Agriculture and Fisheries Council, 10-11 November 2014

The November Agriculture and Fisheries Council will take place in Brussels on 10-11 November 2014 with the Commission represented for the first time by Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan and Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis. A press conference will be held at the end of the discussions on Monday late afternoon (for Agriculture) and Tuesday lunchtime (Fisheries). The public debates and the press conferences can be followed by video streaming.

Agriculture

Financing the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF)

Following the Commission Amending Letter to the draft 2015 budget and in the context of the ongoing 2015 budget conciliation procedures (see Fact sheet from 22/10/2014), Ministers will discuss the situation for next year's EU budget. Commissioner Hogan will recall the broader context of the overall EU budget and the situation in terms of payment appropriations.

Cyprus State Aid

The Cyprus Minister has asked to raise a question concerning a state aid for agricultural fuel in Cyprus. The Commission has made clear its readiness to work bilaterally with the Cyprus government to find a solution in line with EU rules.

Fisheries

Deep-sea species fishing opportunities

Political agreement will be sought on a Commission proposal for fixing fishing opportunities for EU vessels for deep-sea fish stocks in EU and international waters in the North-East Atlantic for 2015-2016. The proposal covers catch limits for 22 stocks and is based on scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES). Available data for most deep-sea stocks are insufficient to allow scientists to fully assess the stock status, either in terms of number of fish or fishing mortality.

AOB

Agriculture

• - 

  Impact of Russian import ban and the Ukraine crisis on agricultural products in Greece

Greece will update Member States about the negative impact on the Greek peaches & nectarines sector of the Russian ban on imports of EU agricultural products, following on from the difficulties caused by the Ukraine crisis.

• - 

  Statement on organic package by certain Member States

Slovakia will present a joint declaration on the ongoing organics review by 7 Member States (PL, HU, CZ, SK, SI, RO & BG) following a recent meeting of the so-called Visegrad group. This statement comes as discussions on the dossier progress in the Council and the European Parliament.

• - 

  Young Farmers

The Italian Presidency will bring to Ministers' attention a Presidency document on strengthening EU policies to support young farmers, mentioning specifically the issues of access to credit, access to land, and experience exchange.

Health

• - 

  The Slovenian delegation will debrief delegations about the outcome of a conference on honey bees held in Maribor in August.
• - 

  Moreover, the Austrian along with the Hungarian delegation, will raise the issue of corn rootworm controls.

Contacts:

Daniel Rosario - daniel.rosario@ec.europa.eu - +32 2 295 61 85

Justyna Milanowska - justyna.milanowska@ec.europa.eu - +32 2 299 42 46

Enrico Brivio - enrico.brivio@ec.europa.eu - +32 2 295 61 72

Iris Petsa - iris.petsa@ec.europa.eu - +32 2 299 33 21

Aikaterini Apostola - aikaterini.apostola@ec.europa.eu - +32 2 298 76 24

MEMO/14/1521

General public inquiries:

Europe Direct by phone 00 800 67 89 10 11 or by email