Indicative programme

Monday 28 June 2021

Place:
ECC Luxembourg

Chairs:
Maria do Céu Antunes, Minister for Agriculture
Ricardo Serrão Santos, Minister of the Sea of Portugal

All times are approximate and subject to change

from 08.00
Arrivals (live streaming)

10.00
Beginning of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council
Adoption of the agenda
Approval of non-legislative list A items
Approval of legislative list A items (public session)

Common agricultural policy (CAP) reform package for 2023-2027 (public session)

+/- 14.15
Regulation on Fisheries Control (public session)

+/-15.15
Common Fisheries Policy (CFP): state of play and fishing opportunities for 2022

+/- 16.00
Any other business:
– Maritime Spatial Planning Directive
– European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) (public session)
– Situation in the North East Atlantic

+/- 17.00
Press conference in live streaming 

+/- 17.40
Biological control agents (public session)

+/- 18.10
Setting a protection goal for honey bees (public session)

+/- 19.10
Any other business:
– Food supplements on the EU market (public session)
– Joint action on antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infections (JAMRAI) (public session)
– Fur farming (public session)

+/- at the end of the meeting
Press conference in live streaming

Tuesday 29 June 2021

from 09.00
Arrivals (live streaming)

10.00
EU food market situation

+/- 11.30
Any other business:
– 49th conference of EU paying agency directors
– Regional economic accounts for agriculture (REAA) and statistics on agricultural inputs and outputs (public session)
– Fourth African Union and European Union Agriculture Ministerial Conference (public session)

 +/- at the end of the meeting
Press conference in live streaming

Arrangements for the press conferences

In light of the gradual relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions both in Belgium and Luxembourg, a limited number of journalists will be allowed to attend physically the meeting of Agriculture and Fisheries Council. More info here.

Press conferences will remain accessible also in video conference. In order to participate and ask questions, EU accredited journalists should register using this link.

Those who already registered for previous press briefings or press conferences of Agriculture and Fisheries Council do not need to do it again.

– Deadline for registration: Monday, 28 June 2021, 15.00

Further instructions will be sent to all registered participants shortly after the deadline.

Videos and photos from the event

Visit the meeting page

The Portuguese presidency of the Council has reached a provisional agreement with the European Parliament on the common agricultural policy (CAP) reform for 2023-2027.

The deal paves the way for a simpler, fairer and greener CAP that will provide a sustainable future for European farmers. The new CAP bolsters environmental measures and also includes provisions to ensure greater support for smaller farms and help young farmers enter the profession.

We are very pleased with the progress we’ve made in the last two days, which gives us confidence that we have the conditions in place to reach an agreement. However, the proposals must be approved by the member states and only then we can truly say whether we’ve reached a deal or not.

Maria do Céu Antunes, Portuguese Minister for Agriculture

The agreement is provisional pending approval by the EU’s agriculture ministers at the upcoming Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting, which will take place on 28-29 June.

The inter-institutional talks covered all three regulations that made up the CAP reform package and focused on some of the outstanding negotiation points, including:

• the minimum budget for direct payments for eco-schemes and the establishment of a learning period for member states;
• the mandatory minimum level of internal convergence for direct payments;
• greater redistribution of direct payments;
• the inclusion of a social dimension in the CAP;
• the alignment of the CAP with the European Green Deal.

Following the introduction of a transitional arrangement at the end of 2020, the new CAP will take effect from 2023-2027.

Background

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) accounts for around a third of the EU’s budget. Its aim is to:

• provide affordable, safe food for EU citizens
• ensure a fair standard of living for farmers
• preserve natural resources and respect the environment

On 1 June 2018, the European Commission presented three legislative proposals aimed at making the CAP fit for the future:

The main aspects of the proposals were:

• more targeted direct payments and rural development interventions, both subject to strategic planning
• a new ‘green’ architecture based on environmental conditions to be met by farmers and additional voluntary measures under both pillars
• a performance-based approach (the ‘new delivery model’) whereby member states would have to report their achievements each year

In October 2020, under the German presidency, the Council agreed its negotiating position, or ‘general approach’, on the reform of the CAP. This included increasing the environmental ambition of the CAP, in line with the aims of the European Green Deal.

CAP transitional regulation (2021-2022)

In late 2020 the CAP transitional regulation was adopted, the aim of which was to ensure continuity of CAP legal and financial support to farmers and other beneficiaries before the new reformed rules came into effect in 2023. The regulation ensured that payments would not be interrupted, while also providing time for member states to prepare their national CAP strategic plans.

With the support of Europol, the Portuguese Republican National Guard (Guardia Nacional Republicana) and the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil)  with the cooperation of the Spanish Customs Surveillance Service (Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera), have dismantled an organised crime group involved in large-scale tobacco smuggling. 

The criminals would illegally import from Spain to Portugal large quantities of tobacco leafs and stripes, destined to produce both cigarettes and tobacco for roll-your-own cigarettes which were subsequently distributed onto the Portuguese black market.

On 24 June, an action day conducted simultaneously in both countries has resulted in:

• 59 property searches carried out in Portugal, and 4 in Spain;
• 8 individuals arrested, all Spanish and Portuguese nationals aged between 33 and 49 years old;
• The seizure of 11 tonnes of tobacco leaf and fine-cut tobacco, alongside 90 000 manufactured illegal cigarettes and 186 500 cigarette filters.

The amount of tobacco seized is enough to produce some 11 million cigarettes, worth €2,7 million in Portugal.

The criminals were managing the import of the tobacco via several companies established with the sole purpose of committing excise fraud. Cutting and processing facilities had been set up in Spain, from where the tobacco was shipped to Portugal where it was stored in different warehouses until it was distributed further. 

The revenue loss generated by these tobacco products illegally imported from Spain to Portugal is estimated at more than € 2 million.

Europol support

Europol’s support was instrumental in the success of the case:

• Europol brought together the national investigators on both sides who have since been working closely together to establish a joint strategy to bring down this network.
• Since then, Europol has provided continuous intelligence development and analysis to support the field investigators.
• Experts from Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC) were deployed in Lisbon and Salamanca to assist the Portuguese and Spanish authorities with the cross-checking of operational information.

This action day was carried out in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

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The following entities are registered as SRs for the European Union:

1. European DataWarehouse GmbH based in Germany; and
2. SecRep B.V. based in the Netherlands.

 Anneli Tuominen, Interim Chair, said:

“The registration of the first securitisation repositories marks the final step in the implementation of the securitisation transparency regime. The securitisation repositories will now start receiving, verifying, and distributing standardised data and information to investors as well as to EU and national authorities.

“This data will improve the ability of investors to assess and compare the credit quality of securitisations and contribute to making securitisation safer and more attractive for investors.”

Reporting to Securitisation Repositories to start on 30 June 2021

The registered SRs can be used by reporting entities to fulfil their obligations under SECR. The SRs are required to provide direct and immediate access free of charge to investors and potential investors as well as to all the entities listed in Article 17(1) of SECR to enable them to fulfil their respective obligations.

As of 30 June, reporting entities must make their reports available through one of the registered SRs and are encouraged to immediately contact one of the registered SRs. ESMA strongly encourages all data users to report any data quality issues which they may identify to ESMA (click here for more information).

Further information: