Europe Agri articles from November 2006

Europe Agri archives from November 2006

ENVIRONMENT : COUNCIL SEEKS TO GUARANTEE THE MULTIFUNCTIONAL ROLE OF FORESTS.
November 17, 2006... Aware of the multifunctional role of forests, the EU Council of Ministers emphasised the importance of a balanced' approach to the development of their economic, social, environmental and cultural dimension in the context of sustainable forest...

FARM SUBSIDIES - WHO GETS WHAT?
November 17, 2006... France, the leading beneficiary of EU farm subsidies, is one of the worst performers when it comes to transparency on the distribution of these funds, according to the farmsubsidy.org network of NGOs, which published a first league table on 24...

FISHERIES EXEMPTION FOR OUTERMOST REGIONS.
November 17, 2006... MEPs have given their backing to the extension of derogations from Common Fishery Policy Rules for the EU's outermost regions. Under the current Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG), the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and...

HOPE FOR MED REGULATION?(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... An agreement on common EU rules for fishing in the Mediterranean is possible under the Finnish EU Presidency, according to the country's Fisheries Minister Juha Korkeaoja. Speaking following a meeting of the Council held on 24 October, he...

ENERGY : WOOD INDUSTRY EXPRESSES CONCERNS ABOUT MARKET DISTORTIONS.
November 17, 2006... The European social partners in the woodworking industries, the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) and the European Confederation of Woodworking Industries (CEI-Bois), have said in a joint position that the EU Biomass...

AGENDA.(Calendar)
November 17, 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...

EU/BULGARIA/ROMANIA : 11.5 MILLION EURO TO TACKLE ANIMAL DISEASES IN 2007.(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... A draft European Commission decision to allocate up to 11,506,000 to Bulgaria and Romania for the monitoring, eradication and control of animal diseases in 2007 was backed by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health on 8...

FISHERIES COUNCIL : AGREEMENT REACHED ON BALTIC REGULATION.
November 17, 2006... Political agreement has been reached by the EU Fisheries Council on the Total Allowable Catches to apply for the Baltic Sea in 2007, but with a smaller reduction in fishing opportunities than the European Commission was seeking. After the...

AGRICULTURAL TRADE STATISTICS.
November 17, 2006... A new edition of Agricultural Trade Statistics has been published on the Europa website. Based on Eurostat data, it provides a thousand tables and graphs describing the European Union's agricultural trade position in the world as well as...

BALTIC SEA : BALTIC DEAL ON COD SLAMMED BY ENVIRONMENTALISTS.
November 17, 2006... The World Wildlife Fund for Nature has denounced the agreement by the Council on 24 October concerning fishing opportunities for 2007 in the Baltic Sea. In a statement, it claims that the adopted version of the regulation shows that "EU...

BENEFICIARIES OF CAP PAYMENTS.(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... To further improve openness and access to information, the European Commission has indicated that its Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development is publishing on the Europa website a page with links to member state websites...

FOOD AND DRINK : BETTER REGULATION IS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE, SAYS CIAA.(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... The Confederation of the European Food and Drink Industries (CIAA) has called on the EU institutions to actively promote better legislation' as one of the means to enhance the food and drink industry's competitiveness and thereby to directly...

EU/US/ENERGY : BIOFUELS - WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING?
November 17, 2006... On both sides of the Atlantic, the biofuel industry is booming as the EU and US pour billions into the sector in a bid to reduce the demand for foreign oil and gas. Yet, according to a new study from the Geneva-based International Institute for...

FISHERIES POLICY : COASTAL STATES AGREE CUTS IN BLUE WHITING CATCH.
November 17, 2006... The EU and other coastal states have reached agreement on the 2007 fishing possibilities for blue whiting in the north-east Atlantic, according to the European Commission on 27 October. The Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the parties...

COMMISSION ACTS TO PROTECT SPRAT.(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... The European Commission has adopted a regulation reducing the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) on sprat in the North Sea for the rest of 2006. The original 2006 TAC, adopted in December 2005, was set at 282,700 tonnes. However, scientists have...

