Brussels, 21/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - Sugar reform, new European Rural Development Funds, technical changes in the wine, rice and tobacco sectors, organic farming, the coexistence of GMOs and traditional farming, risk-management instruments in agriculture, negotiations in the WTO (bananas, rice, Doha round), strategies for forests, and food safety, public health and plant protection: the work programme for the next six months unveiled by the Luxembourg Presidency on Wednesday to the members of the Parliamentary committee on agriculture is a particularly ambitious one (see also EUROPE of 11 January 2005, p.9).
GMOs: the European Community is equipped with complex legislation on authorisation, marketing, labelling and traceability for GMOs. The issue which is still to be resolved, however, is how to ensure the coexistence of genetically modified farming and traditional and organic farming. The Luxembourg minister Fernand Boden recalled that up to now, the Commission wanted to conform to the subsidiarity principle and leave it up to the Member States to legislate on these matters by recommending guidelines to guarantee this type of coexistence. Nonetheless, “a large number of Member States” deem it necessary that uniform and binding rules on this issue are brought in quickly at Community level. The Presidency is awaiting a Commission initiative in this area, “because the freedom to choose, both for consumers and producers, is paramount”, explained the Luxembourg Agriculture Minister.
Responding to questions from MEPs on the EP committee, Mr Boden condemned the distortions of competition which result from the lack of a Community framework. “This is why we are insisting to the Commission that it propose at least a minimum Community framework within the bounds of which everyone would have to keep”. Mr Boden added that the “crucial” issue would be that of insurance. Some Member States cannot insure against risks only in this area unless there is reinsurance on the part of the State or the EU, he said. The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mariann Fischer Boel, responded for her part by saying that she would “see if it is possible within the Commission to draw up a Community legal framework” to help the Member States draw up and adopt their own legislation.
Rural development: the Presidency plans to have reached a political agreement on the new European Rural Development Fund 2007-2013 by June. Mr Boden recalled the main issues causing problems to Member States: rates of financing by area of action (subsidiarity), criteria for the distribution of allotted sums, the nature and scope of application of programmes, the complexity of procedures, and the revision of the list and limits of intermediate less-favoured areas (“maintenance of current less-favoured zones is a concern for a large number of my colleagues”, said Mr Boden). The Council is also due to examine a Commission document (expected at the end of the first quarter): the “strategic plan” which will allow the EU's priorities to be set for the main areas (competitiveness of agriculture and forests, the agri-environment, quality of life and economic diversification in rural spheres).
Sugar: the Luxembourg Presidency “will endeavour to push forward this reform while taking account of the interests of the European sector and, at the same time, of the interests of developing countries”, said Mr Boden. He recalled that the Council had already “worked actively” to define its general direction on this issue. In his view, this “lively and articulate” exchange of views should enable the Commission to table a proposal which is “fair and meets the challenges faced by the sector, as well as on an international scale” in the first quarter of the year.
Rice, wine and tobacco: these three cases will be subject to limited changes which the EU nonetheless needs to firm up to take account of current international negotiations (implementation of a new Community import system for rice) and also of the “lessons learned from experience” in the functioning of some internal rules (some mechanisms introduced in 1999 the wine sector “are not fully adapted to the needs of producers or to the interests of healthy market management”, according to Mr Boden). For the raw tobacco sector, the Commission will propose to complete the reform of the CMO (brought in in 2004) through technical modifications and, above all, through a significant measure: the abolition of the system for buying back quotas.
To those MEPs concerned about wine sector reform, Mr Boden said that he did not have any
reform up his sleeve and that he hoped that the Commission did not either. Nonetheless, he explained that there are “problems which are real and to which we must find solutions”. There is a need, he said, to stay focussed on the market and to avoid returning to a situation where farmers produced for distillation. Mr Boden added that modifications to the sector would be necessary to take account not only the results of bilateral agreements with Australia and the USA, but also of the EU enlargement (some new Member States are asking to be included in certain wine-producing regions, which has an effect in particular on œnological practices).
Organic farming: following the adoption of the action plan in this area, the EU launched an information campaign to promote the European logo. In addition to this, the Commission is preparing to thoroughly review current Community legislation in this area, including the aspects on imports of organic produce into the Union. Mr Boden wanted the Commission present its proposals “as quickly as possible” so that they can be examined by the Council in this Presidency.
Risk-management: in September 2003, the Commission committed itself to reflecting on the implementation of risk-management measures for crises and natural disasters in agriculture. The Presidency is looking forward to receiving the Commission documents on this subject (a report possibly accompanied by legislative proposals). The key issue will probably be the financing necessary for a new instrument, explained Mr Boden. Responding to MEPs' questions, Mr Boden emphasised that some Member States want a risk-management mechanism which takes account of price fluctuations, whereas others fear that such a mechanism would be incompatible with the WTO's “green box”.
Promotion of the CAP: Mr Boden announced that the Commission will table a proposal to modify the current regulations on information and promotion campaigns for the Common Agricultural Policy.
New dimension to the CAP: the reforms undertaken in 2003 and 2004, particularly decoupling and conditions on agricultural aid, have given the CAP a new dimension. The Presidency wants to discuss with farmers the challenges they face and “offensive steps they can take”. This topic will also be on the agenda at the informal meeting of the Agriculture ministers in Echternach (Luxembourg) from 8 to 10 May 2005. Since it is the young farmers who will form the active network in this area in times to come, the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA) will be involved in the Council's work. In addition to this, the Presidency is planning to launch a debate in the Council on the theme “The Lisbon Strategy and agriculture”.
Forests: the Presidency will attempt to define an EU joint position for the 5th and final session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF-5), which will beheld at the end of May in New York. The Luxembourg Presidency will also attempt to arrive at an agreement on the proposal to ultimately implement voluntary permit scheme (FLEGT) for imports of wood into the EU. In addition to this, it intends to further the debate on the mandate due to be given by the Council to the Commission to open negotiations on partnership agreements with some third countries. The Commission is also due to present a report before the end of the first half of 2005 on the first five years of the implementation of the Community Forest Strategy (adopted by the Council in December 1998).
Food safety, public health, animal health: the Presidency is planning to reach agreements in the following three areas: the prevention of and fight against avian flu (recasting and modernising Community legislation following the epidemic in Asia), animal diseases in the aquatic environment (the EU has legislative instruments for sanitary policy, combating and control, but there is a need for a single legal framework taking account of the latest scientific knowledge), and the welfare of chickens bred for meat.
Phytosanitary and plant products: the Commission is due to table a proposal in April to provide measures to combat the golden nematode (a potato parasite). The Presidency hopes to lead the Community to join the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. It will also lead negotiations with third countries, notably Russia, on phytosanitary issues. The Presidency will also prepare the session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in June 2005 and that of the decision-making body of the International Plant Protection Convention in April 2005.
WTO negotiations: the Presidency expects important negotiations in the WTO to be able to result in a successful outcome, particularly in terms of wine and imports of rice and bananas. The Agriculture Council will regularly look at the progress of the Doha round on the liberalisation of trade.