Legal provisions of COM(2008)306-2 - Modifications to the common agricultural policy by amending Regulations (EC) No 320/2006, (EC) No 1234/2007, (EC) No 3/2008 and (EC) No […]/2008

Please note

This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.

dossier COM(2008)306-2 - Modifications to the common agricultural policy by amending Regulations (EC) No 320/2006, (EC) No 1234/2007, (EC) No ...
document COM(2008)306 EN
date January 19, 2009

Contents

Article 1 - Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 247/2006

Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 247/2006 is amended as follows:

1)The second subparagraph of paragraph 3 shall be deleted.

2)The following paragraph shall be added:

‘4.   Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article and by way of derogation from Article 180 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (22) and Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1184/2006 (23), Articles 87, 88 and 89 of the Treaty shall not apply to payments made under Title III, paragraph 3 of this Article and Articles 17 and 21 of this Regulation by Member States in conformity with this Regulation.

Article 2 - Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 320/2006

Regulation (EC) No 320/2006 is amended as follows:

1)Article 6(6) shall be replaced by the following:

‘6.   Member States shall not grant national aid in respect of diversification measures provided for in this Article. However, if the ceilings referred to in the third subparagraph of paragraph 4 permit the granting of an aid for diversification of 100 %, the Member State concerned shall contribute at least 20 % of the eligible expenditure.’.

2)The following Article shall be inserted:

‘Article 13a

State aids

Without prejudice to Article 6(5) of this Regulation and by way of derogation from Article 180 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (22) and Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1184/2006 (23), Articles 87, 88 and 89 of the Treaty shall not apply to payments made under Articles 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 of this Regulation by Member States in conformity with this Regulation.

Article 3 - Amendment to Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006

The following paragraph shall be added to Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006:

‘3.   Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article and by way of derogation from Article 180 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (22) and Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1184/2006 (23), Articles 87, 88 and 89 of the Treaty shall not apply to payments made under Articles 4 and 7 of this Regulation by Member States in conformity with this Regulation.

Article 4 - Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007

Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 is amended as follows:

1)Point (a) of Article 8(1) shall be replaced by the following:

‘(a)as regards the cereals sector, EUR 101,31 per tonne’;

2)Paragraph 2 of Article 10 shall be deleted;

3)Subsection II of Section II of Chapter I of Title I of Part II shall be replaced by the following:

‘Subsection II

Opening of buying-in

Article 11 - Public intervention periods

Public intervention shall be available:

(a)for cereals, from 1 November to 31 May;

(b)for paddy rice, from 1 April to 31 July;

(c)for sugar, throughout the marketing years 2008/2009 and 2009/2010;

(d)for beef and veal, throughout any marketing year;

(e)for butter and skimmed milk powder, from 1 March to 31 August.

Article 12 - Opening of public intervention

1. During the periods referred to in Article 11, public intervention:

(a)shall be open for common wheat;

(b)shall be open for durum wheat, barley, maize, sorghum, paddy rice, sugar, butter and skimmed milk powder up to the intervention limits referred to in Article 13(1);

(c)shall be opened for beef and veal by the Commission, without the assistance of the Committee referred to in Article 195(1), if the average market price for beef and veal over a representative period in a Member State or in a region of a Member State recorded on the basis of the Community scale for the classification of carcasses provided for in Article 42(1) is below EUR 1 560/tonne.

2. Public intervention for beef and veal, referred to in point (c) of paragraph 1, shall be closed by the Commission, without the assistance of the Committee referred to in Article 195(1), where, over a representative period, the conditions provided for in that point are no longer fulfilled.

Article 13 - Intervention limits

1. Buying into public intervention shall be carried out within the following limits:

(a)for durum wheat, barley, maize, sorghum and paddy rice, 0 tonnes for the periods referred to in Article 11(a) and (b) respectively;

(b)for sugar, 600 000 tonnes, expressed in white sugar, for each marketing year;

(c)for butter, 30 000 tonnes for each period referred to in Article 11(e);

(d)for skimmed milk powder 109 000 tonnes for each period referred to Article 11(e).

2. Sugar stored in accordance with point (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article during a marketing year shall not be subject to any of the other storage measures provided for in Articles 32, 52 and 63.

3. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, for the products referred to in points (a), (c) and (d) of that paragraph, the Commission may decide to continue public intervention beyond the amounts referred to in that paragraph if the market situation and, in particular, the development of market prices, so requires.’.

