Brussels, 21/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - The laborious "Agriculture" Council, which ended Tuesday morning after great difficulty in reaching an EU strategy related to the mad cow crisis (see next article), allowed for the reform of the common market organisation in the fruit and vegetables sector to be settled. Ministers also approved the EU's negotiating position on agriculture in the framework of the WTO, and a mechanism to combat bluetongue. Here are the results of the session.
- Fruit and vegetable: little before five in the morning, the Council managed, through a majority, to adopt a reform of the CMO for fruit and vegetables around which the countries of Southern Europe were able to rally. The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden voted against, as this reform strays from the principle of budgetary neutrality. Different changes were made to the Commission's initial proposal to respond to requests mainly made by Spain and Italy, with as consequence an additional cost of 40 million euro a year from 2001 and 177 million from 2004 (whereas the measures proposed by the Commission only led to an additional cost of 7.5 million euro from 2004). The ceiling for financing operational funds (financial assistance to farming organisations) has been increased from 3 to 4.1%. Aid to processed tomatoes has been set at 34.5 euro/tonne (against 29.84 euro/t., in the initial proposal). Member States may subsidize national thresholds for (1) processed tomatoes (full, peeled tomatoes, other tomato products) and (2) small citrus fruit (processing into segments, processing into juice). In that case, the reduction of aid applied in case of the national ceiling being exceeded is spread between the product sub-groups, proportionally to the excess observed for each sub-threshold. The Council did not follow the European Parliament on the very steep increases of the amounts of aid to processed products that the latter had asked for but is more generous than the EP regarding the raising of national and Community thresholds for processing. The Community threshold for tomatoes has thus been set at 8 251 455 tonnes (instead of 8 023 756 in the EP text and 7 519 888 in the Commission proposal) The distribution is as follows (in brackets, the amount proposed by the Commission); - Greece, 1 211 241 t (1 185 986); - Spain, 1 238 606 (1 113 272); - France , 401 608 (329 322); - Italy, 4 350 000 (3970 498); - Portugal, 1 050 000 (920 810). Regarding fishing, the Community threshold has been taken to 539 006 t. to take account of the increase in the Greek threshold: 300 000 t. instead of 265 588. And for pears, It is Portugal that benefits from an increase in its threshold, at 600 t. instead of 361, which takes the Community threshold to 104 617 tonnes. The Community threshold for oranges has been taken to 1 500 236 t. (1 307 900), with the following spread: - Greece, 280 000 (219 334); - Spain, 600 467 (536 161); - Italy, 599 769 (536 161); - Portugal, 20 000 (15 619). The Community threshold for lemons has gone from 488 400 to510 600 t., with the following distribution: - Greece, 27 975 (26 759); - Spain, 192 198 (183 842); - Italy, 290 426 (277 799). Pour for small citrus fruit 384 000 t (352 000) are spread: - Greece, 5 217 (4782); - Spain, 270 186 (247 671); - France, 445 (408); - Italy, 106 428 (97 559); - Portugal, 1 724 (1580). No changes have been made to the thresholds for the processing of grapefruit or pomelos.
- WTO: In anticipation of new agriculture negotiations, the Council adopted a comprehensive community negotiating position. It still needs approving by the General Affairs Council of 4 December 2000. Stressing that the European Union undertook to (1) further reduce aid to the protection granted to farms, (2) take into account considerations other than of a commercial nature, (3) provide special treatment to developing countries, Commissioner Franz Fischler welcomed the adoption of this "comprehensive and balanced proposal". According to him, it will "allow for fruitful negotiations in the agricultural sector" and "also facilitate broader WTO negotiations, which is in the interest of all members of the WTO". "the Community's proposal has been and remains that we agree to negotiate new reductions in export refunds, as long as the other instruments used to boost exports are also regulated, Fischler added, citing, notably, the use of subsidised credits for exports, as well as the abuse of food aid.
- Bluetongue. The Council adopted a directive on specific provisions relating to measures to combat and eradicate bluetongue that has spread rapidly on part of the Mediterranean territory, notably the islands, of the EU the past two years. Greece voted against.
- Animal feedingstuffs. The Council approved the proposal for a directive on official controls and on undesirable substances and products in animal feedingstuffs. This text, subject to codecision with Parliament, still has to be finalised by Coreper before final adoption as a Council common position. It makes provision for: (a) the implementation in each Member State of operational intervention plans for dealing with emergencies linked to the detection of serious risks; b) a safeguard clause enabling the Commission to take protection measures; c) the setting into place at Community level of an information system on the risks from feedingstuffs for animals.
The Council also, without debate: (1) amended the 1995 directive on the organisation of official controls in the area of animal feedingstuffs; (2) amended the 1993 regulation establishing the export rebate scheme applicable to certain goods resulting from the transformation of agricultural products. It postponed review of the proposal aimed at guaranteeing free movement of material for the vegetative propagation of vinestock.
