The European agriculture and fisheries ministers are meeting in Luxembourg on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 June to take stock of a number of current issues and to discuss the agricultural aspects of free trade agreements (see other news item on fisheries).
This will be the last Council chaired by the Polish Minister, Czesław Siekierski, before the handover to the Danish Presidency of the EU Council on 1 July.
As they do every two months, the ministers will be examining agricultural issues linked to international trade, with a large number of hot topics making their way onto the agenda. Once again, the trade war launched by the United States and imports of agri-food products from Ukraine – particularly following the expiry of autonomous trade measures and the introduction of transitional provisions – will be on the agenda. The imminent presentation of the official text of the EU/Mercosur trade agreement should also play an important part in the discussion (see EUROPE 13663/37).
In addition, at a “Miscellaneous” point, France, Luxembourg, Spain and Bulgaria will raise the issue of aligning the production standards applied to imported products in terms of maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides.
Simplification. The Member States, who want to continue to influence discussions on the proposal to simplify the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), will also hold a policy debate on this issue. The delegations are broadly in favour of the package presented by the European Commission on 14 May, but they still deplore the fact that this dossier is not being examined by the Agriculture Council, but by the General Affairs Council (and its dedicated simplification group, ‘Antici’).
Seeds. The Polish Presidency of the EU Council will present an overview (https://aeur.eu/f/hhb ) of the technical progress made on the proposal on plant reproductive material (while a compromise on forestry material was reached on 13 June). Further work will be needed, particularly on the definition of conservation varieties, seeds exchanged in kind between farmers, and official controls.
Animal transport. The proposal to improve the protection of animals during transport has given rise to differences of opinion in the EU Council. The Polish Presidency will inform ministers of the progress made to date (https://aeur.eu/f/hha ) and will organise an exchange of views on how to move discussions forward.
Forests. The EU Council will attempt to reach a “general approach” on the proposal for a regulation on the monitoring framework for forests (https://aeur.eu/f/hh9 ). The proposal aims to set up a forest monitoring system to track progress towards achieving the EU’s strategic objectives in this area.
Foodstuffs of animal origin. Twelve delegations (the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Spain) will ask the European Commission to present a legislative proposal to protect the names of foodstuffs of animal origin, granting them a level of protection similar to that of milk and dairy products. In a document (https://aeur.eu/f/hhc ) prepared for the occasion, these Member States point out that “plant-based products differ substantially from food products of animal origin, particularly in terms of composition and nutritional value. It is therefore essential that foods which imitate, mimic or substitute foods of animal origin do not mislead the consumer by their labelling as to their true nature”. For these countries, the adoption of European regulations would make it possible to protect consumers “from misleading information and the prevention of regulatory fragmentation in the EU by adopting different arrangements in Member States”.
CMO, unfair practices, wine and NGTs. The ministers will take stock of several other dossiers currently under discussion: the regulation amending the common market organisation, the cross-border application of regulations against unfair commercial practices and the package of support measures in the wine sector (see EUROPE 13663/12).
Regarding the proposal concerning new genomic techniques (NGTs), further interinstitutional negotiations are scheduled for 30 June, but there is little chance of an agreement being reached since the positions of the institutions remain so far apart at this stage.
A further “Miscellaneous” point relates to the requirements for the availability of effective plant protection methods (requested by Austria).
Finally, Poland will present the results of a number of conferences and events held recently: on rural development, between the directors of the EU’s paying agencies, on the BIOEAST initiative, on the management of populations of protected animals causing losses in agriculture, and finally, on current challenges in the forestry sector. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)