-Hotels, Luxusresorts und andere große Tourismusprojekte geöffnet werden. Zweitens, mit dem sogenannten Bergpaket geht Albanien noch weiter. Betroffen sind staatliche Wälder, Weideflächen und Nationalparks, darunter die albanischen Alpen, eine der letzten weitgehend unberührten Naturlandschaften Europas. Das Gesetz ermöglicht es Investoren, staatliche Flächen, und das muss man sich mal vorstellen, für einen symbolischen Preis von einem Euro, nur einem einzigen Euro zu erwerben, wenn dort touristische Großprojekte entstehen. Gleichzeitig werden Entscheidungen den lokalen Gemeinden entzogen.
Drittens, besonders alarmierend ist das Schutzgebiet Vjosa-Narta, auch das wurde schon einige Male angesprochen in diesem Ausschuss. Diese einzigartige Lagunen- und Feuchtlandschaft an der Adriaküste gehört zu den ökologisch wertvollsten Naturgebieten Europas. Sie ist Rast-, Brut- und Überwinterungsgebiet für Millionen Zugvögel auf ihrem Weg zwischen Europa und Afrika. Trotzdem wird mitten in diesem sensiblen Gebiet der Flughafen Vlora gebaut und Luxusresorts sind auch noch geplant.
Trotz allem setzt die Europäische Kommission die Beitrittsverhandlungen unbeirrt fort. Die einzig glaubwürdige Reaktion wäre, die Beitrittsverhandlungen mit Albanien so lange auszusetzen, bis diese Rückschritte vollständig korrigiert sind und das Land nachweist, dass es Natur- und Umweltschutz nach europäischen Maßstäben tatsächlich ernst nimmt. Meine Frage an die Kommission lautet daher: Welche konkreten Konsequenzen ziehen Sie aus diesen nachweislichen Rückschritten? Werden Sie die Beitrittsverhandlungen mit Albanien jetzt aussetzen?
Esther Herranz García
I kindly ask you to respect the time you have for the floor. Mr. Beleris, you have one minute and a half.
Fredis Beleris
Thank you, Chair. I will continue in Greek. Θέλω να ευχαριστήσω τους συναδέλφους, γιατί εγώ έχω γεννηθεί εκεί, είμαι μέλος της ελληνικής εθνικής μειονότητας και κατανοώ πολύ καλά αυτά που λέτε. Η Επιτροπή δεν μας είπε ότι δεν είναι μόνο αυτό το έργο. Έχουν γίνει έργα και ο τρόπος που έχουν γίνει είναι με κανένα σεβασμό προς το περιβάλλον και το φυσικό κάλλος.
Αυτό έχει γίνει στο Βουθρωτό, ετοιμάζεται το Πόρτο Παλέρμο. Άρα είναι μία συνήθης πρακτική της αλβανικής κυβέρνησης να μην λαμβάνει υπόψη στις επενδύσεις, να μην λαμβάνει υπόψη δύο σημαντικά πράγματα.
Το ένα είναι η προστασία του περιβάλλοντος και το δεύτερο είναι το ιδιοκτησιακό καθεστώς. Δεν σέβεται καθόλου, δεν την ενδιαφέρει ποιανού είναι αυτή η ιδιοκτησία. Θέλω να ρωτήσω την Επιτροπή και για το delegation που είναι στην Αλβανία. Μιλάει καθόλου με την αντιπολίτευση, με την κοινωνία των πολιτών; Γιατί προχωράει η διαδικασία ένταξης τόσο γρήγορα;
Σήμερα κλείσανε τρία κεφάλαια, το 25, το 26, το 30. Φυσικά δεν είναι το 27 που αναφέρεται στο περιβάλλον, αλλά το μήνυμα που δίνουμε προς την αλβανική κοινωνία είναι ότι κάνουμε τα χατίρια της κυβέρνησης και του κυρίου Ράμα και δεν μας ενδιαφέρει η πραγματική ένταξη της Αλβανίας και η ευημερία του αλβανικού λαού. Η Αλβανία είναι ένας λαός που κατά 92% θέλει την ένταξη. Μήπως με τις αποφάσεις της Επιτροπής δημιουργήσουμε και εκεί αντιευρωπαίους, αφού δεν υπάρχει, δεν υπάρχουν αντιευρωπαίοι; Ευχαριστώ.
Esther Herranz García
I really thank you for respecting the time.
And now, Ms. Tineke Strik, one minute and a half.
Tineke Strik
Thank you, chairs, and thank you to the Commission for the explanation. My colleague Jutta Paulus has already said a lot, but I just also want to highlight that when we talked with the protesters, it was really clear, and also you see it from their actions, that they are actually very much defending the EU values. And indeed, they feel they belong to the EU, but they also want the EU to act according the EU standards. So I think the action of the Commission is really a test case also for the credibility regarding the citizens of Albania. And therefore my question would be, because indeed this promise of the environmental impact assessment, will you make sure that this impact assessment will be in line with the EU standards, so that it's really thorough enough, transparent enough, and really trustworthy?
Will you also make sure that this moratorium does not only apply to the Vjosa-Narta area, but to all protected areas until the law will be brought in line with the EU standards?
