Dalsager, Poul.

English

Archive of European Integration

COMMISSION 
DES 
COMMUNAUTES EUROPEENNES 
GRou: ;- DU PORTE-PAROLE 
.. 
AGRICULTURAL COUNCIL 17-18 OCTOBER 1983 
INTERVENTION OF Mr. POUL DALSAGER IN LUXEMBOURG 
,S.ubject: Acquis Communauta~re 
Mr. Cha1,.man, 
In presenting this comprom1se from the Commission, t must make 
one po~ nt very c; lear. tt is presented tonight because I believe we now 
have a final agreement within .reach. We can reach out and grasp it 
t nn i o h t. H t s ~ "' proposil \ iDr yov to ta ~~ ~"AY .a tv! Hi nk ~t'IOv-f': .. 
It is.!!!ll a new basis for an extended negotiation over several· sessions. 
We have spent more than two years in a painfully slow negotiation, 
Now, with less than two months Left before the Athens meeting of the 
European Council, is the time for a decision, and if we cannot decide 
tonight then it is inevitable that the matter will be reoferreJ, with 
so many other issues, to that european CounciL. 
To emphasize the point, I will say that this compromise proposal remains 
open onlY. for this session of the Counc1 l. If it does not succeed, the 
Commission will withdraw it. We will also ~ithdraw the proposals put 
forward informally to the meeting of D;rectors General. We wiLl fall 
back on our original proposals, and the matter will have to go in its 
present state to Athens, 
A second point I must emphasize is that thtt document re!:)resents a 
most careful balance. We are at the stage of finality. Negotiation over 
your two compromises, Mr. Chairman, has enabled us to see very clearly t 
the balance of forces in the CounciL, and the essentials cf the 
negotiation for each M~Mber State~ We cannot accept six reservations 
• I • 
2. ; 
on this side, and hatf a dozen on the other. We cannot trim it, adjust 
it, change it this way and that through this night. 
If it is unacceptabLe at any major point to any delegation, that 
de 1";C~gat1on will need to tell the Council immediately. Then we can go 
hom~ to b~d eady,. because there will be no point in dhcussi119 the 
m1tter untiL the European Council. 
Finally, Mr. Chairman, before takir19 you through the detail, I must 
thaf1k you for the Gffort you have m<Jde with your t~o~o compromises. 
You will see that our own proposals are build on two bases. The first 
is the' report of the Directors GeneraL, wh i c:h has often been referred to 
this evening. The second is your own compromises. I think we have taken 
• 
the best out of each document. 
OLive oil 
Let me 1irst turn to olive oil, In the Light of the comments of several 
Member States, we believe that the text of the Director General's report 
provides us with the best basis for a dec1s1on on this sector. We have 
thus adhered scrupulously to its guidP.L1nes on the three aspects o~ which wt 
' 
all agree that ' definitive reply rnu$t be given at this juncture. 
As you will see in respect of the transitional period and the adoption 
of the acq1.1is Communautaire, ~>Je maintain that a long transitional period 
should be established for olive oil ~s well at for the other vegetable 
oils and oi~seeds, the length of which is to be negotiated with Spain 
and PortugaL. The on~y novelty, upon which the Ccmmission insists, is that 
a decis1on shouLd be taken as soon as possible on the restructuring and 
convers1on of areas under olive trees to other products, in the context 
of integrated Mediterranean programme~ for i~plementa~ion in the Community 
and in the applicant countries. The sooner such reconversion gets under • 
way, the ~ore chance ~e have of keepin~ production under.control~n this 
sector in an enlarged Community. 
we have given considerable thought to the last section concerning the 
future organization of the market, we have come to the conclusion that it 
should not be so wide·reaching, Mr ,Chairman, as the text suggested in 
your latest compromise, And so we have turned to the ted of the Pi rector 
General's reporf for our bas1s, including, as some Ministers have requested, 
a specific reference to the work currently in progress 1n other p•rts of 
the Council following the Stuttgart summit in June, 
FruiJ and Vesetab ~~.s 
Let me now oome to the more complex problem of fruit and vegetables 
and deal with each of the outstanding issues of this dossier one by one, 
On th~ internal side, there are several points which in the Commission's 
view stilt require cl~riiicat1on and should now be decided upo~. 
