(Codecision procedure: second reading)

The European Parliament,

-  having regard to the Council common position (8251/1/2000 - C5-0270/2000 ),

-  having regard to its position at first reading(1) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(1999) 487 )(2) ,

-  having regard to the Commission's amended proposal (COM(2000) 301 ),

-  having regard to Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty,

-  having regard to Rule 80 of its Rules of Procedure,

-  having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (A5-0193/2000 ),

1.  Amends the common position as follows;

2.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

Common position of the Council   Parliament"s amendments (Amendment 1) Recital 24    (24) A compulsory beef labelling system should be introduced which is obligatory in all Member States. Under this compulsory system, operators and organisations marketing beef should indicate on the label information about certain characteristics of the beef and the point of slaughter of the animal or animals from which that beef was derived.    (24) A compulsory beef labelling system should be introduced which is obligatory in all Member States. Under this compulsory system, operators and organisations marketing beef should indicate on the label information about the beef and the point of slaughter of the animal or animals from which that beef was derived. (Amendment 2) Recital 25a (new) (25a) Information additional to the information concerning where the animal or animals from which the beef was derived were born, fattened and slaughtered may be provided under the voluntary beef labelling system. (Amendment 3) Article 13(2)(d)    (d) the category of animal or animals from which the beef was derived . Deleted (Amendment 4) Article 14, 1st paragraph By way of derogation from Article 13(2)(b) and (c) and (d) and from Article 13(5)(a) (i) and (ii), an operator or organisation preparing minced beef shall indicate on the label the words "prepared (name of the Member State or third country)", depending on where the meat was prepared. By way of derogation from Article 13(2)(b) and (c) and (d) and from Article 13(5)(a)(i) and (ii), an operator or organisation preparing minced beef shall indicate on the label the words "prepared (name of the Member State or third country)", depending on where the meat was prepared, and "origin” where the state or states involved are not the state of preparation. (Amendment 5) Article 19(d)    (d) definition of the categories of animals referred to in Article 13(2)(d); Deleted

(1) Texts Adopted of 12.4.2000, Item 8. (2) OJ C 376 E, 28.12.1999, p. 42.