EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/684

(2004/C 78 E/0729)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-4074/03

by Marianne Thyssen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 January 2004)

Subject: Problems relating to the transposition into national law of Directive 2002/2/EC

Article 3 of Directive 2002/2/EC (1) of 28 January 2002 amending Council Directive 79/373/EEC (2) on the circulation of compound feedingstuffs and repealing Commission Directive 91/357/EEC (3) requires Member States to adopt and publish the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive not later than 6 March 2003. Under the same article, Member States are required to implement these provisions with effect from 6 November 2003.

The transposition of Directive 2002/2 is causing problems at European level and giving rise to considerable confusion in the industries concerned. In particular, Article 1(1)(b) and the corresponding section of Article 1 (4) concerning the indication of feedingstuffs with their percentages is causing problems (‘open labelling’).

In various Member States (France, Italy, Portugal), legal proceedings have been initiated against these provisions. In the United Kingdom, a judgment has apparently already been given to the effect that no percentages may be indicated because this would cause serious economic damage to the industries concerned. Other Member States are said simply not to be applying the provisions in question.

Is the Commission aware of these problems? What steps has it taken or does it intend to take in the near future to remedy them? Does not the Commission agree that labelling requirements cannot go so far that businesses are virtually forced to reveal their methods of preparation to the market?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2004)

The Commission would like to highlight that Directive 2002/2/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 amending Council Directive 79/373/EEC on the circulation of compound feedingstuffs and repealing Commission Directive 91/357/EEC was adopted by co-decision procedure which included a conciliation phase. The proposal for percentage declarations on labels was maintained on the insistence of the Parliament, which adopted the Directive in Plenary by a very large majority. The Directive has been the subject of national transposition measures in all the Member States, some of them still to be published.

The Commission is aware that the application of national measures has been suspended by jurisdictions in France, Italy and the United Kingdom, but this is not the case in the twelve other Member States.

The European Court of Justice has been requested by the High Court of Justice (England and Wales) to give a preliminary ruling under Article 234 of the EC Treaty concerning the validity of Articles 1(1)(b) and Article 1(4) of Directive 2002/2/EC, which provide for the so-called ‘open declaration’ for the labelling of compound feedingstuffs (case number C-453/03).

The Commission supports the legitimacy of the provisions laid down in Directive 2002/2/EC and is looking forward to the preliminary ruling by the European Court of Justice.

(1) OJ L 63, 6.3.2002, p. 23.

(2) OJ L 86, 6.4.1979, p. 30.

(3) OJ L 193, 17.7.1991, p. 34.