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"BCOUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2261/84
of 17 July 1984
laying down general rules on the granting of aid for the production of olive oil and of aid to olive oil
producer organizations
(OJ L 208, 3.8.1984, p. 3)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Council Regulation (EEC) No 3788/85 of 20 December 1985 L 367 1 31.12.1985
"M2 Council Regulation (EEC) No 3763/86 of 8 December 1986 L 349 10 11.12.1986
"M3 Council Regulation (EEC) No 168/87 of 19 January 1987 L 21 8 23.1.1987
"M4 Council Regulation (EEC) No 892/88 of 29 March 1988 L 89 1 6.4.1988
"M5 Council Regulation (EEC) No 1226/89 of 3 May 1989 L 128 17 11.5.1989
"M6 Council Regulation (EEC) No 3500/90 of 27 November 1990 L 338 3 5.12.1990
"M7 Council Regulation (EC) No 636/95 of 20 February 1995 L 67 1 25.3.1995
"M8 Council Regulation (EC) No 1639/98 of 20 July 1998 L 210 38 28.7.1998
Corrected by:
"C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 288, 27.10.1998, p. 55 (1639/98)1984R2261 — EN — 01.11.1998 — 002.001 — 1
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2261/84
of 17 July 1984
laying down general rules on the granting of aid for the production of
olive oil and of aid to olive oil producer organizations
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation No 136/66/EEC of 22 September
1966 on the establishment of a common organization of the market in
oils and fats (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2260/84 (2),
and in particular Article 5 (4) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Whereas Article 5 of Regulation No 136/66/EEC introduced a system of
production aid for olive oil; whereas this aid in respect of areas under
olives at a certain date is granted to growers who are members of the
producer organizations specified in Article 20c (1) of Regulation No
136/66/EEC and whose average production is at least 100 kilograms of
oil per marketing year and to other growers on the basis of the number
and production potential of olive trees and of the yields of such trees, as
determined according to a standard method, and provided that the olives
produced have actually been harvested;
Whereas, pending the establishing of a register of olive cultivation, aid
for the growers concerned should be calculated on the basis of the
average yields of olive trees;
Whereas, in order to ensure the proper operation of the system of aid, it is
necessary to determine the types of olive oil in respect of which aid is
granted;
Whereas, in order to ensure the proper operation of the system aid, the
rights and obligations of all those concerned, namely growers producer
organizations and associations of producer organizations and also the
Member States concerned should be laid down;
Whereas the basis should be a system of crop declarations made by
growers;
Whereas the olive oil producer organizations referred to in Article 20c
(1) of Regulation No 136/66/EEC must have a minimum number of
members or represent a minimum percentage of growers or of oil
production; whereas these minimum numbers or percentages must be
fixed at levels compatible, on the one hand, with the need for efficiency
of the organizations and, on the other hand, with facilities for verification
available in the producer Member States; whereas to ensure the efficient
management of the organizations, certain additional conditions to be
fulfilled by member growers should be laid down;
Whereas the associations of olive oil producer organizations referred to
in Article 20c (2) of the said Regulation must be composed of a
minimum number of groups or represent a minimum percentage of
national production; whereas these minimum numbers or percentages
should be set at levels which enable the special coordination and
checking work incumbent on such associations to be carried out in an
effective manner;
Whereas Article 20c of the said Regulation specifies that producer
organizations and associations of producer organizations should carry
out certain verification and coordination tasks; whereas the precise
nature of these tasks should therefore be defined;!B
(1) OJ No 172, 30. 9. 1966, p. 3025/66.