GMO : COMMISSION SHORT OF OPTIONS TO DEAL WITH GMO CONTAMINATION.
November 17, 2006... "There is an urgent need to improve international cooperation" to combat contamination of the European food chain by unauthorised GMOs, according to the European Commission in its report on the regulation on genetically modified organisms in...

FISHERIES POLICY : CONSERVATIONISTS CLAIM VINDICATION ON COLLAPSING FISH STOCKS.
November 17, 2006... Conservationists are heralding a new scientific study on global marine biodiversity as proof that their prior warnings on the state of fish stocks should have been heeded. The study, published in the 3 November edition of the journal...

ORGANIC PRODUCTS : COOL RECEPTION FOR NEW FINNISH COMPROMISE ON ORGANIC FARMING.
November 17, 2006... Finnish Agriculture Minister Juha Korkeaoja's optimism regarding negotiations on organic produce following the Agriculture Council on 24 and 25 October in Luxembourg was perhaps a little excessive. The EU Presidency suggested a solution was...

TOMATO : COURT RULES IN FAVOUR OF THE EUROPEAN TOMATO-PROCESSING INDUSTRY.(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... Aahundred or so companies producing processed tomato-based products are to receive reparation for damages incurred as a result of a failure to take account of the price of Chinese tomatoes in setting EU aid levels. These Spanish, Italian,...

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES : DIRECT AID MAY BE WORTH 775 MILLION EURO.
November 17, 2006... The European Commission is only expected to adopt Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel's proposals on reform of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) for processed fruit and vegetables on 24 January 2007. They will subsequently be...

WINE REFORM : DISCUSSIONS SUSPENDED UNTIL THE SPRING.
November 17, 2006... EU agriculture ministers examined the European Commission's communication on reform of the Common Market Organisation for wine for one final time on 25 October in Luxembourg. Emphasis was above all placed on this occasion on enhancing...

ANIMAL HEALTH : EMERGENCY AID FOR LIVESTOCK SECTORS UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT.
November 17, 2006... The European Union will seek on 7 November to lay the foundations for a new strategy on animal health in the context of a conference on the theme due to be opened in Brussels by Finnish Agriculture Minister Juha Korkeaoja and European Health...

EU/BRAZIL : EU AND BRAZIL END CHICKEN WAR'.
November 17, 2006... The European Union and Brazil struck an agreement on 27 October, drawing a line under the chicken war' that has raged between the two parties for several years. By imposing a tariff quota on imports of salted chicken meat, cooked chicken meat...

SPIRITS : FINLAND PUSHES THE VODKA DOSSIER.
November 17, 2006... The Finnish Presidency of the EU is going to submit a draft compromise relative to the regulation of the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirits. Following the discussions during the Agriculture Council in Luxembourg on...

TAXATION : FINNISH COMPROMISE ON ALCOHOL LOOKING SHAKY.
November 17, 2006... Led by Germany, beer producer countries have rejected the Finnish compromise tabled before the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CoRePer) on the raising of excise duties on alcoholic beverages (spirits, intermediate products and...

MARKET ORGANISATION : FISCHER BOEL OUTLINES FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CMO REFORMS.
November 17, 2006... Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel outlined what she anticipates will be the central axes of reform of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) for fruit and vegetables on 25 October in Strasbourg. Improving competitiveness, reducing...

FISHERIES RULES DEROGATIONS.
November 17, 2006... The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) rules for the EU's outermost regions were extended by the Council of Ministers on 7 November. In line with the agreement reached by ministers and the European Commission on the new European Fisheries Fund,...

FISHERIES TALKS OPEN WITH NORWAY.
November 17, 2006... Annual discussions between the European Commission and Norway started on 24 October with the aim of reaching a fisheries agreement for 2007. Commissioner Joe Borg, speaking at the Fisheries Council held on the same day, indicated that the joint...

SUGAR : FIVE MEMBER STATES FINED FOR STOCKPILING SUGAR.(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... The European Commission announced on 13 November that it has fined five member states for failing to comply with Common Market Organisation rules in the sugar sector. Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Malta and Cyprus are accused of failing to...

