Brussels, 09/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Luxembourg Presidency of the Council resumed negotiations with the European Parliament on 1 December on the proposal for the scheme to distribute fruit and vegetables and milk in schools and hopes the institutions will be able to reach a compromise at the trialogue meeting on Thursday 10 December.
At the meeting of the special committee on agriculture (SCA) on Monday 7 December, the Presidency of the Council said that Parliament was ready to discuss an overall package which also includes the legal basis of certain provisions (Article 43(2) on the ordinary procedure rather than Article 43(3) on exclusive Council powers, with regard to the provisions of the proposal on the budget, criteria and transfers of funding between products). The Council legal department drew attention to the EU Court of Justice ruling on the multiannual plan for cod (which went against the Council's overly wide use of Article 43(3) of the treaty on setting aid). The Council's legal department suggested that this ruling made the negotiations taking place with the Parliament on the legal basis for the proposal on products in schools all the more relevant.
In addition to the legal basis, two major points are still under discussion:
List of eligible products. Parliament does not want fruit and vegetable products to which flavourings, fats or sugars have been added to be eligible for inclusion in the scheme. For dairy products, it rules out the inclusion of any products that contain artificial flavourings and wants to see a maximum level of sugar content. Parliament is calling for national health authorities to be involved. At the SCA meeting, some countries (such as Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Romania) argued for only fresh products to be eligible - a position supported by Parliament. A number of countries, France, Belgium and Ireland among them, felt that involving national health authorities would represent an unacceptable administrative burden.
Level of transfer of funding from one scheme to the other. Parliament might be prepared to accept a transfer level of 15%, and perhaps even higher in duly justified cases. Some delegations, including those of Denmark, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Poland, felt that the 15% cap demanded by Parliament was justified. Others, however, like Germany, France, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and more, argued for a higher rate.
Monday's Agriculture Council will discuss this matter. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)