Brussels, 17/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 16 July in Brussels, most EU member states gave their support to the main guidelines for the Commission proposed improvements to the sugar sector restructuring regime. European agriculture ministers, however, proved to be less united on how this plan should be put into practice. The Council called on the Special Agriculture Committee (SAC) to finalise the text in view of reaching a political agreement with member states at the end of September (the European Parliament's opinion is expected out on 25 September). Ministers referred to the following elements of the proposals:
Making the restructuring funds more attractive during the third year of restructuring, while preserving the principle of voluntary restructuring. Most ministers agreed to the principle of restructuring at the request of enterprises and producers. Only Latvia and Poland opposed this and asked for the system to be compulsory in all countries. Overall, Denmark was the country most hostile to the Commission proposals because its sector was already competitive before the sugar sector reform, and it therefore did not need any company restructuring.
Allowing producers to take the initiative to end quotas. Qualified majority appeared to have been acquired in support of this element of the proposal, although several countries expressed some misgivings, including Denmark, Finland, Czech Republic, Italy and Romania. These countries are afraid that the sugar beet producers' attempts to leave the sector would lead to company closures. Spain agreed with the principle, but wanted a less complex system. The Netherlands and Belgium asked for, and obtained, the extension application of the regulations on the sugar sector restructuring plan to endives.
Adopting a two-phase approach for restructuring demands in 2008/09. Despite some slight differences, almost all member states agree to this two-phase approach.
Taking account, in event of final linear quota reduction in 2010 (which will be decided by the Commission) of the restructuring efforts already made at an individual company and member state level. The majority of ministers asked for the final reduction to take into account restructuring efforts already made.
The Commission's proposal aims to increase quota elimination in sugar production by enhancing the restructuring system's attractiveness when the reform is implemented. It is proposing that aid to industry is set at 10% of the amount reserved for producers and machine company subcontractors (currently the amount allocated to producers is set by member states, which creates a number of problems between workers and sugar company employers). The Commission believes that the proposed amendments are expected to help get rid of 3.8 million tonnes of sugar quotas, in addition to the 2.2 million already withdrawn from the market. If the number of quotas eliminated by 2010 is insufficient, the Commission will impose compulsory quota reductions but will, however, compensate countries that have actively participated in the restructuring phase.
Other Agriculture Council results are as follows:
Portuguese presidency priorities. The Portuguese minister, Jaime Silva, briefly explained to his EU counterparts what the presidency work programme over the next semester would entail:
reform of the wine sector (hoping for an agreement at the end of December); initial discussions on “Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) “bill of health”; adjustments to sugar, milk and cotton sector regulations; sustainable use of forest resources; the package of proposals on marketing of phytosanitary products and sustainable use of pesticides; Community policy on animal health; implementation of legislation on hormones fed when breeding animals; traceability and labelling of animal derived foodstuffs; continuation of bilateral negotiations with third countries as part of sanitary and phytosanitary agreement and multilateral negotiations at Codex Alimentarius and World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE); illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing (IUU); traditional end of year negotiation on setting total allowable catches (TAC) and quotas for 2008.
Various points. The Council took note of information provided by Mariann Fischer Boel, the commissioner for agriculture, on the Doha Round negotiated at the WTO, following the failure on this dossier at the G4 meeting in Potsdam (19-23 June 2007).
Markos Kyprianou, the commissioner for health and consumer protection, pointed out that the avian flu H5N1 virus had recently affected a turkey farm in the Czech Republic, as well as wild birds in France and Germany. The variety identified this year is comparable to that encountered in the Middle East and Kuwait but is different to that discovered in 2006, and at the beginning of 2007, in the United Kingdom and Hungary. Kyprianou called on EU member states to redouble their vigilance when inspecting and monitoring avian flu to prevent its propagation. Czech, French and German delegations presented measures taken at national levels in compliance with Community legislation in force.
Sweden summarised the high points of a meeting that took place in Stockholm on 19-20 April between representatives from agriculture and environment ministers from the Council of Baltic States. It explained that participants had acknowledged that agriculture was one of the main sources of eutrophication in the Baltic Sea and that new measures were required to reduce the leaching out of fertiliser components into the sea.
The Commission's proposal on the temporary suspension of the obligation to leave fields fallow was supported by Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium and Malta (EUROPE 9469). Italy referred to an internal veal meat crisis, which resulted in price increases in primary milk products used to feed calves. The Italian delegation said that these primary materials represent 50% of the veal production costs used when fattening, and the sector therefore faces a structural crisis. The Commission replied that setting fallow field rates of 0% was expected to provide a partial response to the problem of cattle feed supply.
The Dutch delegation, supported by Latvia, Hungary and Poland, drew the Council and Commission's attention to the need for an urgent response to the illegal trade in wood in some third countries, which led to the worrying disappearance of large forests. The Commission has promised to present a report soon that will analyse the extent of this illegal forestry.
Spain pointed out that it wanted the Mediterranean diet to be included in UNESCO's humanitarian heritage list. This initiative is supported by France, Italy and Greece.
The Romanian and Bulgarian delegations, supported by France, Italy, Hungary and Poland, highlighted the terrible consequences to the agricultural sector (especially breeding and cereals) of the acute drought ravaging the Black Sea region. The Commission invited Bulgaria and Romania to send it relevant data as soon as possible in order to decide what measures would provide relief to farmers in these countries.
The Cypriot delegation, supported by the Greek, Spanish and French delegations informed the Council of the seriousness of the forest fires on 29 June last. The Commission made a commitment to providing Community aid to Cyprus.
The ten new member states using the surface single payment system (Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria) asked for a longer transition period for respecting cross compliance rules. The Commission said that it would not grant these countries more than three years to respect this principle.
Denmark, supported by Sweden, called on the Commission to set a total allowable catch (TAC) of 50,000 for fishing Norwegian pout until the end of the year. The Commission refused this request, explaining that the most recent scientific recommendations called for continued closing off of fishing until at least 2008. (lc)