Agriculture Council, Brussels, 20 May (Hansard, 3 June 1997)

§ Lord Donoughue

My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food represented the United Kingdom at the meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers held in Brussels on 20 May. He was accompanied by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Scottish Office, Lord Sewel.

My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food informed the Council of Ministers of the priority which the United Kingdom Government attaches in the field of food and agriculture to protecting the health and well being of the consumer and the environment. He also made clear his intention to work constructively with our European colleagues to bring about a lifting of the ban on UK beef exports in accordance with the Florence Agreement, and to achieve further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

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(b) mixed and (c) pure milk herds for the last two years.

§ Lord Donoughue

The percentages requested are provided in the following table:

The Council unanimously adopted an important animal welfare measure concerning the protection of animals during transport, specifically the introduction of Community-wide criteria for staging points. My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food welcomed this proposal, but drew attention to the concerns of the United Kingdom, shared by Ireland and Denmark not to jeopardise the high health status of breeding pigs when in transport and thus damage a valuable trade. The Council at his insistence agreed a declaration requesting the Commission to examine the possibility of special measures to deal with this issue, and to report to the Council as soon as possible.

The Council also discussed the serious situation facing the EU beef market, and in particular the adequacy of the early marketing and calf processing schemes in reducing excess production. My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food stressed the urgency of bringing forward far-reaching proposals for reform of this sector, including reductions in support prices, and emphasised the distorting effects which these schemes were having on the UK market in particular. He pressed the Commission to review them as quickly as possible. In response, the Commission presented a detailed analysis of the current situation and prospects for the EU beef and veal market, and undertook to report further on the early marketing and calf schemes as a matter of urgency.

The Commission reported on its negotiations with third countries, in particular the United States, for the conclusion of veterinary and plant health equivalence agreements. My right honourable Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food urged the Commission to resolve outstanding matters with the United States as rapidly as possible.

In the margins of the Council of Ministers, my right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food held bilateral discussions with Commissioner Bonino and with several EU Ministerial colleagues. As the first member of the new Government to visit the European Parliament, he also took the opportunity to hold talks with a number of MEPs, including Pauline Green, leader of the Parliamentary Group of the Party of European Socialists, and with the Chairmen of the Agriculture Committee and the Temporary Committee inquiring into BSE. They discussed the UK 35WA Government's priorities for agricultural policy, and the particular issue of BSE.