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I Information

Commission

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Interest rate applied by the European Central Bank to its main refinancing operations (1):

3 % on 1 September 2006

Euro exchange rates (2)

1 September 2006

(2006/C 211/01)

1 euro= 

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(1)  Rate applied to the most recent operation carried out before the indicated day. In the case of a variable rate tender, the interest rate is the marginal rate.

(2)

Source: reference exchange rate published by the ECB.

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Prior notification of a concentration

(Case COMP/M.4370 — ENB/Cogas Energy)

(2006/C 211/02)

(Text with EEA relevance)

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(1)OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1.

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Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 68/2001 of 12 January 2001, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 363/2004 of 25 February 2004, on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to training aid

(2006/C 211/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

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Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 of 12 January 2001, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 364/2004 of 25 February 2004, on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises

(2006/C 211/04)

(Text with EEA relevance)

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Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2006/C 211/05)

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006. Statements of objection must reach the Commission within six months from the date of this publication.

SUMMARY

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

Application for registration according to Article 5 and Article 17(2)

‘TOME DES BAUGES’

EC No: FR/PDO/005/0254/18.9.2002

PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

This summary has been drawn up for information only. For full details, interested parties are invited to consult the full version of the product specification obtainable from the national authorities indicated in section 1 or from the European Commission (1).

1.   responsible department in the Member State:

2.   Group:

3.   Type of product:

Class 1.3 — Cheese

4.   Specification

(summary of requirements under article 4(2))

4.1   Name: ‘Tome des Bauges’

4.2   Description: Tome des Bauges is a pressed, salted cheese with surface mould made from either whole or semi-skimmed raw cow's milk.

It is cylindrical with a diameter of 18 to 20cm, 3 to 5cm in height and weighs between 1.1 and 1.4 kg when matured.

It has a ridged surface with bumps and irregularities. The rind is 2 to 3mm thick, grey in colour and may have yellow to brown patches of naturally-developing mould.

The cheese is slightly firm to flexible, pale yellow in colour and may have small eyes.

It contains a minimum level of 45g of fat per 100g of cheese, after total desiccation and the dry matter weighs no less than 50g per 100g of cheese.

Tome des Bauges may be sold in portions provided, in particular, that all portions contain the rind on all three sides.

4.3   Geographical area: The production of milk and the production and maturing of cheese are carried out in the geographical area covering the following municipalities:

Municipalities in Haute-Savoie fully covered in the area: Allèves, Chapelle St Maurice (La), Chevaline, Cons Ste Colombe, Entrevernes, Gruffy, Leschaux, Quintal, St Eustache, Seythenex and Viuz-la-Chiésaz.

Municipalities partly covered in the area: Cusy, Doussard, Duingt, Faverges, Giez, Lathuile, Marlens and St-Jorioz.

Municipalities in Savoie fully covered in the area: Aillon-le-Jeune, Aillon-le-Vieux, Allondaz, Arith, Bellecombe en Bauges, Châtelard (Le), Cléry, Compôte (La), Curienne, Déserts (Les), Doucy-en-Bauges, Ecole, Jarsy, Lescheraines, Mercury, Montcel (Le), Motte-en -Bauges La), Noyer (Le), Pallud, Plancherine, Puygros, St-François-de-Sales, St-Offenge-Dessus, St-Offenge-Dessous, Ste-Reine, Thoiry, Thuile (La), Trevignin and Verrens-Arvey.

Municipalities partly covered in the area: Marthod, Montailleur, Pugny-Chatenod, St-Jean-d'Arvey, St Jean de la Porte, St Pierre d'Albigny and Thenesol.

The production area is defined in a specific map.

4.4   Proof of origin: The Tome des Bauges production site may only accept milk that complies with the PDO product specification. Milk collection compliant with the product specification must be carried out independently of all other collection rounds.

Each milk producer, processing and maturing facility fills in a ‘declaration of aptitude’ registered with the INAO, which enables the INAO to identify all operators. All operators must keep their registers and any other documents required for checking the origin, quality and production conditions of the milk and cheese at the INAOs disposal.

During production, an identification mark is affixed to the cheese. The shape and colour of the identification mark are set out in the product specification.

Lastly, products undergo analysis and organoleptic tests to ensure they met the quality and characteristics laid down in the PDO.

4.5   Method of production: The milk must come from herds of dairy cows of the ‘abondance’, ‘tarine’ or ‘montbéliarde’ breeds, and specimen of the ‘abondance’ and ‘tarine’ breeds must constitute at least 50 % of the herd. Moreover, the milk must come from herds that weigh an average of no more than 5 500 kg per lactating cow per year.

The staple feed of the herd is pasture grass during the summer period, for at least 120 days, and a constant supply of hay during the winter period. The level of dry fodder from outside of the geographical area is authorised to supplement local resources up to a maximum of 30 % of the farm's annual requirements for the whole herd. This supplement may contain packed dried alfalfa up to a maximum of 3kg per cow per day. Fodder preserved by silaging techniques, wrapping or any other process involving fermentation is not authorised. The use of additional fodder is limited and must not contain either urea or aromatising molecules.

