Brussels, 08/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - During the meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) of Monday 7 May, the Danish Presidency was unable to find any middle ground among delegations on the two quality package texts (marketing standards and quality programmes) for a negotiating brief with the European Parliament. Most countries (Spain, France, Italy and Germany to mention just a few) prefer to deal with the texts separately. Negotiation with the EP will be complicated and it is possible the texts will go on to second reading.
Concerning marketing standards, many countries (such as Italy, France, Spain and Finland) regretted the new compromise's diffidence when it comes to indicating the origin of products, considering that the indication does not cover enough products. These countries refused the compromise for that reason.
On the subject of the regulation proposed on quality programmes, the question of managing deliveries still gives rise to divergence between countries. Some (Italy and France, for example) would like to extend what was planned for the milk sector to names/indications of origin (something that the EP strongly advocates). Other, so-called liberal countries (including the United Kingdom) do not agree as this would lead to competition distortion within the single market. Also, the compromise text refers to a ten-year transitional period for the use of traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) products registered without name reservation (a request made especially by the Czech Republic and Slovakia). There was no qualified majority, however, regarding this text on quality programmes. (LC/transl.jl)