§ Mr. CoeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Agriculture Council held in Brussels on 24 January; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThis Council meeting, at which I represented the United Kingdom, formally adopted the legal texts implementing the package of decisions reached at its December meeting and as described in my reply of 17 December to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Mr. Porter)Official Report, columns 1071–72. As stated in that reply, I voted against the decision on oilseeds.
The Council also adopted unanimously a regulation permitting member states to impose a levy on milk production in order to fund promotional measures; considered the situation of beekeepers in the Community, on which the Commission will present a more detailed study in due course; and discussed, without reaching any specific conclusions, a report from the Commission on the sheepmeat market.
I took the opportunity to press the Commission to reach a speedy decision on the legality or otherwise of French national assistance to pig producers, an issue which I had first raised in the Council last October.