Fri. Jan 24th, 2025

Main results of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 9 and 10 December 2024

Dec 11, 2024 , , , ,

Wednesday 11 December 2024, 02:17

Fishing opportunities

Fisheries ministers have reached a political agreement on fishing opportunities in the Atlantic, the North Sea, the Mediterranean and the Black Seas for 2025. The deal, reached today by consensus following two days of negotiations, sets out fish catch limits, also known as ‘total allowable catches’ (TACs), and fishing effort limits for the most important commercial fish stocks. The fishing effort refers to the size and engine power of a vessel combined with the number of days spent fishing.

The limits agreed are in line with the goal of ensuring the long-term sustainability of fish stocks and the protection of marine ecosystems, while at the same time limiting the impact on communities that depend on fishing.

This year’s exercise of setting fishing opportunities was particularly challenging but we managed to secure a balanced agreement. It will allow us to maintain fish stocks at sustainable levels and protect the marine environment, while also considering the viability of the sector. Setting the fishing effort limits in the Western Mediterranean was particularly demanding, but we managed to find a constructive compromise.

István Nagy, Hungarian Minister for Agriculture

 

Plant and forest reproductive material

The presidency provided the Council with an overview of the progress made during its term on two legislative proposals: the proposal on plant reproductive material and the proposal on forest reproductive material.

As far as plant reproductive material is concerned, the Hungarian presidency continued the examination of the text focusing on the registration of plant varieties at national and EU level.

With regard to forest reproductive material, technical discussions focused on a number of elements, including in particular the provisions on conservation varieties and the list of tree species covered by the new regulation. The proposed rules on official controls have also been thoroughly discussed.

The Council welcomed the progress made under the Hungarian presidency on both proposals, concluding however that more time was needed to discuss outstanding issues.

 

Animal protection during transport

The Hungarian presidency informed the Council of the progress made at technical level during the detailed examination of the proposal.

Following the completion of the first round of examination of the text, the technical discussions focused in particular on Chapter V (on obligations during transport and at the place of destination). The presidency also identified a number of crosscutting issues that would require further discussion.

Ministers welcomed the progress made so far. They stressed the importance of ensuring a high level of animal welfare, but also of avoiding administrative and financial burden for economical operators and distortions to trade.

Due to the complexity of the proposal, ministers agreed that further detailed discussions were needed at technical level – with a special emphasis on the crosscutting issues identified.

 

Other business

Under ‘other business’, the Hungarian presidency provided the Council with information on:

  • the state of play of the proposal on new genomic techniques
  • the work in the veterinary field carried out during the Hungarian presidency

The Council also received information from a number of delegations under ‘other business’.

 

Monday, 9 December 2024

Conclusions on a farmer-focused post-2027 common agricultural policy

As a non-discussion item, the Council unanimously approved a set of conclusions on a farmer-focused post-2027 common agricultural policy (CAP), towards a competitive, crisis-proof, sustainable, farmer-friendly and knowledge-based future EU agriculture.

The conclusions reflect the Council’s expectations for the future common agricultural policy, aiming for a competitive and farmer-focused sector – one of the overarching priorities of the Hungarian presidency. The conclusions call for dedicated and appropriate resources for the CAP to efficiently respond to its multiple objectives and urge to maintain a separate and independent CAP containing two pillars. Direct payments should continue to support farmers’ income stability. They also underscore our commitment to delivering concrete solutions and incentives to support farmers in the green transition.

István Nagy, Hungarian Minister for Agriculture

During an exchange of views, the ministers informed the new Commissioner for Agriculture and Food of their priorities for the future CAP.

In this context, the Council provided political guidance for the new Commission to take into account when preparing the Vision for agriculture and food in the first 100 days of its term of office, as well as the legislative proposals for the post-2027 CAP.

 

Future opportunities for the bioeconomy

The Council held a policy debate to discuss ways in which the bioeconomy can be further developed. In this context, ministers urged the Commission to come up with simplification and coherent policies to fully harness the potential of this sector.

The Council pointed out that the bioeconomy has a transformative potential for the EU and that it aligns with the EU’s objectives for climate neutrality, circularity and rural development.

They also touched upon ways in which existing regulations and policies, including the CAP, could be improved to boost the competitiveness of the bioeconomy and to foster research and innovation and employment in rural areas, especially for young people.

The Council recalled its conclusions on the opportunities of the bioeconomy, which had a special emphasis on rural areas and were endorsed in April 2023.

Under ‘other business’, the presidency presented the conclusions endorsed in November 2024 by the Competitiveness Council, linked to harnessing the  bioeconomy potential of Central and Eastern European countries. These emphasise the role of sustainable biomass production in achieving the European Green Deal’s goals for 2030 and 2050. They also highlight the importance of the circular economy and stress the need for broader transnational collaboration.

The presidency also presented information on the outcome of the high-level conference titled ‘Partnering for the future – BIOEAST and beyond’ on research and innovation priorities of Central and Eastern European countries.

Furthermore, Finland presented an ‘other business’ item, which was supported by most of the member states, on ways to increase biogas production and nutrient recycling.

 

Forest monitoring framework

The presidency presented a progress report detailing the work carried out so far at technical level on the proposal for a forest monitoring framework, allowing ministers to exchange views on the state of play of this file.

Overall, ministers welcomed the proposed objective to harmonise and standardise forest data at EU level.

Most of them, however, stressed that the proposal should be simplified and use a bottom-up approach based on the existing national forest monitoring systems of the member states. They also stressed the proposal should focus on collecting forest data with a clear added value, in order to avoid excessive administrative burden and costs.

Some ministers mentioned that the proposed forest monitoring framework should allow enough flexibility to take into account national specificities.

The Council welcomed the progress made during the Hungarian presidency and agreed that work should continue at technical level.

 

Other business

Under ‘other business’, the Hungarian presidency provided the Council with information on the Conference on the future of the European apiculture sector.

The Council also received information from a number of delegations under ‘other business’.

Preparatory documents
Outcome documents
Press releases

Source – EU Council

 

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