Besluitpunt "Other business (a) Management of blue whiting fisheries - Commission briefing"

The Council had a discussion on the position to take in forthcoming coastal States' negotiations on the basis of a Commission working paper. The Commission indicated its intention to come forward with an amendment to the TAC and quota Regulation for blue whiting in the coming weeks. (b) Fuel crisis and the future of fishing − Request by the Belgian delegation 10118/05 PECHE 126 The Council took note of the Belgian concerns relating to the impact of the rise in fuel prices on the fisheries sector. These concerns were shared by several delegations. The Commission said that DG Competition was already looking at possible ways to alleviate this impact. 10262/05 ket/JF/mm 6 DG B EN (c) Outcome of the 73rd General Session of the OIE (International Office of Epizootics) − Written information from the Commission 10163/05 AGRILEG 96 The Council took note of the details given by the Commission in its information note on the outcome of the 73rd general session of the OIE, held in Paris from 22 to 27 May 2005. (d) Forests (FLEGT - Negotiating mandate) − Presidency progress report 10084/05 FORETS 16 DEVGEN 118 ENV 287 RELEX 320 JUR 261 UD 76 The Council took note of a Presidency progress report on the FLEGT Agreement on trade in timber. The Belgian delegation voiced its concern at illegal logging and the associated unlawful trading. It thanked the Luxembourg Presidency for its efforts in preparing a negotiating brief and hoped that significant progress would be made on this matter during the forthcoming United Kingdom Presidency, so that the first partnership agreements could be implemented. Finally, the Belgian delegation pointed to the need to supplement those agreements by means of mandatory legislation on illegal timber trading in the Community. The Commission representative hoped that the negotiating directives would be completed during the forthcoming United Kingdom Presidency. She stressed that EUR 3 million had been spent to assist dialogue on forestry governance and the Community had spent a further EUR 15 million on technical assistance. She reminded the Council that the informal negotiations currently in progress with several third countries (Ghana, Cameroon, Malaysia, etc.) should result in negotiating directives in due course. 10262/05 ket/JF/mm 7 DG B EN (e) Cooperation in the field of agriculture-related research - Commission briefing on progress resulting from the SCAR (Standing Committee on Agricultural Research) meetings The Council took note of an oral progress report by the Commission, following the meeting of the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR). The Commission representative pointed out that the Commission was in the process of drawing up its seventh framework research programme. She stressed that, at its meeting on 22 November 2004, the Council had given broad support to the report by the Netherlands Presidency on agricultural research. That report concluded that there was a need for greater scientific cooperation in the Community, with a high level platform represented by the SCAR. The SCAR would draft a document on agricultural research infrastructure, in particular by means of networking. The document would be submitted to the European Strategy Forum at its meeting on 1 and 2 December 2005 under the United Kingdom Presidency. A report on the coordination of agricultural research, based on the SCAR's proceedings, would shortly be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council. The Netherlands delegation thanked the Presidency and the Commission for having put this item on the agenda and noted that agriculture would occupy an important position in the seventh framework research programme. The Presidency said that a further meeting on this subject would be held during the United Kingdom Presidency. (f) State of the cereals market - Request by the Austrian, French, Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, Czech and Spanish delegations, supported by the German, Greek, Italian, Latvian and Lithuanian delegations 10098/05 AGRI 159 The Austrian delegation, supported by the French, Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, Spanish, German, Greek, Italian, Latvian and Lithuanian delegations drew the Council's and the Commission's attention to the situation on the Community cereals market and the emergency measures needing to be taken. 10262/05 ket/JF/mm 8 DG B EN These delegations highlighted the various aspects of the situation which affected them in their respective countries. The Commission representative recognised the occurrence of regular malfunctionings and blockages in the Community cereals market. She pointed out, however, that the 2004 Community harvest had been exceptional (285 million tonnes) and that the situation had been aggravated by exchange rates and by difficulties in operating national intervention systems. She stressed that the stocks of cereals currently in storage amounted to 16 million tonnes, half of that quantity being held in the new Member States. While she wished to help landlocked countries by means of appropriate measures, such as the sale of intervention stocks of wheat, she repeated her concern that such stocks be sold at the best price, in order not to disrupt the market. Finally, she pointed out that the quantities expected from the forthcoming harvest should turn out to be lower (at 260 million tonnes) than in 2004-2005. As regards the measures to be taken, she said that the Commission would open tendering for export at the beginning of the marketing year for wheat, barley, rye and oats. (g) Memorandum on Fair Trade - Request by the German delegation 10097/05 AGRI 158 WTO 101 The German delegation, supported by the Austrian delegation, wanted to draw the Council's and the Commission's attention to the agricultural section of the negotiations in progress at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha Round. The German delegation stressed the importance of trade in agricultural products to developing countries and asked the Commission to use the agriculture negotiations in progress at the WTO to ensure account was taken of the European Union's concern that a fair international trading system be established. 10262/05 ket/JF/mm 9 DG B EN The Commission representative said that the establishment of standards that improved transparency and made consumers more aware would have a greater effect than official standards. She pointed out that there were no longer any Community customs duties on imports of products such as cotton, coffee and cocoa. In view of the danger of non-compliance with WTO rules, however, she refused to grant preference to those products in market access, because of the possibility of distorting competition with other products. As regards bananas more particularly, she pointed out that the Commission was working on the introduction of an exclusively tariff-based system to apply from 1 January 2006. By way of conclusion, she stressed that the decision to buy fair trade products was, in the last resort, a matter for the consumer. (h) Organisation of future work The Council agreed to hold its next meeting on agriculture and fisheries questions under the new United Kingdom Presidency on Monday 18 July 2005.

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