Dublin takes chair with no Farm Council deal in sight

Date: 18/07/1996

IRELAND'S chairmanship of the Agriculture Council kicks off next week with absolutely no indication yet as to whether Dublin will be able to forge a deal on all the unfinished business left behind by its predecessor Italy.

Despite two and a half days of talking in Luxembourg in June, ministers seem just as far from reaching a consensus now as they were a month ago.

Officials left last month's meeting under apparent instructions to go away and narrow down their differences.

They were also asked to identify areas of expenditure under the 1997 budget which could be put back into the 1998 budget year to release funds to accommodate special demands made by ministers within the annual price package.

But discussions at last week's Special Committee for Agriculture (SCA) accomplished little. This week, officials mostly steered clear of controversial issues, aware there was little more they could do in the absence of their ministers.

“The SCA has gone as far as it can, given that ministers were at loggerheads. Discussions were pretty desultory, and we really made no progress at all,” said one official despondently.

Irish officials are also uncertain about how to tie up the loose ends of a package of measures which includes the rate of cereals set-aside for next year's harvest, the 1996-97 price proposals and the reform of the fruit and vegetable sector.

“We are still optimistic of concluding negotiations on the prices, fruit and vegetables and set-aside, and we are going to have a chat with the Commission before the Council gets under way to decide how to proceed,” maintained an Irish official.

Dublin has not yet decided whether to come up with a new compromise, combining the elements still on the table, or begin on the basis of Italy's final paper.

Some member states are less convinced that what has been discussed so far will necessarily make Irish Farm Minister Ivan Yates' task any easier.

Agreement on the long-delayed reform of the Union's 1.6-billion-ecu fruit and vegetable market has been complicated by the fact that Italy - a major player - will take a much more central role in the bargaining now that it is no longer chairing meetings of farm ministers.

One member state official pointed out that there was little pressing need to agree the very limited price proposals, as the crucial institutional prices have been rolled over for the time being.

The only issues on which a deal is urgent concern the fixing of the arable set-aside rate for next year and a decision on whether a ban on the planting of new vines should continue when the current arrangements expire on 1 August.

Under normal circumstances, several ministers can be expected to return home with a little extra to offer their farmers.

But it seems unlikely that much of the June compromise will remain intact. With all business still overshadowed by the beef crisis, the Commission has underlined that whatever is agreed must not threaten the farm budget. This reduces the scope for the habitual hand-out of 'sweeteners'.