REPORT on draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No (11)/98 of .... 1998 amending Annex I (Veterinary and phytosanitary matters) to the EEA Agreement (SEC(98)0250 - C4-0243/98 - 98/0815(CNS))

15 June 1998

Committee on External Economic Relations
Rapporteur: Mrs Concepció Ferrer

By letter of 27 April 1998 the Council consulted Parliament, pursuant to Article 3(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 concerning arrangements for implementing the Agreement on the European Economic Area, on draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No (11)/98 of ... 1998 amending Annex I (Veterinary and phytosanitary matters) to the EEA Agreement.

At the sitting of 29 April 1998 the President of Parliament announced that he had referred the draft Decision to the Committee on External Economic Relations as the committee responsible and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection for their opinions.

At its meeting of 20 May 1998 the Committee on External Economic Relations appointed Mrs Ferrer rapporteur.

It considered the draft Decision and the draft report at its meeting of 15 June 1998.

At that meeting it adopted the draft legislative resolution unopposed with 1 abstention.

At the same meeting the committee decided to apply the procedure without debate set out in Rule 99(1) of the Rules of Procedure.

The following took part in the vote: Castellina, chairman; Sainjon, vice-chairman; Ferrer, rapporteur; van Bladel (for Karoutchi), van Dam (for Souchet), Falconer, Habsburg-Lothringen, Hindley, Lannoye (for Kreissl-Dörfler), Erika Mann, Miranda de Lage, Plooij-van Gorsel, Schwaiger and Tindemans (for Moorhouse).

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection have decided not to deliver opinions.

The report was tabled on 15 June 1998.

The deadline for tabling amendments is 10 a.m. on 17 June 1998.

A. DRAFT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

Legislative resolution embodying Parliament's opinion on draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No (//)/98 of ... 1998 amending Annex I (Veterinary and phytosanitary matters) to the EEA Agreement (SEC(98)0250 - C4-0243/98 - 98/0815(CNS))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee, SEC(98)0250 - 98/0815(CNS)),

- having been consulted by the Council pursuant to Article 3(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 concerning arrangements for implementing the Agreement on the European Economic Area (C4-0243/98),

- having regard to Rule 58 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on External Economic Relations (A4-0236/98),

1. Approves the draft Decision;

2. Instructs its President to forward this opinion to the Council and Commission.

B EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

1. To provide the necessary certainty and consistency in law, the EEA Joint Committee has to incorporate all relevant Community legislation into the EEA Agreement.

2. The Committee accordingly needs to adopt a Decision to amend Annex I (Veterinary and phytosanitary matters) to the EEA Agreement.

3. The annex in question contains a very long list of Community acts (basic and implementing texts) on highly technical matters relating more specifically to:

I. Veterinary inspections for the purposes of intra-Community trade, applying both to products originating from the Union and those originating from non-member countries, and measures to combat animal diseases.

II. Zootechnical standards applying specifically to cattle, swine, sheep and goats, equidae, or pure-bred animals in general.

III. Notification of animal diseases and control measures for diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, encephalomyelitis, African horse sickness, avian influenza, Newcastle disease, and fish, mollusc, and other animal diseases.

IV. Animal health: trade in live animals and animal embryos or semen and their placing on the market.

V. Animal health: trade in animal products and their placing on the market (applying to fresh meat, poultrymeat, meat products, milk and milk-based products, rabbit meat and farmed game meat, and wild-game meat).

VI. Public health: trade in animal products and their placing on the market (applying to fresh meat, meat products, minced meat, egg products, fishery products, molluscs, milk and milkbased products, rabbit meat and farmed or wild game meat, and products obtained from other animals).

VII. 'Measures relating to many sectors' (substances having hormonal or thyrostatic effects and beta-agonists, hormones, residues, BST, zoonoses, animal waste, medicated feedingstuffs, and various pathogens).

VIII. Animal imports from third countries.

IX. Animal welfare (transport and slaughter).

X. Feedingstuffs: additives, straight and compound feedingstuffs, analysis and inspection methods, undesirable substances and products, and bioproteins and the like.

XI. Phytosanitary matters (seeds).

4. The measures proposed are of a purely technical nature. Their purpose is to make for better harmonization of the legislation in force within the EEA, thereby benefiting all contracting parties, and they thus mark a step forward towards closer cooperation among European countries.

The Committee on External Economic Relations therefore endorses the draft common position of the Community.