1997R0832 — EN — 24.07.1997 — 001.001 — 1
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►B COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No832/97
of7May1997
layingdowndetailedrulesfortheapplicationofCouncilRegulation(EC)No2275/96introducing
specific measuresforlive plantsandfloricultural products
(OJ L 119, 8.5.1997, p. 17)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1CommissionRegulation(EC) No 931/97 of 26 May 1997 L 135 1 27.5.1997
►M2CommissionRegulation(EC) No 1429/97 of 23 July 1997 L 196 41 24.7.1997
▼B
COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No832/97
of7May1997
laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regula-
tion (EC) No 2275/96 introducing specific measures for live plants
andfloricultural products
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2275/96 of 22
November 1996 introducing specific measures for live plants and flor-icultural products(
1), and in particular Article 5 thereof,
Whereas Regulation (EC) No 2275/96 provides for a Community finan-
cial contribution to measures to increase the consumption ofCommunity live plants and floricultural products within the Commu-
nity and abroad;
Whereas the principal measures eligible for a Community financial
contribution should be defined;
Whereas such measures must form part of a coherent strategy and
provide guarantees as to the achievement in the medium term of theplanned objectives and to the satisfaction of Community interests;
whereas they must commit the mainoperators inthe sector, be
presented in a standard form and contain the information necessaryfor their assessment;
Whereas the procedure to be followed and the criteria to be applied for
determining each year the Member States in which the promotionalmeasures are to be implemented and for allocating the overall amount
available for the measures among them should be laid down;
Whereas the procedures for the submission by the professional organi-
zations of applications for assistance and for the assessment andselectionof the measures by the bodies authorized by the MemberStates should be laid down; whereas the procedures should allow theCommissionto forward its observation s to the Member States;
Whereas the various provisions concerning fulfilment of the commit-
ments made should be laid down in contracts concluded between theparties concerned and the competent national authorities on the basisof standard contracts supplied by the Commission;
Whereas the Member States should check the implementation of the
measures and the Commission should be kept informed of the results
of the measures provided for inthis Regulation ;
Whereas the measures provided for inthis Regulationare inaccor-
dance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Live Plants,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. The measures to increase the consumption of live plants and flor-
icultural products within the Community and abroad referred to in
Article 1 of Regulation(EC) No 2275/96 shall be presen ted inthe
form of programmes.
2. ‘Programme’ shall meana coheren t set of measures which are of
sufficient scope to contribute to increasing the disposal of productionand consumption, and, where appropriate, to that end, help targetproduction and adapt it to market requirements.1997R0832 — EN — 24.07.1997 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ No L 308, 29. 11. 1996, p. 7.
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3. Programmes shall be implemented over a period of one or more
years from the signing of the annual contracts referred to in Article 7(2).
However, the durationof programmes shall n ot exceed three years
from the signing of the contract entered into during the first year ofapplicationof this Regulation .
Article 2
1. Programmes may cover the following measures:
(a) the organization of generic promotional campaigns on radio and
television, in the press and by means of posters;
(b) the organization of information at point of sale;
(c) the organization of and participation in fairs and other events;
(d) the production of publications and audiovisual material;
(e) the organization of public relations campaigns for opinion-formers
and the general public;
(f) the preparationof teachin g aids.
2. The programmes may be accompanied by the following addi-
tional measures:
(a) market studies and consumer surveys;
(b) the distributionto operators of the results of marketin g research;
(c) the development of new packaging and presentations.
3. Measures receiving other Community assistance or receiving
other national or regional assistance shall not be eligible. ►
M2The
use of funds deriving from compulsory charges on operators in the
sector of live plants and floricultural products in respect of products
obtained entirely in the Member State concerned shall not be deemedto constitute national or regional assistance. ◄
However, for the years 1997, 1998 and 1999, measures receiving
national or regional assistance not exceeding 20 % of the total budget
may be eligible.
Article 3
1. The following shall be determined each year in accordance with
the procedure laid downinArticle 14 of Coun cil Regulation(EEC)No 234/68(
1):
(a) the Member States in which the promotional campaigns are to be
implemented by groups which satisfy the requirements of Article 4;
(b) the amount intended for the financing of those campaigns in each
of those Member States, the overall amount being allocated with
due regard to the value of productioninthe Member State
concerned.
2. In the event that all or part of the amount allocated to a Member
State for a givenyear is n ot used, that Member State may choose toallocate that amount to another selected project pending as a result of
insufficient funding or to forego payment of the amount concerned. In
that case, the available amount shall be redistributed pro rata amongthe Member States concerned by the Commission.
3. For 1997, the available Community financial contribution shall be
distributed as follows:
CountryQuota
(ECU 1 000)Quota
(%)
Netherlands 4 322,321 29,601997R0832 — EN — 24.07.1997 — 001.001 — 3
(1) OJ No L 55, 2. 3. 1968, p. 1.