(2) OJ No L 208, 3. 8. 1984, p. 1.1984R2261 — EN — 01.11.1998 — 002.001 — 2
Whereas, in the interests of proper administration, producer organiz-
ations and associations thereof must apply to the competent national
authorities for recognition in good time before the beginning of the
marketing year; whereas the Member State concerned should decide on
their application within a reasonable time;
Whereas, in accordance with Article 20d (1) of the said Regulation, a
percentage of the aid may be retained to contribute towards the
expenditure incurred by producer organizations and associations thereof
on making checks; whereas steps should be taken to ensure that the sums
retained are used only for the financing of the tasks provided for in
Article 20c (1) and (2) of the said Regulation;
Whereas Article 20d (2) of the said Regulation provides that only
associations are to qualify for an advance on the amount of the aid;
whereas for reasons of sound management this advance should not
exceed a certain percentage of the amount of the aid;
Whereas, in order to ensure the proper operation of the system of
production aid for growers who belong to producer organizations,
provision should be made for paying aid only in respect of the quantities
obtained in approved mills; whereas, for the purposes of approval, the
mills concerned should fulfil a number of conditions;
Whereas the aid in question is of considerable advantage to oil producers
and represents a financial burden on the Community; whereas, in order
to guarantee that the aid is granted only in respect of oil which qualifies
therefore, provision should be made for an appropriate system of
administrative checks;
Whereas, in the interests of proper administration of the aid system,
provision should be made for Member States to determine the quantity of
olive oil eligible for aid in cases where the actual production of an olive
grower is in doubt;
Whereas experience has shown that, despite the large number of specific
checks introduced, the number of growers to be supervised makes
detailed and effective checking and verification difficult; whereas it is
necessary to resolve these difficulties by setting up in each Member State
a computerized file containing all the information needed to facilitate
checking and the prompt detection of irregularities,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
CHAPTER I
General provisions
Article 1
As from the 1984/1985 marketing year, the general rules laid down in
this Regulation shall apply to the granting of the production aid for olive
oil referred to in Article 5 of Regulation No 136/66/EEC. However they
shall not apply to Spain and Portugal until the start of the 1986/1987
marketing year.
Article 2
1. Production aid shall be granted in respect of olive oil as defined in
points 1 and 4 of the Annex to Regulation No 136/66/EEC.
2. The aid shall be granted to olive growers established in the Member
States. For the purposes of this Regulation an olive grower shall be any
grower of olives which are used to produce oil.!B
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3. The aid shall be granted on application by the parties concerned to
the Member State in which the oil has been produced.
4. The aid shall be granted, in accordance with Article 5(1) of
Regulation No 136/66/EEC, on the quantity of oil actually produced at
an approved mill.
CHAPTER 2
Obligations incumbent on olive growers
Article 3
1. Each olive grower shall, at the beginning of the marketing year and
before a date to be determined, submit to the competent authorities of the
Member State concerned a crop declaration containing, on the first
occasion it is lodged:
— particulars of the olive trees grown and their location,
— a copy of the declaration submitted for the purpose, of compiling the
olive-cultivation register.
2. For the following marketing years each olive grower shall, before a
date to be determined, lodge a supplementary declaration indicating any
changes that have occurred or stating that his previous crop declaration
remains applicable.
3. Olive growers who are members of a producer organization shall, by
a date to be determined, submit to the organization an individual aid
application providing evidence that the olives have been pressed at an
approved mill.
4. The olive growers referred to in paragraph 3 shall lodge the crop
declaration and aid application through their organization.
5. An olive grower may not be a member of more than one producer
organization for areas located in a given administrative area and may not
lodge more than one crop declaration and one aid application for those
areas.
If an olive grower leaves the organization before the end of the period
mentioned in the first indent of Article 20c (1) (g) of Regulation No
136/66/EEC, he may not join another organization provided for by this
Regulation during the remainder of the period.
Producer organizations shall notify the Member State concerned of the
names of olive growers referred to in the second subparagraph.
6. Olive growers who are not members of a producer organization shall,
by a date to be determined, submit to the competent authorities of the
Member State concerned, an aid application containing evidence that the
olives have been pressed at an approved mill.
