4.
Trade-related agricultural issues
In view of the preparation of the "Agriculture and Fisheries" Council
- Information from the Commission
The PRES informed the delegations on the state of play regarding the ongoing trade
negotiations of relevance to agriculture (in particular WTO, Mercosur, JP and Mexico).
The main issues raised by the delegations were the following:
- relevance of significant number of sensitive sectors such as beef, ethanol or sugar,
especially in the context of the Mercosur negotiations (PL, HU, PT, SI, AT, FI, SK)
- need to focus on prevention of anti-biotical resistance in negotiations (SE, FI)
- State of play (incl. transparency) of the Japan bilateral trade agreement (DE, PL, SI)
- WTO Buenos Aires round state of play (HU, EL, AT)
In its reply, the Commission made it clear that the agricultural sector needs to be
supported and that the agricultural sensitivities will be taken into account during the trade
negotiations so as not to cause major disruptions in the EU markets.
PRES concluded by saying that discussion on this issue will continue in the Agrifish
Council of 6 Nov. and invited COM to regularly update the MS on the developments in
international agricultural trade negotiations. The PRES also took note of the
Commission's explanations on the state of play and encouraged delegations to (better)
coordinate their positions with their TRADE colleagues.
Contact:
, DG AGRI, DDG1, Tel.:
5.
Milk Powder stocks management
- Information from the Commission (WK 10892/2017)
The SCA had an exchange of views on the idea suggested at the last AGRIFISH Council
in Luxembourg to set at zero the ceiling for buying-in skimmed milk powder (SMP) at
fixed price in 2018. The Commission provided all the necessary clarifications. The
delegates expressed the following views:
17 MS expressed their readiness to
support the Commission proposal: FR, SK, SI,
NL, FI, RO, HR, ES, CZ, SE, DE, LU, IT, BE, DK, UK, AT;
3 MS were
more reluctant to go down that road: LT, PT, PL;
4 MS announced
scrutiny reserves as the proposal is still being considered: HU, LV,
IE, EL;
11 MS invited the Commission to
explore all possible avenues to dispose of
existing stocks without negative market impact (most deprived, feed, source of
protein for MS stricken by drought, etc.): FR, PT, RO, CZ, PL, SE, BE, DK, UK, IE,
AT.
The Council Presidency concluded that the delegates
support the Commission proposal to adjust Regulation 1370/2013 for 2018 and that existing stocks should be disposed of,
using all possibilities, including innovative ones.
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As the majority was in favour (despite some MS were not being fully supportive), the
SCA called on the Commission to continue working on a proposal which it looks
forward to having it tabled before the end of the year 2017.
The Commission also provided further details following comments made by MS during
the tour de table: existing stocks correspond to some
3.8 million tonnes milk; all
avenues are explored for disposing of them, including the
most deprived scheme and
feed uses, without negatively impacting the market or substituting fresh product. The
present rules for the most deprived require that the selling price be above the intervention
price as
only the proceeds can be used to the benefit of the most deprived. The basic
act does not provide for other ways than
either selling at fixed price or by tender.
Activating a tender guarantees that the safety net remains available but is operated
depending on prevailing market conditions. The Commission is constantly monitoring
the market, with a great degree of realism, as well as vigilance to avoid market
disturbance.
Contact:
, DG AGRI, Unit G.3 Tel.:
6.
Sustainable soil management
In view of the preparation of the "Agriculture and Fisheries" Council – Exchange of views
13314/17 AGRI 556 ENV 853 CLIMA 282 ONU 137
In view of the Council debate of 6 Nov 2017, the SCA had an exchange of views based
on the PRES background document and questions therein. The Commission presented its
view on the questions. The PRES also pointed out that the conclusions referred to in the
paper are Presidency conclusions (and not "common conclusions").
The SCA took note of the Presidency conclusions, of the presentation made by the
Commission, and of the contributions made by the Member States.
Contact:
, DG AGRI, Unit D.4 Tel.:
4.
Organisation of future work
The next
SCA meeting will take place on
20 Nov. The meeting will include the proposal
for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on
organic production and labelling of organic products (vote) and a presentation on the Proposal for a Council
Regulation fixing the production levies and the coefficient for calculating the additional
levy in the sugar sector for the marketing year 1999/2000 and fixing the production
levies in the sugar sector for the marketing year 2000/2001.
Upon the DE request regarding the state of play of the
Omnibus timetable, the PRES
informed confirmed there is no firm position yet as of today. Given that the part related
to the Financial Regulation is not finished yet, the PRES confirmed it is considering the
option to remove the agricultural part from the whole package in order to overcome the
concerns that the new rules will not be applicable as of 1 Jan 2018. The PRES announced
the delegates it will keep them informed of the next steps.
Finally, the
next AGRIFISH meeting will take place on
6 Nov. The agricultural points
on the agenda are the following: International trade in agricultural products, and an
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exchange of views on Sustainable soil management (following the high-level conference
in Tallinn on 4-6 October 2017).
The HU delegations also requested
two AOBs for the AGRIFISH meeting of 6 Nov.: (1)
Joint Declaration of the Agricultural Ministers of Visegrad Group as well as Bulgaria,
Romania on the Renewable Energy Directive after 2020
; (2) Joint Declaration of the
Agricultural Ministers of Visegrad Group as well as Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and
Slovenia on the Central Eastern European Initiative for Knowledge-based Agriculture,
Aquaculture and Forestry in the Bio-economy “BIOEAST”.
Reporting:
, DG AGRI, Unit I.5 Tel.:
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