June

• 19.06.2007
  Seehofer: Political Agreement reached regarding a Ban on Imports of Dog and Cat Furs in the EU. After several rounds of negotiations, the German Council Presidency has today reached a political agreement with the EU Commission and the European Parliament regarding a ban on imports of dog and cat furs. “The ban on imports of dog and cat furs is a clear declaration of support for animal protection in the European Union. Prior to and during the Council Presidency, we have pushed very hard for the Member States to adopt a clear position against these terrible methods which inflict suffering on animals," said Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection today, on the occasion of the agreement reached in Strasbourg.
• 14.06.2007
  Quantum Leap for Organic Farming in Europe. During the session of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg, the EU Agriculture Ministers agreed on the Commission' proposal for a regulation on organic farming. Federal Agriculture Minister and current Council President Horst Seehofer welcomed the agreement. "I am delighted with this successful conclusion which establishes a new pan-European foundation for the high standards of organic farming. The German market and the German organic farming associations, with their high quality standards, remain trendsetters for organic farming in Europe. The tried-and-tested German Eco-label will remain in use. Another good sign is that the relevant German consumer association expressly welcomes the strict regulations on genetic engineering."
• 12.06.2007
  Seehofer: Progress in Saving Baltic Cod. “Stabilising the stocks in the Baltic Sea is a huge step” said Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, today in Luxembourg, following the vote on the multi-year plan for Baltic cod stocks. “This smoothes the way to saving Baltic cod via sustainable rebuilding of the stocks.” This is of great importance, as: “Larger and more secure stocks also help to safeguard the livelihood of the German Baltic Sea fishing industry,” says Seehofer. The minister was delighted that, following difficult and lengthy negotiations, the Fisheries Council had managed, by mutual consent, to adopt a multi-year plan on the management of the cod stocks. This plan provides for a step-by-step reduction in the fishing mortality rate, so that both stocks are managed sustainably in the long term.
• 11.06.2007
  Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Horst Seehofer: A big step towards the simplification of agricultural legislation. "A key aim has been achieved," Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, expressed his delight today in Luxembourg about the results achieved by the Council. "We could adopt important and far-reaching conclusions of the Agriculture Council on a simplification of the cross-compliance regime during the German Presidency." This paves the way for adopting the legislation proposed by the Commission this very year and for presenting proposals for amendments to Council regulations. "It is our aim to achieve concrete simplifications swiftly. This is vital for the decisions to have an impact on the farming sector as soon as possible, too", said the Federal Minister and President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union.
• 11.06.2007
  Seehofer: Single common market organisation is of historical importance. "The creation of a single market organisation is of historical importance. It would have been unthinkable until a few years ago to turn fifty Council regulations into one. With today's decision we succeeded in streamlining agricultural market legislation, rendering it more transparent and clearer and thus making a key contribution to a simplification of the common agricultural policy," said Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, in Luxembourg today.
• 11.06.2007
  Important Agreement for the Recovery of Eel Stocks. "We have achieved a great success. We have managed to bring the lengthy negotiations, which lasted for almost two years, to a successful conclusion during the German Presidency. This means that it is now possible to start implementing the measures which are needed to allow the stocks of European eel to recover", declared Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, today in Luxembourg, following the vote on the measures to replenish the stock of European eel. The Minister had made adopting the eel protection regulation a priority of the German EU Council Presidency in the fisheries area.

