Council Press Release, 15 September 2008
The following is an extract from the minutes of the General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting held on the 15 September 2008.
The Council adopted, by a qualified majority1, a common position with a view to the adoption of a Regulation concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market (11119/08, 11119/08 ADD 1, 12553/08 ADD 1).
The Regulation is to be adopted under the co-decision procedure with the European Parliament. The common position adopted by the Council is the outcome of its first reading of the text, following that of the Parliament. It will be referred to the Parliament for a second reading. A final version of the Regulation should be adopted after the second reading by both bodies, subject to any further amendments.
The aim of the draft Regulation is to overhaul the current legislation completely in order to strengthen the protection of human health and the environment, improve the operation of the internal market and update authorisation procedures.
Its main provisions concern a positive list of active substances, the criteria for approval of substances and a compulsory system of mutual recognition of authorisations based on the division of EU territory into three authorisation zones.