Brussels, 19/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - After doubt hung for some time over its fate, the proposal to review European rules on organic farming has been included in the European Commission work programme for 2015 that was presented by Commissioner in charge of Better Regulation Frans Timmermans in Strasbourg on Tuesday 16 December.
However, the Commission is leaving the Council and the European Parliament to find agreement on this text before it is withdrawn. Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan gave assurances at the Agriculture Council on 15 December that he would argue in the College of Commissioners for the retention of the proposal (see EUROPE 11218). He has been partly successful. He indicated that it was better to work from the policy direction taken by the Council than to wait 18 months for a new proposal. “Only one member state (Ed: Austria) has a specific concern with the text proposed by the Italian Presidency which calls on us to make amendments to our initial proposal”, he said. “It would be stupid not to make use of this work to continue discussions” in his view (our translation).
While the majority is not as great as suggested by the Commissioner, the member states nonetheless validated the progress report on their discussions on this issue since the month of June. And even though the partial general approach that the Italian Presidency wanted at all costs to have adopted was not approved by the Council, most ministers supported the policy guidelines prepared by Italy.
Eleven guiding principles will direct the continuing discussions: - significant reduction of the number and scope of delegates acts; - maintaining the status quo as regards mixed farms; - introduction of the derogations for the use of non-organic seeds, non-organic animals and non-organic juveniles, in line with the existing rules; - elimination of the obligation to put in place an environmental management system; - introduction of the possibility of using non-organic ingredients for the preparation of food and feed; - exclusion of some categories of retailers from the control system; - providing the possibility and the ability to label in-conversion products; - maintaining the vendor declaration confirming the absence of GMOs in the organic products; - maintaining the possibility of using biodynamic preparations; - maintaining the status quo regarding the use of in-conversion feed; - maintaining existing conversion rules.
It is on this basis that Latvia, which will take over the rotating Council presidency in January, will have to obtain a negotiating mandate from the Council to conclude talks with the European Parliament before the end of June. (LC)