Agenda Landbouw Raad van 27 november 2008 (en)

The Agriculture Council will meet in Brussels on Friday 28 November (starting at 9.00 a.m.), under the Presidency of Michel Barnier, French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel will represent the Commission at the meeting. The formal meeting will end at lunch time.

Over lunch, Mr Louis Michel, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, will join Ministers to discuss "Solidarity with developing countries".

A press conference is scheduled at the end of the formal part of the meeting, just before lunch.

The points on the agenda of Council are:

Agriculture

Food distribution to the most deprived persons in the EU

On 17 September, the European Commission proposed to improve the current food distribution programme for the most deprived persons in the European Union by increasing the budget by two thirds to around €500 million from 2009 and extending the range of products which can be provided. Originally designed to provide surplus stocks of farm produce ("intervention stocks") to needy people, the scheme was amended in the mid-1990s to make it possible to supplement intervention stocks with market purchases in certain circumstances. Now that surplus stocks are extremely low and unlikely to increase in the foreseeable future, the scheme should allow market purchases on a permanent basis, to complement remaining intervention stocks. The choice of food would be for the Member States and food distribution plans would be established for three-year periods. Food would continue to be distributed in cooperation with charities and local social services. From the 2010/12 plan, the scheme would be co-financed (75 percent from the EU budget, and 85 percent in cohesion areas). From the 2013/15 plan, co-financing would be split 50/50, with the EU budget providing 75 percent in cohesion regions. In 2006, more than 13 million EU citizens benefited from this aid scheme. The revised programme should be available from 2010.

More information on the free food for the most deprived persons in the EU available at: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets/freefood/index_en.htm

The Council will hold a public policy debate on the Commission proposal. The debate will be retransmitted in the press room.

Future of the CAP after 2013

At the informal meeting of Agriculture Ministers in Annecy on 23 September, Ministers had a first discussion on how the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) should look after 2013.

The outcome of this exchange of views will serve as the basis for planned conclusions on "the Future of the CAP after 2013".

AOB

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  Reintroduction of export refunds in the dairy sector (Polish demand).
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  Increased control measures imposed by Greece on cereals imported from Romania and Bulgaria.
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  WTO negotiations: State of