And as has been highlighted before, it it it seems that it's also exemplary for the high-level corruption which is still not sufficiently attacked attacked in Albania. Do you also push the authorities to comply fully with any investigation coming from the SPAK? Because SPAK is also doing its investigation there. And how are you looking into allegations of money laundering with a lot of money coming from the organized drugs crime and also the violations of the public procurement rules? So I think this is a whole set that enables these kinds of transactions and and with as a result violations.
So I really hope the Commission is keen in tackling all of these enabling environmental aspects.
Maria Ohisalo
Thank you very much, Chair, Commission. Environmental degradation and security are increasingly interconnected. When valuable land is acquired without sufficient transparency or environmental safeguards, the consequences go far beyond biodiversity loss.
In Albania, concerns have been raised about land acquisitions in environmentally sensitive and strategically important coastal areas, to name one, such as the former military island Sazan. These cases raise questions not only about environmental destruction and public access to nature, but also about resilience, strategic infrastructure, and the rule of law. So I would like to ask the Commission, as part of the accession negotiations, how is the Commission assessing the risks linked to land grabbing from both an environmental and a security perspective? And is this assessment reflected in the monitoring under Chapter 27 and the rule of law chapters, particularly where strategic assets or protected areas may be affected? Enlargement should strengthen Europe's environmental protection and security, more widely too, and resilience, and not to create new vulnerabilities.
Emma Fourreau
L'Albanie n'est pas à vendre. Voilà ce que clame depuis maintenant plus de 40 jours le peuple albanais. Je reviens d'Albanie où j'ai rencontré des habitants qui sont affectés par le méga-projet de la famille Trump qui va ravager la péninsule de Zvërnec et l'île de Sazan. Leur colère est immense et légitime. Une minorité d'ultra-riches s'accapare les terres en s'appuyant sur un système politique corrompu.
Là-bas, les bulldozers ont débarqué du jour au lendemain par dizaines pour commencer à construire des routes et des ponts sans aucune autorisation et cela dérègle déjà l'écosystème de la lagune de Narta. Et ce n'est que le début puisque c'est une véritable ville de béton qui va sortir de terre dans cette zone naturelle protégée qui abrite plus de 200 espèces d'oiseaux et 70 espèces menacées. Comment pouvez-vous considérer un seul instant que ce projet écocidaire d'artificialisation massive au cœur d'une zone naturelle protégée peut respecter les critères environnementaux de l'Union européenne exigés dans le cadre du processus d'adhésion de l'Albanie ? Il n'y a pas de conditions soutenables et acceptables à ce projet, il doit être abandonné. Ou peut-être considérez-vous que le saccage de l'environnement fait désormais partie intégrante des objectifs de l'Union, vous qui vous attaquez frontalement aux évaluations environnementales dans un prochain omnibus.
Partout la colère s'élargit contre tous les projets écocides et l'inaction climatique. Nous sommes encore trop calmes. Quand la canicule fait plus de 200 000 morts en 4 ans en Europe, plus de 2 000 morts en France en une semaine. Quand les feux de forêt ravagent le sud de l'Europe depuis des années et maintenant Fontainebleau. Quand les multinationales ravagent les écosystèmes en construisant des méga-bassines, des méga-canaux ou des autoroutes.
Nous sommes encore trop calmes. Notre colère à nous aussi doit s'amplifier face à un système capitaliste qui détruit la seule planète habitable, le seul écosystème compatible avec la vie humaine. Soutien à la révolution des flamants roses. Je vous remercie.
Esther Herranz García
Ilaria Salis, one minute and a half, please speak slowly, and one minute and a half.
Ilaria Salis
L'Albania non è in vendita. Questo è il messaggio che arriva con forza dalla straordinaria mobilitazione popolare che da settimane attraversa il paese. Come tutti sappiamo, anche se nelle istituzioni europee se n'è parlato troppo poco, il movimento dei fenicotteri è nato per difendere la laguna di Narta e l'isola di Sazan. Un patrimonio naturale di valore eccezionale, oggi minacciato da un progetto di resort di lusso promosso da interessi privati legati alla famiglia Trump. Ma quella mobilitazione è diventata qualcosa di più.
Thank you.
Ilaria Salis
Oggi rappresenta una richiesta di democrazia, di trasparenza, di partecipazione. Rappresenta il diritto del popolo albanese di decidere sul proprio territorio e sul proprio futuro. Per questo credo che nel processo di adesione dell'Albania all'Unione Europea la voce di chi manifesta debba essere ascoltata con la massima attenzione. Il capitolo 27 non può ridursi a un esercizio tecnico di formale allineamento all'acquis ambientale. Se vuole essere credibile, l'Unione Europea non può voltarsi dall'altra parte quando un'area protetta viene sacrificata agli interessi della speculazione immobiliare per favorire gli interessi di grandi capitali privati.
L'Europa non deve essere una torre d'avorio burocratica né un semplice mercato. Deve essere una comunità politica viva, fondata sulla democrazia, capace di ascoltare i cittadini quando difendono il bene comune, il patrimonio naturale e i valori su cui il progetto europeo è stato costruito. Evviva la rivoluzione dei fenicotteri.
Esther Herranz García
And the last one of our speakers is Mr. Everding, one minute and a half.
