Conclusies Landbouwraad 21 april: hervorming sectoren olijfolie, katoen, tabak en hop; visserij in Noord-Atlantische wateren (en)

Met dank overgenomen van , gepubliceerd op maandag 3 mei 2004, 10:09.

President :

Mr Joe WALSH, T.D.

Minister for Agriculture and Food of Ireland

Internet: http://ue.eu.int/

E-mail: press.office@consilium.eu.int

For further information call 32 2 285 95 89 32 2 285 63 19

CONTENTS ;¹

PARTICIPANTS 4

ITEMS DEBATED

Agriculture 6

CAP Reform: olive oil, cotton, tobacco and hops 6

ITEMS APPROVED WITHOUT DEBATE

FISHERIES

North-East Atlantic fisheries 8
Northern hake* 8

GENERAL AFFAIRS

Enlargement Accession Conference with Romania Justice and Home Affairs 8

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

United States marine equipment 9
Association Agreement with Egypt 9
SouthEastern Europe Pre-accession assistance programmes 9

DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

ACPEC Partnership Agreement Amendments to Rules of Procedure EU enlargement 10
Small-Island Developing States International Conference 10
Centre for the Development of Enterprise 2001 budget discharge 10

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

Readmission Agreement with Macao 10

Customs Union

EC - Andorra: extension of CCN / CSI 11

ECOFIN

Taxation* 11

transport - aviation

EC - Canada: reciprocal acceptance of certification findings* 11
ICAO: Letter on enhanced Community participation* 11

social policy

Gender equality Community action programme 12

APPOINTMENTS

Committee of the Regions 12
Economic and Social Committee 12

¹ ; €? Where declarations, conclusions or resolutions have been formally adopted by the Council, this is indicated in the heading for the item concerned and the text is placed between quotation marks.

€? The documents whose references are given in the text are available on the Council's Internet site

http://ue.eu.int.

€? Acts adopted with statements for the Council minutes which may be released to the public are indicated by an asterisk; these statements are available on the above mentioned Council Internet site or may be obtained from the Press Office.

PARTICIPANTS

The Governments of the Member States and the European Commission were represented as follows:

Belgium:
Mr Herman HOOYBERGHS	SCA Representative
Denmark:
Ms Mariann Fischer BOEL	Minister for Food
Germany:
Ms Renate KÜNAST	Federal Minister for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture
Greece:
Mr Savvas TSITOURIDIS	Minister for Rural Development and Food
Spain:
Ms Elena ESPINOSA MANGANA	Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
France:
Mr Hervé GAYMARD	Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Rural Affairs
Ireland:
Mr John MALONE	Secretary-General, Department of Agriculture and Food
Italy:
Mr Giovanni ALEMANNO	Minister for Agricultural and Forestry Policy
Luxembourg:
Mr Fernand BODEN	Minister for Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development, Minister for Small and Medium-sized Businesses, the Liberal Professions and the Self-Employed, Tourism and Housing
Netherlands:
Mr Cornelis Pieter VEERMAN	Minister for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
Austria:
Mr Andrä RUPPRECHTER	Head of Section, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, the Environment and Water Management
Portugal:
Mr Armando SEVINATE PINTO	Minister for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries
Finland:
Mr Juha KORKEAOJA	Minister for Agriculture and Forestry
Sweden:
Ms Ann-Christin NYKVIST	Minister for Agriculture
United Kingdom:
Ms Margaret BECKETT	Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
* * *
Commission:
Mr Franz FISCHLER	Member

The Governments of the acceding States were represented as follows:

Czech Republic:
Mr Ludek STAVINOHA	Minister-Counsellor - Mission of the Czech Republic to the EC
Estonia:
Ms Ester TUIKSOO	Minister for Agriculture
Cyprus:
Mr Michael CONSTANTINIDES	Permanent Secretary
Latvia:
Ms Laimdota STRAUJUMA	State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture
Lithuania:
Mr Vidmantas KANOPA	State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture
Hungary:
Mr Tibor SZANYI	Political State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Regional Development
Malta:
Mr Francis AGIUS	Parliamentary Secretary
Poland:
Mr Jerzy PLEWA	Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Slovenia:
Mr Iztok JARC	State Secretary for European Affairs
Slovakia:
Mr Zsolt SIMON	Minister for Agriculture

ITEMS DEBATED

Agriculture

CAP Reform: olive oil, cotton, tobacco and hops ;

After several hours of discussions, which started with bilateral negotiations, the Council reached political agreement by qualified majority on the reform of the olive oil, tobacco, hops and cotton sectors in the Community, on the basis of a compromise drawn up by the Presidency which the Commission endorsed.

