Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products'
C 75/14 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 15. 3. 2000 Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products’ (2000/C 75/05) On 20 December 1999 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Articles 36 and 37 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal. The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 12 January 2000. The rapporteur was Mr Bento Gonçalves. At its 369th plenary session of 26 and 27 January 2000 (meeting of 26 January) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 113 votes in favour, with seven abstentions. 1. Introduction: content of the Commission proposal 1. 1. In document COM(1999) 631 final the Commission proposes to amend Article 31(14) of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999. This paragraph covers the responsibility for modifying the list, in Annex II of the Regulation, of milk products eligible for export refunds. The applicable legal basis is Articles 36 and 37 of the 1. 2. Treaty. 2. General comments available resources, creating additional management options with the aim of better identifying the goods which qualify for refunds. This change will enable proposals for amendments to 2. 3. be approved by a committee procedure. 2. 4. The amendments will make the procedures for milk products identical to those applying to export refunds for the products included in the CMO regulations for the cereals, sugar, rice and eggs sectors. 2. 5. The amendments will have no financial impact. The aim of the proposal is to confer on the Commission 2. 1. the responsibility for amending the list of goods in Annex II by including the milk products eligible for export refunds. 3. Conclusion 2. 2. It is thus a question of simply amending procedures so as to enable the Commission to make the most efficient use of The ESC is of the opinion that the proposal should be 3. 1. adopted. Brussels, 26 January 2000. The President of the Economic and Social Committee Beatrice RANGONI MACHIAVELLI