May 31, 2011

Negotiations on European dairy package to persist 

Although the vote on his dairy report in the European Parliament's agriculture committee was delayed this week, negotiations within the parliament are advancing well, according to Conservatives and Unionists MEP, Jim Nicholson.

Nicholson said that in the coming weeks, he expects to meet with officials from the Polish government to discuss the report, as Poland will assume the presidency of the EU at the beginning of July.

"The Hungarians are disappointed that a deal was not reached during their time in the chair but I, and indeed my colleagues in the parliament, were not going to be rushed. We have a responsibility to make sure that our contribution is as strong as it can be, and this takes time," the MEP continued.

"The vote on the dairy package is now postponed until the end of June. I will take the text which has been agreed in the committee to the council and this will serve as our basis for negotiation. The plenary will then vote on the version of the text which I agree with the council. If there are significant changes, we may have to start the process again and engage in a second reading but I am still aiming for a first reading agreement which, in my opinion, is where the parliament can exert the most influence.

"We are in totally unchartered waters in Europe over co-decision for agriculture so I know that many observers are watching closely how my legislation on the dairy sector progresses through parliament. I am very much the guinea pig for this entire process. However, it is also becoming increasingly clear that the co-decision process and the new powers acquired by the European Parliament in agriculture are throwing up new surprises every week. What many people do not know is that the typical duration for agreement on co-decision legislation in Europe is around three years. Because of this, I think it is unhelpful to speculate about when we will have final agreement on the package.

"There are many twist and turns ahead but my priority in this process, after years of huge uncertainty and market volatility, remains on helping dairy farmers and the industry move to a new regime for milk after the abolition of quotas in 2014/15."