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May

• 22.05.2007
  Successful conclusion of the Informal Meeting of Agriculture Ministers in Mainz. "We had the opportunity to engage in intensive, and in some cases very personal talks, in a very friendly, relaxed and positive atmosphere", said Horst Seehofer, Chair of the Agriculture Council and Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, today at the conclusion of the Informal Meeting which was held in Mainz as part of the EU Council Presidency. "We held very open discussions on policies for rural areas, thereby continuing the talks in Krems and Oulu."
• 21.05.2007
  Rural areas open up a large range of perspectives. "Rural areas have a future. The mutual cooperation between town and country provides great opportunities for making the Lisbon and Gothenburg strategies a success: Sustainable growth and employment need both: vital metropolises and vital rural areas. The common agricultural policy makes an excellent contribution to growth and employment in rural regions. To this end, it can still be better targeted at rural areas as a whole in the future," Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of Agriculture, thus summarised the discussion of the EU Agriculture Ministers at their Informal Meeting in Mainz under the German EU Council Presidency.
• 20.05.2007
  Vines for the Agriculture Ministers. On the occasion of the Informal Council in Mainz, Federal Minister of Agriculture Horst Seehofer, as presiding Council President, insisted on presenting a gift of lasting value to his EU colleagues in the Council: a genuine vine. Each minister received a document to commemorate the gift of the vines. The document contains the details of the gift. The vines are located in the Rheingau region, on the wine estate of a family enterprise that has already received an array of awards for the quality of its wines. The gift entitles the ministers to enter the vineyard at any time and to visit their vines. In order to save them the effort of harvesting the grapes themselves, the ministers will be sent a bottle of wine by post each year as a share of the harvest.
• 20.05.2007
  Together making Europe's rural areas viable for the future. On the sidelines of the informal meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers in Mainz, the Portuguese and Slovenian Agriculture Ministers, Jaime Silva and Iztok Jarc, met for trilateral talks under the chairmanship of Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of Agriculture and President-in-Office of the Agriculture Council of the EU. Portugal and Slovenia will succeed Germany in the EU Council Presidency. Together, they constitute the so-called trio presidency that is intended to achieve a better transition in the policies pursued by the consecutive presidencies.
• 18.05.2007
  Top-level politics accompanied by “Wine and Culture”. At the invitation of the President of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, Federal Minister Horst Seehofer, the EU Agriculture Ministers will be conducting an Informal Meeting in Mainz and the Rheingau region from 20 to 22 May 2007. Almost 30 European agriculture ministers are expected in Mainz and the surrounding area over the next few days. “I would like to continue the discussion on the future of rural regions which was conducted under the Austrian and Finnish presidencies, and have therefore made “Protecting the basis of life in the regions of Europe – for diversity, quality and innovation” a focal area of our talks”, says Federal Minister Horst Seehofer. “The traditional Informal Meeting of the EU Agriculture Ministers is a highlight of my presidency of the EU Agriculture Council.
• 16.05.2007
  On Sunday, Federal Minister of Agriculture Seehofer will be welcoming the European Ministers of Agriculture to the Informal Meeting in Mainz. Federal Minister of Agriculture Horst Seehofer is delighted that he will be host to his colleagues from the European Member States from Sunday to Tuesday at the Informal Meeting in Mainz. This meeting will focus on the subject of the "Future of Rural Regions", and also include a visit to the wine-growing region of Rheingau. There will also be several press conferences.

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April

• 18.04.2007
  Federal Minister Horst Seehofer: EU must lead the way in the global fight against illegal fishing. The Fisheries Ministers of the European Union met on 17 April 2007 under the chairmanship of Federal Minister Horst Seehofer with Mr. Joe Borg, EU Commissioner for Fisheries, in Senningen (Luxembourg) for a conference on problems of global importance for fisheries policy. "Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing - the so-called IUU fisheries – and the destructive fishing practices constitute one of the major threats to global fish stocks," said Horst Seehofer, President of the EU Council. "The Ministers agreed that the sustainable protection of fish stocks numbers among the key challenges of the future alongside climate change," Seehofer added. Today, IUU fisheries poses one of the most serious problems facing global fisheries. Given an estimated global volume of up to 9 billion euros per year, IUU fishing renders impossible a proper management of fisheries on the High Seas.

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March

• 28.03.2007
  Seehofer: Labelling can improve animal welfare. This is the conclusion of the animal welfare conference held today in Brussels within the course of the German Council Presidency and in cooperation with the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the EU Commission. The conference started an open discussion with the operators in the food chain, consumer and animal welfare associations and representatives of the scientific community and authorities. Already existing and well-known labelling systems, e.g. for the labelling of eggs and organic farming methods were presented at the conference and their pros and cons were discussed.
• 05.03.2007
  Seehofer: Renewable resources are becoming the cornerstone of alternative forms of energy. "Renewable resources can provide important future prospects for people in rural areas and, at the same time, solutions to the energy issues of our time." This is what Federal Minister Seehofer said at the conference entitled "Fuelling the Future - Renewable Resources Show the Way Forward for Rural Areas in Europe", which was opened in Nuremberg on 5 March in the course of the German Council Presidency.
• 05.03.2007
  Conference on the Challenges and Opportunities in a Digitalised World. On 15 March 2007, the consumer policy in the digitalised world will take centre stage at a conference hosted by the EU Council Presidency "Challenges and Opportunities in a Digitalised World. The Role of Consumer Policy". This conference coincides both with the World Consumer Rights Day and the opening day of the Cebit. Hence, two thematic areas that are closely interlinked and important for economic growth - innovations and consumer policy - will be in the public focus.

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February

• 21.02.2007
  Renewable resources provide fresh impetus to rural areas. The German EU Council Presidency attaches great importance to renewable resources. With the Conference "Fuelling the Future – Renewable Resources Show the Way Forward for Rural Areas in Europe" the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection would like to inject further momentum into the promotion of renewable resources in Europe. With 250 participants invited from the political, administrative, scientific and industrial sectors of the 27 EU Member States, and with representatives from the European Commission, from the European Parliament, and from European associations, the aim is to hold discussions on the strategies for an efficient and sustainable development of renewable resources.

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