The production site and associates facilities must not contain any system or equipment to rapidly heat milk to over 40 °C before renneting.

The milk is collected from an area within 15km of the production site.

The milk used is raw and whole. Milk for maturing may be semi-skimmed. This milk must be worked once a day.

The milk may not be either physically or chemically treated in any way, except to semi-skim and filter out macroscopic impurities. The addition of protein or fat is not authorised. The only authorised processing aids are salt, rennet and starter cultures obtained from traditional culture methods. Direct seeding cultures may only be used as a back-up.

The milk enters the production process within a minimum of 12 hours after traditional practice of keeping milk at a temperature of over 10 °C, or within a maximum of 28 hours where the milk is chilled to a temperature of between 6 °C and 10 °C, in which case the milk may not have undergone more than two consecutive treatments.

Renneting is carried out at a temperature of between 32° C and 35 °C. Production is carried out in an open copper vat with a maximum capacity of 3 000 litres.

After draining, the curds are the size of a kernel of maize. The curds are then heated to a temperature of between 35 °C and 40 °C. Neither the removal of lactose nor the addition of water are authorised.

The cheese is moulded either manually or by gravity. Neither extraction using a curd pump nor the use of micro-perforated moulds are authorised.

The cheeses are pressed by stacking for a minimum of 7 hours, during which time they are turned at least four times. The cheeses are dry salted manually and dairy cheeses may be placed in brine. The cheeses are then matured for at least five weeks from the date of renneting.

They are stored at a temperature no less than 4 °C.

4.6   Link: Tome des Bauges cheese is named after the Alpine massif where it originates. There is evidence that tome or tomme existed in this region several centuries ago and traditional methods of producing tome in cheese-making cooperatives (local dairies) and high mountain pastures survived despite the industrial production of well-known cheeses.

The Bauges massif has a very particular topography. It is a limestone massif comprising a closed valley surrounded by high cliffs on the edges. The area features pasture land, even at altitude, and has a mountain climate, with heavy rainfall throughout the year and very low temperatures during the winter.

The combination of geography and climate affords the area great potential to produce fodder and favours a wealth of varied, local flora.

Milk intended for the production of Tome des Bauges has a rather high pH level, which led cheese producers to use mature milk. This technique of slow lactic acidification particularly favours the action of endogenous milk flora.

The diversity of flora in the massif and the milk maturing practices required due to the acidity of the milk have combined to produce a cheese with a distinctive character.

The conditions to produce the PDO have been defined in order to maintain the local and traditional practices and for these factors to be brought out in the product.

4.7   Inspection body: 

4.8   Labelling: All cheeses bearing the PDO Tome des Bauges are sold with an individual label containing the name of the designation of origin. The label bears the name of the PDO written in letters of at least the same size as two thirds of the largest letters contained on the label and the wording ‘protection of designated origin’.

All PDO cheeses must feature the logo containing the ‘INAO’ mark, the mention ‘protection of designated origin’ and the name of the PDO on the label.

The label may refer to ‘farm cheese’ or any other indication suggesting on-farm origin, subject to certain conditions.

4.9   National requirements: Decree on the protection of designated origin Tome des Bauges.

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(1)  European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, Agricultural Product Quality Policy, B-1049 Brussels.

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III Notices

Cedefop

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CALL FOR PROPOSALS — ref: GP/D/ReferNet2/002/06

ReferNet — European Network of Reference and Expertise in VET

(2006/C 211/06)

1.   Objectives and description

The purpose of this call is to award a grant to one organisation (national consortium coordinator) in 8 of the EU Member States and Iceland to lead and coordinate a representative consortium of key organisations in the field of VET in their country and carry out, with them, the following activities: reporting and analysing information on VET systems and developments, research activities, documentary activities, dissemination and promotion activities.

The main objective of ReferNet is to provide Cedefop with a structured and decentralised system for collecting validated data and information on vocational education and training and related issues and support Cedefop's efforts to disseminate it at European and national level. The information must be collected following a methodology and a consultation among members of the consortium.

2.   Eligible applicants

Applications which comply with the eligibility criteria will be the subject of an in depth evaluation.

Eligible organisations:

Eligible countries

Eligible activities

3.   Budget and project duration

The total available budget for the project duration (12 months) is EUR 231 000 for the 8 EU Member States and Iceland.

The Community grant is only an additional financial contribution to the beneficiary's (and/or co-beneficiaries) own financial contribution and/or local, regional, national and/or private contributions obtained elsewhere for the project. The total Community contribution may not exceed 70 % of the eligible costs.

The total available budget will be distributed on the basis of two country groups based on country population:

Cedefop reserves the right not to award the total budget available.

4.   Deadline

Applications must be sent to Cedefop no later than 16 October 2006.

5.   Further information

The full text of the call for proposals, the application form and its annexes are available on the Cedefop website at the following address: http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/index.asp?section=3. Applications must comply with the requirements set out in the full text of the call and be submitted using the forms provided.

The evaluation of proposals will be based on the principles of transparency and equal treatment. All eligible applications will be evaluated by a Committee against the quantitative and qualitative award criteria defined in the full text version of the call. External experts will be invited to participate in the evaluation procedure.

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