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CountryQuota
(ECU 1 000)Quota
(%)
Germany 2 566,028 17,58
Italy 2 543,761 17,42
France 1 492,665 10,22
United Kingdom 908,608 6,22Spain674,619 4,62Denmark 550,089 3,77
Belgium 490,844 3,36
Austria 243,411 1,67Sweden193,808 1,33Greece 183,216 1,25Finland 130,629 0,89
Portugal 100,000 0,68
Ireland 100,000 0,68Luxembourg 100,000 0,68
EUR 15 14 600,000 100,00
Article 4
1. The programmes referred to inArticle 1 shall be presen ted by
representative groups for operators in one or more branches of activityin the live plant and floricultural products sector, such as producer
organizations or their unions or traders, organizations or their associa-
tions.
2. A group submitting an application for assistance shall have sole
responsibility for implementation of the measures for which financial
assistance is granted. The group must have the legal capacity necessaryto implement the measures and shall have its head office in theCommunity.
Article 5
1. Applications for assistance shall be submitted to the competentbody of the Member State inwhich the head office of the group is
located by 31 March each year.
However, for 1997 the deadline for the submission of applications shall
be►
M16June1997◄.
Applications shall contain all the information listed in the Annex andbe accompanied by:
(a) details of the situation with regard to the marketing and consump-
tion of live plants and floricultural products in the regionsconcerned;
(b) the anticipated results of the proposed measures and their capacity
to achieve the general and specific objectives laid down in the
programme.
2. The competent body shall verify the accuracy of the information
given in applications and their compliance with Regulation (EC) No1997R0832 — EN — 24.07.1997 — 001.001 — 4
▼B
2275/96 and this Regulation. Before 30 April each year, and for 1997
before►M128June1997◄,theMemberStateconcernedshalldrawup
onthebasisofthecriteriareferredtoinArticle6,aprovisionallistof
themeasuresselectedtoreceiveCommunityfinancialassistancewithin
the limit of the amounts determined in accordance with Article 3. Thefinancial assistance shall amount to 60 % of the actual cost of theselected measures.
3. The Member State shall immediately forward the provisional list
of selected measures with a copy of the relevant applications to theCommission. The Commission shall transmit to the Member Statesany observations it may have on the measures in question with a view
to guaranteeing their legality and their coordination at Community
level. From the 31st day following the date specified in paragraph 2,each Member State shall draw up a final list of selected measures andforward it to the Commissionwithout delay.
Article 6
The list of selected measures shall be drawnup, inparticular, onthebasis of the coherence of the strategies presented, the merits of theproposed measures, the expected impact of their implementation, and
the groups' capacity to implement the measures and the guarantees
presented as to the groups' efficiency and representative nature.
Member States shall give preference to measures to be implemented in
the territories of more thanon e Member State.
Article 7
1. The competent bodies shall inform applicants as quickly as
possible of the decisiontakenontheir applicationfor assistan ce.
2. Within one month following the drawing up of the list of selected
measures pursuant to Article 5 (3), the competent bodies shall conclude
annual contracts with the applicants concerned.
The competent bodies shall use standard contracts supplied by the
Commission. Those contracts shall contain the general conditions
which the contractor is considered to know and accept.
3. Contracts shall not take effect until contractors have lodged in
favour of the competent body a security equal to 15 % of the Commu-
nity financing in order to ensure correct implementation of the contract.If proof of lodging of the security does not reach the competent bodywithin two weeks of conclusion of the contract, the contract shall nolonger have legal effect.
The security shall be lodged in accordance with the conditions laid
downinTitle III of CommissionRegulation(EEC) No 2220/85(
1).
The primary requirement within the meaning of Article 20 of thatRegulation shall be the implementation, within the time limits laiddown, of the measures referred to in the contract.
The security shall be released within the time limit and under the
conditions laid down in Article 8 of this Regulation for payment ofthe balance.
4. The contracting competent body shall immediately send a copy of
the contract to the Commission.
Article 8
1. After the contract has been signed, the contractor may submit tothe competent body an application for an advance.
The advance may cover up to 30 % of the Community financing.
The competent body shall pay the advance not later than 15 October of
the year concerned.1997R0832 — EN — 24.07.1997 — 001.001 — 5
(1) OJ No L 205, 3. 8. 1985, p. 5.
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Payment of the advance shall be subject to the lodging in favour of the
competent body of a security equal to 110 % of that advance in accor-dance with the conditions laid down in Title III of Regulation (EEC)
No 2220/85.
2. Applications for payment shall be submitted each quarter and be
accompanied by supporting documents and an interim report on the
implementation of the contract.
However, the payments and the advance referred to in paragraph 1 may
not in aggregate exceed 75 % of the total Community financial contri-
bution.
