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"B COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 20/98
of 7 January 1998
laying down rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards aid to producer
organizations granted preliminary recognition
(OJ L 4, 8.1.1998, p. 40)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Commission Regulation (EC) No 243/1999 of 1 February 1999 L 27 8 2.2.1999
"M2 Commission Regulation (EC) No 983/2000 of 11 May 2000 L 113 36 12.5.2000
NB: This consolidated version contains references to the European unit of account and/or the ecu, which from 1 January 1999 should be
understood as references to the euro — Council Regulation (EEC) No 3308/80 (OJ L 345, 20.12.1980, p. 1) and Council Regulation(EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).1998R0020 — EN — 19.05.2000 — 002.001 — 1
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 20/98
of 7 January 1998
laying down rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No
2200/96 as regards aid to producer organizations granted preliminary
recognition
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on
the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables (
1), as amended
by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2520/97 (2), and in particular Article 48
thereof,
Whereas Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 states that new producer
organizations or those which have not been recognized under Council
Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 (3), as last amended by Commission
Regulation (EC) No 1363/95 (4), may be allowed a transitional period of no
more than five years in which to meet the conditions for recognition laid
down in Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96; whereas Regulation (EC)
No 478/97 (5) establishes the conditions for granting preliminary recognition
to producer organizations;
Whereas, in order to encourage the formation of producer organizations,
Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 also states that Member States maygrant two sorts of aid to producer organizations granted preliminary
recognition in the five years following such preliminary recognition, one to
cover the costs of their formation and administrative operation and one tocover part of the investments required to attain recognition and set out in theirrecognition plans;
Whereas, to facilitate the correct application of the system of aid to cover the
costs of formation and administrative operation, that aid should be granted at
a flat rate; whereas that flat-rate aid should be subject to a ceiling in order to
comply with budgetary constraints; whereas, to take account of the differingfinancial needs of producer organizations of different sizes, that ceiling
should be adjusted in line with the marketable production of the producer
organizations; whereas, since the rules contained in Commission Regulation(EEC) No 2118/78 (
6) are no longer applicable, that Regulation should
accordingly be repealed;
Whereas the selection criteria laid down by the Commission pursuant to
Article 8 of Council Regulation (EC) No 951/97 of 20 May 1997 on
improving the processing and marketing conditions for agricultural
products (7) should be applied to investments eligible under this Regulation
in order to ensure consistency between the various measures financed by theCommunity, until such time as the new agricultural policy guidelines for fruit
and vegetables introduced by Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 are implemented;
Whereas the aid provided for in this Regulation should be discontinued once
the producer organization is recognized by the Member State; whereas,
however, to take account of the multiannual financing of investments, thosequalifying for investment aid under this Regulation can be carried over tooperational programmes as referred to in Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No
2200/96;
Whereas, in the event of mergers, the aid may continue to be granted to the
producer organizations resulting from the merger;
Whereas, in order to ensure that the aid provided for in this Regulation is
applied properly, the Member State in question should check that the grant of
the aid is duly justified, account being taken of any previous grants of aid forthe launching of producer organizations and of any movements of producers!B
(1) OJ L 297, 21. 11. 1996, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 346, 17. 12. 1997, p. 41.
(3) OJ L 118, 20. 5. 1972, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 132, 16. 6. 1995, p. 8.
(5) OJ L 75, 15. 3. 1997, p. 4.
(6) OJ L 246, 8. 9. 1978, p. 11.
(7) OJ L 142, 2. 6. 1997, p. 22.1998R0020 — EN — 19.05.2000 — 002.001 — 2
between producer organizations; whereas the Member States must also ensure
that duplicate Community or national financing is not granted for measuresqualifying for Community financing under this Regulation;
Whereas procedures should be laid down for controls and penalties;Whereas Article 14 (7) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 provides a special
scheme for Portugal; whereas provisions should be laid down to ensure
compliance with that special scheme;
Whereas the Management Committee for fresh Fruit and Vegetables has not
delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. This Regulation lays down rules on the granting of aid as provided for in
Article 14 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 to producer organizationsgranted preliminary recognition.
