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Ref. Ares(2018)5561837 - 30/10/2018
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
SECRETARIAT-GENERAL 
 
Directorate D 
  SG-D-3 – Resource Efficiency  
 
Brussels, 15 March 2017 
 
SI(2017) 107 
NOTE TO MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION 
 
Subject: 
Meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) 
Brussels, 13 March 2017 - Summary record 

The Special Committee for Agriculture had a political exchange of views on the amendment 
of Delegated Regulation (639/2014) establishing the rules for direct payments, notably as 
regards the proposal to ban use of pesticides in the Ecological Focus Areas. A number of 
Member States had problems with this on the following grounds: i) this is the opposite of 
simplification, as the controls of whether these areas have been treated with pesticides or not 
are a burdensome exercise; ii) this is not overly positive for the environment, because this will 
undermine the possibility to plant nitrogen-fixing crops in the Ecological Focus Areas; iii) this 
is a major change in the middle of the policy cycle, notably for the farmers who took the 
decision to implement the greening requirements introduced in 2014 through planting of 
nitrogen-fixing crops. Now this retroactive change undermines their business model. These 
reasons were sufficient enough for 
 to refuse the whole proposal. There 
was also a number of other MS who would oppose this provision as well, but chose not to do 
so in order not to lose the benefits of the other measures within the Amendment. 
 
and 
 announced scrutiny reservations.  
In reply to the request from the SCA to put forward a proposal for a Council decision on the 
particular status of the EU in OIV, in view of the next General Assembly of the OIV in June, 
the Commission indicated that discussions were ongoing, notably on the legal and financial 
aspects. The Commission also presented the main points of a report on EU apiculture. 
 
 
[signed] 
  
 
Further information: 
 
 
 
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111 
Office: L130 - Tel. direct line 
 

1. 
Adoption of the agenda 

2. 
Summary record of the 1544nd meeting of the SCA 
– 6901/17 CRS CSA 4 
II 
3. 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on 
organic production and labelling of organic products, amending Regulation 
(EU) No XXX/XXX of the European Parliament and of the Council [Official 
controls Regulation] and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 
– Debriefing of the last trilogue 
 
The SCA took note of the debriefing provided by the Presidency on the trilogue that took 
place on 8 March. The Commission reassured its strong willingness to achieve an 
agreement on this file and reminded what was said already at the "Agriculture and 
Fisheries" Council last December by the Commission's representative, namely that there 
should be no red lines. The Commission also pointed out that the issue on seeds is vital 
for the EP. 
The SCA took note of the remarks provided by the Commission and the delegations. 
Contact: 
, DG AGRI, Unit B.4 Tel.: 
 
4. 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on 
the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and amending 
Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1299/2013, (EU) 1301/2013, (EU) No 
1303/2013, EU No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1305/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013, (EU) No 
1307/2013, (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) 
No 223/2014,(EU) No 283/2014, (EU) No 652/2014 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council and Decision No 541/2014/EU of the European Parliament 
and of the Council (Omnibus proposal) (First reading) 
–  Continued examination of the suggested compromise package 
 
The SCA examined the revised compromise suggestions (document 6574/1/17 REV1) on 
Knowledge transfer and information actions (point 2a) under the Rural Development 
Regulation, as well as, Permanent grassland (point 0) and Voluntary coupled support 
(point 6) under the Direct Payments Regulation. Most MS (
 
) took the 
floor focusing on the three questions and asking additional questions on the timetable. As 
regards knowledge transfer and information actions, most MS expressed themselves in 
favour of the Presidency's compromise proposal. MS' views were more divided on the 
Presidency's proposal on permanent grassland
 and 
 opposed it citing the 
need for stability as the reason for this, 
and 
  had reservations, whilst the 
rest of the MS that took the floor were either in favour of the proposal or suggested that it 
went in the right direction. Lastly, the proposal on voluntary coupled support gathered 

 

support by a majority of Member States but different views were expressed primarily on 
the list of sectors to be covered and the possibility to review it annually. The COM 
maintained its position in that it is not in favour of re-opening the definition of permanent 
grassland or revisiting the voluntary coupled support provision. The examination of the 
suggested compromise package will continue at the SCA on 20/03, 27/03 and the Council 
in Luxembourg on 3 April. 
 
