Brussels, 22/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Polish Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the EU is hopeful that, before the end of the year, agreement will be found with the European Parliament (EP) on the proposal on contracts in the dairy sector. A trialogue meeting is due to take place on 6 December and member states will finalise the negotiating brief for the trialogue at the next Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) meeting on Monday 28 November. The trialogue meeting of 10 November was unsuccessful in overcoming differences (EUROPE No 10494).
The SCA debate on Monday 21 November focused on two of the issues that are proving most problematical with the EP: management of supplies for quality products (those which come under protected geographical indication - PGI) and the minimum length of contract between producers and processors. At the SCA meeting, a number of delegations, including those of France, Italy and Austria, called for a derogation to be given to producers who fall under PGI, who could limit their production. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Denmark and Finland, have reservations over this request but would be prepared to accept a compromise if supplies were restricted (cheeses) and regulated.
Length of contract. The Presidency suggested a system that would allow countries to put in place, within their borders, a contract by which the first buyer would make a standard offer proposing a minimum length of duration (at least six months) which the producer would be free to accept or not. If the conditions of the contract were rejected, producers and buyers could negotiate an agreement together. Several delegations backed this proposal. A number of countries reiterated that their call for the notion of a “soft landing” when milk quotas are scheduled to come to an end (in 2015) be included in the dairy regulation. (LC/transl.rt)