European Union: Italian Presidency - Work programme in the agriculture and fisheries sectors

The Italian Presidency gave a public presentation on its work programme in the agriculture and fisheries sectors.

The agricultural policy priorities of the Presidency will include:

• Preparing the EXPO Milano 2015, devoted to the theme “Feeding the planet, energy for life” which will be a landmark event for the EU in the area of food security. The Presidency will strive to promote a more sustainable, innovative and environmentally friendly development of the agriculture, food and fisheries sector in the EU, ensuring coherence with EXPO Milano 2015;
• Continuing the work on the proposal on organic farming, and if possible negotiating with the European Parliament, with a view to adoption of the new proposal, focusing on the rules on control, import and combating fraud in this field and keeping in mind simplification of the procedures;
• Contributing to reflection on the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 Strategy by insisting on the role of agriculture, in particular as regards perspectives for young people.
• Continuing the discussions on a proposal for a school scheme on fruit and vegetables and milk products which aims to merge the two different existing schemes to simplify the procedure;
• Widening the debate on the future of the milk sector once the quota system ends;
• Concluding the formalities concerning the approval of the proposal on information and promotion for agricultural products within and outside the EU;
• Seeking completion of the work on the last delegated acts related to the entry into force of the reformed Common agriculture policy (CAP) in January next year.

As regards food and veterinary issues, the Presidency intends to:

• Take stock of the new proposals on animal cloning and novel food to find a balanced solution preventing the marketing of food from animal clones, while avoiding any obstacles to research and innovation;
• Continue the work on the package of food chain legislation, including regulations on official control, animal health, protective measures against plant pests, and the production and marketing of plant reproductive material;
• Encourage the review of regulations on veterinary medicines and the use of medicated feeds in farm animal therapy;
• Reinforce cooperation between Member States' competent authorities in the fight against food fraud.