Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
Date: 2006-11-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU control, animal disease, disease prevention, health control, health risk, public health

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 24.11.2006 
COM(2006) 701 final 

2004/0270B (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European 
Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 laying down 
rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform 
encephalopathies 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
 
2004/0270B (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European 
Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 laying down 
rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform 
encephalopathies 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council 
(document COM(2004) 775 final – 2004/0270/COD): 

6.12.2004 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

9.03.2005 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

17.05.2006 

Date of adoption of the common position: 

23.11.2006 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

On  6  December  2004  the  Commission  proposed  to  the  Council  and  the  European 
Parliament  to  prolong  the  period  of  the  transitional  TSE  measures  to  allow  for  an 
agreement  to  be  reached  at  international  level  on  the  simplified  categorisation 
system. At the same time, other amendments relating to issues such as rules for the 
production  of  products  of  animal  origin,  TSE  monitoring,  inspections  in  third 
countries  and  breeding  programmes  were  introduced.  The  transitional  measures  in 
the TSE Regulation expired on 30th June 2005.  

The proposal was split into two parts with the first part extending the current period 
of the transitional measures for two years until 1 July 2007, leaving the second part 
to be subject to further discussions at EP and Council level.  

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
 
 
3. 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION  

3.1.  GENERAL REMARKS 

The common position adopted by the Council by qualified majority represents 
a  balanced  further  elaboration  of  the  Commission  proposal,  where  various 
provisions requested by the Council were included, and in which several of the 
1st  Reading  amendments  of  the  European  Parliament  have  been  taken  into 
account. 

Following the adoption of the Council Decision 2006/512/EC it is necessary to 
introduce  new  provisions  for  the  adoption  of  acts  implementing  Council  and 
Parliament's  legislation  adopted  via  co-decision,  the  so-called  "regulatory 
procedure  with  scrutiny",  governed  by  the  provisions  laid  down  in  the  new 
Article 5a of Council Decision 1999/468/EC. 

Awaiting the adoption of the co-decision proposal on TSEs, the Council made 
the necessary changes to include, where appropriate, the regulatory procedure 
with scrutiny in the Articles referred in the Commission proposal. This include 
Articles 6(1), 6 (1b), 7(3), 7(4), 7(4a), 8(1), 8(2), 8(5), 9(1) and 15(3).  

The Commission agrees with the Council’s position regarding the provisions to 
be  subject  to  the  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny  and  thus  should  endorse 
the Common position. 

3.2.  AMENDMENTS MADE BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AT FIRST READING 

The  Council  has  included  in  the  common  position  several  technical 
amendments following intensive consultation between the co-legislators which 
were adopted at first reading by the European Parliament and also accepted by 
the Commission. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

For the above reason, the Commission supports the Common Position adopted by the 
Council. 

5. 

COMMISSION AND COUNCIL DECLARATIONS 

The following declaration by Commission: 

Declaration by the Commission concerning authorisations referred to in Article 7. 

This declaration is attached to this Communication. 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX  

COMMISSION AND COUNCIL DECLARATIONS 

Concerning Article 7: Statement by the Commission 

The Commission will only grant the authorisations referred to in Article 7 after examining the 
risks  and  at  the  same  time  will  take  into  account  the  control  tools  in  place  to  evaluate  and 
ensure  the  proper  implementation  of  these  derogations.  Related  to  the  use  of  fish  meal 
intended for young ruminants, certain restrictions could be envisaged linked to the production 
or  type  of  those  feedingstuffs.  Concernant  la  dérogation  pour  les  farines  de  poisons,  la 
Commission  se  basera  sur  les  performances  de  la  méthode  d’analyse  microscopique  qui 
permet d’ores et déjà de différencier les protéines de poisons de celles de mammifères, ainsi 
que  sur  les  résultats  du  prochain  “proficiency  testing”  organise  par  le  laboratoire 
communautaire de références.  

EN 

4 

   EN