On Monday 15 October, several EU agriculture ministers meeting in Luxembourg expressed varying degrees of concern about the difficult situation prevailing on the EU sugar market (see EUROPE 12116).
Italy spoke of the recent deterioration in the market conditions of the sugar sector. It called on the Commission to activate the measures needed to balance the short and medium-term market, especially aid to private storage and possible so-called “exceptional” measures (set out in the regulation on the common market organisation).
The Italian requests were backed by several ministers, including those from Greece, Spain, Hungary and Poland.
Wait and see market policy. On the other hand, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands underlined the need to wait and see. The delegations of these countries said it should recover on its own.
European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan confirmed that there was a significant rise in production in the profitable countries (France, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom), leading to a fall in sugar prices. Hogan met the operators who had signalled to him that it is time to moderate production. He said that releasing aid to private storage would send a bad signal to the market. He called on the countries that so wished to provide support by amending national rural development programmes.
FAO. The Austrian Presidency of the EU Council spoke of the results of the informal process aimed at agreeing on a single EU candidate to the post of next director general of the FAO (United Nations Organisation for Food and Agriculture), for the elections in 2019. France proposed Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle as the EU candidate for the post of FAO director general, to be renewed on 1 January 2020 (see EUROPE 12064). The French applicant is supported by several delegations but, as there is no European procedure (so that the EU gives its support to a candidate for the post of FAO director general), support for Geslain-Lanéelle is informal at this stage.
G20. Commissioner Phil Hogan made a declaration at the Council commenting on the results of the last meeting of agriculture ministers of the G20, on 27 and 28 July this year, in Buenos Aires (Argentina). The European Union participated in the meeting on the basis of the common guidelines developed and approved by the Council in June 2018.
Vine. The Spanish delegation requested the support of the Council to back its candidate (Pau Roca) to the post of director general of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). During the Council, the Spanish candidate won the support of the agricultural ministers of France, Romania, Portugal and Poland. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)