Brussels, 06/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - The Czech Republic, which holds the reins of the EU Presidency till 30 June 2009, has a very liberal vision of the common agricultural policy (CAP) and is not afraid of hiding it. The Czech agriculture minister, Petr Gadalovic, confirmed that “the continuing debate on the CAP is our biggest priority” and highlighted direct payments. He also stated that “after 2013, the CAP should be less expensive, more flexible and fairer…We are saying, in an increasingly louder voice, that this (policy) should be fair between older and newer members”. Prague believes that the debate on the future of the CAP after 2013 is related to the debate opening up on Community budget reform. These discussions will continue during the second half of 2009 under Swedish presidency.
In its work programme, “A Europe without barriers” presented on Tuesday 6 January (see other article on journée politique pages), the Czech Republic explained that the Presidency would “actively build on the discussions on the future of the EU CAP after 2013”. It is advocating that future CAP instruments facilitate “non-discriminatory and more efficient use of financial resources”; “increase the competitiveness of farmers and lay the foundations for the long-term strengthening of the position of the European agriculture and food-processing industries on the open global market”; “pave the way for equal conditions for all EU member states” with regard to the amount of direct payments and payment allocation.
The informal meeting of the Agriculture Council under the Czech Presidency on 30 May-2 June in Brno will focus on the CAP after 2013.
Quality policy. The Czech Presidency says that it will be “actively supporting” the continued debate on EU agricultural and food product quality policy to strengthen competitiveness in European production. It also believes that simplifying legislation on agriculture is a priority. The Czech Presidency will strive to get the text on wine being included in the regulation on the single Common Market Organisation (CMO).
Less favoured areas. In the context of rural development policy, the Czech Presidency is seeking to create a discussion about redefining less favoured areas in connection with the Commission communication on this issue. The presidency aims to start a constructive debate that will lead to the definition of uniform procedures and methodologies for delimitation of these areas.
The Presidency is putting greater stress on the importance of the dossier on animal protection at the time of slaughter. It is also launching a debate on the revision of legislation on the protection of animals used for scientific research. The Presidency will also be preparing a draft regulation on implementing a programme for combating the illegal timber trade.
More concretely, the dossiers to be tackled un the Czech Presidency in the first half of 2009 are as follows: the European Commission communication on agricultural product quality (political debate at the Council on 25 May); animal welfare at slaughter (debate on 23 February at the Agriculture Council and adoption of the text in May); animal protection during transportation (presentation of the proposal during the Council on 23 March or 23 April); foodstuff labelling; the adaptation of the foodstuff distribution programme to the poorest sections of the Community (the Presidency is counting on a political agreement during the Council on 23 and 24 April); the inclusion of wine in the single CMO (Commission report planned for 24 March); the definition of less favoured areas (Commission proposal during first half of 2009).
The Czech Presidency is also planning to organise conferences on: agricultural product quality (12-13 May in Prague); genetically modified organisations (GMOs).
Fisheries. The Presidency has planned that during the Council on 23-24 April, there will be Council conclusions on shark conservation and management, an exchange of views on part of the Commission's Green Paper on reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the development of aquaculture; during the Council on 22-23 June, there will be a Council political agreement on fish resources conservation through technical measures and general approaches on management plans (Northern hake and horse mackerel), a document on bluefin tuna catches, conclusions on aquaculture development, and a debate on the proposals to strengthen the Community system on controlling fishing (EUROPE 9783). (L.C./transl.rh)