Brussels, 19/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - The agriculture and fisheries ministers of the EU will be meeting on 20 and 21 December, when their main task will be to set total allowable catches (TAC) and fishing quotas for 2006. They will also reach agreement on proposals to create measures to fight bird flu, examine a proposal to market a genetically modified product and assess the results of the WTO ministerial conference (see other article). The Council will start on 20 December with an initial table round on a proposed compromise by the Presidency on TAC and quotas for 2006. The ministers will then discuss the "agriculture" subjects, before resuming negotiations on the TAC and quotas in the evening and through the night. The Council may conclude the following afternoon.
TAC and quotas: in its proposals on TAC and quotas for 2006 of 30 November, the Commission planned further reductions to the number of fishing days to several stocks of cod, the sole, hake and lobster, and to extend the closure of fishing for anchovies in the Bay of Biscay and sand-eels in the North Sea (EUROPE 9078). The United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands, amongst others, feel that the Commission is going too far in its plans to reduce fishing days by 15% in zones covered by the cod reconstitution plan (North Sea, Kattegat and Skagerrak, the Western English Channel, the Irish Sea and the western waters of Scotland). Furthermore, several of these countries will try to ensure that these restrictions will not apply to fishermen targeting other species in the zones covered, such as flatfish (sole and place). At the same time, the Commission is proposing a 15% reduction in cod quotas in the cod reconstitution plan zone. The Commission is proposing to continue protection measures for sole stocks in the Western English Channel next year, pending a reconstitution plan for the species. It proposes to set the authorised number of fishing days a month at 18, compared to 20 currently. France, supported by the United Kingdom and Belgian, will try to work towards a lesser reduction of fishing effort and to ensure that certain sections of their fleets are not subject to these measures. The Council is also set to reach a political agreement on a management plan for sole in the Bay of Biscay, the objective of which will be to reduce the mortality rate due to fishing for this species by 10% a year. The plan does not provide for any reduction in fishing effort, simply a fishing licence system for ships, slightly reduced TACs for two years and a gradual downsizing of the fleet. In its proposal, the Commission includes elements of the agreement of the Council in October on the reconstitution plan for stocks of southern hake and Norway lobster in the Iberian peninsular (EUROPE 9055). The annex on the fishing effort regime for the species provides for a reduction in fishing days by a level of 10% (20 days per month, compared to 22 in 2005). This plan poses no problems to the two countries in question (Spain and Portugal), as they have already agreed to the measures proposed. Spain will ask for catch levels for 2005 to be used again, including the levels for sardines, anchovies fished in Spanish and Portuguese waters and anglerfish (monkfish). Portugal, for its part, is calling for the 2005 quota for anglerfish and horse mackerel to be kept in place. On the subject of anchovies in the Bay of Biscay, France is calling for the fishing campaign for this fish species to start again from January 2006. The Commission would prefer to wait for the latest scientific results, expected for May, before putting an end to a ban which has been in place since last July. Spain, for its part, is in favour of keeping current restrictions in place to ensure stock reconstitution. France, which is deeply concerned about the future of its anchovy fishermen, will try to convince Spain to accept a quota, even a small one. Furthermore, the Commission proposes that sand-eel fishing be closed at the beginning of 2006. Denmark, which will be affected the most by this issue, is not opposed to it, as long as the closure is simply a temporary one. The Commission also hopes to reduce fishing effort by 20% for vessels targeting deep-sea species (roundnose grenadier, ling, blue ling and tusk). France, Ireland and Lithuania oppose these measures, due to the fact that fishing days were already reduced by 10% in 2005. The Council will not set TAC for these species, because they were laid down in 2004 for two years. The Council will also adopt TAC, quotas and fishing effort reduction measures for species fished in the Baltic Sea, which is a matter of concern mainly to German, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, Danish, British, Polish and the Baltic States' fleets. Discussions made good progress at technical level. The compromise the Council is likely to reach is as follows: -keeping TAC for card unchanged in the eastern Baltics (38,882 tonnes); -setting the TAC for cod at 28,400 tonnes in the Western Baltics (which represents an increase of 15%, as proposed by the Commission); -2 months of closure (1 March to 30 April) for cod fishing in the Western Baltics and two and a half months (1 May to 15 September) in the waters of the eastern Baltics; -an authorised margin of 10% for by-catches; -the possibility of fishing for cod using a fishing engines with larger mesh sizes in the three zones which are currently under permanent closure in the Baltic Sea.
