Environment, Ukraine imports, fish and Easter this WEEK

This week in the EU bubble is almost all about the environment, agriculture and fisheries — including talks between the Polish and Ukrainian governments over angry protests by Polish farmers objecting to cheap grain imports from Ukraine

On Monday (25 March), EU environment ministers are expected to discuss the proposed revision of the waste framework directive, as well as a draft regulation on preventing maritime pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution.

At the environment council, EU ministers will also discuss the commission’s recent communication on the 2040 climate change target — but not the nature restoration law, one of the biggest pieces of environmental legislation to date.

Environment ministers were expected to give final formal approval to the legislation at Monday’s council meeting, but a qualified majority among EU ambassadors failed to materialise last Friday — and there is no fixed timetable yet.

The legislation has faced a huge backlash in the parliament and, more recently, in some EU capitals, which have raised concerns about the burden of another environmental law on farmers.

The pressure on member states has been intense following months of protests by farmers across the EU demanding fair prices, a level playing field with third-country imports into the single market, less red tape, and more support for the green transition.

The situation is even more tense on Poland’s border with Ukraine, where Polish farmers are blocking Ukrainian products from entering the country, claiming that cheap imports are undercutting prices for national produce.