1977R1078 — EN — 15.06.1977 — 000.001 — 1
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►B COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)No1078/77
of17May1977
introducing a system of premiums for the non-marketing of milk and milk products and for the
conversionofdairyherds
(OJ L 131, 26.5.1977, p. 1)
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 275, 27.10.1977, p. 26 (1078/77)
▼B
COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)No1078/77
of17May1977
introducing a system of premiums for the non-marketing of milk
andmilkproductsandfortheconversionofdairyherds
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (
1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),
Whereasthe productscovered by Council Regulation (EEC) No 804/68
of 27 June 1968 on the common organization of the market in milk andmilk products(
3), aslas t amended by Regulation (EEC) No 559/76 (4),
are at present substantially and increasingly in surplus; whereas it
therefore seems justified to encourage the trend noted among certaingroupsof holdingsin the Community to ceas e milk production, or themarketing of milk and milk products;
Whereasthisaim may be achieved by granting premiumsto farmers
who cease to market milk and milk products or who convert their dairy
herds to meat production; whereas, however, in the case of a MemberState where the increase of cattle numbers is difficult and consequentlydairy herdshave already been cons iderably reduced, it may prove advi-sable to authorize that Member State not to apply the provisionsconcerning the non-marketing and conversion premium;
Whereas the amount of the premiums should be fixed at a level such
that they may be considered as some compensation for loss of incomefrom the marketing of the productsin ques tion; whereasit thereforeappears necessary to fix the amount of the premiums according to the
quantity of productsmarketed in 1976;
Whereasthe total amount of the premiumsgranted to a holding s hould
be limited, so as to improve the structure of dairy farming on holdingsthat are economically more viable; whereas, however, provision shouldbe made for certain exceptionsto thes e limitswhere the applicant is
taking part in a programme to eradicate brucellosis, tuberculosis and
leucosis;
Whereasto facilitate checkson compliance with the obligationsaris ing
from the application of thisRegulation, the premiumss hould be paid inseveral instalments;
Whereas these measures are designed on the one hand to restore the
balance on the market in the productsconcerned and therefore may beregarded asintervention within the meaning of Article 3 of CouncilRegulation (EEC) No 729/70 of 21 April 1970 on the financing of thecommon agricultural policy (
5), aslas t amended by Regulation (EEC)
No 2788/72 (6), and on the other to achieve the objectivess et out in
Article 39 (1) (a) of the Treaty, including the changes necessary forthe proper working of the common market; whereasthey thereforeconstitute common measures within the meaning of Article 6 of thesaid Regulation;
Whereasthe Community financing of the expenditure s hould therefore
be provided by the Guidance and the Guarantee Sectionsof theEuropean Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund,1977R1078 — EN — 15.06.1977 — 000.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 93, 18. 4. 1977, p. 11.
(2) OJ No C 77, 30. 3. 1977, p. 15.
(3) OJ No L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 13.
(4) OJ No L 67, 15. 3. 1976, p. 9.
(5) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.
(6) OJ No L 295, 3. 12. 1972, p. 1.
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Whereas, in order to facilitate the administrative and financial manage-
ment of the system of premiums, the dispositions laid down byCommission Regulation (EEC) No 2697/70 of 29 December 1970, on
the procedure for making Community fundsavailable to Member
Statesunder the Guarantee Section of the EAGGF (
1) and by Commis-
sion Regulation (EEC) No 1723/72 of 26 July 1972 on making upaccountsfor the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund,Guarantee Section (
2) should be applied, by way of exception, to the
expenses financed by the Guidance Section; whereas, however, the
normal system of reimbursement by the EAGGF, Guidance Sectionmay, during a transitional period, be applied at the request of aMember State,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
TITLE I
Conditions for and amounts of the non-marketing and conversion
premiums
Article 1
1. On request applicants shall be granted at their option either a
premium for the non-marketing of milk and milk products(non-marketing premium) or a premium for the conversion of dairy herdsto meat production (conversion premium).
2. However, where it is established that in a Member State the
number of dairy cowshasbeen reduced by more than 20 % between1 January 1969 and 31 December 1975, that Member State shall be
authorized not to implement thisRegulation.
Article 2
1. To obtain the non-marketing premium, each producer must satisfy
the competent authoritiesthat he s till hasdairy cowson hisholding innumbersappropriate to the quantitiesof milk or the equivalent in milk
productsdelivered by him during the 1976 calendar year and that he is
continuing to deliver corresponding quantities. This condition must besatisfied on the date of approval of the application; failing this, thepremium will be correspondingly reduced, except in certain specificcases to be defined.
2. The grant of the non-marketing premium shall be conditional
upon a written undertaking by the producer that:
(a) during the non-marketing period neither milk nor milk products
from his holding will be disposed of, whether for a consideration
or free of charge;
(b) from the date on which the application islodged until the end of
the non-marketing period:
— he will not allow hisholding or any part thereof to be us ed by
othersfor dairy farming,
— he will not lease his dairy cattle or entrust them to others,
whether for a consideration or free of charge,
— he will not dispose of his dairy cattle except for slaughter or for
export.
The non-marketing period shall span five years and shall begin at the
latest at the end of the sixth month following the date on which theapplication wasapproved.
3. Producerswho ceas e farming in accordance with Directive 72/
160/EEC (
3) and after completing a period of at least two years of1977R1078 — EN — 15.06.1977 — 000.001 — 3
(1) OJ No L 285, 31. 12. 1970, p. 63.
(2) OJ No L 186, 16. 8. 1972, p. 1.
(3) OJ No L 96, 23. 4. 1972, p. 9.
▼B
non-marketing milk and milk productss hall be relieved of the obliga-
tionslaid down in paragraph 2.
4. Producerswho ceas e farming in accordance with Directive 72/
160/EEC and at the end of their third year of non-marketing of milkand milk productss hall be relieved of the obligationslaid down in
paragraph 2. In this case, the payment for the third year shall be equal
to 37·5 % of the non-marketing premium and shall become due oncethe application submitted pursuant to the abovementioned Directivehasbeen approved and proof furnis hed to the competent authority thatthe dairy cattle have been slaughtered.
5. In the cases referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4, no sum received as
a non-marketing premium shall be repayable. Producers may not subse-quently receive a non-marketing premium.
Article 3
1. To obtain the conversion premium, the producer must satisfy the
competent authorities:
— that he hasdelivered at leas t 50 000 kilogramsof milk or the
equivalent in milk productsduring the 1976 calendar year, that he
still has an appropriate number of dairy cows on his holding and
that he is continuing to deliver corresponding quantities, or
— that he has at least 15 dairy cows, including in-calf heifers, on his
holding on the date of approval of the application.
In both cases he must, at the date of approval of the application, still be
delivering milk in quantitiescorres ponding to the number of cows
referred to in the preceding indents; otherwise, the premium will be
reduced accordingly, except in certain specific cases to be defined.
2. The grant of the conversion premium shall be conditional upon an
undertaking by the producer that:
(a) during the conversion period, neither milk nor milk products from
his holding will be disposed of, whether for a consideration or freeof charge;
(b) from the date on which hisapplication islodged until the end of
the conversion period, he will comply with the conditions laiddown in the first subparagraph of Article 2 (2) (b);
(c) he will keep on hisholding during the convers ion period an
average number of bovine or ovine unitsequal to or greater thanthe number kept on the same holding on the reference date.
The conversion period shall span four years and shall begin at the latest
at the end of the sixth month following the date of approval of theapplication.
