The Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU submitted a draft compromise text on the revision of organic farming rules (see EUROPE 11788 and 11789) to member state delegations on Friday 19 May.
When they meet on 29 May, the experts on the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) will try to amend the Council mandate to give every chance for agreement to be reached with the European Parliament delegation at the trialogue meeting on 31 May, a meeting that is being seen as the last chance saloon.
European Parliament rapporteur Martin Haüsling (Greens/EFA, Germany) was relatively optimistic on 15 May of successfully concluding negotiations. The ball is in the Council court, according to a source.
Seeds, growing crops under glass and pesticide residues. Parliament has put forward a proposal on seeds which, the Maltese Presidency believes, forms a good basis for discussion. Parliament wants to open the door to legislation on organic seeds and to allow farmers to use heterogeneous material. The Council, however, is very hesitant about agreeing to legislation on organic seeds.
The proposals on residues of unauthorised substances (pesticides) in the text currently on the table are thought to be acceptable to both Parliament and Council. Publication of a Commission report assessing the situation in terms of contamination two or five years after the regulation on organic agriculture comes into force would be awaited before, if necessary, legislating. The compromise text allows member states to apply stricter rules with thresholds set for pesticide residues.
With regard to cultivation of crops in containers under glass, the text is believed to go further than the current rules: to take account of climatic conditions, it grants derogations to the northern countries (“Zone A North”), allowing them to grow crops out of the ground. In the text, the Maltese Presidency proposes a definition of Zone A North and the derogations would be granted subject to certain conditions (land use and recycling of products). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)