Firstly, as 1ar as the aids for the formation of producers' organizations 
are concerned, we suggest that the arrangements currently in force should 
apply unti~ 1 July 1988, in parallel with the newly proposed system, 
after which date cnly the new system will apply. We have thus taken up 
the idea in the latest Presidency compromise in edging toward$ the Italian 
request; at the same time, we have wanted to put a specific date Cas 
asked for by a few Member States) and have not agreed to provision bein~ 
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made for total exemption for certain members from the obligation to sell 
all their croduction through the group. 
secondly, there remains the v~xed question of the extension of rules to 
non-member• producers, With regard to representativitt of erod~eer prganizationa, 
we are prepared to modify our propoual to oome into' line with the latest 
euggeation of the Presideno~. 
As for the Commission's eower of control, we have textually taken the 
wording on page 4 of the Director General's report 1 thus permitting 
marketing rules to be extended only after the Commission has given fts 
agreement. 'For the review of t~e validity of the system, we nave taken the 
idea of the Presidency whereby the Commission w1l.l submit a 
report to the Council on the operation of the system after a 3 year trial 
period in order that a decision can be taken concerning its retention or 
abolition. 
F1nalty, on the e~tension of rules, the Commission stands by its view that 
app~ication of the w1thdrawal price is an essential component of the rules 
laid down by the producers' or9anizations for stabilizing the market. 
The third outstanding issue of the internal dossier is the question 
relating to the identification of a serious crisis. We do not believe 
that the majority of Member States wish to install a highly soph1sticated 
mechani51'!1 to identify when a serintJ~ r,.h~c ;~rit:oc. Wo thc:refl)re :II ... SJ!i:le·H llle~l. 
the Council should limit the reinforcement of the provisions of the existing 
~rtiele 19 a 1c t1't dnift as' set out in Annex II of the Oirector General's 
report, extending its application to apricots, aubergines and tomatoes. 
There should aLso be provision 1 in a given Member State, for the measures 
referred to in the Article to be decided on the basis of pr1ees recorded 
at the wholesale l~vel on the ~ost representative markets. The main 
effect of tnts change will be that the identification of a serious crists 
will no longer rest in the hands of a Member State~it is the Commission 
1tself which will record without delay that the market in the product 
in OUP.<IIti,.,n h ~n :1 ~tot-e: of 1hff"10US CriS1So 
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Lastly, we believe that in principle intervention should not be 
o><hl"lac:d betor·!IJ U.!.eo current marketins yet~[• However, we are 
prepared,in exceptiDnal circumstances, for a decision to be taken 
to this effect on the ban~ of a proposal by the Comm1ssion through 
the Management Committee procedure. 
I now come to the external aspects of this dossier, 
4. 
As far as the £alcul~~ion of the reference eri~e and the calculation 
o,f the entry pris.e is concerned, we have simply taken the -.ext of 
the 1>1 rer.tor GeneraL's r~port. Th h seems to us to be. the closest the 
Council will come to • consensus view on both these points, We 
agree with the suggestion of the Presidency that t~e reference prices 
for Gree~ products so calculated should take account of the 
provisions of Article 75 of the Accession treaty. we also consider that 
the list of products subject to ,the reference price should only be 
extended to apply to apricots, artichokes, lettuces and endives Ctne 
four products already agreed to in the Director General's report), 
we have had more difficulty, however, with the amendment of the 
m~thod of calc~latina ~efer!ne! prices tor citrus fruit. we recognize 
th~t the Council is severely split on this issue and a compromise 
will be difficult to find. On preliminary examination of the Latest 
idea of the ~reside~cy, thia will result in a reoover,y in the reference 
~rio~ level of about 40;1 The Co~isaion Qannot ~ocept this • 
• We are nev~rtheless prepared to take a 
. sttp,to obtain agreement,in the direction of the producer 
Member Stat~s to raise the total recovery to l)r.; but this should 
be spread evenly over two campai9n years <1984/85 and 1985/86), 
Finally, the Commission, in the interests ot a balanced package, 
agrees to the Dutch reqyest to submit .a ~eport with appropriat. 
, ..... ,,,.., 
.......... 
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The last outshnc11:1g point relates to the date of application of 
the i"ttrnfl and external aspects, We believe that it is logical that 
both aspeets should be decided on together and the most convtnitnt time 
will be when the Community pres~nts, to the two applic~nt countries, 
its declaration for accession negotiations on fruit and vegetables • 
. 
