Luxembourg Agriculture Minister Calls for Simplification of EU Anti-Deforestation Law

Luxembourg's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Viticulture, Martine Hansen, participated in the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday 26 May 2025.

As reported by Luxembourg's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Viticulture, highlights included the policy debate on the European Commission's "Vision for Agriculture and Food". Minister Hansen reportedly welcomed the fact that food sovereignty and the resilience of agricultural production were central concerns. She reiterated Luxembourg's priorities, namely respecting national specificities and defining a strategy for livestock farming and protein. Minister Hansen also highlighted the importance of food production, reciprocal standards in agricultural trade with third countries, maintaining competitiveness and a separate Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget that matches ambitions.

While the Luxembourg minister welcomed the European Commission's "Omnibus" simplification package, the ministry noted that she would have preferred further simplification, particularly in the area of ​​cross-compliance, and supported the approach of reducing the number of controls.

The ministry added that Minister Hansen considers it unrealistic to envisage a new in-depth reform of the CAP by 2028 for reasons of predictability and adjustment of the timetable for legislative and administrative procedures.

Moreover, during this Council meeting, Minister Hansen presented to the European Commission a proposal put forward by Luxembourg and Austria, aimed at simplifying the current Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 on deforestation. She acknowledged that a consistent fight against deforestation at the global level is necessary; official controls must be put in place to ensure compliance with these regulations. However, care must be taken not to introduce new administrative burdens for farmers in countries where deforestation is not a problem, which is the case in most European countries. The ministry added that the area covered by forests in the European Union has increased considerably in recent decades - and recalled that, in Luxembourg, deforestation is explicitly prohibited by environmental legislation. Consequently, Minister Hansen has urged the European Commission to include the deforestation regulation in its simplification projects. Nineteen EU Member States supported this request, according to the ministry.

During discussions on the agricultural product market situation, Minister Hansen is quoted as saying: "In Luxembourg, the weather conditions over the coming weeks and months will be decisive for field crops and wine production. Production costs remain high and the situation on the fertiliser market will need to be monitored, as will the recent tariff increases decided for Russia and Belarus. The development of the grain markets is encouraging. However, we believe that bluetongue will have an impact on the dairy and beef sectors. For Luxembourg, where more than half of its usable agricultural land is permanent grassland, developments in the livestock sector are particularly important." Luxembourg also supported the implementation of concerted action at the European level to promote vaccination and vaccine availability.