The Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) is one of the configurations of the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

and is composed of the agriculture and fisheries ministers of the 27 European Union member states. Its competencies include the

Common Agricultural Policy The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the European Union. It implements a system of agricultural subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has since then undergone several changes to reduce the ...

(CAP) and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), among others.

Composition

Agrifish is composed of the agriculture and fisheries ministers of the 27 European Union member states. While most member states send one minister for both sectors, others send one minister for agriculture and another for fisheries. The

European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development The Commissioner for Agriculture is a member of the European Commission. The post is currently held by Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski. The post is in charge of rural issues including most notably the controversial Common Agricultural Policy ...

and the

European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries The Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries is a member of the European Commission. The current Commissioner is Virginijus Sinkevičius, who also serves as EU Commissioner for the Environment. Environment The European Union has made ...

also participate in the meetings.

Tasks

The agriculture part of the Council covers legislation relating to: * the

(CAP); * internal market rules; * forestry; * organic production; * quality of production and food and feed safety; and * harmonisation of rules concerning veterinary matters, animal welfare, plant health, animal feed, seeds and pesticides. The fisheries part of the Council covers legislation relating to: * the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP); * fisheries; * the setting of annual Total Allowable Catches (TACs); * quotas for each species; and * fishing effort limits.

Legislative procedure

Since the entry into force of the

Lisbon Treaty The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...

, the Council takes its decisions on most agriculture and fisheries legislation in co-decision with the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

according to the

ordinary legislative procedure The European Union adopts legislation through a variety of legislative procedures. The procedure used for a given legislative proposal depends on the policy area in question. Most legislation needs to be proposed by the European Commission and ...

, except with respect to decisions on annual fishing opportunities where the Council decides on its own.

Administration

The work and tasks of the Council concerning agriculture is prepared by the

Special Committee on Agriculture The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) is an administrative body of the European Union that prepares the work and tasks of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council (a configuration of the Council of the European Union) concerning agriculture, simil ...

(SCA), composed of senior agriculture officials from the member states and European Commission. The work and tasks of the Council concerning fisheries is prepared by the

Committee of Permanent Representatives : ''For the OIC Committee of Permanent Representatives, see OIC Committee of Permanent Representatives.'' COREPER, from French ''Comité des représentants permanents'', is the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union, made u ...

(COREPER), composed of fisheries experts from the member states and European Commission. Within the Council Secretariat, the work and tasks of the Council is prepared by the Directorate-General for Agriculture, Fisheries, Social Affairs and Health.

References

External links