Sebastian Everding
Wenn wir nach Albanien blicken, muss man sich ganz ehrlich fragen, wie oft haben wir es versäumt, uns zu äußern? In Tirana wurden Straßenhunde auf brutale Art und Weise ermordet. Die EU hat geschwiegen. Als es mit diesem unsäglichen Flughafenprojekt in Vlora losging, mitten in tausend in einem Gebiet von tausenden Flamingos, Pelikanen und Co., da wurden erste Stimmen laut, aber viel zu leise.
Und jetzt kommt Familie Trump, will groß investieren und glücklicherweise wacht jetzt die Kommission auf und große Teile des Parlaments auf. Aber erst nachdem tausende mutige Albanerinnen und Albaner auf die Straße gegangen sind, seit Tagen. Und diese Menschen, die auf die Straße gehen, die kämpfen für ihre Flüsse, für ihre Küsten, für ihre Natur. Das sind keine Gegner von Entwicklung. Das sind diejenigen, die das verteidigen, wo eigentlich die Europäische Union drauf aufgebaut ist, eben auf Rechtsstaatlichkeit, Transparenz, dem Respekt vor Leben gegenüber der Natur und Tieren.
Und ich sage schon ganz oft, ein EU-Beitritt darf nicht immer nur, da darf es nicht immer nur um wirtschaftliche Interessen gehen. Wir müssen die Menschen unterstützen, die sich für ihre Umwelt einsetzen. Die Albanerinnen und Albaner dürfen nicht alleine kämpfen. Europa, wir als EU, die Kommission, das ganze Parlament muss zuhören. Wir dürfen nicht dann erst handeln, wenn der Schaden eingetreten ist.
Wir müssen jetzt unterstützen. Wir müssen der albanischen Regierung jetzt ganz klar sagen: Stopp an dieser Stelle.
Esther Herranz García
Thank you very much and now our last speaker and we close the list is Mr. Clausen. One minute and a half.
Per Clausen
Thank you very much, I will speak in Danish. Jeg havde fornøjelsen af at besøge Albanien for et år siden. Der talte jeg med repræsentanter for miljøorganisationer, organisationer som beskæftiger sig med retssikkerhed, menneskerettigheder.
Og derfor kan jeg sige, at den situation, vi ser nu, er på ingen måde ny. Det de sagde, det var meget klart og utvetydigt, at i Albanien var det sådan, at miljø, biodiversitet, sjældne dyrearter og så videre blev ofret, hvis der var mulighed for at tjene penge på turisme eller andre ting. Og det de også sagde meget klart og utvetydigt, det var, at den regering, man har i Albanien, er fuldstændig ligeglad med befolkningens synspunkter, holdninger og ønsker, og de også er villige til at dreje lovgivningen, sådan at den giver mulighed for at gennemføre de projekter, som de rige investorer sætter i værk. Så jeg må indrømme, det er sådan lidt overraskende for mig, at EU ikke for lang tid siden har taget udgangspunkt i de tilkendegivelser, der er kommet fra civilsamfundet i Albanien, for jeg forstår jo, at Kommissionen er i kontakt med civilsamfundet, og derfor må de også vide, at det glansbillede, den albanske regering tegner, er falsk.
Men til sidst bare det ene spørgsmål, at vil man fra EU's side sikre, at alle indgreb i beskyttede områder sættes på pause, indtil Albaniens regler lever op til EU-standard, og der velmærket er sikkerhed for, at disse regler overholdes?
Esther Herranz García
And now the floor goes to the Commission once again in order to answer all the questions tabled by our colleagues, and you have six, eight minutes, ten at least.
Valentina Superti
Thank you so very much, Mrs. Chair, and thank you very much to all and each of you for your comments and questions, that is much appreciated. And so actually I would start by saying that continued dialogue with the Parliament is and remains important for us. Now I'll try to structure my reply by clustering some of the comments that were made.
The comments that were made, and perhaps I would start with a consideration that relates to the fact that the topics that we are discussing here today, which are mainly environmental related topics, are very important for us, clearly, and they are important also in the enlargement methodology, so much that there is a dedicated chapter in the accession negotiations. At the same time, the trigger, so to speak, of why, you know, in the recent weeks there are all these discussions, it's because of protests. So there have been now for weeks protests in Albania to an extent that Albania has not known in its most recent history. And this I'm, I want to say because I, I, I hope you share this assessment, that actually the fact that there are protests in societies is in itself an expression of democracy.
So, and not only, you know, there are these protests, but also these protests have been so far, and I hope this will continue to be the case, they have been largely peaceful. So, here, because, you know, rightly so, we have, and some of you have specifically mentioned rule of law. Precisely thinking of the rule of law, I would want to here also state that these protests are the expression of freedom of assembly, of expression, which are fundamental rights and core European values. And so this is perhaps the starting point, and we are continuously passing this message to the Albanian authorities that protests should be respected, that protests should be valued, and that constructive dialogue between the authorities and the protesters, but more generally all relevant actors, in order to listen and also address concerns, is the way forward. So, I would with that want to recall the importance of respecting democratic principles.
