The Bulgarian, Croatian, Cyprus, Czech, Finnish, French, Greek, Italian, Latvian, Polish, Romanian and Slovenian delegations called at the Agriculture Council on Monday 6 March for greater leeway in notification rules within the framework of voluntary coupled support (that is, support linked to production).
These delegations expressed concerns about the Commission scrutiny of national decisions and its impact on the effective implementation of voluntary coupled support measures.
Denmark and Germany, taking a different view from the twelve delegations, said the Commission should continue to monitor how this support is used in order to avoid any abuses. On this point, European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan called on the member states to work closely with his staff.
Volunteering. Among the “other business” points of the meeting, the Commission briefed the Council on the opportunities for volunteer work in the EU offered by the European Solidarity Corps, in particular, under the common agricultural policy and funds devoted to protecting the environment (see EUROPE 11684). The European Solidarity Corps, which was launched in December 2016, is an initiative giving young Europeans the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities to show their solidarity in practice through either volunteering or employment, traineeships or apprenticeships while helping to tackle challenges across Europe, such as integration of migrants, health, environmental protection and agriculture.
European rice forum. The Italian delegation briefed ministers on the outcome of the first forum on the EU rice sector, which took place in Milan on 20 February 2017. Italy also seized the opportunity of this other business point to call for an end to customs duty free imports of rice from EBA (Everything but arms) countries and was supported in this by Spain, Hungary, Bulgaria and Portugal. Commissioner Hogan pointed put that the EU promotion programme could offer outlets for European products.
Lastly, the German delegation presented the results of the conference of G20 agriculture ministers which took place in Berlin on 22 January 2017. Spain raised the issue of water management and the Netherlands highlighted the issue of anti-microbial resistance. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)