We have concluded our proposals for a compromise, Mr Chair~an, with a 
declaration that we will keep th1s regime under close review during 
land 
the transitional period in an enlarged Community. We art also prepartd 
to submit 1 report !nd if necessary proposals concerning the special 
problem of tarly potatoes. 
Evt!''>'One has ;2 ·few \"st. po1nts :~at they would like included, 
or ~xcluded. wr have to m~ke the effort now, and concentrate on 
our first and our major points. 
I believe they are atL met iii' this document. Otherwise, these 
t 1~0 'Y~"' fl+ ~,r\llJ1iH ,~/1.,. ,..;~fh ~~\.s ~ot'\,l,lu.nf: into Lh~ waste 
paper basket. 
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Acquis communautaire. Intervention of Mr. Poul Dalsager [Commissioner for agriculture][on agriculture reform measures] at the Agricultural Council. Luxembourg, 17-18 October 1983

COMMISSION DES COMMUNAUTES  EUROPEENNES GRou: ;- DU  PORTE-PAROLE .. AGRICULTURAL  COUNCIL  17-18  OCTOBER  1983 INTERVENTION  OF  Mr.  POUL  DALSAGER  IN  LUXEMBOURG ,S.ubject:  Acquis  Communauta~re Mr.  Cha1,.man, In presenting  this  comprom1se  from  the  Commission,  t  must  make one  po~ nt  very  c; lear.  tt  is presented  tonight  because  I  believe  we  now have  a  final  agreement  within .reach.  We  can  reach  out  and  grasp  it t nn i o  h t.  H  t s ~  "'  proposil \  iDr yov  to  ta  ~~  ~"AY .a tv!  Hi  nk  ~t'IOv-f':  .. It  is.!!!ll a  new  basis  for  an  extended  negotiation over  several· sessions. We  have  spent  more  than  two  years  in  a  painfully slow  negotiation, Now,  with  less  than  two  months  Left  before  the Athens  meeting  of  the European  Council,  is  the  time  for  a  decision, and  if  we  cannot  decide tonight  then  it is  inevitable  that  the matter  will  be  reoferreJ,  with so  many  other  issues,  to  that  european  CounciL. To  emphasize  the point,  I  will  say  that  this  compromise  proposal  remains open  onlY. for  this  session  of  the  Counc1 l.  If  it does  not  succeed,  the Commission  will  withdraw  it.  We  will  also  ~ithdraw the  proposals  put forward  informally  to  the  meeting  of  D;rectors General.  We  wiLl  fall back  on  our  original proposals,  and  the  matter  will  have  to  go  in  its present  state  to  Athens, A  second  point  I  must  emphasize  is  that  thtt document  re!:)resents  a most  careful  balance.  We  are at  the  stage of  finality.  Negotiation  over your  two  compromises,  Mr.  Chairman,  has  enabled  us  to  see  very  clearly  t the  balance of  forces  in  the  CounciL,  and  the essentials  cf  the negotiation  for  each  M~Mber  State~ We  cannot  accept  six  reservations • I • 2. ; on  this  side,  and  hatf  a  dozen  on  the  other.  We  cannot  trim  it, adjust it, change  it this way  and  that  through  this night. If  it  is  unacceptabLe  at  any  major  point  to  any  delegation,  that de1";C~gat1on  will  need  to  tell  the  Council  immediately.  Then  we  can  go hom~  to  b~d eady,.  because  there will  be  no  point  in dhcussi119  the m1tter  untiL  the  European  Council. Finally,  Mr.  Chairman,  before  takir19  you  through  the detail,  I  must thaf1k  you  for  the  Gffort  you  have  m<Jde  with  your  t~o~o  compromises. You  will  see  that  our  own  proposals  are  build  on  two  bases.  The  first is  the' report  of  the Directors GeneraL,  wh i c:h  has  often been  referred  to this  evening.  The  second  is your  own  compromises.  I  think  we  have  taken • the best  out  of  each  document. OLive  oil Let  me  1irst turn  to  olive oil,  In  the  Light  of  the  comments  of  several Member  States,  we  believe that  the  text  of  the  Director  General's  report provides  us  with  the  best  basis  for  a dec1s1on  on  this sector.  We  have thus  adhered  scrupulously  to  its guidP.L1nes  on  the  three aspects  o~ which  wt ' all  agree  that '  definitive  reply  rnu$t  be  given  at  this  juncture. As  you  will  see  in  respect  of  the  transitional  period  and  the  adoption of  the  acq1.1is  Communautaire,  ~>Je  maintain  that  a  long  transitional  period should  be  established for  olive oil  ~s  well  at  for  the  other  vegetable oils and  oi~seeds,  the  length  of  which  is  to  be  negotiated  with  Spain and  PortugaL.  