Brussels, 19/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner for Better Regulation Frans Timmermans has announced the withdrawal of the controversial proposal on seeds, one of the elements of the animal and plant health package.
The European Parliament had refused to take position on this text, which was part of the animal and plant health package. For their part, the member states had called on the European Commission to make sweeping changes to its proposal. And the sector (small and large enterprises) was also highly critical. In a statement, the European Seeds Association did not shed tears over the withdrawal.
This text was part of a broader package of five regulations on animal and plant health of which the Italian Presidency of the EU took stock at the Agriculture Council held in Brussels on 15 December. On the other planks of this legislative body (with the regulation on the financing having already been adopted), the most progress appears to have been made on the animal health text. Solutions have been found for most of the points of the text. However, European Commissioner for Health Vytenis Andriukaitis expressed regret that “it has not been possible for the Italian Presidency to have a negotiation mandate adopted”. This will now be a job for Latvia, which takes over at the helm of the Council on 1 January.
Open or closed regime. The regime for imports into the EU of plants and plant products remains the major sticking point between the member states out of the proposals on plant health. The Commission is in favour of an open list: “stopping imports of all plants until they have been shown to present no risks could bring about additional administrative burdens and hinder trade, and therefore impact upon the economy. It would be far better to improve the existing system on the basis of a strong risk assessment system, with temporary restrictions on certain products if required”, the Commissioner argued. For the time being, the text proposes that the European import regime be based on an open list of plant products, not including trees, for which a closed list would be set in place. However, Portugal, Spain and France, amongst others, argued in favour of a closed European mechanism for all types of products (including fruits and vegetables). In the opposite corner, the Netherlands (supported, amongst others, by Lithuania and Latvia) are in favour of an open system. If it hopes to start negotiations with the European parliament, Latvia will have to find common ground.
The role of veterinary surgeons. There are also two opposite camps over the plank on controls. The first consists of countries calling for flexibility and for persons other than veterinary surgeons to be able to carry out official controls on the borders of the EU: France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden. The countries in the second group wish to maintain the central role of veterinary surgeons in this responsibility: Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. On the financing of these controls, a compromise appears to be close at hand between the member states, which would be obliged to set in place a minimum fee levy from certain players in the food chain (from which micro-enterprises would be exempted). The member states would have subsidiarity on how to fund the mechanism a whole. “The Commission is trying to remove surplus constraints, but as regards the funding, there has to be enough in the budget to ensure equality of treatment throughout EU territory, particularly as resources are currently in short supply in the member states”, said the Commissioner. On this point as well, Latvia will have to find a compromise as soon as possible so that talks with the European Parliament can start. (LC)