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THE
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LIMITE |
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PV/CONS 29 AGRI 129 PECHE 203 |
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Subject : |
2584th meeting of the Council of the European Union (AGRICULTURE and FISHERIES ), held in
Brussels on 24 May 2004 |
CONTENTS
Page
2.
Approval
of the list of "A" items....................................................................................................... 3
3.
Proposal
for a Council Decision establishing Regional Advisory Councils under the Common
Fisheries Policy 3
4.
Proposal
for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2792/99 laying down the
detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in
the fisheries sector (FIFG)....................... 3
5. Doha Development Round and Mercosur negotiations...................................................................... 4
6. Any other business
a)
Prime
Minister's Strategy Unit Report - "Net benefits: A sustainable and profitable future for UK fishing" 4
b) NAFO....................................................................................................................................... 4
c)
Definition
of an information policy on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy..................... 5
(request by the French delegation)
d) Voluntary
guidelines on the right to adequate food....................................................................... 5
(request
by the German delegation)
e) Organisation
of future work........................................................................................................ 5
o
o........... o
1.
Adoption of the agenda
9641/04 OJ
CONS 30 AGRI 124 PECHE 196
The Council adopted the above agenda, with the addition of
the following item under "Other business":
(d)
Voluntary guidelines on the right to adequate
food
(request by the German delegation).
2.
Approval of the list of
"A" items
9660/04
PTS A 24 + ADD 1
The Council approved the "A" items in 9660/04 + ADD 1.
3.
Proposal for a Council Decision
establishing Regional Advisory Councils under the Common Fisheries Policy
-
Political
Agreement
(Public debate)
13702/03 PECHE 248
9500/04 PECHE 190
+ ADD 1
The Council held a public debate on this item. It reached
political agreement on the text of the Decision on the basis of a joint
Presidency and Commission compromise proposal and on the statements to be
entered into the minutes of the Council adopting the Decision. The Decision will be sent for adoption,
after finalisation by the legal-linguistic experts, as an "A" item at
a forthcoming session of the Council.
4.
Proposal for a Council Regulation
amending Regulation (EC) No 2792/99 laying down the detailed rules and
arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector
(FIFG)
14463/03 PECHE 266
9506/04 PECHE 191
+ COR 1
+ ADD 1
The Council
reached political agreement by unanimity on the text of the Regulation and on the statements to be entered
into the minutes of the Council adopting the Regulation on the basis of a joint Presidency and Commission
compromise proposal. The
Regulation will be sent for adoption, after finalisation by the
legal-linguistic experts, as an "A" item at a forthcoming session of
the Council.
5.
Doha Development Round and Mercosur negotiations
- Current position
Over lunch, the Council discussed the issues on the WTO and
Mercosur negotiations.
Concerning WTO, the Presidency concluded that, after the
important reforms of the CAP in June 2003 and April 2004, the European Union
expected that great benefits would derive from these reforms as regards the WTO
commitments of the Community. The Council agreed that the final outcome
of the WTO negotiations should be balanced. Some Member States insisted
on the time constraint represented by the fixed deadlines and the schedule for
the conclusion of the negotiations.
On Mercosur, several Member States favoured a cautious approach
on these negotiations with regard to their links with WTO negotiations and
expressed their concerns about the risk of paying twice for the same trade concessions.
6.
Any other business
(a)
Prime Minister's Strategy Unit
Report - "Net benefits: A
sustainable and profitable future for UK fishing"
-
Written Information from the UK delegation
9604/04 PECHE 194
The Council took note of the information provided by the
United Kingdom.
(b)
NAFO
- Information from
the Commission
The Council took note of the information from the
Commission.
(c)
Definition of an information policy
on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy
-
Request by the French delegation
9717/04 AGRI 127
The French delegation, supported by the Greek,
Italian, Austrian and United Kingdom delegations, drew the attention of the
Council to the need to
beef up the Community's communication policy following the adoption of the CAP
reform . The French delegation insisted in particular on the need to have
targeted information for each farmer on the new management of the aids and on
the cross-compliance issues.
The Commission Representative indicated
that he was very conscious of the problem and that his Institution would take
an initiative on this issue in the coming months.
(d)
Voluntary guidelines on the right to
adequate food
- Request by the German delegation
9752/04 AGRILEG 92 FAO 12
The German delegation drew the attention
of the Council to the need for the European Community to take advantage of the
meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group for formulating voluntary
guidelines on the right to food, which will take place at the FAO (Food and
Alimentation Organisation) from 4 to 9 July 2004 to promote guidelines on the
right to food.
The Commission Representative indicated
that he would inform his colleague in charge of development and humanitarian
aid of the German request, so that the competent services of the Commission
could examine it.
(e)
Organisation of future work
The Council agreed to hold its next meeting on agriculture
and fisheries on Monday 21 and (possibly) Tuesday 22 June 2004 in Luxembourg.