Beef and veal: common organisation of the markets COM (amend. regul. 805/68/EEC)

While awaiting Parliament’s opinion, the Council held an initial debate on the matter in question on the basis of preparatory work undertaken by the Special Committee on Agriculture. The discussion focused on a package of three proposals concerning: - the adaptation of certain current measures applying to the beef industry in order to control production and stabilise the market following the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis. These measures related in particular to the intervention scheme and the premiums system; - achieving cost savings under the EAGGF by reducing compensation payments in the arable crops sector in order to tackle the problems facing the beef sector; - changes to the eligibility requirements for receiving investment aid and for the setting-up of young farmers in the beef sector, and to the compensation allowances applying to mountainous and less-favoured regions. The Council debates served to highlight the wide range of views held on each of the Commission’s proposals. However, it was also possible to identify areas of agreement and a number of convergent positions. In this respect: - there was agreement on the need for raising the intervention limits as a short-term measure; - there was also broad support for the proposal on intervention for grazing animals; - several delegations were concerned about the Commission’s proposal on the reduction of aid for arable crops and took the view that in any case such a reduction should be subject to a time limit, since the budget problem was too; - several Member States were of the opinion that the Commission’s proposal, which sought to delay payments to the oilseed sector, would be an appropriate measure; - there was also broad support for introducing measures aimed at promoting beef consumption.