Mr. Gregory Canning:

The current position is that the Commission has come forward with a proposal. As part of the co-decision process, the proposal will go before the European Parliament and the Council for consideration. Usually the Presidency of the day decides which Council formation should consider the proposal. In this case, it has decided that the Agriculture Council is the appropriate forum. However, regardless of the Ministers involved, the Council acts as one. The Agriculture Ministers will, therefore, act for the entire Council. The Commission will present its proposal to the Council of Ministers and explain the rationale behind it. It will then be sent to a Council working group comprising the attachés and officials of relevant Departments. We will liaise closely with our agriculture colleagues and departmental policies will develop alongside the negotiations. This is a relatively small proposal, but its brevity does not mean simplicity. It will have to be worked through. Eventually the Council will reach an agreed position through negotiations. It will pass from the Council working party to the group of permanent representatives of member states who will decide whether they have reached an agreed position that can be put to Ministers. Once Ministers sign off on an agreed Council position, the Council will engage formally with the Parliament to exchange views and the member states and the Parliament will try to reach an agreed position. The process takes a certain length of time, but it is iterative.