European Parliament rapporteur on organic farming Martin Haüsling (Greens/EFA, Germany) was quite upbeat in Strasbourg on Monday 15 May as to the chances of an agreement being reached on this sensitive issue on 31 May. The chair of the agriculture committee, Czesław Adam Siekierski, said, however, that he was not hopeful.
“I think we’ll reach an agreement” on organic farming, Haüsling told much less optimistic MEPs. European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan suggested that there was agreement on 95% of the text: “I’d say rather 90%”, said the rapporteur. What remains to be negotiated at a single trialogue meeting on 31 May, however, are the most controversial elements of the text. The Maltese Presidency intends to submit a new text on Thursday 18 May (see EUROPE 11788).
Seeds. The European Parliament wants a regulation on organic seeds and heterogeneous material available on the market for producers. “The Commission doesn’t want to grant any derogations to the organic sector but exemption regulations will expire sooner or later and a solution has to be found”, Häusling said.
Growing crops under glass. The initial proposal made no provision for any derogations for organic production under glass. Five northern countries are calling for extension of the area covered by an exemption. “It should be possible but it creates a problem because, between the south of Denmark and the north of Germany, there is no climatic border.” There could be a risk of competition distortion if it were decided to permit crops to be grown off-ground in one area but not in another.
Pesticides. The Parliament and the Council are against setting thresholds for the presence of unauthorised substances. The compromise that is taking shape would, Haüsling says, involve changing nothing before the Commission presents a report assessing the scale of the contamination. Parliament wants this report to be published by 2020 while the Council is looking at 2025. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)