EU/BULGARIA-ROMANIA : FURTHER EU PRECAUTIONS ON FOOD SAFETY.
November 17, 2006... The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health approved a series of veterinary and food safety measures on 8 November ahead of the accession of Romania and Bulgaria on 1 January 2007. Three hundred and eighty seven Romanian...

HEALTH : INDUSTRY COMES OUT UNSCATHED FROM STRATEGY TO CURB ALCOHOL ABUSE.
November 17, 2006... Accused only recently of 'disproportionate lobbying,' the drinks industry is now making amends by welcoming the European Commission's strategy to combat alcohol abuse in the EU, adoptedon 24 Octobe. Indeed, the industry welcomes the text...

WINES OF DESIGNATED ORIGIN : ITALIANS AND FRENCH DETERMINED TO DEFEND THEIR MODEL.
November 17, 2006... Two radically different views on wine growing and wine culture separate producers of wine of designated origin and the European Commission. According to the wine growers, who will be meeting with the European Agriculture Commissioner, Mariann...

JEAN MARTIN/CIAA.(appointment of Jean Martin)(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... At a meeting on 25 October in Paris, the Board of Directors of the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries in the EU (CIAA) re-elected outgoing President Jean Martin for a third term of office until October 2008. Prior to that, Martin, a...

AGRI-FOOD : MCDONALD'S AND COCA-COLA PRAISED FOR THEIR EFFORTS TO FIGHT OBESITY.
November 17, 2006... Nine November saw something of a paradox at the European Commission. The champions of the agri-food and soft drinks industries, including McDonald's, Unilever, Kraft, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-cola were there to highlight their actions in fighting...

ORGANIC PRODUCTS : MINISTERS "CLOSE TO SOLUTION" ON ORGANIC LABELS.
November 17, 2006... EU agriculture ministers are 'close to a solution' on the labelling of organic farming produce. This at least is the view of Finland's Agriculture Minister Juha Korkeaoja, who sounded out his European colleagues at the Agriculture Council on 24...

FISHERIES AGENCY : NEW AGENCY READY TO START ENFORCING THE RULES.
November 17, 2006... The Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA) adopted its first annual work programme on 27 October, thus taking another step towards beginning operations. The work programme sets out three priority areas for the fledgling agency where...

ECOFIN COUNCIL : NO AGREEMENT ON FINAL COMPROMISE ON ALCOHOL EXCISE DUTIES.
November 17, 2006... In spite of a final compromise presented by the Finnish EU Presidency on 7 November, the EcoFin Council was unable to reach an agreement on the revision of Directive 92/84/EEC relating to excise duties on alcoholic beverages (to take account of...

CUSTOMS : NUMBER OF COUNTERFEIT GOODS CUSTOMS CASES ON THE UP.
November 17, 2006... EU member states seized some 75 million counterfeit goods in 2005, according to the latest European Commission statistics,. Despite a decrease in the total number of counterfeit goods, down from 104 million in 2004, the number of customs cases...

AQUACULTURE : RULES UPDATED TO PREVENT DISEASE IN FISH FARMS.
November 17, 2006... EU rules on the health requirements of farmed fish are to be updated, following the adoption of a directive by the Fisheries Council on 24 October. The new directive lays down requirements to be met by companies involved in aquaculture, as...

EU/NORWAY/FAROES : TOTAL CATCH FOR MACKEREL AGREED WITH NORWAY AND FAROES.(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... Agreement has been reached between the EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands on fishing opportunities for mackerel in the north-east Atlantic for 2007. The three parties are to share a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) next year of 422,551 tonnes,...

TRUUS HUISMAN/UNILEVER.(appointment of Truus Huisman at Unilever Group)(Brief article)
November 17, 2006... Unilever announced on 26 October that Truus Huisman has been promoted to be the new Head of Unilever's External Affairs Office in Brussels. This follows the recent promotion of Miguel Veiga-Pestana to the role of Vice-President, Global External...

