It’s going to be a long goodbye

Brexit is now a reality, but this is just the next phase of a long departure.

Despite efforts in London to present it as a victory, there was regret in the EU-27 about the UK leaving. The European parliament’s chief negotiator on Brexit, Guy Verhofstadt, said he regretted the departure of a country whose citizens had shed blood in two world wars to liberate Europe. He added that he hoped the UK would rejoin – but that is unlikely.

The UK Government must now target a trade and wider deal with the EU-27, but to do that it needs policy focus and that is not apparent. It appears to see the political Brexit it has achieved as an end and not just as a point on a long journey.

We have heard the chancellor saying the UK will not align with EU policies and the prime minister has said sovereignty is more important that frictionless trade, but the Brexit secretary has underlined the need for a deal and claimed the UK will not break away from EU rules just for the sake of doing so. Ministers have until March to come up with a coherent policy before negotiations begin with Brussels.

The European Commission has said that a drive to implement its Green Deal will be central to its plans for 2020 and beyond.

This is part of a wide ranging strategy to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050 and to make significant progress on improving biodiversity by 2030. A new farm to fork strategy for agriculture is part of this ambitious plan, and includes plans to reduce the use of current pesticides in favour of alternatives deemed lower risk and approaches that avoid chemicals completely.

It is also pressing for reduction in the use of all fossil fuel based fertilisers. The plan will drive a steeper reduction in antibiotic use across all member states, a new focus on genomics to boost sustainability and a drive to reduce food waste along the food chain. Like the green deal, this remains more aspirational than practical, but it has considerable political weight behind it.

EU farm ministers have backed a more detailed examination of compulsory food labelling that will cover animal welfare standards. The plan, from Germany, would see labels including details of welfare standards on farm, during transport and at slaughter. It was claimed that there was a growing demand from consumers for this information.

The German proposal would cover all meat while current regulations are primarily around beef. The plan won support from a significant number of member states. In total 20 said they saw merit in the plan, which would help the EU meet the threat from imports.

EU farm ministers are to look at tightening food labelling to include animal welfare standards.