COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSIONTO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to Article 294(6) TFEU concerning the position adopted by the Council at first reading on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2000/75/EC as regards vaccination against bluetongue
Date: 2012-01-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: animal disease, health control, sheep, vaccination, veterinary inspection

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 6.1.2012 
COM(2011) 943 final 

2010/0326 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Communication from the Commission to the 
European Parliament pursuant to Article 294(6) TFEU concerning the position adopted 
by the Council at first reading on the adoption of a Directive of the European 
Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2000/75/EC as regards vaccination 
against bluetongue  

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
2010/0326 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Communication from the Commission to the 
European Parliament pursuant to Article 294(6) TFEU concerning the position adopted 
by the Council at first reading on the adoption of a Directive of the European 
Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2000/75/EC as regards vaccination 
against bluetongue  

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
(document COM(2010(666)/EC final – / COD): 2010/0326 

15 November 2010 

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

15 March 2011  

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

7 April 2011  

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

15 December 2011 

On 15 November 2010, the Commission submitted to the legislator a proposal for a Council 
Directive  amending  Directive  2000/75/EC1  as  regards  vaccination  against  bluetongue 
(COM(2010)666),  a  disease  of  ruminants  (cattle,  sheep,  goats)  that  has  caused  major 
economic  losses  in  the  EU  in  the  last  decade.  The  Commission  proposal  has  as  legal  base 
Council  Directive  92/119/EEC  of  17  December  1992  introducing  general  Community 
measures  for  the  control  of  certain  animal  diseases  and  specific  measures  relating  to  swine 
vesicular disease2, and in particular the second indent of Article 15 thereof. 

During  the  discussions  in  the  Council,  no  Member  State  objected  to  the  text  of  the  proposal 
when it was presented for technical discussions at the meeting of the Chief Veterinary Officers 
and at the Agricultural Counsellors attachés on 13 January 2011. The COREPER acknowledged 
the  urgency  of  this  matter  unanimously  and  adopted  without  discussion  the  position  of  the 
Member States on 26 January 2011. The chair of the COREPER transmitted the Commission 
proposal to the European Parliament by letter on 26 January 2011, accompanied by a proposal 
for the modification of its legal basis to Article 43(2) of TFEU by the co-legislators following 
the ordinary legislative procedure. COREPER further invited the Parliament to treat this issue 
urgently in order to meet the deadlines of the Commission proposal. 

1 

2 

Council  Directive  2000/75/EC  of  20  November  2000  laying  down  specific  provisions  for  the  control 
and eradication of bluetongue (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 74). 
OJ L 62, 15.3.1993, p. 69. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
 
 
                                                 
The European Parliament adopted its opinion in first reading on 7 April 2011. The Commission 
did not modify its proposal in light of this first reading. The Council has already indicated the 
support to the measures proposed by the Commission and it is also ready to support the minor 
amendments adopted by the European Parliament. 

The  horizontal  question  of  correlation  tables  is  now  the  subject  of  an  inter-institutional 
agreement,  endorsed  in  the  Competitiveness  Council  on  29  September  2011  and  by  the 
Conference of the Presidents of the European Parliament on 20 October 2011.  

The Council has adopted its position at first reading on 15 December for a possible early second 
reading. 

The  opinion  of  the  Economic  and  Social  Committee  was  adopted  on  15  March  2011 
(NAT/512). The rapporteur is Mr Ludvík Jírovec. 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The  aim  of  the  Commission  proposal  is  to  offer  more  flexibility  to  vaccination  against  the 
bluetongue disease, in order to allow animals to be vaccinated also outside those areas subject to 
animal movement restrictions.  

The Commission proposal thus amends Council Directive 2000/75/EC. Article 5 is amended so 
that  competent  authorities  allow  vaccination  against  bluetongue  subject  to  a  specific  risk 
assessment.  The  amendment  of  Article  8(2)  (b)  of  Directive  2000/75/EC  will  provide  that 
within  the  surveillance  zone  no  vaccination  is  carried  out  with  "modified  live  attenuated" 
vaccines. Further, the proposal provides for the amendment of Article10 (2) of the Directive to 
the effect that the prohibition currently imposed against any vaccination within the surveillance 
zone,  be  limited  to  vaccination  with  "modified  live  attenuated"  vaccines;  and  thus  it  allows 
vaccination with "inactivated vaccines", which are safer. 

In  addition  the  Commission  proposal  foresees  that  when  Member  States  adopt  the  above 
provisions,  they  shall  communicate  to  the  Commission  the  text  of  those  provisions  and  a 
correlation table between those provisions and the Directive. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The Council position is that Article 43(2) of TFEU should be used as legal base instead of the 
one proposed by the Commission because the Lisbon treaty introduced the ordinary legislative 
procedure for proposals based on Article 43. The Commission does not object to this change of 
legal base.  

As the Council agrees to the possibility to vaccinate against bluetongue also outside those areas 
subject to animal movement restrictions, in line with the Commission proposal, the Commission 
supports the Council position.  

Given the delays in the adoption of the proposal due to the inter-institutional debate on the issue 
of  correlation  tables,  the  Council  intends  to  postpone  the  proposed  dates  of  adoption  and 
publication of the national laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply 
with  this  Directive  and  of  application  of  those  provisions.  The  Commission  accepts  this 
postponement which stays compatible with the next vaccination season. 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
With  regard  to  the  request  for  a  correlation  table  for  the  present  proposal,  the  Council  is 
opposed to it. In light of the limited number of amendments proposed to an existing Directive 
transposed in national law since a decade, and the resulting easy check on their transposition, 
the Commission can accept that no provision on correlation tables is inserted in this Directive. 

The European Parliament proposed amendments to the proposal, essentially modifying the legal 
base to Article 43(2), and introducing new implementation dates to ensure enforcement in time 
for the vaccination season. None of those amendments were controversial. However the inter-
institutional  discussions  on  the  question  of  correlation  tables  blocked  any  progress  on  the 
proposal. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission welcomes the Council position at first reading, which paves the way for an 
early second reading agreement. 

EN 

4 

   EN