BANANA : VIEWS DIVERGE ON SUPPORT FOR BANANA PRODUCERS.
November 17, 2006... Greece, Spain, France and Portugal, the EU's main banana producing states, are not happy with the low level of support being considered by the European Commission in its proposal for reform of the Community scheme for aid to banana producers....

DIRK AHNER/EC.(appointed at European Union. European Commission as director general )(Brief article)
November 30, 2006... Dirk Ahner, a German official, has been appointed Director-General of the European Commission's DG Regional Policy as of 1 January 2007, following the retirement of Graham Meadows on 31 December 2006. Ahner is currently working as Deputy...

FISHERIES : DISCUSSIONS BEGIN ON SAVING BLUEFIN TUNA.
November 30, 2006... The adoption of an international recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the East Atlantic and the Mediterranean is the aim of different countries assembling in Dubrovnik, Croatia, for the annual meeting of the International Commission for the...

SUGAR : 1.1 MILLION TONNES OF SUGAR QUOTAS ABANDONED IN THE EU.
November 30, 2006... The European Commission has confirmed that nearly 1.150 million tonnes of sugar quotas are to be definitively abandoned in the EU in 2006-2007, the first year in which the sugar reform' decided a year ago has been applied. The countries most...

EU/THAILAND : AGREEMENT REACHED ON NEW POULTRY IMPORT REGIME.
November 30, 2006... The Commission has concluded an agreement with Thailand on a new regime for imports of salted poultry meat and cooked chicken meat into the EU to be effective from April 2007.aFor salted poultry meat, currently subject to a bound tariff rate of...

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE : AGREEMENT WITHIN REACH ON ORGANIC IMPORTS.
November 30, 2006... So as not to cause disruptions to the importing of organically-grown products into the European Union, member states will absolutely have to reach an agreement before 1 January 2007 when the existing system expires. France and Germany, which...

ANIMAL HEALTHEFSA KEEN TO IMPROVE TRACKING OF MAD COW RISKS.
November 30, 2006... The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has proposed a new method of evaluation in order to update its map of countries at risk regarding the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease. It launched a public consultation on this...

FISHERIES POLICY : COMMISSION ADOPTS FISHERIES PRODUCTS GUIDE PRICES FOR 2007.
November 30, 2006... Proposals on the 2007 guide prices for fresh and frozen fisheries products were adopted by the European Commission on 20 November, with increases proposed for many white fish species. It is proposed that guide prices for most of such...

POTATO : COMMISSION FAVOURS GENETICALLY MODIFIED POTATO GROWING.
November 30, 2006... Because they create less problems of dissemination in the environment, the European Commission, after several weeks of reflection, has finally decided to reopen the debate on whether or not to authorise the growing of genetically modified (GM)...

FISHERIES : COMMISSION PROPOSES PERMANENT FUNDING FOR RACS.
November 30, 2006... The Regional Advisory Councils are to be provided with long-term EU funding for their operational costs, the European Commission announced on 27 November. The EU executive has adopted proposals which, if left unchanged by Council, would...

EU/UN : COMMISSION SETS OUT ITS STALL IN UN FISHERIES DEBATE.
November 30, 2006... The United Nations General Assembly was continuing discussions on the environmental impact of deep sea fishing practices on 17 November, with the European Commission set to present a package of proposals. The principle behind the...

FISHERIES POLICY : COUNCIL AGREES ON NEW MEASURES TO MONITOR FISHING ACTIVITIES.
November 30, 2006... EU vessels are to be fitted with new equipment for the electronic recording and reporting of fishing activities, following a political agreement reached by the Council of Ministers on 21 November. The agreement, based on a proposal for a...

FISHERIES COUNCIL : COUNCIL SECURES DEAL ON MEDITERRANEAN REGULATION.
November 30, 2006... The Finnish EU Presidency has succeeded where predecessors failed, on 21 November, and secured a deal on the Mediterranean Regulation, which sets out management measures for the sustainable exploitation of fish in the Mediterranean Sea. ...

