P U BLI C
Conseil UE CONTENTS Page
1. Adoption of the agenda...... 4
2. Approval of the list of "A" items...... 4
3. Presidency 's Work Programme...... 4
AGRICULTURE
4. Cooperation in the field of agriculture-related research...... 4
5. Veterinary agreement between EC and the Russian Federation...... 5
6. Proposal for a Council Decision authorising the placing on the market of foods and food ingredients derived from genetically modified maize line NK 603 as novel foods or novel food ingredients under Regulation (EC) No 258/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council ...... 6
FISHERIES
7. Proposal for a Council Regulation: European Fisheries Fund ...... 7
AGRICULTURE
8. Proposal for a Council Regulation on support for Rural Development from the European Agricultural Fund of Rural Development (EAFRD) ...... 7
9. Communication of the Commission: The reform of the Common Agricultural Policy - accomplishing a sustainable agricultural model for Europe - Sugar Sector Reform...... 8
10. Rice : Proposals for Council decisions:...... 9 (a) on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Community and India pursuant to Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 relating to the modification of concessions with respect to rice provided for in Schedule CXL annexed to the GATT 1994 (b) on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Community and Pakistan pursuant to Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 relating to the modification of concessions with respect to rice provided for in Schedule CXL annexed to the GATT 1994 (c) concerning the modification of certain concessions with respect to rice provided for in Schedule CXL annexed to the GATT 1994
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11. Other business
(a) Implementation of the Action Plan on FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade)...... 11
(b) Organisation of future work...... 11
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1. Adoption of the agenda 11501/04 OJ CONS 47 AGRI 195 PECHE 256
The Council adopted the above agenda.
2. Approval of the list of "A" items 11503/04 PTS A 37
The Council approved the "A" items in 11503/04 .
Information concerning items 1, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 11 is given in Addendum 1 to these minutes.
In addition, the document for item 7 should read as follows:
item 7: 11485/1/04 REV 1 PECHE 254 + REV 1 COR 1 (fi) .
3. Presidency 's Work Programme
The Council took note of the presentation by the Presidency of its work programme on Agriculture and Fisheries affairs for the second half of 2004.
AGRICULTURE
4. Cooperation in the field of agriculture-related research − Presentation by the Commission and Presidency 11209/04 AGRI 181 RECH 146 ENV 394 PECHE 249 11476/04 AGRI 191 RECH 148 ENV 411 PECHE 252
The Presidency presented an initiative concerning cooperation in the field of agriculture- related research.
Commission Representatives (Mr Busquin and Mr Fischler) provided information on the current framework for agriculture-related research and on the various sectors of cooperation between Member States. In particular, it was noted:
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- that Europe invests only 2% of its GDP on research (instead of 2,8% US and 3% Japan),
- that the budget of the current EU Research Framework Programme represents only 5% of the European public expenditure on research,
- the importance of coordinating national efforts in this field, in particular at ensuring sustainable development of agriculture and improving the quality and safety of food products, and
- that research has contributed to an improvement of agriculture and the maintenance of fisheries resources.
The 6th EU Research Framework programme, covering the period 2002-2006, includes agriculture under several research headings. The improvement of the action ERA-NET (genomics of plants), concerning systems of coordination by means of exchanging information and sound practices and the implementation of joint activities, was underlined.
The Greek delegation highlighted the lack of coordination as the principal reason of the non achievement of the results foreseen and stressed that research should be more concentrated on actions related with sustainable development.
The Presidency indicated its intention to send out a questionnaire to delegations, mostly concerning the analysis of the situation in this field, the need for cooperation and the definition of areas of agricultural research to be targeted by such cooperation.
The results of the questionnaire would be used at the November 2004 session of the Council.
5. Veterinary agreement between EC and the Russian Federation œ Progress report 11480/04 AGRILEG 122 NIS 113
In concluding the Council's proceedings on progress in the technical discussions with the Russian authorities on certification and health guarantees for exports of animals and products of animal origin, the President noted that the delegations unanimously supported the Commission's view that the technical discussions should be continued, while recommending, in view of the time constraints, that contacts take place at the highest political level as quickly as possible.
