(The Minister of State
for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food): Agriculture and
Fisheries Council took place in Brussels on 28 January. The UK
was represented by , Parliamentary
Under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity, and
Lords Minister.
The lead issue on the agriculture-focused agenda was the Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform post-2020, divided into two
table rounds. The first round focused on Strategic Plans and
Horizontal Regulations, detailing the changes to streamline the
new delivery model, as well as the agricultural reserve. Member
States broadly supported the call for the pillar two budget to be
maintained, including a proposal which will allow a 35 percent
deviation from annual milestones, among other things.
In the second debate, the Commission’s proposal to lift the ban
on Vitis labrusca and six forbidden grape varieties was debated.
The majority of wine producing Member States rejected the
proposal on quality and reputational grounds. Commissioner Hogan
then gave a presentation on Green Architecture which focused on
Member States’ objectives to achieve high level climate
ambitions.
Commissioner Hogan also introduced the non-legislative debate on
supporting the growth of plant protein in the EU, setting out a
wide range of proposed measures from the Commission’s Plan. A
declaration, calling for measures to be brought together in an
EU-wide action plan was supported by a number of Member States.
A number of other items were discussed under ‘any other
business’:
- Commissioner Andriukaitis provided an update from the
Ministerial conference on African swine fever (ASF) held in
December 2018.
- Slovakia presented their request for an update on the dual
quality food issue.
- Denmark informed Council about their new International Centre
for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS). The UK expressed
its support, highlighting the new five year National AMR Action
Plan and the Chief Medical Officer’s recent visit to Copenhagen.