4)Subsection III of Section II of Chapter I of Title I of Part II shall be replaced by the following:

‘Subsection III

Intervention prices

Article 18 - Intervention prices

1. The intervention price:

(a)for common wheat shall be equal to the reference price for a maximum quantity offered of 3 million tonnes per intervention period as fixed in Article 11(a);

(b)for butter shall be equal to 90 % of the reference price for amounts offered within the limit in Article 13(1)(c);

(c)for skimmed milk powder shall be equal to the reference price for amounts offered within the limit in Article 13(1)(d).

2. The intervention prices and the quantities for intervention for the following products shall be determined by the Commission by means of tendering procedures:

(a)common wheat for amounts in excess of the maximum quantity offered of 3 million tonnes per intervention period as fixed in Article 11(a);

(b)durum wheat, barley, maize, sorghum and paddy rice, in application of Article 13(3);

(c)beef and veal;

(d)butter for amounts offered in excess of the limit in Article 13(1)(c), in application of Article 13(3), and

(e)skimmed milk powder for amounts offered in excess of the limit in Article 13(1)(d), in application of Article 13(3).

In special circumstances, tendering procedures may be restricted to, or the intervention prices and the quantities for intervention may be fixed per, Member State or region of a Member State on the basis of recorded average market prices.

3. The maximum buying-in price determined in accordance with tendering procedures under paragraph 2 shall not be higher:

(a)for cereals and paddy rice, than the respective reference prices;

(b)for beef and veal, than the average market price recorded in a Member State or a region of a Member State increased by an amount to be determined by the Commission on the basis of objective criteria;

(c)for butter, than 90 % of the reference price;

(d)for skimmed milk powder, than the reference price.

4. The intervention prices referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be:

(a)for cereals, without prejudice to price increases or reductions for quality reasons, and

(b)for paddy rice, increased or decreased accordingly if the quality of the products offered to the paying agency differs from the standard quality, defined in point A of Annex IV. Moreover, increases and reductions of the intervention price may be fixed by the Commission in order to ensure that production is orientated towards certain varieties.

5. The intervention price for sugar shall be 80 % of the reference price fixed for the marketing year following the marketing year during which the offer is lodged. However, if the quality of the sugar offered to the paying agency differs from the standard quality defined in point B of Annex IV for which the reference price is fixed, the intervention price shall be increased or reduced accordingly.’.

5)Point (b) of Article 28 shall be deleted.

6)Article 30 shall be deleted.

7)Article 31 shall be amended as follows:

(a)point (e) of paragraph 1 shall be deleted;

(b)in paragraph 2, the second subparagraph shall be deleted.

8)Article 36 shall be deleted.

9)Article 43 shall be amended as follows:

(a)point (a) shall be replaced by the following:

‘(a)the requirements and conditions to be met by products to be bought into public intervention as referred to in Article 10 or for which aid for private storage is granted as referred to in Articles 28 and 31, in particular with respect to quality, quality groups, quality grades, categories, quantities, packaging including labelling, maximum ages, preservation, the stage of the products to which the intervention price relates, and the duration of private storage;’;

(b)the following point shall be added after point (a):

‘(aa)the respect of the maximum quantities and quantitative limits set out in Article 13(1) and point (a) of Article 18(1); in this context, the implementing rules may authorise the Commission to close buying-in at a fixed price, adopt allocation coefficients and, for common wheat, switch to the tendering procedure referred to in Article 18(2), without the assistance of the Committee referred to in Article 195(1);’.

10)Article 46(3) shall be deleted.

11)Article 55 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 55

Quota systems

1. A quota system shall apply to the following products:

(a)milk and other milk products within the meaning of points (a) and (b) of Article 65;

(b)sugar, isoglucose and inulin syrup;

(c)potato starch which may benefit from Community aid.

2. As regards the quota systems referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of this Article, if a producer exceeds the relevant quota and, with regard to sugar, does not make use of the surplus quantities as provided for in Article 61, a surplus levy shall be payable on such quantities, subject to the conditions set out in Sections II and III.’.

12)In Article 72(2), ‘70 %’ shall be replaced by ‘85 %’.

13)The following subparagraph shall be added to Article 78(1):

‘However, for the twelve-month periods starting on 1 April 2009 and 1 April 2010, the surplus levy for milk delivered in excess of 106 % of the national quota for deliveries applicable for the twelve-month period starting on 1 April 2008 shall be set at 150 % of the levy referred to in the second subparagraph.’.

14)Article 80 shall be amended as follows:

(a)the following subparagraph shall be added to paragraph 1:

‘At national level, the surplus levy shall be calculated on the basis of the sum of the deliveries, adjusted in accordance with the first subparagraph.’;

(b)paragraph 2 shall be deleted;

(c)the following subparagraph shall be added to paragraph 3:

‘Where the third subparagraph of Article 78(1) applies, Member States, in establishing each producer's contribution to the amount of levy payable due to the application of the higher rate referred to in that subparagraph, shall ensure that this amount is contributed proportionately by the producers responsible according to objective criteria to be set by the Member State.’.

15)The following Section shall be inserted in Chapter III of Title I of Part II:

‘Section IIIa

Potato starch quotas

Article 84 - a Potato starch quotas

1. The potato starch producing Member States shall be allocated quotas for the marketing year during which the quota scheme applies in accordance with Article 204(5) and Annex Xa.

2. Each producer Member State referred to in Annex Xa shall allocate its quota among potato starch manufacturers for use in the marketing years concerned on the basis of the subquotas allocated to each manufacturer in 2007/2008.

3. An undertaking producing potato starch shall not conclude cultivation contracts with potato producers for a quantity of potatoes which would produce a quantity of starch in excess of its quota as referred to in paragraph 2.

4. Any potato starch produced in excess of the quota as referred to in paragraph 2 shall be exported, as such, from the Community before 1 January following the end of the marketing year in question. No export refund shall be paid in respect of it.

5. Notwithstanding paragraph 4, an undertaking producing potato starch may, in any marketing year, in addition to its quota for that year, utilise no more than 5 % of its quota relating to the following marketing year. In such case, the quota for the following marketing year shall be reduced accordingly.

6. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the production of potato starch by undertakings which are not subject to paragraph 2 of this Article and which purchase potatoes for which producers do not benefit from the payment provided for in Article 77 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 of 19 January 2009 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the Common Agricultural Policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers (24).

16)In Article 85, the following point shall be added:

‘(d)in respect of Section IIIa, mergers, changes of ownership and the commencement or cessation of trading of potato starch manufacturers.’.

17)Subsection I of Section I of Chapter IV of Title I of Part II shall be deleted.

18)In Article 91(1), the first two subparagraphs shall be replaced by the following subparagraph:

‘Aid for processing the straw of long flax grown for fibre and the straw of short flax and hemp grown for fibre shall be granted for the 2009/2010 to 2011/2012 marketing years to authorised primary processors on the basis of the quantity of fibre actually obtained from straw for which a contract of sale has been concluded with a farmer.’.

19)The first subparagraph of Article 92(1) shall be amended as follows:

(a)the second indent of point (a) shall be replaced by the following two indents:

‘—at EUR 200 per tonne for the 2009/2010 marketing year; and

—at EUR 160 per tonne for the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 marketing years.’.

(b)point (b) shall be replaced by the following:

‘(b)at EUR 90 per tonne for the 2009/2010, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 marketing years for short flax and hemp fibre containing not more than 7,5 % impurities and shives;’.

20)Article 94(1) shall be replaced by the following:

‘1.   A maximum guaranteed quantity of 80 878 tonnes for each of the 2009/2010 to 2011/2012 marketing years shall be established for long flax fibre in respect of which aid may be granted. That quantity shall be apportioned among certain Member States as national guaranteed quantities in accordance with point A.I. of Annex XI.’.

21)Article 94(1a) shall be replaced by the following:

‘1a.   A maximum guaranteed quantity of 147 265 tonnes for each of the 2009/2010 to 2011/2012 marketing years shall be established for short flax fibre and hemp fibre in respect of which aid may be granted. That quantity shall be apportioned as national guaranteed quantities among certain Member States in accordance with point A.II. of Annex XI.’.

22)The following subsection shall be inserted into Section I of Chapter IV of Title I of Part II:

‘Subsection III

Potato starch

Article 95 - a Potato starch premium

1. A premium of EUR 22,25 per tonne of starch produced shall be paid for the 2009/2010, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 marketing years to potato starch manufacturers for the quantity of potato starch up to the quota limit referred to in Article 84a(2), provided that they have paid to potato producers a minimum price for all the potatoes necessary to produce starch up to that quota limit.

2. The minimum price of potatoes intended for the manufacture of potato starch shall be set at EUR 178,31 per tonne for the marketing years concerned.

This price applies to the quantity of potatoes, delivered to the factory, which is needed to make one tonne of starch.

The minimum price shall be adjusted according to the starch content of the potatoes.

3. The Commission shall adopt the detailed rules for the implementation of this Subsection.’.

23)Article 96 shall be deleted.

24)Articles 99 and 100 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 99

Aid for skimmed milk and skimmed milk powder for use as feedingstuffs

1. When surpluses of milk products build up or are likely to occur, creating or likely to create a serious imbalance in the market, the Commission may decide that aid shall be granted for Community-produced skimmed milk and skimmed-milk powder intended for use as feedingstuffs, according to conditions and product standards to be determined by the Commission. The aid may be fixed in advance or by means of tendering procedures.

For the purposes of this Article, buttermilk and buttermilk powder shall be regarded as skimmed milk and skimmed-milk powder.

2. Aid amounts shall be fixed by the Commission taking into account the reference price fixed in point (e)(ii) of Article 8(1) for skimmed-milk powder, and the development of the market situation as regards skimmed milk and skimmed-milk powder.

Article 100 - Aid for skimmed milk processed into casein and caseinates

1. When surpluses of milk products build up or are likely to occur, creating or likely to create a serious imbalance in the market, the Commission may decide that aid shall be granted for Community-produced skimmed milk processed into casein and caseinates, according to conditions and product standards of such milk and the casein or caseinates produced from it to be determined by the Commission. The aid may be fixed in advance or by means of tendering procedures.

2. Aid shall be fixed by the Commission taking into account the development of the market situation for skimmed-milk powder and the reference price for skimmed-milk powder, fixed in point (e)(ii) of Article 8(1).

The aid may vary, according to whether the skimmed milk is processed into casein or caseinates and according to the quality of those products.’.

25)Article 101 shall be deleted.

26)Article 102(2) shall be replaced by the following:

‘2.   Member States may, in addition to Community aid, grant national aid for supplying the products referred to in paragraph 1 to pupils in educational establishments. Member States may finance their national aid by means of a levy on the dairy sector or by any other contribution from the dairy sector.’.

27)The following section shall be inserted:

‘Section IIIa

Aids in the hops sector

Article 102 - a Aids to producer organisations

1. The Community shall finance a payment to producer organisations in the hops sector recognised under Article 122 to finance the aims referred to in that Article.

2. The Community financing per year for the payment to producer organisations shall be EUR 2 277 000 for Germany.

3. The Commission shall adopt the detailed rules for the implementation of this Section.’.

28)Article 103 shall be amended as follows:

(a)the introductory part of paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following:

‘1.   The Community shall finance three-year work programmes to be drawn up by the operator organisations referred to in Article 125 in one or more of the following areas:’;

(b)the following paragraph shall be inserted:

‘1a.   The Community financing per year of the work programmes shall be:

(a)EUR 11 098 000 for Greece,

(b)EUR 576 000 for France, and

(c)EUR 35 991 000 for Italy.’.

29)Article 103e(2) shall be deleted.

30)Article 105(2) shall be replaced by the following:

‘2.   Member States may pay specific national aids for the protection of apiaries disadvantaged by structural or natural conditions or under economic development programmes, except for those allocated for production or trade. These aids shall be notified to the Commission by Member States together with the communication of the apiculture programme in accordance with Article 109.’.

31)Article 119 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 119

Use of casein and caseinate in the manufacture of cheese

Where aid is paid under Article 100, the Commission may make the use of casein and caseinates in the manufacture of cheese subject to prior authorisation which shall be granted only if such use is a necessary condition for the manufacture of the products.’.

32)The following paragraph shall be added to Article 122:

‘Member States may also recognise producer organisations constituted by producers in any sector referred to in Article 1, other than those sectors referred to in point (a) of the first paragraph, on the conditions set out in points (b) and (c) of that paragraph.’.

33)Article 124(1) shall be replaced by the following:

‘1.   Article 122 and Article 123(1) shall apply without prejudice to the recognition, decided by Member States on the basis of national law and in compliance with Community law, of producer organisations or interbranch organisations respectively, in any sector referred to in Article 1 except for the sectors referred to in point (a) of the first paragraph of Article 122 and in Article 123(1).’.

34)Article 180 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 180

Application of Articles 87, 88 and 89 of the Treaty

Articles 87, 88 and 89 of the Treaty shall apply to the production of, and trade in, the products referred to in points (a) to (k) and points (m) to (u) of Article 1(1) and in Article 1(3) of this Regulation.

However, Articles 87, 88 and 89 of the Treaty shall not apply to payments made under Articles 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 102, 102a, 103, 103a, 103b, 103e, 103ga, 104, 105 and 182 of this Regulation by Member States in conformity with this Regulation.’.

35)The following paragraph shall be added to Article 182:

‘7.   Member States may grant until 31 March 2014 state aid of a total annual amount of up to 55 % of the ceiling set out in Article 69(4) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 to farmers in the dairy sector in addition to Community support granted in accordance with Article 68(1)(b) of that Regulation. However, in no case shall the total amount of Community support under the measures referred to in Article 68(4) of that Regulation and state aid exceed the ceiling referred to in the Article 68(4).’.

36)The following point shall be added to Article 184:

‘6)before 31 December 2010 and 31 December 2012 to the European Parliament and Council regarding the evolution of the market situation and the consequent conditions for smoothly phasing out the milk quota system, accompanied if necessary by appropriate proposals. Furthermore, a report will study the consequences for producers of cheeses with a protected designation of origin in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 510/2006.’.

37)The following paragraph shall be added to Article 204:

‘5.   As regards potato starch, Section IIIa of Chapter III of Title I of Part II shall apply until the end of the 2011/2012 marketing year for potato starch.’.

38)Point 1 of Annex IX shall be replaced by the text in Annex I to this Regulation.

39)The text of Annex II to this Regulation shall be inserted as Annex Xa.

40)The text of Annex III to this Regulation shall be inserted in Annex XXII as point 20a.

Article 5 - Amendment to Regulation (EC) No 3/2008

Article 13(6) of Regulation (EC) No 3/2008 shall be replaced by the following:

‘6.   By way of derogation from Article 180 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (22) and Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1184/2006 (23), Articles 87, 88 and 89 of the Treaty shall not apply to payments made by Member States, including their financial participations, nor to the financial participations from parafiscal charges or mandatory contributions of Member States or proposing organisations for programmes eligible for Community support under Article 36 of the Treaty, that the Commission has selected in accordance with Article 8(1) of this Regulation.

Article 6 - Amendment to Regulation (EC) No 479/2008

Article 127(2) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 shall be replaced by the following:

‘2.   Without prejudice to the maximum aid rates referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 8(4) of this Regulation, Articles 87, 88 and 89 of the Treaty shall not apply to payments made under Title II, Chapter III of Title V, and Article 119 of this Regulation by Member States in conformity with this Regulation.’.

Article 7 - Repeals

1. Regulations (EEC) No 1883/78, (EEC) No 1254/89, (EEC) No 2247/89, (EEC) No 2055/93 and (EC) No 1182/2005 shall be repealed.

2. Regulations (EC) No 2596/97 and (EC) No 315/2007 shall be repealed with effect from 1 May 2009.

3. Regulation (EC) No 1868/94 shall be repealed with effect from 1 July 2009.

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 and shall be read in accordance with the respective correlation table in Annex XXII to that Regulation.

Article 8 - Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

However:

(a)Points 5 to 8, 12 to 14 and 38 of Article 4 shall apply from 1 April 2009;

(b)Points 11, 15, 16, 18 to 25, 31, 37 and 39 of Article 4 shall apply from 1 July 2009;

(c)Points 1, 3, 4, and 9(b) of Article 4 shall apply from:

(i)1 July 2009, as regards durum wheat,

(ii)1 September 2009, as regards the rice sector,

(iii)1 October 2009, as regards the sugar sector,

(iv)1 July 2010, as regards common wheat, barley, maize and sorghum,

(d)Point 27 of Article 4 shall apply from 1 January 2011;

(e)Point 17 of Article 4 shall apply from 1 April 2012.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.