So, now with that said, perhaps I should, you know, here recall again what is the enlargement methodology. So, this is not my personal take. It's a methodology that is at the basis of the work that the Commission does with candidate countries, and it is a well-established methodology. And precisely because we do care about rule of law, I think it's important to be fully aware of what is the legal and institutional framework. So, the legal and institutional framework is that the criteria, in this case for Chapter 27, legally will have to be met at the time when this chapter will be closed, that according to current planning, if everything goes according to plan, will be by the end of 2027, legally.
Legally, this means that, and I am not exhaustive, so forgive me for that, but just to give examples, legally, that will mean addressing some of the topics and the issues that you mentioned. Because, for example, when you mentioned the exemption for the five-star hotels, that is precisely something that should be addressed when repealing some of the amendments of the 2024 amendments to the laws of 2017. Just to give you an example. But also, I think, yes, Mr. Honorable Member Gerbrandy, you mentioned nature protection status, also that should be addressed at the time of closing the benchmarks. So, end of 27, legally and institutionally.
That being said, since speaking of Albania, we are referring to a country that has the ambition to join the EU. And it's a stated ambition, a clear ambition and a clear determination to do so.
So what we are doing from the European Commission already now, and now we are mid-26, so we are roughly one year and a half before the legal conditions should be met. However, also in light of the protests precisely, so there is a call from citizens and indeed to reply to Mr. Belleri, we don't want to lose the citizens at all because Albania has one of the highest rates in EU, you know, in wanting to join the EU, so that should be valued. But it's precisely with all that in mind that we are already now encouraging the Albanian authorities to do those things that legally they are they are they should be doing by the end of 27, but we are asking them to already start doing them now. It's this morning the news that we received a number of draft legislations precisely meant to address some of the some of the issues you mentioned. Now I cannot give you a reply now whether these drafts correspond to EU standards or not.
We will be checking this legislation thoroughly and consistently and we will come to an assessment.
But what this I think should show is that we are taking things seriously. We are already asking Albania to do all what they should be doing in one year time to do it already now. And we are engaging with them in a close in a close dialogue. This brings me to the question of the impact assessment. That's also part of the picture.
Definitely yes. I can confirm I confirm Honorable Member Strik. You mentioned transparency and will the exercise be thorough? Yes, this is something that we will be closely monitor. We will also offer assistance indirectly or indirectly we need to to see how.
But we will certainly follow the exercise closely so that it is done according to European standards.
The one of you asked whether the Albanian authorities publicly committed to carrying out the impact assessment. They certainly, they first of all they committed with us in our discussions, but also last week at the Stabilization and Association Parliamentary Committee, so with this house in Strasbourg, they actually said that. So I think we can say they did publicly confirm. Now on the ownerships, yes, it's a very, this is across the Western Balkans incidentally, it's as we all know a issue, there are property issues that date back to past let's say situations. Now actually this is relating also to the point of SPAK and the rule of law.
So as a matter of fact, so according to our information, there are cases and certainly one case that has been launched by SPAK precisely in order to ascertain what is the situation on property rights.
And if there is something I can say without any doubt is that we are consistently supporting the 2016 justice reform that was undertaken by Albania, which is a very thorough justice reform where as many of you know there was also a quite ambitious vetting process that has been carried out. But also with that reform the SPAK, so the Special Prosecutor Office, was created and is doing a very good job. Now of course this doesn't mean that everything is perfect in Albania, so I'm not suggesting that everything is perfect. You know what we have said so far is that Albania is on the good, is moving in the right direction. That being said, for example speaking about high-level corruption, we know track record notably against high-level corruption has improved over time.
However, we are also saying that more efforts are needed across the board. And this is not just me saying, it's the European Commission saying officially in its annual reports that as you know are published by the end of each year.
And also the draft EU common positions that were adopted last May to which I was referring to in my opening remarks. So this position calls for a sustained track record of investigations, prosecutions and final convictions. So this is to say that we are not taking the rule of law things lightly, on the contrary. And again, speaking of rule of law, it's the enlargement methodology that calls on the institutions to check that rule of law matters are satisfactorily addressed all along the way. Perhaps I and the mountain package was mentioned, that's also part of the things to be addressed at the latest by end of next year, but we are working with them already now.
Perhaps I will stop here. Thank you very much for listening to me.
Esther Herranz García
Well, thank you very much. And with this we finish this point, the item in the agenda of for today. And we pass to the last item we have.
It's the exchange of view with the Commission on climate change, gender and health.
Ah, sorry. Let us begin.
Esther Herranz García
A ver, no. No, we don't have time. We have this point and after there is a coordinators meeting and we have to stop with this point of the in the order of the day.
Esther Herranz García
No, no, sorry. We keep on with the with the agenda. And now, as I have said, we pass to the item number seven, the last point in the agenda for today for the ENVI Committee. And we will now proceed with the exchange of views with the Commission on climate, gender and health, and how the interlinkages are being mainstreamed by the Commission in its different policy initiatives. The Commission, the Deputy Head of Unit of DG CLIMA, Isobel Findlay, has the floor.
You have eight minutes.
Isobel Findlay
Thank you, thank you very much, Madam Chair. I will begin today's presentation with an overview of the importance of gender mainstreaming in climate policy and also explain some initiatives which we have undertaken under the EU's internal action, and then finish by explaining a number also of our initiatives under the EU's external cooperation on climate action. And then I will pass the floor to my colleague from DG SANTE who will address the climate and health aspect. So first of all, why gender mainstreaming? Well, climate change of course is not gender neutral.
