§ Sir Peter Millsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Council of Agriculture Ministers meeting held in Brussels on 9–10 February; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 11 February 1987, c. 288]: My right hon. Friend represented the United Kingdom at the meeting of the council of Agriculture Ministers in Brussels on 23–24 February.
Agreement was reached on the arrangements for payment of compensation for temporary suspension of quota in 1987–88 The Commissions original proposal, which would have had the effect of reducing the compensation payment when a producer exceeded his individual reference quota, was not adopted. This means that we succeeded in retaining the full benefit of formula B and article 4A, which was the basis of the compromise agreement reached in December. Compensation for 240W suspension will be made during the first quarter of 1988. This is an improvement on the Commission's original proposal to pay after 1 April 1988.
The Council agreed also that if at the end of 1987–88 the target reduction in milk production for the Community as agreed in the December package has not been achieved the Council will take action to correct the position on the basis of proposals by the Commission.
The Council was unable, after lengthy discussion, to agree new intervention arrangements for butter and skim milk powder. My right hon. Friend continued to support the objective of making intervention more flexible. There was agreement on the principles which should be followed in reaching decisions. The Council will resume discussion on this at next week's meeting.
The Council will also take up next week negotiations on the socio-structural package. The main issues outstanding here remain the arrangements for early retirement (particularly whether this should be made optional and not mandatory on all member states) and the detailed provisions on extensification of production.