The  on~y novelty,  upon  which  the  Ccmmission  insists,  is  that a  decis1on  shouLd  be  taken  as  soon  as  possible on  the  restructuring and convers1on  of  areas  under  olive  trees  to  other products,  in  the  context of  integrated Mediterranean  programme~ for  i~plementa~ion in  the  Community and  in  the applicant  countries.  The  sooner  such  reconversion  gets  under  • way,  the  ~ore chance  ~e have  of  keepin~ production  under.control~n this sector  in  an  enlarged  Community. we  have  given  considerable  thought  to the  last  section concerning  the future  organization of  the  market,  we  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it should  not  be  so  wide·reaching,  Mr  ,Chairman,  as  the  text  suggested  in your  latest  compromise,  And  so  we  have  turned to the  ted of  the  Pi rector General's  reporf  for  our  bas1s,  including,  as  some  Ministers  have  requested, a  specific  reference  to  the  work  currently  in  progress  1n  other p•rts of the  Council  following  the  Stuttgart  summit  in  June, FruiJ  and  Vesetab ~~.s Let  me  now  oome  to  the  more  complex  problem  of  fruit  and  vegetables and  deal  with  each  of  the outstanding  issues  of  this  dossier  one  by  one, On  th~  internal  side,  there  are  several  points  which  in  the  Commission's view  stilt require  cl~riiicat1on and  should  now  be  decided  upo~. Firstly,  as  1ar  as  the  aids  for  the  formation  of  producers'  organizations are  concerned,  we  suggest  that  the  arrangements  currently  in  force  should apply  unti~ 1  July  1988,  in  parallel  with  the  newly  proposed  system, after which  date  cnly  the  new  system  will  apply.  We  have  thus  taken  up the  idea  in  the  latest  Presidency  compromise  in  edging  toward$  the  Italian request;  at  the  same  time,  we  have  wanted  to  put  a  specific  date  Cas asked  for  by  a  few  Member  States)  and  have  not  agreed  to  provision  bein~ .1. ·:.· j:' .l ~< . . r: made  for  total  exemption  for  certain members  from  the  obligation  to sell all  their croduction  through  the  group. secondly,  there  remains  the  v~xed question  of the  extension  of  rules  to non-member•  producers,  With  regard  to  representativitt of  erod~eer prganizationa, we  are  prepared  to modify  our propoual  to  oome  into' line with the latest euggeation  of the  Presideno~. As  for  the  Commission's  eower  of  control,  we  have  textually  taken  the wording  on  page  4 of  the  Director  General's  report 1  thus  permitting marketing  rules  to be  extended  only  after  the  Commission  has  given  fts agreement. 'For  the  review  of  t~e validity of  the  system,  we  nave  taken  the idea  of  the  Presidency  whereby  the  Commission  w1l.l  submit  a report  to  the  Council  on  the  operation  of  the  system  after a 3 year  trial period  in  order  that  a  decision  can  be  taken  concerning  its  retention or abolition. F1nalty,  on  the  e~tension of  rules,  the  Commission  stands  by  its view  that app~ication of  the  w1thdrawal  price  is  an  essential  component  of  the  rules laid down  by  the  producers'  or9anizations  for  stabilizing  the  market. The  third outstanding  issue  of  the  internal  dossier  is  the  question relating  to  the  identification of  a  serious  crisis.  We  do  not  believe that  the  majority  of  Member  States  wish  to  install  a  highly  soph1sticated mechani51'!1  to  identify  when  a  serintJ~  r,.h~c  ;~rit:oc.  Wo  thc:refl)re  :II  ... SJ!i:le·H  llle~l. the  Council  should  limit  the  reinforcement  of  the  provisions  of  the  existing ~rtiele 19  a 1c  t1't  dnift  as' set  out  in  Annex  II  of  the  Oirector  General's report,  extending  its  application  to apricots,  aubergines  and  tomatoes. There  should  aLso  be  provision1  in  a  given  Member  State,  for  the  measures referred  to  in  the  Article  to  be  decided  on  the  basis  of  pr1ees  recorded at  the  wholesale  l~vel  on  the  ~ost  representative markets.  