Its causes, impacts, and solutions affect women and men differently. Climate risks also interact strongly with social inequality. And the IPCC has shown that populations at risk of poverty are less resilient to climate impacts because low income, inadequate housing, limited healthcare access, and weaker infrastructure all increase vulnerability.
This matters particularly for women because women remain more exposed to poverty and social exclusion in the EU. This is why, of course, the green transition must also be a fair transition. And the EU already has important instruments to support this approach. And to give a couple of examples of this, first of all, the Just Transition Fund, which supports economic diversification and reskilling in vulnerable regions. In the transition to a climate-neutral economy, gender equality should be promoted, including through women's labour market participation, entrepreneurship, and equal pay.
And under the Social Climate Fund, gender equality must be mainstreamed in the social climate plans. And the Commission in its guidance has provided detailed guidance to Member States on how to apply the mainstreaming provisions in their plans.
Another area which requires attention is the relationship between climate change and gender-based violence, since it can intensify the social and economic stressors that fuel violence against women and girls. And the gender equality strategy places a strong emphasis on combating gender-based violence, including through support for the implementation of the directive on combating violence against women and through EU funding instruments such as the Daphne strand of the CERV program. At the same time, women are also not only disproportionately affected by climate impacts, but are also key actors in climate action, in resilience building and in the green transition. And surveys show that women are not on the margins of climate policy, they are often among its most committed supporters and practitioners. Yet this is not yet fully reflected in decision-making power.
And this is something, for example, under the Belém Gender Action Plan, where there are calls for increased representation of women in the COPs on the international perspective.
Then within the European Climate Pact, diversity and inclusion is one of its six values, and gender balance is also an aim amongst the ambassadors. So this is why gender mainstreaming in climate, environment, health is essential, and the above approaches are aligned with the Gender Equality Strategy. This was adopted in 2020 and treats climate and environmental policy as a cross-cutting area for gender mainstreaming. Then in the EU external action, under the UNFCCC, in COP30, agreement was reached on a nine-year Gender Action Plan, which recognizes the multidimensional nature of climate impacts. It addresses healthcare and work and action on violence against women and girls.
And the EU Gender Action Plan has the promotion of gender equality a priority of all EU external policy and action, gender-responsive human rights and an intersectional approach, harnessing opportunities offered by the green transition. It requires external actions to contribute to gender equality by embedding it through the project cycle, from initial gender analysis and inclusive design to implementation, monitoring and evaluation using sex-disaggregated data and tools such as the OECD DAC gender equality policy marker. And just to end with a couple of examples from the Gender Action Plan, which has been extended from 2025 until 2027. Firstly, Solar Power for Gender Equality in Senegal. The project facilitates access to solar entrepreneurship for women's small and medium-sized enterprises by developing an enabling environment, facilitating access to credit and solar energy and building the capacity of women and integrated energy service operators.
Also, the SME Go Green program in the Western Balkans, which focuses on enhancing the green and circular economy, agribusiness, and competitive investments for small and medium-sized enterprises in the Western Balkans, with one of the specific features of the program to ensure more equitable access to climate finance for women-led SMEs. And we can provide the committee with further information, detail, and further examples under the GAP if that would be requested. So I will pass now to my colleague who will outline the health aspects related to climate. Thank you.
Speaker 44
Many thanks, and I will continue to give you a bit more the DG SANTE perspective on this important issue. And let me start with a few points on the One Health approach, where inclusivity, equity, and gender equality are very important principles.
As highlighted in an opinion of the Scientific Advice Mechanism, which brings together very high-level EU scientific experts, they did a One Health governance opinion, and where they say very clearly that effective One Health implementation requires the inclusion of different sectors, disciplines, communities, and perspectives, including those that are often underrepresented. Then, you may know the work done recently by the European Economic and Social Committee in its opinion "Healthy Planet for Healthy People: Towards a Comprehensive One Health Approach" — it's quite recent, 2025 — which highlights the need to strengthen the role of women in One Health policy and implementation. Also on the side of stakeholders, you have the One Health thematic network, which also works on One Health, and there again, you can see that there is a need to integrate underrepresented groups, and there again, it is important to highlight the inclusion of everyone in the effectiveness of One Health actions. So last but not least, gender considerations are also embedded in a number of DG SANTE initiatives.
Let me take the example of the Safe Hearts Plan adopted in 2025, which identifies gender inequalities in cardiovascular health, noting that women are often underdiagnosed, undertreated, and underrepresented in clinical trials. The plan also recognizes that climate and health and environmental factors such as air pollution, noise pollution, and extreme weather events are as important drivers of cardiovascular disease, and again, particularly among vulnerable population. I will continue just by giving now a bit more explanation related to climate and health per se. So climate change is increasingly recognized as a major health challenge, to say the least, these days. So through the European Climate and Health Observatory, the Commission is collecting evidence base on the health impacts of climate change to support preparedness and adaptation efforts across Europe.