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He also stated that, depending on the results of the further meeting scheduled for the beginning of August between Commission representatives, assisted by experts from the Potsdam Group, and Russian experts, the Presidency would look into the need for a meeting at political level.
In this context, he informed the Council that the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs, as President of the Council, would also raise this matter with the Russian political authorities at the meeting on 20 and 21 July 2004.
The President stressed that he would give this matter all the priority necessary to prevent exports to the Russian Federation being interrupted and that he would keep the Ministers for Agriculture informed at their informal meeting scheduled for the beginning of September.
6. Proposal for a Council Decision authorising the placing on the market of foods and food ingredients derived from genetically modified maize line NK 603 as novel foods or novel food ingredients under Regulation (EC) No 258/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council − Adoption 11068/04 AGRI 179 DENLEG 41 MI 204 CONSOM 59 SAN 118 ENV 388 11479/04 AGRI 192 DENLEG 44 MI 212 CONSOM 62 SAN 122 ENV 412
After a short discussion in the Council on this item, the President concluded by noting that, since the vote in the 'Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, delegations' positions had not changed enough to enable the Council to act on the Commission proposal. 1
He added that the Commission could therefore adopt the proposed measure at the end of the period laid down in the "committee" procedure.
1 The following positions were stated: − for the proposal: B − against: EL, IT , AT , DK , LU − abstention: EE, HU, DE and PL, on the grounds of a parliamentary scrutiny reservation.
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FISHERIES
7. Proposal for a Council Regulation: European Fisheries Fund œ Presentation
The Commission Representative made a power point presentation of the proposal.
The Council took note of the presentation and asked Permanent Representatives Committee to study it in detail.
AGRICULTURE
8. Proposal for a Council Regulation on support for Rural Development from the European Agricultural Fund of Rural Development (EAFRD) œ Presentation and Exchange of views (public debate) 11495/04 AGRI 194 AGRISTR 18 + ADD 1
The Commission Representative introduced the proposal for a Regulation on support for Rural Development and the Council held a public debate on the essential elements of the proposal.
The aim of the proposal is to simplify the existing system of allocating funds by creating for the 2007-2013 period a single fund (EAFRD) for applications, programming and monitoring and also to integrate objective 1 areas into this single fund. The funding of the actions to be implemented is distributed among three axes, where a minimum financing should be respected: improving competitiveness and forestry (15%); environment and land management (25%); and diversification measures (15%). The Leader programme (7%) should be joined to these axes.
Together with this proposal the Commission also submitted a proposal for a Regulation on CAP financing, including the financing of rural development. The Commission Representative remembered the parallel discussion on financial perspectives and asked for close coordination between the Ministers responsible for Economic Affairs and for Agriculture.
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Delegations welcomed the proposal and appreciated in particular the simplification effort of the new Regulation. Some preliminary comments were expressed, in particular on the lack of subsidiarity, the complexity of controls, the distribution of the financing, the lack of measures on innovation and agricultural insurances, and the excess of rigidity in the distribution of axes.
The Council took note of the information provided by the Commission and of the first exchange of views by the Member States, and instructed the Special Committee on Agriculture to organise the examination of the proposal with a view to having an in-depth discussion at a forthcoming meeting.
9. Communication of the Commission: The reform of the Common Agricultural Policy - accomplishing a sustainable agricultural model for Europe - Sugar Sector Reform − Presentation and Exchange of views 11491/04 AGRI 193 AGRIFIN 61
The Council
- took note of the presentation by the Commission Representative of the Communication on sugar sector reform and of preliminary comments from a large majority of delegations ;
- agreed that a meeting with the ACP countries on the impact of this Communication be envisaged, possibly in the margin of a meeting at a future stage ;
- instructed the Special Committee on Agriculture to conduct a thorough examination of all the issues and to prepare a report which the Council will examine at a future meeting.
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10. Rice : Proposals for Council decisions : 11471/04 AGRI 190 WTO 82
(a) on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Community and India pursuant to Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 relating to the modification of concessions with respect to rice provided for in Schedule CXL annexed to the GATT 1994 11294/04 AGRI 183 WTO 76 11296/04 AGRI 185 WTO 78
(b) on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Community and Pakistan pursuant to Article XXVIII of GATT 1994 relating to the modification of concessions with respect to rice provided for in Schedule CXL annexed to the GATT 1994 11294/04 AGRI 183 WTO 76 11297/04 AGRI 186 WTO 79
(c) concerning the modification of certain concessions with respect to rice provided for in Schedule CXL annexed to the GATT 1994 − Adoption
The Council decided, by unanimity and on an exceptional basis, to adopt the above-mentioned Decisions in the language versions that were available at this stage. It also decided by unanimity to use the written procedure to adopt them in the remaining language versions when they are available before 1 September 2004.
The Council adopted, by qualified majority, the Danish, Swedish and United Kingdom delegations voting against and the Czech Republic, Lithuanian, Polish and Slovakian delegations abstaining, the three Council Decisions on rice as set out in 11296/04 (India), 11297/04 (Pakistan) and 11298/04 (modification of the Community import regime with respect to rice).
The German delegation , supported by the Belgian , Irish, Cypriot, Latvian, Luxembourg, Hungarian, Dutch, Austrian, Slovenian and Finnish delegations , issued the following statement:
11588/04 9 DG B EN "Germany welcomes the agreement reached with India and Pakistan. At the same time, Germany regrets the failure so far to arrive at an agreed solution with all parties concerned. Germany therefore calls on the Commission to continue negotiations with the requisite flexibility, without delay, in order to achieve a workable result acceptable to all parties concerned."
The United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden also issued a joint statement, supported by the Czech Republic :
"The United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden welcome the agreement on Basmati reached by the Commission with India and Pakistan, and in particular the satisfactory solution that has been found for the Basmati varieties "Pusa" and "Super".
However, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark regret that the Commission is seeking to implement revised rice import arrangements without the agreement of the United States of America and Thailand, both of whom have a principal supplying interest under the GATT procedure. The United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark are not convinced by the Commission's calculation behind the proposed new tariff rates. The Decision also fails to take into account the new situation of supply and demand on the EU market resulting from the accession to the EU of 10 new Member States. These new Members States, in the main, are not rice producers, but consumers and importers. The United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark cannot support the proposed Decision and urge the Commission to continue to negotiate with the United States and Thailand with a view to finding a mutually acceptable outcome."
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11. Other business
(a) Implementation of the Action Plan on FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) − Information from the Commission
The Commission Representative informed the Council on the state of implementation of the EU Action Plan on FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade). He said that the Commission was on the point of approving the proposal for a Regulation setting up a licensing system for timber imports into the EU, based on voluntary partnership agreements with timber producing countries. With a view to concluding such agreements, the Commission would submit to the Council a draft negotiation remit. In addition, the Commission Representative said that EUR 30 million were already available to support the Action Plan, but that further funds should be made available through national and regional programmes.
Several delegations stressed the importance of the Action Plan on FLEGT and pointed out the necessity of ensuring Member States‘ involvement and providing sufficient funds, exploring multilateral solutions and assessing the impact of the Commission proposals on European industry, looking at further legislative options and examining the link between illegal logging and money laundering.
The President thanked the Commission Representative for the measures elaborated by his Institution so far and urged both the Commission and Member States to keep on working intensively towards closing down the international trade in illegal timber.
(b) Organisation of future work
The President repeated his invitation to the informal meeting of Ministers in Noordwijk (Lisse) which was to take place on 5-7 September 2004.
The Council agreed to hold its next meeting on Agriculture and Fisheries on Monday 18 October 2004 in Luxembourg.
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