Seamus Kirk
Ceist:203 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the timescale for the completion of Agenda 2000 discussions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19545/98]
Written Answers. - Agenda 2000.
The Cardiff European Council on 15-16 June 1998 set the objective of achieving final adoption of the overall Agenda 2000 proposals before the next European Parliament elections in June 1999 and specified that substantial progress should be made at the Vienna European Council in December 1998 on the key elements of the package so that political agreement could be reached on the package as a whole no later than March 1999.
Technical examination of the proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy is continuing in preparation for the meetings of the Council of Agriculture Ministers later this month and in November. It is intended that a report will be made by the Council to the European Council meeting in Vienna on 11-12 December.
This timetable is, I believe, a reasonable one given the complexity of the proposals and the need for careful consideration of them at both technical and political levels.