3. Applications for payment of the balance shall be submitted before
the end of the fourth month following completion of the measures
covered by the contract. They shall be accompanied by:
(a) appropriate supporting documents;
(b) a summary of the work carried out;
(c) an internal evaluation report of the results obtained, as ascertain-
able onthe date of the report an d of the use that canbe made of
them.
Exceptincasesofforcemajeure ,whereanapplicationforpaymentof
the balance with the relevant documentation is submitted late, thebalance shall be reduced by 3 % for each month by which it is
overdue.
4. Payment of the balance shall be subject to checking of the docu-
ments referred to in paragraph 3.
The balance shall be reduced in proportion to the failure to fulfil the
primary requirement referred to in Article 7 (3).
5. The security referred to inparagraph 1 shall be released provided
that definitive entitlement to the amount advanced has been establishedwhenthe balan ce is paid.
6. The competent body shall make the payments referred to in para-
graphs 1 to 5 within three months of receipt of the application. It may,however, postpone the payments referred to in paragraphs 2 and 4where additional checks are required.
7. The competent body shall forward the evaluation reports referred
to inparagraph 3 to the Commissionas soonas possible.
8. The overall amount for each Member State fixed each year in
accordance with Article 3 shall be converted into national currency atthe agricultural conversion rate applicable on 1 April of the yearconcerned. However, for 1997 the relevant date shall be 1 May.
Article 9
1. The competent bodies shall take the steps necessary to verify, inparticular by means of technical, administrative and accounting checks
on the contractor, any partners and subcontractors:
(a) the accuracy of the information and supporting documents
supplied;
(b) fulfilment of all the obligations laid down in the contract.
They shall immediately inform the Commission of the results of the
checks.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, where the contractor implements
measures ina Member State other thanthat inwhich the con tractin gcompetent body is established, the competent body of the MemberState concerned shall afford it all necessary assistance.
3. The competent body of the Member State concerned shall deter-
mine the most appropriate way of carrying out checks on measuresimplemented in third countries and shall notify the Commissionthereof.1997R0832 — EN — 24.07.1997 — 001.001 — 6
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4. The Commission may at any time take part in the verifications
and checks referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3.
It may also carry out any additional checks it considers necessary.
Article 10
During the final year of a programme, an external evaluation of the
planned and approved measures shall be carried out by an independent
body selected by the Member State with the approval of the Commis-
sion.
The external evaluation shall comprise an evaluation of the results
obtained in relation to the objectives laid down for the planned andapproved measures and a cost/benefit analysis of each measure andfor the whole programme onthe basis of performan ce in dicators(output and input).
The evaluationshall be sen t to the Commissionimmediately.
The competent body shall pay for the evaluation, which shall be
financed on the same conditions as the promotional measures.
Article 11
1. Where undue payments are made, the beneficiary shall repay theamounts concerned plus interest calculated on the basis of the timeelapsing between payment and repayment by the beneficiary.
The interest rate to be used shall be that applied by the European
Monetary Institute to its operations in ecus applicable on the date ofthe undue payment, published in the ‘C’ series of the Official Journal
of the European Communities , increased by three percentage points.
2. Amounts recovered and the relevant interest shall be paid to the
paying agencies and departments and deducted by them from the
expenditure financed by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guar-antee Fund in proportion to the Community financial contribution.
Article 12
ThisRegulationshallenterintoforceonthethirddayfollowingitspublicationinthe Official Journal of the European Communities .1997R0832 — EN — 24.07.1997 — 001.001 — 7
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in 
all Member States.
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ANNEX
AIDAPPLICATION
I
GENERAL INFORMATION
1997R0832 — EN — 24.07.1997 — 001.001 — 8
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1997R0832 — EN — 24.07.1997 — 001.001 — 9
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1997R0832 — EN — 24.07.1997 — 001.001 — 10
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II
DESCRIPTIONOFTHEPROGRAMME
1.Asummaryoftheprogramm econcernin gtheaspectsreferredtoinpoints3
to 6 (not more than two pages).
2. Reasons and objectives.
3. The proposed measures.4. Strategy: targets, methods, the phases of implementation and the timetable.
5. Implementation of the measures: details of the technical, scientific,
economic, financial, media, logistic aspects.
6. The anticipated results and advantages for the sector and the Community
market.
7. The criteria for assessing progress and results on completion of the
programme.
8. Outlook as regards use and dissemination of results.
III
BUDGET
The net budget for the measures, before tax, expressed in ecus, broken down
and reasoned(
1), showing how the amount is to be allocated by category and
by year.1997R0832 — EN — 24.07.1997 — 001.001 — 11
(1) On the basis of estimates, fees, etc. and, in the case of subcontracting, offers.Programmes must contain at least the following: