Voorbereiding voor de Raad voor landbouw en visserij van September 2008 (en)

The Agriculture & Fisheries Council will meet in Brussels on Monday 29 (starting at 3pm) and Tuesday 30 September, under the Presidency of Michel Barnier, French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. Commissioners Joe Borg and Mariann Fischer Boel will represent the Commission at the meeting. Fisheries points will be dealt with first on Monday. A press conference will be held on Tuesday at the end of the Council meeting.

On Monday morning, the French presidency will host an informal ministerial conference on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. The purpose of this conference is to kick-start the debate on the future reform of the CFP, which is mandatory for certain aspects before 2012. Mr Borg will present the Commission's recent reflections on this subject, following on from the decision by the Commission on 17 September to call for the immediate launch of a wide-ranging review of the CFP (IP/08/1339). A press conference on the informal Council will be held at 2.15pm.

The points on the formal agenda of Council are:

Fisheries

Review of cod recovery plan – orientation debate

Council will hold an orientation debate on the Commission's proposal (IP/08/493) to amend the cod recovery plan which has been in place since 2004. Recent scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) concludes that the measures currently in place have been inadequate to reduce fishing pressure on cod to the point where it could allow the stock to recover. Of the four cod stocks concerned, only North Sea cod has shown some limited signs of potential improvement due to better abundance of juvenile fish. The main changes proposed by the Commission include new objectives based on fishing mortality rates, rather than on stock biomass targets, simplification of the fishing effort management system, and a more flexible approach in adapting the rate of fishing pressure reduction to different stages of recovery. Member States will be able to develop specific mechanisms to encourage the reduction of discards and the application of cod-avoidance programmes. The plan would also be extended to cover the Celtic Sea cod stock.

The Commission's proposal is based on the collective experience of implementing the plan over the last three years, and on the opinions of stakeholders. The debate in Council will focus on the geographical scope of the revised plan, the most appropriate rates of reduction in fishing mortality, the most appropriate methods for limiting fishing effort, and how discarding should be handled in these fisheries.

Fisheries partnership agreement with Mauritania – information from the Commission

Acting on behalf of the EU, the European Commission agreed a new protocol under the Fisheries Partnership Agreement with Mauritania for the period 1 August 2008 to 31 July 2012 (ME/08/0314). This new protocol is better adapted to Mauritania's current needs in terms of sustainable development of its national fisheries sector, and also takes into account the changes in the European fleet operating in Mauritanian waters. It aims in particular at strengthening investment, including by European businesses, in the Mauritanian fisheries industry. The two Parties agreed substantial reductions in European fishing effort, particularly on sensitive species in order to reflect recent scientific advice. The terms of the new protocol reflect the negotiating mandate delivered by Council last December.

Following the coup d'état in Mauritania on 6 August, the Commission decided to delay the first payment to Mauritania under the new protocol, which was originally due on 31 August, in order to check that all the conditions for the implementation of the protocol with respect to the principle of sound financial management remained in place. On 3 September, Mauritania officially notified the Commission of the non-payment as foreseen in article 10 of the protocol. From this date, in the framework of the agreement, the Commission has 30 working days to make the payment. Under the current protocol, there has been no impact on the activities carried out by the EU vessels concerned. Commission will inform Council of the results of its recent technical mission to Mauritania and any other recent developments.

'A' points : Deterring illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; Fishing authorisations

Following the political agreement reached in Council on 24 June 2008, Council will now formally adopt the regulation aimed at eliminating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities (IP/08/1013)

Following the political agreement reached in Council on 24 June 2008, Council will now formally adopt the regulation concerning authorisations for fishing activities of Community fishing vessels outside Community waters and the access of third country vessels to Community waters (IP/08/1013).

Agriculture

Food distribution to the most deprived persons in the EU

On 17 September, the European Commission proposed to improve the current food distribution programme for the most deprived persons in the European Union by increasing the budget by two thirds to around €500 million from 2009 and extending the range of products which can be provided. Originally designed to provide surplus stocks of farm produce ("intervention stocks") to needy people, the scheme was amended in the mid-1990s to make it possible to supplement intervention stocks with market purchases in certain circumstances. Now that surplus stocks are extremely low and unlikely to increase in the foreseeable future, the scheme should allow market purchases on a permanent basis, to complement remaining intervention stocks. The choice of food would be for the Member States and food distribution plans would be established for three-year periods. Food would continue to be distributed in cooperation with charities and local social services. From the 2010/12 plan, the scheme would be co-financed (75 percent from the EU budget, and 85 percent in cohesion areas). From the 2013/15 plan, co-financing would be split 50/50, with the EU budget providing 75 percent in cohesion regions. The Commission believes an increase in the budget to be necessary because rising food prices are adversely affecting the food security of needy people and increasing the cost of providing food aid. In 2006, more than 13 million EU citizens benefited from this aid scheme. The revised programme should be available from 2010.

More information on the free food for the most deprived persons in the EU available at: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets/freefood/index_en.htm

Mrs Mariann Fischer Boel will present the new scheme to the Council.

School Fruit Scheme

On 8 July, the European Commission proposed to establish a European Union-wide scheme to provide free fruit and vegetables to school children. European funds worth €90 million every year would pay for the purchase and distribution of fresh fruit and vegetables to schools, and this money would be matched by national funds in those Member States which chose to make use of the programme. This is the latest stage in the Commission's efforts to improve health and nutrition, as set out in the 'Strategy for Europe on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity and related health issues'. The School Fruit Scheme aims to encourage good eating habits in young people, which studies show tend to be carried on into later life. Besides providing free fruit and vegetables, the scheme would require participating Member States to set up national strategies including educational and awareness-raising initiatives and the sharing of best practice. An estimated 22 million children in the EU are overweight. More than 5 million these are obese and this figure is expected to rise by 400,000 every year. Improved nutrition can play an important part in combating this problem.

More information on the Scheme available on the internet at:

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets/fruitveg/sfs/index_en.htm

Ministers will have an orientation debate on the Commission proposal.

Health Check

On 20 May 2008, the European Commission proposed to further modernise, simplify and streamline the Common Agricultural Policy and remove remaining restrictions on farmers to help them respond to growing demand for food. The so-called CAP Health Check will further break the link between direct payments and production and thus allow farmers to follow market signals to the greatest possible extent. Among a range of measures, the proposals call for the abolition of arable set-aside and a gradual increase in milk quotas before they are abolished in 2015, and a reduction in market intervention. These changes will free farmers from unnecessary restrictions and let them maximise their production potential. The Commission also proposes an increase in modulation, whereby direct payments to farmers are reduced and the money is transferred to the Rural Development Fund. This will allow a better response to the new challenges and opportunities faced by European agriculture, including climate change, the need for better water management, and the protection of biodiversity.

The press release, proposal and further information on the Health Check is available on the internet at: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/healthcheck/index_en.htm

The policy debate on the Commission proposal will continue at this Council meeting. Trilateral meetings (Presidency - Commission - Individual Member States) are foreseen for Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

State aid to compensate for the effects of drought

The Council will discuss a Cypriot request for state aid to help farmers deal with the consequences of drought.

Any Other Business

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  How to use unspent CAP money (request of the Polish delegation)
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  Crisis on the market for apples for processing in some new Member States (request of the Hungarian and Polish delegations)
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  Implications for the agriculture and agri-food sectors of efforts to combat climate change (request of the Irish delegation)
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  Restoring customs protection of the cereals market (request of the Polish