PURPOSE: to lay down the legal basis for specific exceptional market support measures in the poultry meat and eggs sector.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Regulation 679/2006/EC amending Regulations 2771/75/EEC and 2777/75/EEC as regards the application of exceptional market support measures.

CONTENT: The Council unanimously adopted this Regulation, which extends the scope of Article 14 of Regulations 2771/75 and 2777/75 on, respectively, the common market organisation in eggs and in poultry. This Article allows for 50 % co-financing of veterinary measures (such as slaughtering of chickens) from the EU budget and 50 % co-financing of compensation for animal movement restrictions resulting from an outbreak of animal disease on a farm on the territory of the EU.

The new text will allow "exceptional market measures" to be taken at the request of Member States to take account of "serious market disturbances directly attributed to a loss in consumer confidence due to public health, or animal health risks". Once Member States have submitted their proposed measures, the Commission would have to approve them through the Management Committee procedure.

ENTRY INTO FORCE : 11 May 2006.

The European Parliament approved the Commission proposal that would create a legal base for compensating farmers who have been hurt by the sudden decrease in consumer demand for eggs and poultry meat.

It adopted a few amendments to the proposal. These include explicit mention of emergency vaccination as an alternate method of stamping out the disease, a wish to restrict the emergency measures to "circumstances that pose a threat to livelihoods," and a call to avoid "inflicting unnecessary suffering on animals." MEPs also call for an "information campaign designed to re-establish consumer confidence," and took the opportunity presented by this proposal to express their view that "export refunds are not a valid means of remedying market disturbances."

PURPOSE : to lay down the legal basis for a possible later introduction of specific exceptional market support measures in the poultry meat and eggs sector.

PROPOSED ACT : Council Regulation.

CONTENT : due to the extensive media coverage given to the highly pathogenic strain of bird flu (H5N1) in several Member States, there has been a sharp drop in consumption of poultry meat in some Member States. Consumer confidence has dropped and this has also resulted in a very significant build-up in stocks of poultry meat in many Member States. The situation is all the more worrying because a number of third countries have placed a ban on imports of poultry meat from certain Member States, or from the EU as a whole.

Export refunds are the sole market management instrument available to the common organisation of the market in poultry meat. The Commission has already used this instrument by increasing export refund levels for certain products, but it is still insufficient to re-establish market equilibrium, given that consumption has also fallen on traditional export markets. The bans imposed by some third countries as mentioned above is further limiting the effect of the export refunds.

Aside from the use of export refunds for market management purposes, Articles 14 of the Regulations on the common market organisation in eggs and poultry meat respectively provide for exceptional market support measures where restrictions are placed on free circulation as a result of the application of measures to combat the spread of animal diseases. Such measures concern only poultry farms directly affected by health and veterinary measures and so cannot support the market more generally when there is a significant fall in consumption.

It is therefore necessary to extend this legal basis in order to include support measures other than those provided for currently in cases where serious market disturbances due to public health or animal health risks.

This proposal amends Articles 14 of Council Regulations 2777/75/EEC and 2771/75/EEC to this end.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS :

Budget line : 05 02 15 07.

At this moment it is not possible to make an estimate of the future expenditure level. It will only be possible to estimate the expenditure at the time that concrete measures are proposed.

PURPOSE : to lay down the legal basis for a possible later introduction of specific exceptional market support measures in the poultry meat and eggs sector.

PROPOSED ACT : Council Regulation.

CONTENT : due to the extensive media coverage given to the highly pathogenic strain of bird flu (H5N1) in several Member States, there has been a sharp drop in consumption of poultry meat in some Member States. Consumer confidence has dropped and this has also resulted in a very significant build-up in stocks of poultry meat in many Member States. The situation is all the more worrying because a number of third countries have placed a ban on imports of poultry meat from certain Member States, or from the EU as a whole.

Export refunds are the sole market management instrument available to the common organisation of the market in poultry meat. The Commission has already used this instrument by increasing export refund levels for certain products, but it is still insufficient to re-establish market equilibrium, given that consumption has also fallen on traditional export markets. The bans imposed by some third countries as mentioned above is further limiting the effect of the export refunds.

Aside from the use of export refunds for market management purposes, Articles 14 of the Regulations on the common market organisation in eggs and poultry meat respectively provide for exceptional market support measures where restrictions are placed on free circulation as a result of the application of measures to combat the spread of animal diseases. Such measures concern only poultry farms directly affected by health and veterinary measures and so cannot support the market more generally when there is a significant fall in consumption.

It is therefore necessary to extend this legal basis in order to include support measures other than those provided for currently in cases where serious market disturbances due to public health or animal health risks.

This proposal amends Articles 14 of Council Regulations 2777/75/EEC and 2771/75/EEC to this end.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS :

Budget line : 05 02 15 07.

At this moment it is not possible to make an estimate of the future expenditure level. It will only be possible to estimate the expenditure at the time that concrete measures are proposed.