Europe Agri articles from December 2006

Europe Agri archives from December 2006

AGENDA.
December 12, 2006... COUNCIL OF MINISTERS Agriculture and Fisheries Council a a24-25 October Luxembourg Draft agenda on agriculture points: - Commission communication on the reform of the CMO for wine General discussion - Proposal...

TELEVISION WITHOUT FRONTIERS : ALCOHOL ADVERTISING RESTRICTIONS DEBATED IN PARLIAMENT.
December 12, 2006... The European Parliament will hand down its verdict on the banning of alcohol advertising on television before 9 pm during its plenary session from 11 to 14 December, in the context of the revision of the Television Without Frontiers (TVWF)...

FISHERIES POLICY : COMMISSION ADOPTS PROPOSALS FOR 2007 TACS AND QUOTAS.
December 12, 2006... With decision time on the regulation that will set total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for Community fish stocks in 2007 fast approaching, the European Commission has published its proposals, on 5 December, setting out what it believes...

FISHERIES POLICY : COMMISSIONER BORG SETS OUT HIS 2007 PRIORITIES.
December 12, 2006... Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg, speaking at a plenary meeting of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs on 7 December, used his address to provide a breakdown of DG Fisheries' planned activities for 2007. Several of...

STATE AID : COMMISSION REVIEWS RULES FOR FARMING SECTOR.
December 12, 2006... The European Commission reviewed criteria on 6 December applicable to state aid in the farming sector which, subject to certain conditions, will be exempt from notification requirements, and criteria on aid subject to this obligation. It has...

REGIONAL POLICY : CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR EU'S OUTERMOST REGIONS.(Brief article)
December 12, 2006... The Commission has adopted proposals on the compensation payments which should be made to the EU's outermost regions in 2007-13, in order to address the extra costs that these territories face in transporting fisheries products to mainland...

CONSUMERS : COUNCIL ENDORSES SIMPLIFIED PRE-PACKAGING LEGISLATION.(Brief article)
December 12, 2006... The Competitiveness Council on 4 December formally adopted its common position on the proposal for a directive to define the rules on the nominal quantities of pre-packaged goods. Ministers had previously reached political agreement on this...

EU/NORWAY : DEAL STRUCK ON 2007 FISHING POSSIBILITIES.
December 12, 2006... the European Commission has reached an agreement with Norway on fishing possibilities for 2007. A major part of the negotiations, which take place each year, is to decide on total allowable catches (TACs) relating to the seven stocks which are...

BUDGET : EP COMMITTEE QUESTIONS AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER ON DISCHARGE.
December 12, 2006... Further hearings have been held in the context of the discharge procedure for the 2005 budget. The European Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee questioned Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel and Science and...

EU/CANADA : EU APPEALS TO WTO ON WINE AND BEER DOSSIER.
December 12, 2006... Having failed to produce any results during the bilateral discussions with Ottawa, the European Commission has decided to challenge Canadian tax rules on foreign wine and beer before the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The EU executive, on 29...

ANIMAL WELFARE : EU, COE AND OIE COMMIT TO COOPERATE.
December 12, 2006... The Council of Europe (CoE), the European Union (EU) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), on 24 November, adopted a joint declaration entitled Animal Welfare in Europe: Achievements and Future Prospects. The declaration, which...

GMOS : EU PREPARING FOR AN INCREASE IN AUTHORISATION APPLICATIONS.
December 12, 2006... European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso informed the College of Commissioners on 29 November of his wish to delegate the task of separating confidential data from information accessible to the public in procedural documents on the...

EU/BULGARIA/ROMANIA : EU STEPS UP FOOD SAFETY MEASURES.
December 12, 2006... Faced with Russia's threat of an embargo on European veterinary and plant health products from 1 January 2007, the date of Romania and Bulgaria's accession, the European Commission is tightening precautionary measures regarding food products...

TAXATION : EXCISE DUTY: CZECH REPUBLIC BLOCKS FINAL COMPROMISE.
December 12, 2006... The raising of minimum alcohol excise duties will have to wait. Although the latest compromise suggested by the European Commission managed to assuage Germany's last reservation (see Europolitics 3195), the Finnish EU Presidency finally had to...

AVIAN INFLUENZA : EXPERTS WORRIED BY AFRICA'S EXPOSURE.
December 12, 2006... The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) urged international fund providers to come to the assistance of Africa at the Fourth International Conference on Avian Influenza in Bamako, Mali, from 6 to 8 December. "Any failure by...

ORGANIC PRODUCTS : FINLAND WITHDRAWS PROPOSAL ON ORGANIC PRODUCTS.
December 12, 2006... The reluctance of a number of EU member states to introduce extremely complex labelling requirements has pushed the Finnish EU Presidency to withdraw its proposal for the creation of three different categories of organically farmed products. In...

