Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 September 2013
228. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the parameters of the discussions held with Ministerial colleagues at the Meeting of Ministers for Agriculture and Fisheries, AGRI-FISH, in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 23 September 2013; if he will detail any agreement reached; if he will provide an update in matters discussed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40329/13]
View answerThe meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers on 23 September last took place in Brussels. The main item on the agenda was CAP reform. The Council agreed to a small adjustment in the Council position in order to allow the Lithuanian Presidency to finalise an agreement with the EU Commission and the European Parliament on a number of outstanding MFF related issues not covered by the political agreement on CAP reform reached last June. I am pleased to say that the Lithuanian Presidency went on to have a successful trilogue and I expect the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament will approve the deal at its meeting next week, paving the way for full endorsement by the European Parliament at its November plenary meeting.
A number of issues were raised under other business. The EU Commission provided an update to Ministers on developments in international trade issues, including the upcoming WTO Ministerial conference in Bali and the bilateral trade negotiations with Canada, USA and Japan. The Commission also made a presentation to Ministers of its proposals for a new EU forest strategy. Ministers also heard reports of recent conferences. I, myself, debriefed my colleagues on the conclusions from the 33rd conference of Directors of EU Paying Agencies, which was held in Dublin in April last. The Presidency provided a report on a recent conference in Vilnius on organic production and Slovenia briefed Ministers about an August conference dedicated to furthering the production of protein crops in the Danube and South European region.
Poland drew Ministers’ attention to the risks posed by the outbreak of African swine fever close to the EU border and called for a coordinated approach. Netherlands raised the question of the EU TRACES computer system, which records data on movements of live animals, calling for greater transparency in regard to the information recorded on this system.