2. For the purposes of this Regulation:
(a) ‘producer organization granted preliminary recognition’ means a new
producer organization or one not recognized under Regulation (EEC) No1035/72 before the entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, to
which a Member State has granted preliminary recognition pursuant to
Regulation (EC) No 478/97;
(b) ‘producer’ means a producer as referred to in Article 1 (2) of Regulation
(EC) No 412/97 (
1);
(c) ‘recognition plan’ means a phased recognition plan in line with
Regulation (EC) No 478/97 presented by a producer organization,
acceptance of which signals the start of the period of no more than fiveyears referred to in Article 14 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96;
(d) ‘marketed production’ means the production of a producer organization’s
members in the category for which preliminary recognition is granted:
— delivered to the producer organization and actually sold through the
organization fresh or processed,
— sold under the terms of the second and third indents of Article 11 (1)
(c) (3) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 with the organization’s
authorization.
Marketed production shall not include the production of members of
other producer organizations marketed through the organization in
question in accordance with the second and third indents of Article 11 (1)
(c) (3) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96;
(e) ‘value of marketed production’ means the value of marketed production
at the ‘ex-producer organization’ stage, or, where appropriate, as a
‘wrapped or prepared unprocessed product’.
3. In the event of a natural disaster recognised by the competent national
authorities, marketed production within the meaning of paragraph 2 shall be
deemed to be at least 70 % of the average theoretical value equal to:
— the area belonging to the producer organisation granted preliminary
recognition and sown to the product in question during the year of thenatural disaster, multiplied by:
— the average yield and average price obtained by the producer
organisation or its members for the product in question during thethree years prior to the natural disaster or, where the Member State sodecides, obtained in the same production region during the three
years prior to the disaster.!B
(1) OJ L 62, 4. 3. 1997, p. 16.!M2
!B
!M11998R0020 — EN — 19.05.2000 — 002.001 — 3
!B
Article 2
1. The aid provided for in Article 14 (2) (a) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96
shall be granted towards the costs of setting up and running the producer
organization, at a flat rate.
2. The aid referred to in paragraph 1 shall be determined for each producer
organization on the basis of its annual marketed production, and shall:
(a) amount, for the first, second, third, fourth and fifth years, to 5 %, 5 %,
4 %, 3 % and 2 % respectively of the value of marketed production up to
a maximum of ECU 1 000 000, and
(b) amount, for the first, second, third, fourth and fifth years, to 2,5 %, 2,5 %,
2,0 %, 1,5 % and 1,5 % respectively of the value of marketed production
exceeding ECU 1 000 000;
(c) be subject to a ceiling for each producer organization of:
— ECU 100 000 for the first year,— ECU 100 000 for the second year,
— ECU 80 000 for the third year,
— ECU 60 000 for the fourth year,— ECU 50 000 for the fifth year;
(d) be paid in annual instalments at the end of each annual period for the
implementation of the recognition plan. To calculate the annualinstalments, the Member States may use as a basis the annual marketed
production corresponding to an annual period other than that in respect of
which the annual instalment is paid, where checks so require. The periodby which the annual period used fails to coincide with the actual annual
period concerned must be less than 12 months.
Article 3
1. Aid as provided for in Article 14 (2) (b) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96
shall be granted, directly or through credit institutions, in the form of special
loans to cover part of the cost of investments linked to implementation of themeasures in recognition plans as described in Article 4 (1) of Regulation (EC)No 478/97.
Investments liable to distort competition where the other economic activities
of the organisation are concerned shall be excluded.
2. Investments to the direct or indirect benefit of such activities shall be
financed pro rata to their use for the sectors or products for which preliminaryrecognition is granted.
Article 4
1. Aid as provided for in Articles 2 and 3 shall cease once recognition is
granted.
2. Where an operational programme is submitted pursuant to Commission
Regulation (EC) No 411/97 (
1), the Member State shall ensure that there is no
duplicate financing of the measures financed under the recognition plan.
3. Investments qualifying for the aid for the costs referred to in Article 3
may be carried over to operational programmes provided they are in line with
Regulation (EC) No 411/97.
Article 5
1. Producer organisations shall each submit a single application for the aid
referred to in Articles 2 and 3 within three months of the end of each annual
period as referred to in Article 2(2)(d).
(1) OJ L 62, 4. 3. 1997, p. 9.!M2
!B
!M2
!B
!M21998R0020 — EN — 19.05.2000 — 002.001 — 4
2. All applications for aid shall be accompanied by a written declaration
from the producer organisation to the effect that the latter:
— complies and will comply with Regulations (EC) No 2200/96 and (EC)
No 478/97 and this Regulation,
— has not benefited, is not benefiting and will not benefit either directly or
indirectly from duplicate Community or national financing for measuresfor which Community financing is granted pursuant to this Regulation.