The Danish, Spanish and Swedish delegations expressed their intention to vote against. The final adoption of the two Regulations⁽¹⁾ will take place soon at a Council meeting after further technical examination of the compromise by the Special Committee on Agriculture at its forthcoming meeting.

The main changes in the compromise amending the Commission proposals are as follows:

Entry into force of the Reform: the Reform package for cotton, olive oil and tobacco will begin in 2006 instead of 2005 as stated in the Commission proposals. For 2005, the current tobacco regime together with the aids fixed for 2004 will be applied. For olive oil, the current regime will continue to apply for the marketing year 2004/2005.
Cotton: the rate of the decoupling payment has been increased to 65% instead of the 60% initially proposed, the coupled part of the payment being now at 35%. The amount to be transferred to the second pillar is reduced by EUR 81 million instead of the EUR 103 million initially provided for. The base area for Greece is increased to 370 000 hectares instead of 340 000 with a different amount of coupled aid based on the surface area (EUR 594 /hectare for the first 300 000 hectares, EUR 342,85 /hectare for the remaining 70 000 hectares). Where the 370 000 hectares base area is overrun, the aid granted to the 70 000 hectares is reduced proportionately in order to comply with the global envelope for the coupled aid.
Olive oil: the decoupling rate will be a minimum of 60%. Member States may decide to increase this rate. A distinction in the reference period for the calculation of the reference amount for each olive farmer has been established and will comprise four marketing years instead of the three marketing years initially proposed (2000/2002). The three-year reference period 2000/2002 is however maintained for the calculation of the national ceiling for olive oil. Member States may withhold for quality measures up to 10% of the olive oil complement in the national ceiling. The national ceilings for France and Portugal will take into account the aid to be granted to new plantings after 1 May 1998 under programmes approved by the Commission. A corresponding amount of EUR 1 million for France and EUR 19 million for Portugal will be added.
Tobacco: the 3 bands (below 3,5 tonnes, between 3,5 and 10 tonnes, over 10 tonnes) initially proposed to set a different rate of decoupling, from 2005 to 2007, have been abolished. A transitional scheme towards full decoupling has been set up from 2006 to 2010.
Hops: Member States may grant up to 25% of the aid to farmers producing hops and to producer organisations recognised under the current rules of the common market organisation for hops.

The two legislative proposals concerning the reform of the olive oil, tobacco and hops common market organisations (CMOs) and the support scheme for cotton were presented in November 2003 (14991/03). The reform was envisaged as a follow-up to the CAP reform agreed in June 2003. In September 2003 the Commission presented a communication (12965/03 + ADD 1 + ADD 2) in which the existing situation in these sectors and the sugar CMO were set out. Both the communication and the two proposals were widely discussed under the Italian and Irish presidencies. The last discussion held in the Council was on 22 and 23 March 2004.

The reform extends the decoupling principle - a Single Farm Payment (SFP) per holding based on a period of reference (2000-2002) and independent of production - to the four remaining products, which had not initially been included in the crops eligible for the SFP. This decoupled payment would be linked to compliance with environmental and food safety standards through cross-compliance. Part of the payment granted to producers would however remain coupled and based on production.

ITEMS APPROVED WITHOUT DEBATE

FISHERIES

North-East Atlantic fisheries

The Council unanimously adopted a Regulation amending the existing control measures in the area covered by the Convention on future multilateral cooperation in the North-East Atlantic fisheries (6802/04).

In 2002, the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) adopted recommendations to amend the control measures with regard to transhipments and joint fishing operations. It was therefore necessary to amend the existing Regulation.

The only major changes made to the Commission proposal in this regard are the following:

- As a two-year period (from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2004) proposed by the Commission to extend the "ad hoc arrangement" for Community inspection was considered insufficient to allow for implementation constraints to be fully assessed, the Regulation extends it to three years (from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2005)

- Haddock is added in the annex among the regulated resources, together with redfish, Atlanto-Scandian herring, blue whiting and mackerel.

Northern hake*

The Council unanimously adopted a Regulation establishing measures for the recovery of the Northern hake stock (7548/04). This Regulation proposed by the Commission last year was discussed during the Council meeting from 17 to 19 December 2003. The Council reached political agreement with the Belgian delegation abstaining (see 15975/03). The European Parliament gave its Opinion on 10 February 2004.

The aim of the Commission proposal was to establish measures for the recovery of the Northern hake stock. The overall objective of the proposal is to ensure the safe recovery of the stock to the precautionary stock sizes advised by scientists within a timeframe of five to ten years.

Most of the changes adopted to the Commission proposal concern the reduction of the quantities of mature fish in the recovery plan (140 000 tonnes instead of 143 000 tonnes), and the size of the TAC (100 000 tonnes instead of 100 003 tonnes); the mortality rate for determining the TAC applicable to Northern hake is now 0,25%. Prior notification of the competent authorities by the master of the vessel of the quantities of hake landed applies solely to quantities of two tonnes or over.

