European Union

On 18 December 2015, under the Luxembourg Presidency and subject to the European Parliament and Council formal adoption, the Coreper (Permanent Representatives Committee) approved a final compromise on the draft "Animal Breeding Regulation".  

The European Parliament and the Council representatives identified the compromise package during a trilogue meeting held on 16 December.  

Animal breeding and trade

The Animal Breeding Regulation will apply to the breeding, the trade in and the entry into the EU of purebred breedingcows, pigs, sheep, goats and horses, hybrid breeding pigs and their germinal products.

The new regulation constitutes a more comprehensive single legal framework taking into account the “state-of-the-art” in animal breeding while preserving valuable animal genetic resources. Breed societies and breeding operations which will have to meet specific criteria to obtain recognition and approval of their breeding programmes by national authorities form the backbone of this regulation. 

The new legislation aims at improving the functioning of the internal market and trade with third countries. It contains specific rules for promoting endangered breeds and provisions taking into account the specificities of the horse breeding sector. 

As animal breeding is not intended to fall within the scope of the official controls proposal currently discussed between the Council and the European Parliament, the new regulation will include provisions on the performance of official controls which are tailor-made for the animal breeding sector. 

The next steps 

The Chairman of the Coreper will send a letter to the Chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. This letter will indicate that, if the Parliament adopts at its plenary session the compromise text as approved by the Coreper today, the Council will then adopt in first reading that text without amending it.

This should enable the entry into force of the new legislation by mid 2016 and its application 28 months after the entry into force.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

On 18 December 2015, under the Luxembourg Presidency and subject to the European Parliament and Council formal vote, the Coreper (Permanent Representatives Committee) approved a final package on plant health. 

The Council and European Parliament representatives finalised the overall compromise during a trilogue meeting held on 16 December.

Tackling plant diseases 

The proposal on protective measures against pests of plants aims to address increased risks in that area, which stem from the emergence of new pests and diseases. It will also modernise instruments related to intra-EU trade or trade with third countries focusing on a risk-based approach. Better surveillance and early eradication of outbreaks of new pests are the tools which should be used to ensure plant health. 

Together with the regulation on animal health (which should be adopted soon) and the proposal on official controls (currently under examination in the Council), the draft regulation on plant health aims to strengthen the enforcement of health and safety standards for the whole agri-food chain.  

The next steps 

The European Parliament is expected to vote on the compromise text at a meeting of its Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in late February. 

The Chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development will send a letter to the Chairman of Coreper. The letter will indicate that if the Council adopts at first reading the compromise text as adopted by the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (after legal-linguistic revision), the Parliament plenary will adopt the same text at its second reading, without any amendment, and the legislative procedure will be concluded. 

This should enable the entry into force of the new plant health regulation by the end of 2016 and its application after a three-year period following the entry into force, during which the relevant pieces of secondary legislation will be adopted.

 

This morning, we had a serious political discussion about completing the Economic and Monetary Union. The European Central Bank President Mario Draghi also joined us and has stressed the need for progress. We have one clear message from our debate: there is no time for complacency in reforming the eurozone. We stand ready to take difficult decisions on banking union and economic governance in the coming year. Our ministers will work rapidly and report to us next June.

We congratulated President Hollande on the historic success of COP21 in Paris and assessed progress on building the Energy Union. We discussed the conditions that need to be met by major energy infrastructure projects. What we have agreed is that any new infrastructure should be fully in line with Energy Union objectives, such as reduction of energy dependency and diversification of suppliers, sources and routes. Not to mention the obvious obligation that all projects have to comply with all EU laws, including the third Energy Package. This is a clear condition for receiving support from the EU institutions or any Member State - be it political, legal or financial.

I cannot finish without a word of appreciation for Prime Minister Bettel and his team. Xavier, I think I can speak for all leaders when I say that the Luxembourg Presidency was outstanding with very hard work done on the migration crisis, Passanger Name Record and data protection. It was an extremely efficient presidency. Thank you, Xavier, and most sincere congratulations. 

On 18 December 2015, the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) endorsed an informal deal struck with the European Parliament on the first rules to strengthen the security of network and information systems across the EU. 

The network and information security (NIS) directive will increase cooperation between member states and lay down security obligations for operators of essential services and digital service providers. Essential services operators are active in critical sectors such as energy, transport, health and finance. Digital services cover online marketplaces, search engines and cloud services. 

The requirements will be stronger for essential operators than for digital service providers. This reflects the degree of risk that any disruption to their services may pose to society and the economy. 

Each EU country will also be required to designate one or more national authorities and set out a strategy to deal with cyber threats. 

What next? 

Once the agreed text has undergone technical finalisation, it needs to be formally approved first by the Council and then by the Parliament. The procedure is expected to be concluded in spring 2016.  

After the directive has entered into force, member states will have 21 months to adopt the necessary national provisions. Following this period, they will have another 6 months to identify the essential services operators established in their territory which are to be covered by the directive.

Committees and holiday recess

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

General : "It is easy to blame Europe or Schengen for security failures in our Member States, and wave the illusion that retreating behind national borders somehow immunises against - often home-grown - terrorists", said the EP President Schulz in his opening speech before the European Council of 17-18 December dedicated to pressing issues, such as migration, counter terrorism and the British referendum. "If we want to preserve our freedom of movement, then we must act fast and decisively."

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP