Proposed EU food quotas leave a bitter taste with the Agriculture Ministry

Experts of the Agriculture Ministry and the Office of the Committee for European Integration (UKiE) are considering turning to the European Justice Tribunal to commence legal proceedings against the EU, which plans to introduce a mechanism which would block an increase of food exports to the current members of the EU. The case relates to the decision of the European Commission which on May 1, 2004, plans to impose taxes on excessive stock of food, that is stock above a standard amounts set for each country. These taxes will block exports of products such as powdered milk, butter, beef, and pork. According to Izabela Lewandowska the director of the Department of European Integration in the Agriculture Ministry, the proposition of the European Commission breaks the law concerning the equal treatment of economic entities and free trade rights in the single market. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, B1) A.K.