§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures were adopted by the Agriculture Council at its meeting on 19 to 22 June and what was the pattern of voting. [32193]
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe Council adopted the following measures:
- 1. Protection of farm animals during transport.
- 2. Support prices for agricultural products for 1995–96 and related measures.
- 3. Changes to the agri-monetary system.
- 4. Adjustment to set-aside arrangements so as to allow arable land taken out of production under forestry or environmental measures to count against the set-aside obligation of the farmer concerned.
- 5. Changes to the support for cotton.
- 6. Definitive allocation to Italy and Greece of the increases in milk quotas previously allocated on a temporary basis.
- 7. Rules for the operation of the knacker industry.
- 8. Approval of a national aid to French wine producers.
The legal basis of items 1 to 7 was article 43 of the treaty, which provides for adoption by qualified majority vote. Item 8 required unanimity under article 93.2 of the Treaty.
The member states voting against the various measures were:
- 1. Italy, Austria and Denmark.
- 3. The United Kingdom.
- 6. Netherlands, Denmark and Luxembourg.
Sweden subsequently registered a vote against the package covering items 1 to 7.