Brussels, 21/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 24 September, EU agriculture ministers will be discussing two key themes relating to common agriculture policy (CAP), namely the proposals for regulations on rural development and on common market organisation (CMO) for agricultural products. The Council will also discuss the problem of surging prices for certain cereals, feed prices and the situation on the dairy market.
The Council on Monday, to be chaired by Sofoklis Aletraris of Cyprus, will be focused on subjects relating to agriculture, and Tuesday's debates will be on fishing issues (see related article).
CAP reform. Ministers will hold two policy debates, one on the proposal for a regulation on support for rural development, and the other on a proposal for a regulation establishing a CMO in agricultural products.
With regard to rural development, ministers will essentially focus on disadvantaged areas. The aid scheme for farmers in less favoured areas (LFAs) is a mechanism for supporting the continuation of farming and thus maintaining the countryside in mountain areas, LFAs other than mountain (the so-called “intermediate LFAs”) and areas affected by specific handicaps.
During debates held on Monday 17 September within the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA), national experts evoked the subject of areas facing significant natural constraints (Articles 32-33 of the regulation). According to the Commission's initial proposal, all EU countries should undertake a “fine-tuning” exercise, based on biophysical criteria, further to the delimitation of areas with handicaps. Fine-tuning would concern certain of the areas where natural constraints have been overcome by investment or economic activity. A majority of delegations (United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Spain and Romania to name but a few) defended a method of fine-tuning and thresholds established within a common EU framework (linked to biophysical criteria). They also defended flexibility that would take national and regional variations into account. Countries were divided over the thresholds used for fine-tuning and over an average European reference value. Some, like Denmark and Romania, were more in favour. Others (Poland and Portugal for example) were opposed, saying this would entail a risk of discrimination. Many countries (such as Spain, France and Belgium) took the view that a threshold would not be representative and that the reference should be a value with national or regional scope.
Countries held diverging viewpoints on the subject of implementing a transition period concerning the cessation of payments for the zones which would no longer be considered as areas affected by natural constraints after reform. Most of them (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Romania, etc.) defended a pragmatic position for a period of transition beginning in 2015 or 2016 given how difficult it is to complete delimitation of disadvantaged areas according to the new system by 2014. Others, like Germany, Sweden or the Czech Republic, are opposed to the idea of delaying the beginning of the transition period.
Regarding the single CMO, the legislative proposal provides a safety net of market management measures (public intervention, private storage, exceptional measures and export refunds) to enable farmers to withstand excessive price volatility and market disturbances, and to balance the supply chain. Delegations generally support the safety net function assured by the proposed market management measures. Nonetheless, a number of delegations call for certain adjustments to be made, especially the introduction of a mechanism for updating the reference price levels, whereas other delegations support the Commission proposal.
Any other business includes numerous points. The Cypriot Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers is to brief ministers on the adoption, end July this year, by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, of a maximum residue limit (MRL) for ractopamine in beef and pork meat. The Netherlands delegation will evoke the consequences of the increasing number of outbreaks of Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis), originating in Asia. The Asian longhorned beetle, which is legally classified in the EU as a harmful organism to plants, can affect a large number of different trees and shrubs. The Czech delegation will speak of the current crisis linked to adulteration of spirits. Since early September, the fraudulent presence of methanol instead of ethanol spirits has caused the death of at least 20 people in the Czech Republic. The source of adulteration is not known. The Danish delegation will speak of the presence of an antimicrobial resistant bacteria in poultry. The Hungarian delegation and the Greek delegation will mention the droughts that have taken place in the United States, Ukraine and Russia, and which have given rise to a strong increase in the price of cereals and soya, in addition to a rise in the price of animal feed. Spain and Portugal, backed by the Lithuanian and Polish delegations, will call on the Commission to take the appropriate measures to remedy the deteriorating situation of the market of milk and dairy products in the EU. (LC/transl.jl)