Brussels, 12/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - EU agriculture ministers will gather in Brussels on Monday 16 March to discuss the draft regulation on organic produce. The European Commission will provide an update on the situation on the milk market.
In the debate on organic farming, the questionnaire to be put to the ministers by the Latvian Presidency of the Council covers unauthorised substances (Article 20), the import regime (Article 31) and monitoring. These are issues over which member states are divided (see EUROPE 11272). The Commission has made provision, in its work programme for 2015, to withdraw the text on organic farming if agreement cannot be found by the end of June. The Latvian Presidency hopes that the Agriculture Council will be in a position to adopt a general approach in May. Thereafter negotiations will begin with the European Parliament.
Over lunch, ministers will discuss international trade agreements. At the last meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA), several delegations, including those of France, Ireland, Croatia, Italy, Austria and Portugal, repeated their call for a review of the concessions granted under the terms of the various bilateral or multilateral agreements that have been or are being negotiated.
Simplifying the CAP. The Latvian Presidency wants to hear the ministers' points of view on the priority areas for simplification, in light of experience in implementing the reformed CAP. It suggests that the policy debate be centred on two questions. Firstly, would you be in a position to present examples of practices resulting from implementation of the new CAP which, you believe, would be worth communicating to the other member states? And secondly, what should be simplified as matters of priority in each of the following three areas for action: direct payments, rural development and common market organisation? The policy debate and prior contributions will allow the Presidency to draft Council conclusions on simplifying the CAP, which could be adopted in May. (Lionel Changeur)