FISHERIES : DEEP SEA SPECIES REMAIN IMPERILLED, SAY CONSERVATIONISTS.
November 30, 2006... The agreement reached at the November 2006 Fisheries Council on total allowable catches (TACs) for deep sea species in 2007 and 2008 has provoked a strong outcry from environmental groups, which have lambasted it as an example of irresponsible...

EU/UN : DISCUSSIONS ON DEEP SEA TRAWLING COULD REVEAL EU SPLITS.(European Union. European Commission and United Nations issues rules for marine conservation)
November 30, 2006... It is planned that negotiations at the United Nations aimed at agreeing a resolution on destructive fishing practices will conclude on 22 November, with the European Commission hoping its approach will win out against those countries calling...

EU/ECUADOR/WTO : ECUADOR FILES WTO COMPLAINT AGAINST EU BANANA TARIFF.
November 30, 2006... The war of the bananas between Europe and Latin America moved up a gear on 16 November when Ecuador decided to file a complaint with the World Trade OrganisationaArbitration Body about the EU banana import system. Ecuador requested that...

HEALTH : EU CALLED ON TO TACKLE MALNUTRITION.
November 30, 2006... With obesity currently looming large in the forefront of EU concerns, there is also a concern about the problem of malnutrition, which is currently a threat to more than 50 million Europeans. This was the message passed on by the European...

EU-NORWAY FISHERIES NEGOTIATIONS.
November 30, 2006... EU agriculture ministers were given the chance to comment on progress in the annual fisheries negotiations with Norway, on 21 November, during their meeting at Council. The European Commission represents the EU in the negotiations, the first...

COMPETITION : EUROPEAN COURT ON FINES FOR REPEAT CARTEL OFFENDERS.(Danone Clover Proprietary Ltd. fined for infringement)
November 30, 2006... An opinion from the EU Court of Justice (ECJ), issued on 16 November, has found that for cartel activity, repeat offenders may be punished more severely. In a case brought to the highest European court by the French dairy products giant...

EU-RUSSIA TENSIONS.(Brief article)
November 30, 2006... The Energy Council on 23 November was hoping for a miracle - for Warsaw to decide to lift its veto so that a mandate for negotiations with Russia on a new Partnership Agreement could be adopted. But Poland refused to budge and refused to settle...

MILK : FISCHER BOEL PREDICTS ABOLITION OF MILK QUOTAS.
November 30, 2006... "The abolition of the quota regime represents the most promising long-term scenario for the EU's milk sector," European Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel told the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee on 12 November. The...

FISHERIES: FRANCE OFF THE HOOK.
November 30, 2006... The French government has escaped a fine on 23 November, as the European Commission has decided to close an infringement procedure against it relating to the Common Fisheries Policy. The EU Court of Justice, on 12 July 2005, determined that...

FOKION FOTIADIS/EC.(appointment of Fokion Fotiadis at DG Fisheries and Maritime Affairs)(Brief article)
November 30, 2006... Following the approval of the European Commission's second mobility package on 22 November, Fokion Fotiadis has been appointed Director-General in DG Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, as of 1 January 2007. Fotiadis, currently Deputy...

INNOVATIVE YOUNG FARMER AWARD.
November 30, 2006... The European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mariann Fischer Boel, on 17 November presented the European Innovative Young Farmer Award to the winner of a Europe-wide competition, the first ever of its kind. The winning...

HEALTH : KYPRIANOU DEFENDS VOLUNTARY APPROACH TO FIGHTING OBESITY.
November 30, 2006... Following the pan-European conference organised in Istanbul for 15 to 17 November, EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou reconfirmed his desire to 'challenge industry' on the subject of responsible advertising with regard to children and...

ANIMAL WELFARE : MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES FOR THE TRANSPORT OF ANIMALS.
November 30, 2006... The European Commission believes it is necessary to ban the transport of animals in extreme temperatures, below 0[degrees]C and above about 30[degrees]. It proposes to table new standards on maximum and minimum authorised temperatures during...

