ROADMAP

Roadmaps aim to inform citizens and stakeholders about the Commission's work in order to allow them to provide feedback and to participate effectively in future consultation activities. Citizens and stakeholders are in particular invited to provide views on the Commission's understanding of the problem and possible solutions and to make available any relevant information that they may have.

Title of the initiative

Update of certain procedures in the EU measures for the control of Newcastle disease

Lead DG – responsible unit

DG SANTE – G3

Likely Type of initiative

Proposal for a Directive

Indicative Planning

Q2 2018

Additional Information

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This Roadmap is provided for information purposes only and its content might change. It does not prejudge the final decision of the Commission on whether this initiative will be pursued or on its final content. All elements of the initiative described by the Roadmap, including its timing, are subject to change.

A. Context, Problem definition and Subsidiarity Check

Context

Newcastle disease is a contagious viral disease affecting many domestic and wild bird species. The virus is spread primarily through direct contact between healthy and infected birds and can be found in birds' droppings and secretions from the nose, mouth, and eyes 1 .

Council Directive 92/66/EEC 2 lays down measures to be applied in the event of an outbreak of Newcastle disease in poultry and in certain birds. Among other things, the Directive confers on the Council, acting by qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, the power to amend the Directive Annexes. Inter alia, the Council has therefore the power to amend, Annexes V, VI and VII which cover the following areas: 

designation of an EU Reference Laboratory (EURL) for Newcastle disease (Annex V)

the template to be used by Member States to report to the Commission on the situation of the disease, and the control measures applied (Annex VI)

the criteria for Member States to draw up contingency plans to be implemented in the event of a disease outbreak (Annex VII).

This procedure is cumbersome and in addition has become outdated taking into account the new system of legal acts of the Union introduced by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and specific measures adopted on that basis. In particular, in relation to the designation of the EURL for Newcastle disease, the current provisions of Council Directive 92/66/EEC are inconsistent with the new designation regime for EURLs introduced by Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on Official Controls ('OCR') 3 . This Regulation requires the Commission to designate EURLs by means of implementing acts in accordance with Article 291 TFEU (i.e. acts adopted by the Commission with the support of Member States in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed). 

The current EURL for Newcastle disease is located in the United Kingdom (UK). Taking into account the UK's intention to leave the EU (so-called "Brexit"), the EURL for Newcastle disease needs to be replaced by an EURL located in one of the other 27 Member States before the Brexit process is completed. An aligned and simplified procedure is therefore urgently needed in order for the current EURL to be replaced within the tight deadlines related to Brexit.

This technical revision is therefore undertaken to update, simplify and streamline legal procedures with respect to the abovementioned provisions of Directive 92/66/EEC. A new EURL for Newcastle disease will then have to be designated on the basis of the revised procedure, once the proposal is adopted by the European Parliament and Council.

Problem the initiative aims to tackle

Simpler, more modern and streamlined procedures need to be put in place with respect to certain provisions of Directive 92/66/EEC.

In particular an updated, simpler and more streamlined procedure to designate a new EURL for Newcastle disease needs to be urgently put in place to take into account the Brexit process and the need to relocate the existing UK-based EURL.

Furthermore, the current procedure to designate the EURL for Newcastle disease is inconsistent with the new designation regime for EURLs introduced by Regulation (EU) 2017/625. The latter requires in fact that the Commission designates EURLs by means of implementing acts.

Basis for EU intervention (legal basis and subsidiarity check)

The legal basis is Article 43(2) TFEU.

This is purely an action to address a technical legal issue in an area which is already harmonised by EU law and where there is a clear added value of EU action. The intended changes are in line with the TFEU and EU rules on designation of EURLs.

B. What does the initiative aim to achieve and how

The objective of this Proposal is to amend Council Directive 92/66/EEC:

to be aligned with the TFEU and new official control provisions (Regulation (EU) 2017/625) in order to ensure legal coherence and certainty;

to enable the necessary simplification of procedures, in particular in order to deal with the need to urgently relocate the existing UK-based EURL for Newcastle disease as a consequence of Brexit.

More specifically, the intention of the Proposal is to delete Annex V, VI and VII of Directive 92/66/EEC and make the relevant amendments that will confer the necessary empowerments on the Commission for:

the designation of an EURL for Newcastle disease; 

the template to be used by Member States to report to the Commission on the situation of the disease and the control measures applied and

the criteria for contingency plans.

C. Better regulation

Consultation of citizens and stakeholders

The revision of Directive 92/66/EEC concerns purely technical changes. Those changes are needed to ensure consistency with the TFEU and Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls. Stakeholders were widely consulted on both the Treaty and the Regulation.

In addition, considering the purely technical/procedural nature of the intended changes, a full public consultation strategy is not considered necessary in this specific case. The 4-week feedback mechanism on the Roadmap will apply.

Evidence base and data collection

The problem described above can only be addressed through the amendment of the Directive. The initiative has no significant economic, environment and /or social impacts and therefore no impact assessment is necessary.

Benefits from this technical/procedural exercise will be mainly linked to having more coherent implementing rules and more streamlined efficient procedures.