The  main effect  of  tnts  change  will  be  that  the  identification of  a  serious  crists will  no  longer  rest  in  the  hands  of  a  Member  State~it is  the  Commission 1tself which  will  record  without  delay  that  the  market  in  the  product in  OUP.<IIti,.,n  h  ~n  :1  ~tot-e:  of  1hff"10US  CriS1So .1. I I . 1 ~· F i' ~  ... Lastly,  we  believe  that  in  principle  intervention should  not  be o><hl"lac:d  betor·!IJ  U.!.eo  current  marketins  yet~[•  However,  we  are prepared,in exceptiDnal  circumstances,  for  a decision  to be  taken to  this effect  on  the  ban~ of  a  proposal  by  the  Comm1ssion  through the  Management  Committee  procedure. I  now  come  to  the  external  aspects  of  this  dossier, 4. As  far  as  the £alcul~~ion of  the  reference  eri~e  and  the  calculation o,f  the  entry pris.e  is  concerned,  we  have  simply  taken  the -.ext  of the  1>1 rer.tor  GeneraL's  r~port.  Th h  seems  to us  to  be.  the  closest the Council  will  come  to •  consensus  view  on  both  these points,  We agree  with  the  suggestion of  the  Presidency  that  t~e reference  prices for  Gree~ products  so  calculated should  take  account  of  the provisions of Article 75  of  the  Accession  treaty.  we  also  consider  that the  list of  products  subject  to ,the  reference price  should  only  be extended  to apply  to  apricots,  artichokes,  lettuces and  endives  Ctne four  products  already  agreed  to  in  the  Director  General's  report), we  have  had  more  difficulty,  however,  with  the  amendment  of  the m~thod of  calc~latina  ~efer!ne! prices  tor  citrus fruit.  we  recognize th~t  the  Council  is  severely split on  this  issue  and  a  compromise will  be  difficult  to  find.  On  preliminary examination  of  the  Latest idea  of  the  ~reside~cy,  thia will result in a  reoover,y  in the reference ~rio~ level  of about  40;1  The  Co~isaion Qannot  ~ocept this • •  We  are  nev~rtheless prepared  to  take  a .  sttp,to obtain  agreement,in  the  direction of  the  producer Member  Stat~s to  raise  the  total  recovery  to l)r.;  but  this  should be  spread  evenly  over  two  campai9n  years  <1984/85  and  1985/86), Finally,  the  Commission,  in  the  interests ot  a  balanced package, agrees  to the  Dutch  reqyest  to  submit  .a  ~eport with  appropriat. , ..... ,,,..,  .......... .I  • I l r l I I I I / .. I ' .,~ Jr,  ~ .,;. ·'~ The  last  outshnc11:1g  point  relates  to  the  date of application  of the  i"ttrnfl and  external  aspects,  We  believe that  it is  logical  that both  aspeets  should  be  decided  on  together and  the  most  convtnitnt  time will  be  when  the  Community  pres~nts, to  the  two  applic~nt countries, its declaration  for  accession  negotiations  on  fruit  and  vegetables • . We  have  concluded  our  proposals  for  a  compromise,  Mr  Chair~an, with  a declaration  that  we  will  keep  th1s  regime  under  close  review  during land the transitional  period  in  an  enlarged  Community.  We  art also prepartd to submit  1  report  !nd  if necessary  proposals  concerning  the  special problem  of  tarly potatoes. Evt!''>'One  has  ;2  ·few  \"st.  po1nts  :~at  they  would  like  included, or  ~xcluded.  wr  have  to  m~ke the effort  now,  and  concentrate  on our  first  and  our  major  points. I  believe they  are  atL  met  iii' this  document.  Otherwise,  these t 1~0 'Y~"' fl+  ~,r\llJ1iH  ,~/1.,.  ,..;~fh  ~~\.s ~ot'\,l,lu.nf: into  Lh~ waste paper  basket. .  ~. s. !  .  ~ I  ., ~  i I'  .I j ,t ;  ,, . .  I :I ·:I • 

Acquis communautaire. Intervention of Mr. Poul Dalsager [Commissioner for agriculture][on agriculture reform measures] at the Agricultural Council. Luxembourg, 17-18 October 1983

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