Debate: European protein strategy
Date: THURSDAY, 19 OCTOBER 2023
Speaker: Emma Wiesner
Country: France
Language: EN

I am very happy that we have this debate today because I think it is timely, important and interesting. It is on how to enhance the production of sustainable protein in our Union. Because we, both humans and animals, need protein and sustainable protein. Today we have, in many ways, good and sustainable production of protein inside of Europe. Actually, over 77 % of the protein used for feed in the EU is produced within the Union, and this is a high number. But we also import a lot of protein: we import 70 % of the high-protein content feed that we need to balance the feed ratios for our animals, such as soy from South America, as many of you are aware of. There are several reports stating that this will lead to environmental and climate issues such as deforestation, water source shortages, land grabbing, and other issues related to this, and it is also making us dependent on a few single suppliers. Both our production and our consumption of protein and food must be more sustainable in the future. This means a shift towards animal protein with a lower sustainability impact, more plant-based, new and innovative protein sources such as insects, precision fermenting and other techniques. But regardless, colleagues, the farmer must be in the centre. That has always been the key for the Renew Europe Group: to keep the farmers in the centre of this strategy. In order for all of this to happen, we need a more competitive European agricultural sector with less administrative burdens on farmers and food producers, and smarter and more sustainable regulations. My ambition with this report has all the time been the same: to present concrete policy actions that increase the production of protein in the Union while at the same time taking us closer to our environmental goals. And in my humble opinion, I think we have succeeded: the strategy that we have on the table today is a good example of this, and let me mention a few key things that you find in this strategy. First of all, there is a strong call to the Commission to urgently present a comprehensive and ambitious protein strategy covering the sustainable production and consumption of all types of protein within the EU. Moreover, this report should support the environmental transition through the development of sustainable protein sources and contribute to both open protein autonomy and resilience and profitability for farmers in rural areas. This transition demands sustainable inputs and affordable inputs such as energy, feed, feed additives, good plant material, fertiliser and soils of good quality, and that is all included in this strategy. There are also interesting opportunities in the future – extracting high-value protein from grassland for biorefinery, for example. But we also need to develop more into plant-based food, and we therefore urge the Member States to follow Denmark to introduce a plant fund to invest in plant-based projects. In the future, our consumption of protein will also be more diverse. Therefore, we need to have a positive, open-minded, innovation-friendly approach towards food technologies, such as precision fermenting and cultivated food and I am therefore very happy that in this report we are not only looking at feed, we are also looking at protein for food. And I am very happy that we can suggest to the Commission to put forward technical guidelines in order to make application of novel foods much easier. As stated in my start, I wanted to present concrete policy actions and this report presents concrete policy actions such as new genomic techniques, CAP rules, a renewable energy directive, a feed additives regulation, novel food legislation, R&D strategies and much more. To conclude, colleagues, I think this report gives us a very good start towards more competitiveness, production and sustainability in the protein value chain. I look forward very much to the debate and thanks again to all of the political groups for a lot of good cooperation.