Brussels, 26/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - Reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP), the marketing of pesticides and the possibility for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to receive fees are the main topics to be tackled at the meeting of EU member state agriculture and fisheries ministers in Brussels on Monday 29 November (see other article on fisheries-related dossiers on this Council's agenda).
Dacian Cioloº, European Fisheries Commissioner, will present to ministers the 20 November communication on “The CAP towards 2020: Meeting the food, natural resources and territorial challenges of the future”. The Council will then hold a first exchange of views on the Commission's proposals. A more in-depth debate will then be held at the Agriculture Council on 13 December, when European ministers are expected to adopt conclusions on CAP reform towards the month of March 2011, under Hungarian presidency. The Commission will adopt its legislative proposals mid-2011.
Farm Advisory System. The Commission will present the report published on 15 November on how the new Farm Advisory System (FAS) works (see EUROPE 10258). The system is a major component of the 2003 CAP reform and had to be introduced by 2007.
Pesticides. The Council is expected to take a stance on a proposal for a decision concerning the non-inclusion of 1,3-dichlorpropene in the list of active substances authorised by the Community directive on the marketing of phytopharmaceutical products. For the time being, the use of this pesticide is banned in the EU. Spain has introduced a dossier with a view to authorisation, but the European Commission hopes to continue to ban it. The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH) was unable to gather the qualified majority necessary for or against the proposed inclusion. If ministers are also unable to reach a decision, then the European Commission will have to decide.
EFSA. In the light of the recent Commission report, ministers will discuss the possibility of submitting a legislative proposal with a view to allowing EFSA to receive fees. When EFSA analyses reports provided by companies, it may possibly request fees, one source explains. This would allow EFSA to be funded, as is currently the case with the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), and is part of the work underway to improve the way EFSA works (transparency of opinions, recruitment of scientists, etc.). One of the options examined in the Commission's report consists of introducing graduated fees for applications from the following sectors in which authorisation is issued to a specific holder and is not generic: - authorisation of GMOs (cultivation), authorisation of genetically modified feed and food, authorisation of feed additives issued to a specific holder, authorisation of claims issued to a specific holder, authorisation of novel foods issued to a specific holder, positive listing of active substances eligible for authorisation as plant protection products, and the authorisation of smoke flavourings.
Under “Any Other Business”, the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers will provide information on conferences held in early October on animal welfare education and, at the end of September, on review of the European plant health regime. The Netherlands delegation will brief ministers on the conclusions of a conference on agriculture, food security and climate change held from 30 October to 5 November in The Hague. Finally, the EU27 are to adopt, without debate, conclusions concerning the strategy on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) for 2010-2015. (See EUROPE 10264). (L.C./transl.jl)