Evidence gathered through the observatory highlights that certain groups are disproportionately affected by climate-related health risks. And there you go with pregnant women who are among the most vulnerable populations, particularly in relation to heat and climate-sensitive infectious diseases, including vector-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria, and Zika.
And you know that climate-related risks rarely occur in isolation. It goes with heatwaves, floods, droughts, environmental degradation, and again infectious diseases, which can interact and amplify health impacts. This underlines the importance of continued research, data collection, and knowledge generation on the cumulative effects of climate and environmental threats on human health, especially for vulnerable groups. Recent findings from the observatory also suggest that women tend to express greater concern about future climate impact and report certain climate-related exposures. There is a need for further research, but such findings illustrate the importance of considering different vulnerabilities and lived experiences when designing health and climate policies.
Thank you very much.
Esther Herranz García
Thank you very much. And now, as many colleagues haven't respected the speaking time and have exceeded significantly their time they had, I am going to be very strict and I will close your micros when the time would be over.
So now, Madame Pietikäinen, on behalf of EPP, you have two minutes.
Sirpa Pietikäinen
As we all know, the health agenda and climate change are very directly linked. First of all, women are as heard in poorer position socio-economically. They are underdiagnosed and undertreated, especially in elderly women's group, that is the biggest group of the elderly women, and those happen to be quite often on the situation of the vulnerable socio-economic group too. It is multiple health risks overall that is focused very much on gender-based basis. And then what worries me is that is the Commission, when we are looking forward, really putting this continuous data collection what you have referred on the spot?
Do you demand the member states to do the same? And are you going to make as a part of the health preparedness actions and climate resilience actions a obligation for member states to act upon on this data collection and the preparedness action? And then last but not least is that then when we are looking on the future, there was the reference that you are ready to make a closer report to the Parliament. So I really would like to ask on behalf of our group, could you deliver that kind of more broad report on these questions than just answering them right now because of course we have very limited time. Thank you.
Esther Herranz García
Thanks so much, Adam Pethikainen. And now Leire Pajín tienes la palabra por dos minutos.
Leire Pajín
Muchas gracias, presidenta. Quiero en primer lugar poner en valor este debate absolutamente necesario, así como poner en valor los estudios que hemos conocido y los datos que hemos conocido. Solo si seguimos impulsando un análisis científico específico con datos desagregados podremos seguir visibilizando las brechas de desigualdad existentes en materia de salud.
Se ha hablado aquí la infrarrepresentación en ensayos clínicos, la falta de conocimiento de la sintomatología específica de las mujeres, la infra también los infradiagnósticos y por tanto la necesidad de seguir trabajando en esa dirección. Y poner en valor el trabajo de organizaciones como Women in Global Health que siguen colocando en la agenda estos temas. Quiero destacar también que gracias a estos estudios hoy tenemos datos que arrojan dos realidades muy claras, sobre todo relacionadas con el contexto de cambio climático, de emergencia climática. Por ejemplo, sabemos que en las olas de calor las mujeres tenemos una mayor probabilidad de morir en términos absolutos que los hombres. O sabemos también que debido a nuestros roles de cuidado nuestro riesgo de probabilidades de morir en catástrofes extremas es de 14 veces más que la de los hombres.
Por no hablar también de lo que se refiere a las a la elevada desigualdad entre hombres y mujeres, cuatro veces más muertes de mujeres que hombres en inundaciones. Eso pone de manifiesto la necesidad de tener planes acordes a esa desigualdad, de hacer un mapa de vulnerabilidades como estamos defendiendo en el mecanismo de protección civil, de defender el concepto de una sola salud y de seguir trabajando para que este enfoque desagregado y enfoque especial de género implemente todas las políticas.
Por último, quería también decir la importancia de poner en valor no solo la extrema vulnerabilidad de las mujeres respecto al cambio climático, sino también el rol de las mujeres en la lucha contra el cambio climático y en la solución de la lucha contra el cambio climático. Gracias.
Esther Herranz García
Muchísimas gracias por ajustarse al tiempo, señora Pajín. And now the floor is for the Greens, Madame Metz. Two minutes.
Tilly Metz
Yes, thank you very much, but I'm speaking on behalf of Maria Ohisalo, so it's her text. Politico reported today that more than 14,000 people died across Europe during this June's heatwave. This is more during some of the deadliest weeks of the COVID pandemic. Once again, we are witnessing a mass mortality event unfold in real time. Yet we continue to treat it as if it were simply weather.
It is not weather. It is a public health emergency driven by climate change. This is also a question of inequality, and we need to say that plainly: those who died were disproportionately older people, lower-income people, and those living in top-floor flats without access to cooling.
Workers are also in the front line: care workers looking after patients through extreme heat, cleaners, agricultural workers and construction workers, often without adequate legal protection from extreme temperatures. This has to change at the EU level. Meanwhile, many of us in this room return to homes that can keep us safe. Those who can afford to escape the heat are far more likely to survive it. So I want to ask the Commission directly: if 14,000 deaths in a matter of weeks do not trigger an EU-level crisis response, what does?
During COVID, we activated emergency coordination within days. We have crisis mechanisms for energy, migration and financial stability. Why, after what appears to be the deadliest heatwave in our Union's history, is there no EU crisis coordination meeting, no emergency meeting of health ministers and no binding EU heat protection protocol for Member States? At the same time, this crisis should strengthen, not weaken, our resolve to uphold the EU's climate ambition. Every delay in cutting emissions means more deadly heatwaves, more lives lost and greater costs for our societies.