MEPS BACK AQUACULTURE PERMITS.
November 30, 2006... MEPs have approved a proposed European Commission regulation concerning the use of alien and locally absent species in aquaculture, following a vote at the European Parliament's plenary session on 14 November. The report on the subject by...

BANANA : MEPS WANT BANANA AID TO BE CONTINUED.(Brief article)
November 30, 2006... The European Parliament, during its session on 11-14 December, is expected to adopt a report asking that the aid for banana production in the EU be maintained.aThe EP's Committee on Agriculture, on 22 November, voted in favour of a consultation...

EU/RUSSIA : MOSCOW THREATENS TO EXTEND ITS DISPUTE WITH POLAND TO ENTIRE EU.
November 30, 2006... The conflict between Moscow and Warsaw on veterinary and plant protection product imports could well spread. EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou does not believe a settlement is possible before 24 November. That is...

HEALTH : NGOS SPEAK OUT IN RUN-UP TO EU SUMMIT ON OBESITY.
November 30, 2006... Ministers and national delegations from around 50 European countries are expected to meet in Istanbul from 15 to 17 November for the first pan-European Summit on Obesity, organised under the aegis of the European Region of the World Health...

ENVIRONMENT : PARLIAMENT CONFIRMS ITS GOAL OF AN "AMBITIOUS" MARINE STRATEGY.
November 30, 2006... The European Community must take on a strong policy for protection of the marine environment to prevent any further loss of biodiversity or damage to the marine environment and to help restore balance to the marine ecosystem. This was the loud...

FISHERIES : PLAN TO SAVE BLUEFIN TUNA GENERATES MIXED REACTIONS.
November 30, 2006... Bluefin tuna now has a "realistic chance" of becoming a sustainable fishery in the Mediterranean, according to the European Commission, after agreement on an international long-term recovery plan was reached on 26 November. The plan was...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : PROGRESS IN DISCUSSIONS ON REFORM OF THE BANANA MARKET.
November 30, 2006... 'Bananas are still a hot potato,' said Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel with a touch of irony to EU agriculture ministers on 21 November in Brussels. Nevertheless, if comments by ministers are anything to go by, this dossier should...

FISHERIES COUNCIL : PROPOSALS WATERED DOWN IN DEEP SEA DEAL.
November 30, 2006... The Finnish EU Presidency has succeeded in securing agreement on Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and quotas for 2007-2008, at the meeting of the EU Fisheries Council on 21 November, but only at the expense of a significant watering down of the...

QUOTAS FOR ACP BANANAS.
November 30, 2006... The Management Committee for Bananas gave a favourable opinion on 15 November on a European Commission proposal to open a duty-free tariff quota of 775,000 tonnes for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries for 2007. Some 81% of the...

AGRICULTURE COUNCIL : STARK WARNING OVER RESTRUCTURING OF THE SUGAR SECTOR.
November 30, 2006... While it yielded promising results over its first year, the restructuring programme for the sugar sector nevertheless risks ending in failure in view of the current very low level of proposals to abandon production quotas submitted thus far for...

SUGAR FROM CROATIA.(Brief article)
November 30, 2006... The EU Council has approved without debate the conclusion of a protocol amending the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Croatia as regards tariff quotas for sugar and sugar products. The protocol replaces the current duty-free access...

EU/UN : UN DEAL FAILS TO SATISFY ENVIRONMENTALISTS.
November 30, 2006... Consensus has been reached at the United Nations, on 23 November, on a draft resolution concerning destructive fishing practices. Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg noted that he was particularly pleased by the fact that the consensus would...

COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY : VOLUNTARY MODULATION IS INEVITABLE IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT.
November 30, 2006... There is no alternative. The voluntary modulation of direct payments, up to a maximum of 20% - a possibility introduced by the conclusions of the December 2005 European Councila- must be implemented, according to the Finnish Presidency of the...

EU/WTO : WINES AND SPIRITS: EU LAUNCHES PROCEEDINGS AGAINST INDIA.
November 30, 2006... The European Commission on 20 November requested formal consultations in the context of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) with India, which it accuses of blocking imports of European spirits and wines. The EU has asked India to modify its...