52006AP0547

20061223

P6_TC1-COD(2006)0117

Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 12 December 2006 with a view to the adoption of Decision No …/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council correcting Directive 2002/2/EC amending Council Directive 79/373/EEC on the circulation of compound feedingstuffs

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 152(4)(b) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having consulted the European Economic and Social Committee,

Having consulted the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty [1],

Whereas:

(1) Article 1(1)(b) of Directive 2002/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council [2], amended Council Directive 79/373/EEC on the circulation of compound feedingstuffs [3]. That provision added a point to Article 5(1) of Directive 79/373/EEC, requiring manufacturers of compound animal feedingstuffs to indicate, at the customer's request, the exact composition of a feedingstuff.

(2) The Court of Justice of the European Communities, in its judgment of 6 December 2005 in Joined Cases C-453/03, C-11/04, C-12/04 and C-194/04 [4], declared Article 1(1)(b) of Directive 2002/2/EC invalid, in the light of the principle of proportionality.

(3) Article 233 of the Treaty requires the institutions whose act has been declared void to take the necessary measures to comply with the judgment of the Court of Justice.

(4) The objective of ensuring feed safety is being achieved, amongst others, through implementation of the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 [5]and Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 [6].

(5) A number of court rulings in the Member States have led to Directive 2002/2/EC being implemented differently and unevenly and various cases relating to it are currently pending before the national courts.

(6) The Council and the European Parliament are not at present making more far-reaching amendments to the basic legal act, as the Commission has promised, as part of the simplification programme, to draw up proposals by mid-2007 to overhaul feed legislation. They anticipate that the issue of the so-called "open declaration" of ingredients will be fully reviewed in this connection, and expect new proposals from the Commission taking account both of the interest of farmers in being provided with precise, detailed information on the feed materials contained in feedingstuffs and the interest of the industry in ensuring that business secrets are adequately protected.

(7) Article 1(5) of Directive 2002/2/EC, which added to Article 12 of Directive 79/373/EEC a new sub-paragraph, already provides for an obligation of manufacturers of compound feedingstuffs to make available to the authorities responsible for carrying out official inspections, on request, any document concerning the composition of feedingstuffs intended to be put into circulation which enables the accuracy of the information given by the labelling to be verified.

(8) Directive 2002/2/EC should therefore be corrected,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Directive 2002/2/EC is corrected as follows:

(1) Article 1(1)(b) is deleted.

(2) In Article 1(6), in the text of Article 15a of Directive 79/373/EEC, the words "Article 5(1)(j) and (l)" are replaced by the words "Article 5(1)(j)".

"Article 15a

At the latest on 6 November 2006, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council, on the basis of the information received from Member States, on the implementation of the measures introduced by Article 5(1)(j) and (5)(d) and Article 5c and the second subparagraph of Article 12, particularly as regards the indication of quantities, in the form of percentage by weight, of feed materials on the labelling of compound feedingstuffs, including the permitted tolerance, accompanied by any proposals designed to improve these measures.".

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at …, on …

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council

The President

[1] Position of the European Parliament of 12 December 2006.

[2] Directive 2002/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 amending Council Directive 79/373/EEC on the circulation of compound feedingstuffs (OJ L 63, 6.3.2002, p. 23).

[3] OJ L 86, 6.4.1979, p. 30. Directive as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 807/2003 (OJ L 122, 16.5.2003, p. 36).

[4] ABNA and Others ECR [2005] I-10423.

[5] Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety (OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1). Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) 575/2006 (OJ L 100, 8.4.2006, p. 3).

[6] Regulation (EC) No 183/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 January 2005 laying down technical requirements for feed hygiene (OJ L 35, 8.2.2005, p. 1).

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