May 2008 update on food hygiene legislation
Friday 9 May 2008
This update reports on the outcome of the COREPER meeting on 7 May which considered a compromise text intended to secure agreement with the European Parliament at first reading. Details of that compromise text are given in the April 2008 update.
May 2008 update on food hygiene legislation
COMMISSION PROPOSAL TO AMEND ARTICLE 5 OF REGULATION 852/2004
At the meeting of COREPER on 7 May, the Presidency was not able to obtain a qualified majority in support of the compromise text. The Presidency concluded that its efforts to find a compromise had attracted the support of more Member States than any other effort so far, but it was still not enough.
The next steps are not predictable. The European Parliament will probably adopt the report of the Environment Committee at its plenary session on 20 May. Thereafter the dossier will return to the Council. The next stages will then depend on the inclination of successive Presidencies to pursue this further and the extent to which the Commission brings pressure to bear. There is no time constraint on the Council to act. There is thought to be little enthusiasm from the next two Presidencies to pick up this file. It is therefore possible that this might lie dormant but unresolved until well into next year, by when the Commission should have produced its report on the operation of the hygiene legislation.