22/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Council has formally adopted its collective position on the fertilizer measure which shall combine into a single text the eighteen current directives on manure and fertilisers. A political agreement had been arranged by the "competitiveness" Council last September (see EUROPE dated 1st October). The text must be rounded off with a regulation on the maximum cadmium content authorised in fertilizers, in order to respond to the appeals of Sweden, Finland and Austria, who insist upon the health risks represented by the increased level of cadmium. Furthermore, Sweden, Finland and Austria had to obtain a special dispensation until December 2005 to limit the level of cadmium in fertilisers. The European Parliament should decide in a second reading, in theory next September based on Kurt Lechner's report (German, EPP).