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The committee adopted the report by Michael CASHMAN (PES, UK) proposing a series of compromise amendments to the proposal, following the compromise agreement hammered out between Parliament, Commission and Council the same day. The report had been referred back to committee after the plenary's first reading vote in November 2000, and negotiations had taken place since then with Commission and Council on the many amendments proposed by Parliament. The first reading could now be concluded with the vote in plenary on the compromise amendments and, as there was already an agreement with the Council and Commission, no further readings would be necessary. The rapporteur lauded the compromise agreement as a radical departure from the Commission's original proposal and a huge improvement on the current situation.