European Parliament releases Rural Development funds following Voluntary Modulation agreement at March Agriculture Council
EU Policy Briefing - 23 March 2007
EU Agriculture Ministers reached a political agreement on the German Presidency’s compromise proposal for voluntary modulation at the Council meeting on 19 March 2007. Under the terms of the Presidency, voluntary modulation will be allowed in two Member States, the UK and Portugal. The proposal was backed by all ministers except for the Latvian delegate who abstained. Members of the European Parliament then unanimously agreed to release 20 per cent of EU Rural Development funds following a meeting by the Budget Committee on 21 March 2007. The European Parliament had been blocking the release of these funds in order to extract concessions from the Commission on voluntary modulation.