Contact: 

, DG AGRI, Unit I.5 Tel.: 
 
 
5. 
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) …/... of 15.2.2017 amending 
Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014 as regards the control measures relating to 
the cultivation of hemp, certain provisions on the greening payment, the payment 
for young farmers in control of a legal person, the calculation of the per unit 
amount in the framework of voluntary coupled support, the fractions of payment 
entitlements and certain notification requirements relating to the single area 
payment scheme and the voluntary coupled support, and amending Annex X to 
Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council 

– Examination of the Presidency compromise text 
 
A number of MS expressed a strong opposition. 
 
 considered that the Commission has no mandate to propose in context of a DA a ban 
of use of PPP. In their view this is completely outside of the Commission 
competence (based on Article 290 of Treaty). Also, the proposal is in contradiction with 
the EU priorities on protein crops. While 
 has chosen to support NFC in Voluntary 
coupled scheme and has confirmed this option in 2016 as foreseen by the regulatory 
framework, the Commission decision in the current DA will be an obstacle to further 
development of the protein crop. 
 
 and 
 have supported the 
 position. 
 argued on the fact that absence of 
PPP will be counterproductive, raising some environmental issue due to the pest 
development. 
 
The Commission reminded the objectives of greening review after one year: first for 
administrative simplification purpose, secondly for the improvement of environmental 
effectiveness (in the context of the REFIT exercise). COMM underlined that  the 
objective of the green direct payment is to enhance the environmental performance of the 
CAP through payments for practices beneficial for the environment and climate change 
(and not the development of the protein crop sector for which other more appropriate 
policy instruments exist). In some MS, including 
 the % of EFA declared is largely 
above the 5% (close to 9 %). There is still a possibility to use other area and to fulfil the 
EFA obligation. 
 
Council legal service confirmed that through the secondary legislation, the Commission 
has the empowerment to propose such a provision. Nevertheless, possible discussion can 

 



The 
 delegation reacted, requesting the Commission to include a reference to them in 
the Communication adopted by the Commission on 25 November 2016 (
 being a 
member of the OIV). 
 
The SCA took note of the vieuws expressed by the Commission and invited the 
Commission to submit as soon as possible a Council decision and to include a 
refererence to the financial contribution of the EU. 
 
Reporting: 
, DG AGRI, Unit I.5 Tel.: 
 
 
7. 
Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on 
the implementation of the measures concerning the apiculture sector of 
Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products
 
– Information from the Commission 
 
COM presented the main points of this report, stressing the importance of bee keeping for 
agriculture and explaining the challenges faced by the European beekeeping sector. 
 
COM also mentioned that next report is due in three years and will include the analysis of 
the impact of the reform of the CAP on national apiculture programmes. 
 
HU commented that the MS budget allocation should be based on the number of bee 
families (holdings) rather than on the number of beehives. Further, it advocated the 
system of origin labelling of honey with obligatory mentioning of individual MS, as 
opposed to the current system which allows for indication "blend of EU honeys". Finally, 
it drew the attention to the recently issued JRC report according to which 20% of honey 
sold in the EU contains added sugar.    
 
 acknowledged successful implementation of the national apiculture programmes. For 
the future, it asked for another redistribution of budget funds. 
 
The SCA has taken note of the information provided by the Commission as well as the 
views expressed by the delegates. 
 
Reporting: 
, DG AGRI, Unit I.5 Tel.: 
 
8. 
Organisation of future work 
 
The next SCA will take place on 20 March. The indicative agenda includes the Omnibus 
point which will also be discussed during the SCA meeting of 27 March with the aim for 
submission in the AGRIFISH Council (only for points where political guidance would 
still be needed) and transmission to COREPER for a mandate in early May 2017. The 
PRES also mentioned that the compromise text agreed within the SCA would not be 

 

changed and that the Financial Regulation (debated in COMBUD) is currently on track in 
line with the Roadmap agreed. 
 
The next AGRIFISH Council will take place on 3 April in Luxembourg. 
 
Reporting: 
, DG AGRI, Unit I.5 Tel.: