Common organisation of the markets in agricultural products 2014-2020. Single CMO Regulation
The European Parliament adopted by 426 votes to 253 with 8 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation).
Parliament adopted its position in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure. The amendments adopted in plenary were the result of a compromise between Parliament and Council. They amend the Commission proposal as follows:
Scope: this Regulation should apply to all agricultural products listed in Annex I to the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in order to ensure the existence of a common organisation of the market for all such products.
Public intervention and aid for private storage: durum wheat shall be added to the list of products eligible for public intervention. It is stipulated that where public intervention is open, measures on fixing buying-in prices for common wheat, butter, skimmed milk powder, durum wheat, barley, maize, paddy rice, beef and veal as well as, where applicable, measures on quantitative limitations where buying-in is carried out at a fixed price shall be taken by the Council in accordance with Article 43(3) of the Treaty.
Aid for private storage may be granted for fresh or chilled meat of bovine animals aged 8 months or more as well as for cheese.
The Commission may adopt delegated acts:
· in order to ensure that products bought in under public intervention or subject to aid for private storage are suitable for long-term storage and of fair, sound and marketable quality;
· in order to ensure appropriate storage capacity and the efficiency of the public intervention system in terms of cost effectiveness, distribution and access for operators.
Aid schemes intended to improve access to food: according to the amended Regulation, aid schemes intended to improve the distribution of agricultural products and improving children’s eating habits are aimed at children who regularly attend nurseries, pre-schools or, primary or secondary-level educational establishments which are administered or recognised by the competent authorities of Member States.
School fruit schemes: accompanying measures may include information on measures for education about healthy eating habits, about local food chains and about combating food wastage, that are necessary to make the scheme effective.
Measures on fixing the Union aid shall be taken by the Council in accordance with Article 43(3) of the Treaty.
The Union aid shall be allocated to each Member State on the basis of objective criteria based on their proportion of six- to ten-year old children. Member States participating in the scheme shall apply every year for Union aid on the basis of their strategy.
School milk programmes: as of 1 August 2015 Member States, at national or regional level, wishing to participate in the scheme shall draw up a prior strategy for its implementation. Member States shall draw up a list of milk and milk products that will be eligible under their respective schemes.
Except for free distribution of meals to children in educational establishments, Union aid shall not be used to replace funding for any existing national milk and milk products schemes or other school distribution schemes that include milk or milk products.
Food distribution to the most deprived: the existing scheme should be the subject of a separate regulation. Provision should nevertheless be made in the Regulation to allow for disposal of products held in public intervention by making them available for use in the scheme.
Marketing standards: these should be divided between obligatory rules for specific sectors or products and optional reserved terms to be established on a sectoral or product basis.
The marketing standards should take into account, inter alia, the natural and essential characteristics of the products concerned and the possible risk for consumers being misled due to expectations and perceptions. Standards also include definitions, designations and sales descriptions.
Producer organisations: the Regulation recognised the role of producer organisations and their associations in concentrating supply and improving marketing, planning and adjusting production to demand, optimising production costs and stabilising producer prices.
Parliament also ensured that farmers' organisations will be given additional tools to help farmers cope with market volatility and strengthen their price bargaining position, particularly in the sectors of wine, beef and olive oil.
Wine sector: in order to ensure an orderly growth of vine plantings during the period between 2016 and 2030, a new system for the management of vine plantings should be established at Union level; a scheme of authorisations for vine plantings.
Under this new system, authorisations may be granted without a cost to be charged to the producers, and should expire after three years if they are not used.
The growth of new vine plantings should be framed by a safeguard mechanism at Union level based on the obligation for Member States to make available annually authorisations for new plantings representing 1 % of the planted vine areas, while allowing for certain flexibility in order to respond to specific circumstances of each Member State.
Member States should be able to decide on making available smaller areas at national or regional levels, including for areas eligible for specific protected designations of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indications (PGI).
Transitional provisions should be laid down in order to ensure a smooth transition between the former planting rights regime and the new scheme, in particular in order to avoid excessive plantings before the start of the new scheme. Member States should have a certain flexibility to decide on the deadline for the presentation of requests for conversion of planting rights into authorisations between 31 December 2015 and 31 December 2020.
Fruit and vegetables: the Regulation laid down additional requirements for marketing products in the fruit and vegetables sector. Furthermore, products of the fruit and vegetables sector intended to be sold fresh to the consumer should be marketed only if they are sound, fair and of marketable quality and if the country of origin is indicated. a certification procedure for products of the hops sector was added.