3. In cases where the producer retains cows, to obtain the premium
he must also satisfy the competent authorities that he has so husbandedhisherd that, at the lates t at the end of the third year after the date ofapproval of the application, at least 80 % of the cows or in-calf heifers
on the holding either possess the characteristics of one of the recog-
nized meat-producing breeds or are cross-breeds sired by a bull eitherregistered in the herd book of one of those breeds or else with suffi-cient guarantees of its capability to transmit the essentialcharacteristics of such breed to its progeny.
Article 4
1. The non-marketing premium shall be calculated on the basis of
the quantity of milk or itsequivalent in milk productsdelivered bythe producer during the 1976 calendar year.
The premium per 100 kilogramss hall be equal to the following percen-
tage of the milk target price valid on the date of approval of theapplication:
— 95 % for quantitiesup to and including 30 000 kilograms ,1977R1078 — EN — 15.06.1977 — 000.001 — 4
▼B
— 90 % for quantitiesexceeding 30 000 kilogramsup to and including
50 000 kilograms,
— 75 % for quantitiesexceeding 50 000 kilogramsup to and including
120 000 kilograms.
50 % of the premium shall be paid during the first three months of the
non-marketing period.
The balance shall be paid in the third and fifth years in two equal
instalments of 25 % of the premium, provided the recipient satisfies
the competent authoritiesthat the undertakingsprovided for in Article2 have been fulfilled.
2. The conversion premium per 100 kilograms shall be equal to 90 %
of the milk target price valid on the date of approval of the application,for quantitiesnot exceeding 120 000 kilogramsof milk or itsequiva-lent in milk productsdelivered by the producer during the 1976
calendar year. However, the amount of the conversion premium may
in no case be lower than that obtained from the application of para-graph 1.
60 % of the premium shall be paid in the first three months of the
conversion period.
The balance shall be paid in the third and fourth years in two equal
instalments of 20 % of the premium, provided the recipient satisfies
the competent authoritiesthat the undertakingsprovided for in Article
3 have been fulfilled.
3. Producerswho have delivered more than 120 000 kilogramsof
milk or itsequivalent in milk productsduring the 1976 calendar yearshall receive the non-marketing premium or the conversion premiumfor 120 000 kilograms.
4. The two premiumss hall be added to aid granted in connection
with programmes to eradicate brucellosis, tuberculosis and leucosis.
Where the producer, on the date of approval of hisapplication, is
taking part in one of these programmes, the maximum of 120 000 kilo-
gramss pecified in the preceding paragraphs1, 2 and 3:
— shall be increased by the quantities corresponding to the number of
dairy cows affected by these diseases, provided the number of suchcowsdoesnot exceed 20 % of the herd,
— shall not apply when over 20 % of the female bovine animals more
than two yearsold are affected by brucellos isand the producer has
undertaken to slaughter all the female bovine animals on hisholding within three monthsof the date of approval of the applica-tion.
TITLE II
General andfinancialprovisions
Article 5
For the purposes of this Regulation:
(a) ‘Producer’ shall mean:
— a farmer, whether a natural or a legal person, whose holding is
located in the territory of the Community and who raises cattle,
— a group of natural or legal persons who jointly operate means of
agricultural production to raise cattle in the territory of theCommunity;
(b) ‘Holding’ shall mean:
all the production unitsmanaged by the producer and located in the
territory of the Community.1977R1078 — EN — 15.06.1977 — 000.001 — 5
▼C1
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▼B
Article 6
1. Any person who takes over an agricultural holding may undertake
in writing to continue to carry out the undertakingsgiven by hisprede-cessor.
In such case, the sums already paid shall remain the property of the
latter and the balance shall be paid to his successor.
Otherwise, the sums already paid shall be refunded by the predecessor.
2. Where only part of a holding is transferred, the applicant shall
retain his right to the premium if the person to whom he has transferredthe property undertakesin writing to continue to fulfil the undertakingsentered into by his predecessor. Otherwise, a proportion of the sumsalready paid shall be refunded by the predecessor, such proportion to
be calculated by reference to the area under forage transferred.
Article 7
The following shall be laid down in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 30 of Regulation (EEC) No 804/68:
(a) the time limit for submitting applications for the granting of
premiums;
(b) a definition of the terms‘in numbersappropriate’ and ‘corre-
sponding quantities’ in Articles 2 (1) and 3 (1);
(c) the conditionsrelating to the recognition of breedsreferred to in
Article 3 (3);
(d) a definition of the term ‘equivalent in milk products’ in the first
subparagraph of Article 4 (1);
(e) rulesfor verifying that undertakingsaris ing from the grant of the
premium have been fulfilled;
(f) the equivalencesto be us ed in calculating adult bovine and ovine
units;
(g) the conditions for the retention, in exceptional circumstances, of
sums already paid, in particular where the recipient ceases farming;
(h) a tolerance margin to be used in calculating the average number
referred to in Article 3 (2) (c);
(i) the definition of the term ‘area under forage’ in Article 6 (2);(j) the other detailed rulesfor implementing Articles1 to 6.
Article 8
1. By way of derogation from Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/
70, 60 % of the expenditure arising out of the measures provided for inthisRegulation s hall be financed by the Guarantee Section of theEAGGF. In addition, the Guidance Section of the EAGGF shall refund
to the Member States40 % of the eligible expenditure.
2. With particular reference to the expenditure chargeable to the
Guarantee Section and the Guidance Section of the EAGGF, themeasures shall, respectively, be considered as intervention within the
meaning of Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 and constitute
common measures within the meaning of Article 6 (1) of the sameRegulation.
Article 9
The total estimated cost of the common measures chargeable to the
Guidance Section of the EAGGF is263 million unitsof account. Themeasures provided for in this Regulation shall be applied until 31March 1978.
Article 10
For that part of the expenses financed by the EAGGF, Guidance
Section, the detailed rulesfor the financial application of the common1977R1078 — EN — 15.06.1977 — 000.001 — 6
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measures shall, by way of exception, be those laid down by Regula-
tions(EEC) No 2697/70 and (EEC) No 1723/72.
However, during 1977, the system of reimbursements shall be applied
thereto at the request of a Member State. The request for reimburse-
ment from that Member State shall concern the expenses incurredduring that year and shall be submitted to the Commission before 1July of the following year.
The Commission shall decide on the request in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 7 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.
Article 11
1. Without prejudice to the provisions adopted pursuant to Article 7
(g), the Member States shall, subject to Article 8 of Regulation (EEC)No 729/70, take the measures necessary for the recovery of premiums
already paid, in cases where the undertakings provided for have not
been fulfilled.
They shall inform the Commission of the measures taken, and in parti-
cular shall notify it periodically of the position as regardsadministrative and judicial proceedings relating thereto.
2. Sums recovered shall be reimbursed to the agencies or depart-
mentswhich made the paymentsand deducted by them from the
expenditure financed respectively by the Guarantee and Guidance
Sectionsof the EAGGF and in proportion to the amount financed bythe Community.
3. Where it is impossible to recover sums paid, the financial conse-
quencess hall be borne by the Guarantee and Guidance Sectionsof theEAGGF in proportion to their financial participation.
4. Interest may be charged on sums to be recovered.
Article 12
Where necessary, detailed rules for the application of Articles 8 to 11
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
13 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.
Article 13
1. By 31 January 1978 at the latest, the Commission shall submit to
the Council and the European Parliament, on the basis of the informa-
tion supplied by the Member States, a report on the operation of thepremium system.
2. After examining thisreport, the Council, acting by a qualified
majority on a proposal from the Commission, may decide, in the lightof experience and of economic trends in the sectors in question, to
maintain or to amend the premium system and to adapt its period of
application and the total estimated cost accordingly.
ThisRegulation s hall be binding in itsentirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1977R1078 — EN — 15.06.1977 — 000.001 — 7