This Parliament cannot continue holding exchanges of views while the death toll rises every summer.
We need an EU crisis response to this heatwave, binding protection against extreme heat and climate policies that match the scale of the emergency. Thank you.
Esther Herranz García
Ha pasado usted amplísimamente el tiempo que se le había entregado. Entiendo que era para otra persona, pero es que si seguimos así no vamos a llegar a tener coordinadores, qué quiere que les diga. Así pues, ahora pasaré la palabra a Catarina Martins y ya le aseguro que no le voy a dejar, le cortaré el micrófono. Es todo muy agradable con ustedes.
Catarina Martins
Obrigada, presidente. Vou falar em português. Com a adoção do plano de ação de género em Belém, na COP 30, assume-se que as alterações climáticas não são neutras em termos de género e que a saúde das mulheres está na linha da frente da crise. Sabemos que durante as ondas de calor as mulheres enfrentam riscos superiores por razões cardiovasculares e de regulação térmica. A mortalidade feminina por calor extremo chega a ser quase 30% superior à dos homens nas faixas etárias mais avançadas.
E a esta vulnerabilidade acresce a injustiça social de as mulheres continuarem a carregar o fardo quase exclusivo de cuidar dos mais vulneráveis também durante as crises climáticas. Na verdade, são os ombros das mulheres que seguram o que os Estados abandonam e essa substituição social está a ser paga com custos pesados económicos e da sua própria saúde física e mental.
O que nos leva a três certezas. É preciso apoiar quem cuida. É preciso partilhar os cuidados. O cuidado não é um destino biológico nem pode ser uma prisão de mulheres. E os estados têm de assumir a obrigação pública de serviços de cuidados com qualidade e adaptados às condições climáticas adversas, das creches aos lares, passando pelos serviços domiciliários e as condições das habitações.
No entanto, para que isto aconteça, precisamos de recursos. E aqui reside a profunda contradição da Comissão Europeia. Como podemos levar a sério os vossos discursos sobre género e clima quando a vossa proposta para o próximo quadro financeiro plurianual sufoca o investimento público na coesão e na transição ecológica e social? Sem orçamento europeu robusto para garantir a eficiência térmica das habitações e sem financiamento para infraestruturas sociais públicas, as vossas declarações sobre género e saúde são papel que não vale nada. E, portanto, eu pergunto diretamente como pretende a Comissão Europeia responder às mulheres cuidadoras que neste momento têm os desafios da sua própria saúde, das pessoas que cuidam e nenhum apoio.
Esther Herranz García
Bien, gracias.
Ahora la señora Anja Arndt por on behalf of ESN.
Anja Arndt
Heute diskutieren wir nicht über den Klimawandel selbst, wir diskutieren darüber, wie die Europäische Union Klima- und Genderpolitik immer weiter miteinander verknüpfen will. Der Hintergrundtext behauptet, Klimapolitik müsse künftig grundsätzlich geschlechtergerecht ausgestaltet werden und Genderaspekte müssten in immer mehr Politikbereiche einfließen. Aus unserer Sicht wird hier Ursache und Wirkung verwechselt mit fatalen Folgen für unsere Bürger. Die sozialen Belastungen, über die wir heute sprechen, unerträgliche Energiepreise, steigende Mobilitätskosten und immer schneller wachsende finanzielle Belastungen entstehen zu einem erheblichen Teil erst durch Ihre europäische Klimapolitik. Statt diese Politik zu korrigieren, sollen nun immer neue Programme aufgelegt werden, um ihre Folgen geschlechtergerecht abzufedern.
Dabei verursacht die Europäische Union heute nur noch einen kleinen Teil der weltweiten Emissionen. Selbst ein vollständiger Verzicht Europas auf CO2-Emissionen hätte auf die globale Durchschnittstemperatur nicht einmal einen messbaren Effekt.
Das steht schon lange fest und trotzdem belasten Sie Bürger und Unternehmen mit immer neuen Vorgaben, CO2-Kosten und Bürokratie. Und anschließend finanzieren wir Gender Mainstreaming, Genderschulungen und weitere Programme, um genau diese Belastung wieder sozial abzufedern. Aus Sicht der ESN wäre der wirksamste soziale Beitrag ein anderer. Beenden Sie diese überflüssige, kostspielige und zerstörerische Klimapolitik, dann brauchen wir auch keine neuen Programme, um ihre neuen, um ihre negativen Folgen zu verwalten. Meine Frage an die Kommission lautet: Warum investiert die Kommission Steuergeld in Gender Mainstreaming, statt sich auf das zu konzentrieren, was Europas Bürger wirklich brauchen: bezahlbare Energieversorgungssicherheit und eine wettbewerbsfähige Industrie, damit sich die einsetzende Massenarmut unter Frauen, Männern und Familien nicht weiter ausbreiten wird.
Esther Herranz García
Muchísimas gracias por ajustarse al tiempo. Tenemos dos personas para el catch-the-eye, tienen un minuto y medio. Primero, el señor Martin Günther.
