Brussels, 10 December 2013
BACKGROUND
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AGRICULTURE and FISHERIES COUNCIL
Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 December 2013, in Brussels
The Council meeting will address agricultural and fisheries matters; it will start at 10.00 on Monday
16 December 2013 and will continue on Tuesday 17 December 2013. The Council will be chaired
by Mr Vigilijus JUKNA, Minister for Agriculture.
Concerning fisheries, the ministers will try to reach a political agreement on 2014 fishing
opportunities for certain fish stocks in EU and certain non-EU waters and on fishing
opportunities for certain fish stocks in the Black Sea. Each year, on the basis of Commission
proposals, the Council has to take decisions on fishing opportunities for the stocks in the Atlantic,
the North Sea, international fisheries in which EU vessels participate and in the Black Sea.
As regards agriculture, the Commission will present to the Council its proposal for a regulation on
promotion measures for agricultural products. The current context, in which the EU agriculture
is faced with a much more competitive environment, calls for a renewed policy of promotion. This
represents an additional stage in the modernisation of the common agricultural policy (CAP)
initiated with its reform.
The Council will be briefed on the EMFF, emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants,
the dairy sector, organic farming and the package on animal health, plant health and
controls.
Finally, the Council is expected to adopt without discussion the CAP reform package and
transitional CAP measures for 2014 following a first-reading agreement with the European
Parliament. The CAP reform package includes regulations on direct payments, common
organisation of the markets, rural development and financing of the CAP.
A first press conference on agriculture will be held on the first day of the meeting at lunch time
(+/- 13.00). A second press conference on fisheries issues will take place at the end of the
meeting.
The public events and the press conferences can be followed via video streaming:
http://video.consiliums.europa.eu
Video coverage of the event will be available for preview and download in broadcast quality
(MPEG4) on www.eucouncil.tv
Photos of the event can be found in our photographic library on www.consilium.europa.eu/photo
where they can be downloaded in high resolution.
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This note has been drawn up under the responsibility of the Press Office.
P R E S S
Council of the European Union - Press Office
Rue de la Loi 175 B – 1048 BRUSSELS Tel.: +32 (0)2 281 6319
[email protected] http://www.consilium.europa.eu/press
FISHERIES
Total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for 2014
The Council will try to reach a political agreement on a regulation concerning fishing opportunities
for 2014 for EU vessels in Union and certain non-Union waters. The proposal concerns fish stocks
which are not subject to international negotiations or agreements and stocks subject to
international negotiations or agreements (15299/13). For 2014, the Commission has taken into
account the wishes of Member States to return to one single text for the general fishing
opportunities regulation, in contrast to the approach taken in 2012 and 2013.
According to Article 43(3) of the Treaty, the Council has to adopt measures on a proposal from the
Commission on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities.
The regulation establishes the total allowable catches (TAC) and member states' fishing quotas for
2014. Each year, on a Commission proposal, the Council has to take a decision on fishing
opportunities for the stocks in the Atlantic, the North Sea and international fisheries in which EU
vessels participate. This is the main fishing opportunities regulations by number of regulated
stocks. Along with the regulations fixing the fishing opportunities for the Baltic Sea and the Black
Sea (see below), this regulation regulates the harvesting of the stocks to levels which must be
consistent with the overall objectives of the common fisheries policy (CFP).
The Commission proposal is based on advice from the International Council for the Exploration of
the Sea (ICES) and the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF)
which gives its advice following terms of reference that it receives from the Commission. The
ultimate objective of the EU is to bring the stocks to levels that can deliver maximum sustainable
yields (MSYs). This objective has been incorporated in the reformed CFP approved by the Council
on 24 September this year and voted on by the European Parliament on 9 December. The basic
regulation of the CFP requires that the MSY objective "…shall be achieved by 2015, where
possible, and by 2020 for all stocks at the latest."