WINE : FRESH SUGGESTIONS FOR REFORMING WINE CMO.
December 12, 2006... In a study intended to fuel the debate on reform of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) for wine, experts contacted by the European Parliament offer an evaluation of the shortcomings of the current CMO mechanism and make a number of concrete...

GONDOLA-CINVEN DEAL APPROVED.
December 12, 2006... Cinven Limited was given clearance by the European Commission on 4 December to acquire sole control of Gondola Holdings plc, the holding company of the Pizza Express, Ask and Zizzi restaurant chains. Both companies operate in the UK and the...

ILLEGAL TIMBER IN THE BERLAYMONT BUILDING.(Brief article)
December 12, 2006... The European Commission has acknowledged that its own public procurement rules were breached in the context of the renovation of the Berlaymont building in Brussels: Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas has confirmed to Greenpeace that 1,000...

OGM : INTERNATIONAL DISCUSSIONS ON GM CONTAMINATION OF FARM PRODUCE.
December 12, 2006... Aware of the threat the growing number of cases of contamination of US farm produce with GMOs poses for its exporters, the United States has secured the opening of international negotiations on the introduction of trading rules in the event of...

CEREALS : MAIZEaINTERVENTION UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT.
December 12, 2006... Concerned at the likelihood of a very sharp increase in public procurement of grain, principally in Hungary, the European Commission is keen from next year to abandon intervention on maize. A proposal to this end should be adopted by the...

OGM : MEMBER STATES READY TO DEFEND AUSTRIAN EMBARGOES.
December 12, 2006... Despite the World Trade Organisation's condemnation of embargoes imposed by several EU member states on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) authorised at Community level, the member states may once again block the proceedings launched by the...

HEALTH COUNCIL : MINISTERS WELCOME STRATEGY ON ALCOHOL ABUSE.
December 12, 2006... The strategy of alcohol abuse in the EU, proposed by the European Commission 24 October, received unanimous backing at the Health Council on 30 November. The Commission will provide a first report on implementation of the strategy in 2008. 'The...

NEW ZEALAND BUTTER REGIME.
December 12, 2006... The European Commission tabled a proposal before the Council of Ministers on 30 November on the introduction of a new import regime for butter from New Zealand from 1 January 2007. A change is needed since the old regime was declared illegal in...

NORWAY TRADEPREFERENCE IN CHEESE.
December 12, 2006... TheaEU Council adopted on 4 December a decision approving the conclusion of an agreement with Norway concerning adjustments of trade preferences in cheese undertaken on the basis of the European Economic Area agreement. Under the agreement,...

CATARRHAL FEVER : PROFESSIONALS CONCERNED BY RESISTANCE OF THE VIRUS.
December 12, 2006... Faced with the pessimism of veterinary experts who fear that catarrhal (blue-tongue) fever is here to stay in the north of Europe, professionals are calling on the European Commission to define a long-term strategy to fight against the disease...

ENVIRONMENT : REPORT CLAIMS LIVESTOCK MORE HARMFUL THAN TRANSPORT.
December 12, 2006... According to a report published by the Food and Agricultural Organisation on 29 November, the breeding sector is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the transport sector. It is also one of the main causes of water and soil...

RUSSIAN EMBARGO.(European Union. European Commission)(Brief article)
December 12, 2006... The European Commission is hoping for "rapid and substantive" discussions with Moscow in order to lift Russia's threat of an embargo on European animal products from 1 January, Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told the press in Brussels on 6...

SUGAR : SUGAR REFORM HEADING FOR A "CATASTROPHE".
December 12, 2006... The sugar reform is on the edge of a 'catastrophe' because of the low levels of commitment to abandoning production quotas, warned Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, Deputy Cabinet Leader to Marianne Fischer Boel,athe European Agriculture Commissioner,...

FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS : SWEDISH CURBS ON ALCOHOL TRADE LEGAL, SAYS ADVOCATE-GENERAL.(Brief article)
December 12, 2006... Sweden's ultra-strict alcohol law, which only allows residents to buy alcoholic drinks from a state-owned retailer, is compatible with the EC Treaty, Advocate-General Paolo Mengozzi of the EU Court of Justice has concluded. That the ban...

THE INTERNATIONAL POLITICSOF GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD.
December 12, 2006... This timely, comprehensive and provocative collection brings together experts from the fields of international relations, environmental studies and trade and international law to examine the sources of international friction and to explore the...

EU/LATIN AMERICA : TRADE NEGOTIATIONS HOSTAGE TO BANANAS.
December 12, 2006... Peter Mandelson has been quick to respond to the decision by Ecuador to refer the European Union before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the issue of bananas. With the European Commission having adopted negotiating directives with a view...