Agreement on a proposed European Union (EU) regulation on food health and nutrition claims will now be delayed until the autumn, following the failure of the European Parliament’s environment committee to agree amendments to the legislation.
Discussions will now be halted until the European Parliament’s next elections in June. Because formal business in the new parliament will not start until September, the regulation is unlikely to receive its first reading from MEPs until October at the earliest.
The proposal has proved controversial, with the committee having to sift through more than 600 suggested amendments, an impossible task given its tough time constraints before the election.