The situation to which the fishing opportunities 2014 must respond was presented in a Commission
communication (10460/13) in June. It offered some good news - an increase in stocks exploited at
MSY levels, a decrease in overfishing and an improvement in public knowledge about the state of
stocks, and a somewhat decreasing trend in fishing effort; however, some mixed news was
conveyed as well, especially regarding stocks in the Celtic Sea, the Black Sea, the Bay of Biscay
and the Iberian-Atlantic Area, as well as fishing effort in the Iberian-Atlantic Area.
In the proposal long-term management plans and international agreements are directly
implemented.
As the existing provisions in the area covered by the proposal are applicable until 31 December
2013, with the exception of certain effort limitations which are applicable until 31 January 2014, the
regulation should apply from 1 January 2014.
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Fishing opportunities for 2014 in the Black Sea
In addition to the fixing of general TACs and quotas, the ministers will also try to reach a political
agreement on the 2014 fishing opportunities for the Black Sea (16675/13).
Fishing opportunities in the Black Sea and the way they are allocated to the Member States
concerned, i.e Bulgaria and Romania, are regulated on an annual basis. Two fish stocks are
managed in the Black sea: turbot (Psetta maxima) and sprat (Sprattus sprattus).
For turbot, the approach taken proposes a reduction, in the short term, of the fishing opportunities
in the Black Sea. However, it is expected that this approach will result in stable or increasing
quotas in the long term. It should be noted that this stock is shared with a number of other
countries including Turkey and Russia.
The Commission proposal is based on the scientific advice delivered by the STECF in November
2013.
As the existing provisions are applicable until 31 December 2013, the regulation would apply from
1 January 2014.
AGRICULTURE
Information and promotion measures for agricultural products
The Council will be briefed by the Commission on its proposal for a regulation on information
provision and promotion measures for agricultural products on the internal market and in third
countries (16591/13).
The production of and trading in agricultural and agri-food products constitute a major asset for the
EU. In this regard it is crucial that EU agriculture and the agri-food industry maintain and increase
their competitiveness and their market shares on both the internal and export markets. However,
European agriculture is faced today with a much more competitive environment, largely resulting
from the globalisation of markets, and this trend should continue in the coming years.
Nevertheless, on the internal market the logos on products that benefit from EU quality scheme
logo such as protected designation of origin (PDO) or protected geographical indication (PGI) are
generally not recognised. The same goes for exports where the effort of investing in marketing and
selling on distant markets represents a challenge for a sector essentially made up of SMEs.
This context calls for a renewed policy of promotion, one which learns from the lessons of the
promotional programmes implemented to date and which represents an additional stage in the
modernisation of the common agricultural policy (CAP).
Measures will follow a strategy of identifying priorities on markets and products or messages to be
highlighted. As the CAP reform encourages farmers to organise themselves, the scheme should be
opened up to new beneficiaries, such as producer organisations. Strict guidelines should be
established as regards the possibilities of mentioning the origin of products or brand names as a
means of illustrating the main generic message highlighting the intrinsic characteristics of
European agricultural products. Programmes submitted by operators from different
Member States to promote the diversity of European agricultural products will be encouraged as
part of the reform of the promotion policy. The proposal includes the development of new
technical support services for stakeholders, favouring the exchange of information on
information provision and promotion measures or good practices and allowing their expertise to be
developed. It also aims to simplify the management of the information and promotion policy.
Managing multi-country programmes would make them easier to set up and implement.
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Compared to the present situation, the proposal suggests a gradual but significant increase in the
budget allocated to information provision and promotion measures for agricultural products (from
EUR 61.5 million in the 2013 budget to EUR 200 million in 2020).
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)
The Presidency will brief the Council about the state of play of the ongoing negotiations between
the Council and the Parliament on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
The proposal for a regulation on the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) is part of the
CFP reform package, along with the regulation on basic provisions of the CFP and the market
regulation. The last two texts were adopted by the Council in October this year following an early
second reading agreement with the European Parliament.