3. Member States shall pay the aid within six months of receipt of a full
application.
Article 6
1. Aid as provided for in Articles 2 and 3 of this Regulation may be given,
or may continue to be given, to producer organizations which have been
granted preliminary recognition under Regulation (EC) No 478/97 and whichresult from the merger between a producer organization granted preliminaryrecognition under that Regulation and one or more of the following:
(a) one or more producer organizations granted preliminary recognition
under Regulation (EC) No 478/97;
(b) one or more producer organizations recognized under Regulation (EEC)
No 1035/72;
(c) one or more producer organizations recognized under Article 11 of
Regulation (EC) No 2200/96.
2. For the purpose of calculating the aid payable under paragraph 1, the
producer organization resulting from the merger shall replace the mergingorganizations.
Article 7
Member States shall evaluate the eligibility of producer organizations for the
aid under this Regulation in order to establish that the aid is duly justified,
regard being had to the conditions and the date on which any earlier public aidwas granted to the producer organizations from which the members of the
producer organizations in question originate, and to any movements of
members between producer organizations.
Article 8
Expenditure incurred by Member States on aid as referred to in Articles 2 and
3 shall qualify for assistance from the EAGGF Guarantee Section.
Article 9
The Community contribution towards aid as referred to in Article 2 shall
amount to:
— 75 % of eligible public expenditure on Objective 1 and 2 regions as
referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999,
— 50 % of eligible public expenditure in other regions.
Article 10
1. The Community contribution towards aid as referred to in Article 3,
expressed in terms of capital-grant equivalent, shall not exceed, as apercentage of eligible investment costs as referred to in Article 3:
— 50 % in Objective 1 and 2 regions as referred to in Article 1 of Regulation
(EC) No 1260/1999,
— 30 % in other regions.
2. The Member States concerned must undertake to contribute at least 5 %
of eligible investment costs as referred to in Article 3.!M2
!B
!M21998R0020 — EN — 19.05.2000 — 002.001 — 5
3. Beneficiaries of aid towards eligible investment costs as referred to in
Article 3 shall pay at least:
— 25 % in Objective 1 and 2 regions as referred to in Article 1 of Regulation
(EC) No 1260/1999,
— 45 % in other regions.
Article 11
Without prejudice to checks carried out in accordance with Title VI of
Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, Member States shall carry out checks on
producer organisations to verify compliance with the conditions for the grantof aid as referred to in Articles 2 and 3.
Article 12
1. Where a check carried out under Article 11 shows that:
— the value of marketed production is less than the amount used for
calculating aid as referred to in Article 2, or
— aid covered by this Regulation has not been used in accordance with the
regulations applicable or with the approved recognition plan,
the beneficiary shall be required to reimburse double the amount unduly paid,
plus interest for the period between payment and reimbursement.
The rate of interest shall be that applied by the European Central Bank to its
operations in euro, as published in the C series of the Official Journal of the
European Communities , in force on the date of undue payment, plus three
percentage points.
2. Where the difference between the aid actually paid and that due is more
than 20 % of the latter, the beneficiary shall be required to reimburse all the
aid received, plus interest as indicated in paragraph 1.
3. In the event of a false declaration made deliberately or as a result of
serious negligence on a matter within the scope of this Regulation, theproducer organisation concerned shall be barred from receiving aid for the
remaining duration of the recognition plan currently being implemented.
4. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall apply without prejudice to other penalties to
be set as provided for in Article 48 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96.
Article 13
Where the Portuguese authorities demonstrate that, in a given year, the aid
payable to a producer organization in Portugal under this Regulation is less
than that stipulated in Article 14 (7) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, the aidprovided for in Article 2 (2) shall be increased so as to satisfy the provisionsof the aforesaid Article 14.
In the event of a natural disaster recognised by the competent Portuguese
authorities, Article 1(3) of this Regulation shall apply for the calculation of
the marketed production to be used for the purposes of Article 14(7) ofRegulation (EC) No 2200/96.
Article 14
Regulation (EEC) No 2118/78 is repealed.
However, it shall continue to apply to the producer organizations which have
applied for the aid under Article 14 of Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 before
the entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, and to calculation to bemade in accordance with Article 13 of this Regulation.
Article 15
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .!M2
!B
!M1
!B1998R0020 — EN — 19.05.2000 — 002.001 — 6
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all
Member States.!B1998R0020 — EN — 19.05.2000 — 002.001 — 7