Brussels, 08/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - EU agriculture and fisheries ministers will devote most of their time in Luxembourg on Monday and Tuesday to negotiating a political agreement on the reform of the common market organisation (CMO) for fresh fruit and vegetables. A first compromise text from the German presidency will be brought forward in the late morning of Monday with discussions expected to last until dawn. The Council will be chaired by German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer.
Fruit and vegetables. Arrangements for decoupling aid to processed products and crisis management measures in this sector will be the two difficult issues in the ministers' negotiations. Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has already indicated her willingness to offer concessions to the producer countries which are calling for the single payment per farm scheme to be introduced in stages in the processed fruit and vegetable sector. As a compromise, the Commission could allow member states a transition period of between three and five years before full decoupling of aid (breaking the link between the level of aid and quantities produced). Italy (tomatoes), Spain (tomatoes and citrus fruits), France (prunes), Portugal, Greece and Hungary are all calling for a transition period before the introduction of total decoupling.
The Commission is much less willing, however, to show flexibility on crisis management. Several member states (including France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Hungary) are calling for a Community fund specifically for crisis management measures to be set up. For largely budgetary reasons, however, the Commission is sticking to its initial plan: only part of the money allocated to operational programmes will be able to be used for such actions. It suggests putting in place financial arrangements, in the form of bank loans, to help producer organisations (POs) in difficult times. The Commission has also agreed to reduce by half (to 10% instead of 20%) the amount of its expenditure that each PO will be required to devote to environmental measures. Finally, the Commission has not yet finalised its proposal on the scheme to distribute free fruit in schools, which ought to have accompanied the decisions on the reform.
Single CMO. Ministers are expected to confirm their political agreement bringing all 21 current CMOs together into one single text (see EUROPE 9436). The single CMO will come into force on 1 January 2008, except for cereals, seeds, hops, olive oil, table olives, flax and hemp, raw tobacco, beef and veal, sheepmeat and goatmeat, eggs and poultrymeat, which will all become part of the single CMO on 1 July 2008. The public intervention scheme for pigmeat will be retained and guarantees have been provided to avoid a loss in the level of expertise within the single management committee.
Maize. The Council is expected to adopt, without debate, the regulation providing for capping the quantities eligible for maize intervention (see EUROPE 9429): 1.5 million tonnes for marketing year 2007-2008, 700,000 tonnes for 2008-2009 and a reduction to zero from 2009-2010. The formal decision to eliminate public purchase of maize will be debated during the Common Agricultural Policy health check, planned for 2008. The compromise states that maize intervention could still be used as a “safety net” in the event of a crisis.
Cross-compliance. The Council will adopt conclusions welcoming the measures that the Commission will take to improve the way cross-compliance of direct aid is applied. Some delegations (France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria and the Netherlands) are expected to say that they regret that the Commission did not take their calls into account. The new member states would have preferred to have had more time to comply with these rules.
Veal. The Council is expected to adopt, without debate, the regulation on the labelling of veal. Under this regulation the terms “veal” or “veau” (French), “ternera” (Spanish) or “vitello” (Italian) will no longer be able to be used as a sales description or mentioned on labelling for meat from animals over 12 months old.
Plant protection products. The German presidency will take stock of the work of EU experts on improving marketing rules for plant protection products (a proposal which accompanies the Commission's thematic strategy, presented in July 2006, for better use of pesticides).
Fisheries. The Council will confirm the agreement on recovery measures for eel stocks (see EUROPE 9438) and the compromise on the implementation of the international plan for bluefin tuna, with effect from 13 June (see EUROPE 9439). Conclusions will also be adopted on how to reduce by-catches and eliminate discards. Finally, member states will try to reach agreement on a recovery plan for cod in the Baltic Sea. (lc)