A Council general approach was reached in July 2013 (15458/1/12) and the European Parliament
has voted its position in October. The Presidency has been engaged since early November in
informal technical and political trilogues with the European Parliament with a view to seeking a
political agreement on the proposal before the end of the year.
Emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants
At the request of the German delegation with the support of Denmark and Luxemburg, ministers
will be briefed by the Commission on the amendment of Directive 2001/81/EC on national emission
ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants ("NEC Directive") (17477/13).
The Commission announced a proposal to revise the NEC Directive. This proposal envisages
setting emission ceilings, probably from 2025 onwards. For the EU farming sector, emission
reduction obligations could have significant implications, in particular as regards ammonia, as this
sector accounts for more than 90 % of such emissions. The German delegation would be briefed
on the impact of this proposal on agriculture and possible interactions with the CAP.
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Conference on the dairy sector
The Commission will present the main outcomes of the conference on "The EU dairy sector:
developing beyond 2015" which took place in Brussels on 24 September 2013.
The conference explored future trends in the EU milk sector beyond 2015, in the context of the
abolition of the milk quota system in 2015. In order to prepare the sector for this new operating
environment, a series of new instruments has been developed in the context of the Milk Package.
Moreover, the milk sector has been the subject of intense discussions during the CAP reform
process and the agreement between EU institutions reached in June and September this year. The
CAP reform reinforces instruments to tackle difficulties in the milk sector; amendments have been
introduced to the single Common Market Organisation (CMO) rules to improve the market
orientation of EU agriculture in the light of increased competition on world markets, while providing
an effective safety net for farmers in the context of external uncertainties (together with direct
payments and options for risk management under rural development).
One of the questions discussed at this conference was whether additional actions were necessary
in the context of the Commission report regarding the development of the market situation in the
milk sector, together with any relevant proposals envisaged by 30 June 2014 by the Milk Package
regulation.
Public consultation on organic farming
The Council will be briefed on the main results of the public consultation on organic farming
conducted by the Commission from 15 January until 10 April 2013 (17375/13).
The public and stakeholders were consulted via an online questionnaire, which received close to
45,000 responses.
The report on the public consultation highlights that consumers trust organic products (71 %), that
they buy them mainly out of concern about the environment (83%), and because they are free from
GMOs and pesticide residues (81%). The vast majority (78%) also indicated that they were
prepared to pay more for organic goods. The report also showed a very strong demand for
harmonised rules at EU level. In addition, more than half of the interviewees also called strongly for
an improved European control system for organic products.
The results of the public consultation will feed into the ongoing review of the political and legal
framework for organic agriculture in Europe, with an overall strategy to be put forward in early
2014.
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Package on animal health, plant health and control
The Presidency will present to the Council its progress report on the package for animal and plant
health, seeds, control and expenditure.
This package of measures aims to strengthen the enforcement of health and safety standards for
the whole agri-food chain. The package comprises proposals for regulations:
• to review the regulatory framework on plant health;
• to ensure the health, identity and quality of plant reproductive material;
• to simplify the body of legislation that regulates animal health;
• to review and clarify the rules on official controls along the food chain;
• to manage expenditures through a common financial framework for food and feed
modernising the existing financial provisions.
Work on this package in the Council began in June this year.
Nutrition labelling system
At the request of Italy with the support of Croatia, ministers will be briefed on the "hybrid" nutrition
labelling system recommended in some Member States.
The United Kingdom has developed a “hybrid” system of front-of-pack nutrition labelling for food
products. This system combines red, amber and green colour-coding and nutritional information to
highlight information on energy and certain nutrients – fats, saturates, sugars and salt – which can
have been shown to harm people’s health if eaten in large quantities. This labelling system has
been developed by the UK Department of Health, working with industry and other partners. It is
already voluntarily implemented by certain food producers and retailers in the country.
Market access to Russia
The Presidency will brief the Council on the issue of market access to the Russian Federation as
regards EU exports of plants and plant products.
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