Brussels, 02/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament (EP) on contractual relations in the milk and dairy products sector will prove tough as a number of points are likely to provide grounds for conflict, including, for example, the call from MEPs for compulsory contracts between producers and dairies.
On Monday 5 September, the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) will discuss the mandate to be given to the Presidency of the Council to begin discussions with the EP on the dairy package. The trialogue (Council, EP and Commission) meeting due to take place on 19 September to discuss this issue is not expected to be conclusive in view of the number of sticking points both among the countries of the EU and between the Council and the EP. This first trialogue meeting could very well turn out to be little more than a warm-up between the institutions. A second meeting will then follow to try to find agreement.
One of the controversial amendments brought by the EP agriculture committee (see EUROPE 10407 for the committee vote) is to make written contracts between milk producers and dairies compulsory throughout the EU. These contracts should specify prices, timescales, quantities to be supplied and also the length of the contract. It would seem that there is broad agreement within the Council that this Parliamentary amendment should be rejected. The Council would prefer to leave it to the member states themselves to decide whether or not to make contracts compulsory.
There is still no clear Council position on issues on which the EP has brought forward proposals for amendments: - how to treat supplies of dairy products for quality products (should they come under protected designation of origin or under protected geographical indication?); - length of contracts. The positions of the various member states are very different on these sensitive issues, as will probably become apparent in discussions at the next SCA meeting.
The Commission's proposals on producers' negotiating power seek to allow producer organisations to negotiate the various clauses of the contracts with dairies collectively on behalf of all or some of their members' production. In order to maintain fair and effective competition, certain quantitative limits have been imposed. In the initial proposal, the quantity was limited to 3.5% of total EU production or 33% of total national production of any member state involved in such negotiations. The EP agriculture committee suggested as a compromise 3.5% of the EU market and 40% of total national production. An EP amendment seeks to allow member states whose production is less than 500,000 to increase the national production percentage to 75%. (This would only affect Luxembourg, Cyprus and Malta.) The SCA will also discuss the issue of the minimum percentage for producer organisations in the small member states. This is seen as being less awkward than the previous points, so that a solution may be easier to find.
Other points up for discussion at the SCA are:
- powers delegated to the Commission with regard to producer organisations: this is an EP amendment designed to ensure that the Commission can take special measures to prevent producer organisations being penalised should they exceed the 33% threshold in a single year. This amendment is unlikely to pose any problems for member states;
- the impact of the regulation on cooperatives: countries such as the Netherlands, which have a highly developed system of cooperatives, have called for cooperatives not to be included within the scope of the regulation. The EP agriculture committee, on the other hand, wants cooperatives to continue to fall within the regulation. The scopes of the text should give member states greater flexibility on application of the arrangements to cooperatives.
The Netherlands, backed by other delegations, has, however, brought forward a proposal to try to prevent producer-members of cooperatives from setting up their own producer organisations to negotiate with the cooperative (a move which could be counter-productive and could short-circuit agreements reached within the cooperative). Here, too, positions are quite sharply divided, giving the prospect of lively debate in the SCA. (L.C./transl.rt)