Brussels, 22/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - When they meet in Luxembourg on Tuesday 26 October, EU agriculture and fisheries ministers will hold an exchange of views on two European Commission proposals to bring legislation on the common agricultural policy (CAP) into line with the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty (see related article on the fisheries items on the agenda).
Belgian Federal Minister for Agriculture and President in office of the Council Sabine Laruelle will provide her counterparts with a report on the discussions on the future of the CAP which took place at the informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers in La Hulpe near Brussels on 21 September.
Implementing powers. The Lisbon Treaty substantially modifies the framework for implementing powers given to the Commission by introducing a distinction between “delegated acts” and “implementing acts” (Articles 290 and 291 respectively). For the former, the Council and the European Parliament (EP) retain control over the Commission's exercise of implementing powers; for implementing acts, however, control is carried out by member states. CAP legislation must, then, be aligned with these new arrangements. It is in this context that ministers will debate two Commission proposals relating to the regulation on support for rural development and the regulation on direct support schemes. During technical discussions of these texts (in the Special Committee for Agriculture), some members states, such as the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, stressed the importance of the involvement of member states in the course of the delegated acts procedure. Some countries, including France, Italy and Denmark, said it would be useful to have upstream participation of national experts in the working groups which discuss the delegated acts. Other delegations, including Germany and Austria, called on the Council to work on putting in place criteria for delegated and implementing acts.
The Council legal staff set out the procedure: after being adopted by the Commission, delegated acts are passed on to the Council and the EP which then have two months to state their positions. This timescale may be extended by one or two months if so desired by the Council. If the Council has no objections, the measure is published. If the Council does have an objection, it can take a decision by qualified majority. The internal procedure is not yet entirely clear: in the case of “energy” issues, for example, working groups with member states' national experts have been consulted beforehand on delegated acts.
In addition to falling into line with the treaty, the proposal on rural development provides for a number of changes: - reduction in the number of reports and simplification of their content; - extension of the provisions for supporting the creation and administrative operations of producer groups; - facilitation of the use of advisory services. Similarly, with regard to direct support, the Commission has proposed some simplification in the area of cross-compliance. Furthermore, the proposal offers member states the possibility of not requiring farmers with holdings whose total area is less than one hectare to declare the agricultural area of their holdings.
Towards the end of the year, the Commission will bring forward a proposal adapting the rules on CAP funding to the Lisbon Treaty. A proposal on the regulation establishing a common organisation of markets (CMO) will be presented by the Commission in January 2011.
African swine fever. Among the other business, the Lithuanian delegation will raise the issue of the threat from African swine fever of EU countries (cases have been reported in the Caucasus and in Russia). Greece wants to raise the matter of infection of cotton crops by the Helicoverpa armigera. Portugal will submit a request on the tariff quota for duty-free imports of unrefined sugar.
New Spanish minister. Ministers will meet the new Spanish agriculture minister. Rosa Aguilar has replaced Elena Espinosa as Minister for the Environment, Rural Affairs and Fisheries in the Spanish government following the re-shuffle by José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on 20 October. 53 year old former mayor of Cordoba Aguilar was a member of the Izquierda Unida party before holding the post of minister for public works and housing in the Socialist regional government of Andalucía in 2009. (L.C./transl.rt)