The European Commissioner for Fisheries, Joe Borg, will inform the Council of the proposals he intends to present at the end of January, in order to help the sector to overcome its current difficulties, particularly the sustained increase in fuel prices.
Avian influenza (bird flu): a political agreement is expected on the proposed decision setting the level of Community co-funding for measures to fight low pathogenic strains of the bird flu virus. The compromise will increase the level of co-funding for measures to fight low pathogenic strains of the bird flu virus by the EU budget from 30% to 50%, in order to bring it into line with the rate applied in cases of highly pathogenic viruses. The Council will also adopt the proposed directive on Community measures to fight bird flu.
TSE: the ministers will adopt conclusions on the "roadmap" to revise community legislation on the fight against transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), and on the report with a view to adapting the rules on animal byproducts. These two documents were presented by the Commission in July and October of this year. The Council stresses the need to "keep in place the key objectives of consumer protection and the fight against TSEs and their eradication", and the fact that "any modification must have the support of a solid scientific basis and the application of risk analysis, which, to the greatest possible extent, should be quantitative".
GMO: Once again, it is unlikely that the Council will be able to rally qualified majority for or against the marketing of a genetically modified product. In this case, it is maize 1507, which is produced by the company Pioneer. This will mean that it will be up to the Commission to take the decision on whether or not to authorise the product itself. Work within Coreper showed that 11 Member States are in favour of the product being marketed (France, Germany, Finland, the United Kingdom, Estonia, the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden and the Czech Republic, which adds up to a total of 159 votes out of 321, whereas 232 votes are required for qualified majority), 10 are opposed (Greece, Poland, Portugal, Austria, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Cyprus, narrowly creating a blocking minority of 90 votes) and four have abstained (Italy, Hungary, Spain and Slovenia).
Simplification of the CAP: the Council is to adopt conclusions on methods to simplify and apply the principle of "better regulation" to the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Favourably welcoming the intention of the Commission to draw up an "action plan" in 2006, the minister stressed the fact that the primary objective is "to reduce the administrative burden for all those involved in the agricultural sector". At preparatory discussions and expert level, several Member States voiced serious misgivings about the idea put forward by the Commission eventually to bring in a single common market organisation.
Wine: the Council will adopt a decision on the conclusion of an agreement between the EU and the United States on the sales of wine (EUROPE 9028). Furthermore, France will voice its concerns about negotiations underway with a view to the conclusion of a stabilisation and association agreement between the EU and Albania, which, amongst other things, will provide for mutual concessions on wines and spirits. According to Paris, the Commission seems to be "bringing about a complete about-turn on its policy on the protection of geographical indications, in its failure to provide for the gradual elimination of all geographical indications which have been encroached upon". In the view of France, such a position "would largely denude current and future negotiations on wine agreements- particularly on the eve of the negotiations of agreements with other third countries- of any sense, and may lead our partners to question the agreements which have already been signed".
Other business: Germany, with the support of many delegations, will call for the mechanism of the conditionality of aid (decided upon in June 2003 when the CAP was being reformed) not to be extended, as the Commission has proposed, to provisions under the regulations of 2004 and 2005 on food hygiene. Under this principle, decoupled single payments are granted to farmers as long as they respect certain criteria (animal welfare, quality and safety of products...). Furthermore, Denmark will once again call on the Commission to "abolish export refunds for live cattle destined for slaughter, as soon as possible".