GENERAL AFFAIRS

Enlargement Accession Conference with Romania Justice and Home Affairs

The Council approved the EU's common position on cooperation in Justice and Home Affairs with a view to the next Accession Conference with Romania at Ministerial level. (20002/04 CONF-RO 2/04)

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

United States marine equipment

The Council adopted a Decision approving the conclusion of an Agreement, signed on 27 February, between the Community and the United States on the mutual recognition of certificates of conformity for marine equipment (7329/04).

Association Agreement with Egypt

The Council adopted a Decision approving the conclusion of a EuroMediterranean Association Agreement with Egypt, following ratification of the Agreement by the Member States (8135/04).

The EUEgypt Association Agreement is one of a series of similar agreements between the EU and countries of the region, on the basis of the EuroMediterranean Partnership launched by the 1995 Barcelona Declaration with the aim of promoting peace and security, and stimulating trade and economic relations.

The Agreement, signed in June 2001, provides for:

Political, economic, social and cultural dialogue between the parties;
Enhanced EuroMediterranean regional cooperation;
Establishment of a free trade area between the Community and Egypt, with concessions on agricultural products and the elimination of tariffs on industrial products within 1215 years;
Free movement of persons, rights of establishment and supply of services, provisions on payments, competition and the movement of capital;
Economic and financial cooperation in a broad range of fields
Establishment of an Association Council to oversee implementation of the Agreement and an Association Committee;
Measures to promote cooperation between the European Parliament and the Egyptian People's Assembly.

The first EUEgypt Association Council meeting is due to be held on 15 June in Luxembourg.

SouthEastern Europe Pre-accession assistance programmes

The Council adopted a Regulation aimed at allowing the Western Balkan countries that are part of the Stabilisation and Association Process to participate, alongside the EU candidate countries, in tenders organised under Community preaccession assistance programmes (6182/04).

The Regulation makes the necessary changes to Regulations Nos 3906/89, 555/2000, 2500/2001, 1268/1999 and 1267/1999.

DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

ACPEC Partnership Agreement Amendments to Rules of Procedure EU enlargement

The Council approved the text of a letter, to be sent to the Chairman of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors, and a list of proposed amendments to the Rules of Procedure of ACPEC joint bodies in order to take account of the EU's enlargement to 25 Member States (7832/04).

The amendments concern the composition of the ACPEC Committee of Ambassadors, and the languages used for documents submitted to the ACPEC Council of Ministers, the Joint ACP-EC Ministerial Trade Committee and the ACPEC Committee of Ambassadors.

If accepted by the ACPEC Committee of Ambassadors at its meeting on 2 April, the amendments will be submitted for formal approval to the ACPEC Council of Ministers at its meeting on 6 May.

Small-Island Developing States International Conference

The Council approved a policy paper defining the position to be adopted by the EU at an International Conference to be held from 30 August to 3 September in Mauritius, on the review of a United Nations Programme of Action for Small-Island Developing States (8193/04).

Centre for the Development of Enterprise 2001 budget discharge

The Council approved a draft Decision, to be forwarded to the ACPEC Committee of Ambassadors for adoption, giving discharge to the Director of the Centre for the Development of Enterprise regarding implementation of the Centre's budget for the 2001 financial year (ACP-CE 2109/04).

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

Readmission Agreement with Macao

The Council adopted a Decision concerning the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and the Government of the Special Administrative Region of Macao on the readmission of persons residing without authorisation (10667/03).

By means of this Agreement and on the basis of reciprocity, rapid and effective procedures are established for the identification and return of persons who do not, or no longer, fulfil the conditions for entry to, presence in, or residence in the territories of the Macao SAR or one of the Member States of the European Union.

Customs Union

EC - Andorra: extension of CCN / CSI ;

The Council adopted the draft Community position within the EC-Andorra Joint Committee, with a view to the Joint Committee adopting a Decision to extend the common communication network/common systems interface (CCN/CSI) to Andorra (7714/04).

Community rules applied by Andorra provide for the use of information technology and computer networks for the purposes of applying some provisions, and in particular the new computerised transit system (NCTS), which requires the use of the CCN/CSI. The Community authorises the extension of the CCN/CSI to Andorra to allow implementation of the provisions of the Agreement establishing customs union between the EEC and Andorra.

