Voorbereiding Raad Landbouw en Visserij september 2006 (en)

The Agriculture & Fisheries Council will meet in Brussels on Monday 18 September (starting at 11 a.m.) under the Presidency of Mr Juha Korkeaoja, Minister for Agriculture and Forestry of Finland. Commissioners Mariann Fischer Boel, Markos Kyprianou and Stavros Dimas will represent the Commission at the meeting.

A press conference is scheduled at the end of the Council meeting.

The points on the agenda are:

Agriculture

EU wine sector reform

On 22 June, the European Commission adopted the Communication "Towards a sustainable European wine market". The Commission calls for a root-and-branch reform of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) for wine. The plan aims to increase the competitiveness of EU wine producers, strengthen the reputation of EU wines, win back market share, balance supply and demand and simplify the rules, while preserving the best traditions of EU wine production and reinforcing the social and environmental fabric of rural areas. The Commission considers four options for reform, and comes out clearly in favour of a radical reform model specific to the wine sector. This would involve either a one-step or a two-step approach. The two-step approach would begin with measures to bring supply and demand back into balance before focusing on improving competitiveness, including the abolition of the system of planting rights. Producers would be offered generous incentives to grub up uneconomic vineyards, outdated market support measures such as distillation would be abolished and the systems of labelling and wine-making practices would be updated and simplified. Money would be redirected towards Rural Development measures tailor-made for the wine sector and Member States would receive a national financial envelope to pay for measures decided at national level. Under the "one-step" variant, the system of planting rights restrictions would be either allowed to expire on 1 August 2010, or be abolished immediately, and the current grubbing-up scheme would also be abolished at the same time. Ministers will debate the issue based on a set of detailed questions from the Presidency.

The Communication, press releases and other documents related to the reform of the wine CMO are available on the internet at:

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/capreform/wine/index_en.htm

Discussions on the reform will continue at Ministerial level. No decision is expected at this stage.

AOB

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  School milk scheme (request by the Danish delegation)
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  Devastation caused by fire in Greece (request by the Greek delegation)
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  Exceptional climatic conditions (request by the Belgian delegation)
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  Risk and crisis management in agriculture (request by the Lithuanian delegation, supported by the Latvian and Polish delegations)
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  WTO negotiations (request by the French delegation)

Food safety and animal health

Pesticides

Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection M. Kyprianou will present the Commission's recent proposal on plant protection products to the Council. The proposal for the new regulation sets out shorter and clearer authorisation criteria and streamlined procedures, simplified data protection rules, provisions for the substitution of active substances with safer alternatives and a reduction in testing on vertebrate animals. The proposed legislation will also strengthen the internal market in this area by allowing mutual recognition of plant protection product authorisations between Member States within the same defined zone.

The proposal for the new Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on the placing on the market of plant protection products was adopted on 12 July 2006, together with a proposal (prepared by DG ENV) on the Thematic Strategy for the sustainable use of pesticides. The proposal was sent to the European Parliament and Council on 18 July 2006.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas will present the Commission's recent Thematic Strategy on safer use of pesticides (IP/06/981). The use of pesticides is recognised as posing threats both to human health and the environment. In order to address these concerns, the European Commission adopted in July a new strategy aimed at improving the way pesticides are used across the EU. It complements existing EU legislation controlling which pesticides can actually be placed on the market. The strategy foresees measures such as national action plans, training for professional users and distributors, certification and control of application equipment, protection of the aquatic environment, and restricting or banning the use of pesticides in specific areas. Aerial spraying is banned except for strictly defined cases.

AOB

Avian influenza

The Commission will provide an update with developments on Avian Influenza in the EU and third countries.

Bluetongue

Commissioner KYPRIANOU will inform the Council of the situation and the measures taken by the Commission so far.

Environment

GM Oilseed rape Ms8xRf3

The Council is due to vote on a proposal from the Commission to authorise a genetically modified oilseed rape (known as Ms8xRf3) for import and processing in the EU. The oilseed rape has been genetically modified for tolerance to the herbicide glufosinate-ammonium. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that, for import and processing, there was no evidence of risks to human health or the environment.

Following the failure of the Regulatory Committee to reach a qualified majority in favour or against the Commission's proposal, the proposal was referred to Council, who must now vote on it. The Council can either adopt or reject the decisions with a qualified majority. If no qualified majority is reached, the file will come back to the Commission for final adoption.

This oilseed rape has been thoroughly evaluated under the strict procedure set out in the new regulatory framework on the release of GMOs, adopted by Council and Parliament (Directive 2001/18). The Commission's proposal to approve Ms8xRf3 is thus part of its duty to make sure that this legal framework is correctly and fully applied by Member States.