The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)
I represented the United Kingdom at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 23 January in Brussels.
Council opened with a presentation by the Maltese presidency on its work programme for the next six months.
This was followed by an update from Commissioner Hogan on the progress of EU trade talks, including a discussion of the findings of the Commission’s report on the cumulative economic impact of future trade agreements on EU agriculture. The UK intervened to point out the benefits of an ambitious approach to future EU free trade agreements.
The Council then discussed the dairy market situation and the recent report on the EU milk package, along with ongoing outbreaks of avian influenza. Member states including the UK welcomed the fragile recovery of the dairy market. Commissioner Hogan stressed that the release of supplies of skimmed milk powder held in public intervention would be handled carefully to avoid any negative impact on the market. On avian influenza, the UK joined with several other member states to raise concerns about the impact of necessary disease control measures on free-range egg producers. Commissioner Hogan agreed that the Commission would examine policy options and report back quickly.
A number of other items were discussed under “any other business”:
The Slovakian delegation provided information on the conclusions of the 40th conference of directors of paying agencies;
The Commission responded to a request for information regarding the scope of the Commission’s powers to adopt delegated acts for exceptions from the rules on protected designations of origin for wines.
Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. The outcome of these negotiations will determine what arrangements apply in relation to EU legislation in future once the UK has left the EU.
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