ECOFIN

Taxation*

The Council adopted a Directive amending Directive 77/799/EEC concerning mutual assistance by the competent authorities of the Member States in the field of direct taxation, certain excise duties and taxation of insurance premiums (6110/04 + 8298/04 ADD 1).

transport - aviation

EC - Canada: reciprocal acceptance of certification findings*

The Council adopted a Decision authorising the Commission to negotiate a bilateral agreement between the EC and Canada on the reciprocal acceptance of certification findings in the field of civil aviation safety and environmental compatibility (7946/04 ADD 1).

ICAO: Letter on enhanced Community participation*

The Council approved the draft letter to be addressed to the President of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) Council on enhanced participation by the European Community in the work of ICAO (7802/04 ADD 1 + ADD 2).

The Council considers that, after fifteen years of fruitful participation and in the light of developments that have taken place, regular participation by the Community in the day-to-day work of the ICAO has become highly desirable and closer cooperation would be advantageous for both organisations. To that effect, discussions with the ICAO on means of improving Community participation in ICAO would be highly appreciated by the Council.

social policy

Gender equality Community action programme ;

The Council adopted, by written procedure on 20 April 2004, a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing an action programme aimed at supporting organisations acting at European level to promote equality between men and women, for the period 2004-2005. The Council accepted all the amendments adopted by the European Parliament at second reading (16185/1/03 + 7209/04).

The Decision lays down the conditions for eligibility, describes the activities to be supported and indicates the criteria for assessing requests for financing. It further establishes the financial framework for the programme's implementation (EUR 2,2 million) and provides for an evaluation of the achievement of the programme's objectives.

The action programme is open to participation by third-country organisations (the acceding countries, EEA, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey).

APPOINTMENTS

Committee of the Regions

The Council adopted Decisions appointing:

Ms Britt LUNDBERG, member of the Åland Legislative Assembly, as a member of the Committee of the Regions in place of Mr Hasse SVENSSON for the remainder of his term of office, which runs until 25 January 2006 (7669/04).

Ms Carina AALTONEN, member of the Åland Legislative Assembly, as an alternate member of the Committee of the Regions in place of Ms Britt LUNDBERG for the remainder of her term of office, which runs until 25 January 2006 (7669/04).

Mr Pere ESTEVE i ABAD, Consejero de Comercio Turismo y Consumo, Generalitat de Cataluña, as an alternate member of the Committee of the Regions in place of Mr Joan CARRETERO i GRAU for the remainder of his term of office, which runs until 25 January 2006 (8128/04).

Mr Jacques SIMONET, Ministre-Président du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale et Ministre des Pouvoirs locaux, de l'Aménagement du Territoire, des Monuments et Sites, de la Rénovation urbaine et de la Recherche scientifique, as a member of the Committee of the Regions in place of Mr Daniel DUCARME for the remainder of his term of office, which runs until 25 January 2006 (8133/04).

Mr R.L. VREEMAN, burgemeester van Zaanstad, as a member of the Committee of the Regions in place of Mr KESSEN for the remainder of his term of office, which runs until 25 January 2006 (8134/04).

Mr A.B. SAKKERS, burgemeester van Eindhoven, as an alternate member of the Committee of the Regions in place of Mr VAN DER SLUIJS for the remainder of his term of office, which runs until 25 January 2006 (8134/04).

Mr N.P.M. SCHOOF, burgemeester van Alphen, as an alternate member of the Committee of the Regions in place of Mr VERBEEK for the remainder of his term of office, which runs until 25 January 2006 (8134/04).

Mr LIDT DE JEUDE, burgemeester van Deventer, as an alternate member of the Committee of the Regions in place of Ms VLIETSTRA for the remainder of her term of office, which runs until 25 January 2006 (8134/04).

Mr G.B.M. LEERS, burgemeester van Maastricht, as an alternate member of the Committee of the Regions in place of Ms HAVEMAN for the remainder of her term of office, which runs until 25 January 2006 (8134/04).

Mr G.P.H. HUFFNAGEL, wethouder van Amsterdam, as an alternate member of the Committee of the Regions in place of Mr DALES for the remainder of his term of office, which runs until 25 January 2006 (8134/04).

Economic and Social Committee

The Council adopted a Decision appointing Mr Henrik FALLESEN as a member of the Economic and Social Committee in place of Ms Elly KJEMS HOVE for the remainder of her term of office, which runs until 20 September 2006 (7634/04).

________________________

⁽¹⁾^;^{The first proposal inserts the decoupled "Single Farm Payments" (SFP) in the horizontal Regulation agreed last June for olive oil, cotton, tobacco and hops, and the second proposal amends the existing CMO on olive oil as regards the date for the marketing year, the private storage scheme and the standards for olive oil.}

origineel bericht: '2575th Council meeting - Agriculture and Fisherie...'

Meer over ...

Raad Landbouw en Visserij (AGRIPECHE)