Luxembourg, 16/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - In Luxembourg on Monday 16 June, the Greek Presidency went no further than to present the Agriculture Council with a report on the state of play in the deliberations on the proposal to merge the two programmes for the distribution of agricultural products in schools, but a battle royal between the institutions is looming over this dossier.
As regards the legal basis of the proposals, the report by the Presidency notes that the delegations of the countries of the EU support the opinion of the legal services of the Council, that Article 43, paragraph 3 of the treaty - rather than Article 43, paragraph 2 - is the correct legal basis for setting the level of the aid. The European Parliament is expected to fight to keep the co-decision procedure on this point. The Commission is expected to side with the EP.
Generally speaking, the delegations backed the goal of merging the programmes for schools. Among the delegations which called for the scope of application to be extended, several called for dairy products other than drinking milk to be included - such as cheese and yoghurt (a number of delegations argued in favour of including lactose-free milk). Several delegations also called for processed fruit and vegetables to be eligible (notably fruit juice). A handful called for honey, table olives and olive oil to be included as well.
Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos noted that the technical work carried out, and the work recently completed by the SCA (Special Committee on Agriculture), had made it possible to identify the key issues, which will probably be the subject of an in-depth political reflection over the coming months, by the two co-legislators and the Commission, particularly over the legal basis, the range of products and financial allocations. The involvement of the Parliament in the second half of the year would give this process an extra shot in the arm, the commissioner said. He is now waiting for discussions to continue under the Italian Presidency. (LC)