Martin Günther
Ja, vielen Dank. Es gibt keine Klimagerechtigkeit ohne Geschlechtergerechtigkeit und keine Klimaresilienz ohne starke öffentliche Dienste. Der Klimawandel trifft Menschen nicht gleichermaßen. Frauen sind aufgrund struktureller Ungleichheit besonders betroffen. Sie leisten den Großteil der unbezahlten Sorgearbeit, arbeiten überdurchschnittlich häufig in prekären Beschäftigungsverhältnissen sowie im Gesundheits- und Pflegebereich.
Gleichzeitig sind diese unverzichtbaren Dienste chronisch unterfinanziert und unterbesetzt.
Klimaanpassung darf nicht auf individueller Verantwortung abgewälzt werden. Sie braucht öffentliche Investitionen, öffentliche Dienste, kollektive Lösungen und den Schutz der Beschäftigten. Die Kommission muss endlich verbindliche Schutzstandards für Beschäftigte, insbesondere im Gesundheits- und Pflegebereich, gegen Hitzebelastung und andere klimabedingte Arbeitsrisiken vorschlagen. Statt sich wie bisher auf freiwillige Maßnahmen und Leitlinien zu stützen, wird die Kommission dies endlich in Angriff nehmen?
Esther Herranz García
Now we give the floor to the Commission in order to respond, to answer the colleagues, and you have ten minutes at least because at a quarter to six we are starting with the next point of the in the order of the day.
Isobel Findlay
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I will start by addressing some of the comments and questions on the climate gender side.
Firstly, Mrs. Pietikäinen, who commented and asked on a number of aspects relating to the data collection and reporting and reviewing of climate gender and health policy. So to highlight a few items, firstly, the collaboration on data collection which we have with the European Institute on Gender Equality, which has a focus on climate change and environment in the recent Gender Equality Index. Secondly, the Gender Equality Strategy is regularly reviewed, with the most recent review having taken place in 2026. Also, the country-specific recommendations under the European Semester are also relevant here in terms of recommendations to Member States. Then, Mrs. Pietikäinen, Mrs. Paquin, and Mrs. Ohisalo all raised questions and issues around climate resilience and preparedness.
And this is also one of the reasons why we are currently preparing the European climate resilience framework, which is we are preparing for adoption in the third quarter of 2026, which among other things will precisely look at the resilience of societies, the preparedness for these events, which as we have said, we know women are more vulnerable to. So the impact assessments are currently under preparation and with a view to the proposal being adopted in the third quarter of 2026. And we look forward to discussions with the committee once that's adopted. Then I believe Ms. Martins had a question regarding how do we look at solutions for women's carers. And here the gender equality strategy prioritizes the implementation of the work-life balance directive adopted in 2019 and supports member states to do so.
And the CERV program is also used to support member states to provide enough quality childcare services.
And, yes, I think in response to Ms. Arndt, of course, whilst we've underlined that gender equality is a cross-cutting priority, of course we're also focusing very much on affordable energy with the affordable energy action plan, again, because we know that women are more exposed to the risk of poverty and social exclusion than men. With that, I'll pass to my colleague from DG SANTE to address the other points. Thank you.
Speaker 44
Thank you very much. I will continue by a few points, just to reassure that we are fully conscious what is happening now and also the impact on vulnerable groups, including women, but not only. I think it was quite clear. Just to tell you that last week we met with the member states in the framework of the Health Security Committee to discuss the recent events on the important heatwaves and also the impact on the different groups. So we are, I would say, consulting not only from DG SANTE side, but also with the other DGs.
It affects vulnerable groups, it affects working conditions, it affects many things now.
And we are assessing what is already done, being at national or at EU level, what can be better done and where we can also exchange best practices. I mentioned the Climate and Health Observatory, which is one of the, I would say, instruments that we have to use now more than ever because they have experience now. They have five years' full experience in data collection. And now I think we need to pass the next step, and it's to use all the data gathered to take initiatives and actions. So we are also closely working with them.
It's not an easy topic because here I think we deviate a little bit from only gender. We address also the climate change, which has, as I said in my introduction, a real impact that everybody now can feel every day. But it's also seeing at EU level what can be done to help Member States. The even, for example, the definition of what is a heat wave is different, you can imagine, from the south, from the north. A heat wave of three days above 25 degrees can be considered as an extreme event in a Nordic country, while you can imagine that in the south of Spain is, I would say, half of the year, and they are prepared in other ways.
So we are assessing all that for the moment.
We will continue working with our member states. The fact that it happens under the Health Security Committee can give you a sign that we consider this as a crisis, as an important issue where rapid measures need to be taken. So no, I would say, further legislation with an impact assessment that can be helpful, but that would be for medium and long term, but we are trying now to address also in the short term. So I take all your points. I think they are all valid, they are all factual, so there is no, I would say, even political message here.
It's very factual and we all agree that something needs to be done concretely.
Esther Herranz García
Well, thank you very much. And now we move to the last item in our agenda, is any other business. There is no, at the moment there is no comments. So I remember you the next meeting will take place 1 and 2 September in Brussels and 10th, 10 of September here in Brussels as well. Thank you very much.
Have a nice summer and have a good meeting of coordinators.
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