7. Olive growers who fail to comply with the obligations laid down in
this Article shall be refused aid.!B
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CHAPTER 3
Producer organizations
Article 4
1. Without prejudice to the other requirements of Article 20c (1) of
Regulation No 136/66/EEC a producer organization may not be
recognized under that Regulation unless:
(a) it consists, in the case of organizations producing and increasing the
market value of olives and olive oil, of at least 700 olive growers; or
(b) it consists, in other cases, of at least 1 200 olive growers; should one
or more organizations producing and increasing the market value of
olives and olive oil be a member of the organization in question, the
growers concerned shall be considered individually for the purposes
of calculating the minimum number of growers required; or
(c) it represents at least 25 % of the olive growers or of olive oil
production in the economic region in which it has been set up.
2. Only the following may belong to a producer organization: olive
growers who own an olive grove which they exploit or olive growers who
have been exploiting an olive grove for a period of at least three years.
To this end, olive growers shall submit to the producer organizations of
which they are members the information needed to establish that they are
persons exploiting an olive grove and information on any changes which
have occurred since their application for membership.
3. For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘economic region’ shall mean a
region which, under criteria to be fixed by the Member State concerned,
possesses similar production conditions from the point of view of olive
growing.
4. Member States shall take any necessary action to encourage the
setting up of producer groups as specified in Regulation (EEC) No
1360/78 (1) or of other organizations for producing and increasing the
market value of olives and olive oil which can be recognized as producer
organizations for the purposes of this Regulation.
Article 5
1. Producer ogranizations (SIC! organizations) wishing to obtain
recognition from the beginning of a marketing year shall apply to the
competent authority of the Member State concerned by 30 June of the
previous marketing year at the latest.
2. By 15 October, following receipt of the application, at the latest, the
competent authority shall, after checking whether the organization meets
the requirements of Article 20c (1) of Regulation No 136/66/EEC and of
Article 4, take a decision on the application and notify it forthwith to the
organization concerned and to the Commission.
Recognition shall take effect from the beginning of the marketing year
following that in which application was made.
3. Recognized producer organizations shall by 30 June of each year
declare to the competent authority any changes made in their structure
since their recognition or last annual declaration and report any notices
of withdrawal of or application for membership received.
The competent authority shall ascertain, on the basis of this statement
and of any appropriate enquiries, whether the conditions for recognition
continue to be met.!B
(1) OJ No L 166, 23. 6. 1978, p. 1.1984R2261 — EN — 01.11.1998 — 002.001 — 5
If they are no longer met or if the structure of an organization does not
allow for its members’ production to be verified, the competent authority
must, without delay and at the latest before the beginning of the
following marketing year, withdraw recognition and notify its decision to
do so to the Commission.
Article 6
1. Recognized producer organizations which are not members of an
association referred to in Article 20c (2) of Regulation No 136/66/EEC
shall:
— lodge, in accordance with Article 3 (1), the crop declarations of all
their members,
— submit, once per month, in a standardized form suitable for computer
processing as provided for in Article 16 the aid applications of their
members. Aid shall be requested for the quantity produced by those
members who have completed their oil production, provided that the
checks specified in Article 8 (1) have been made and the resulting
obligations discharged.
All applications relating to the production of a single marketing year
must, on pain of preclusion, be lodged before a date to be specified;
— shall receive from the Member State concerned advances on the
production aid, as mentioned in Article 12, and the balance of the
aids, and shall forthwith divide them amongst the olive grower
members.
2. In cases where a producer organization belongs to an association of
such organizations, the crop declarations and aid applications of the olive
grower members must be submitted by the association.
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Article 8
1. Before submitting the aid application each producer organization
shall check:
— the compliance of the file submitted by each of its members with the
obligations referred to in Article 3, and in particular the existence of
evidence that the olives have been pressed in an approved mill,
— that the figures supplied by each grower for quantities of olives
pressed and of oil obtained correspond to the quantities of olives and
oil stated in the evidence of pressing.
2. The producer organization shall forward the files on their members
to the competent authorities of the Member State concerned when the
correspondence referred to in the second indent of paragraph 1 is not
established.
CHAPTER 4
Associations of producer organizations
Article 9
1. Without prejudice to the requirements of Article 20c (2) of
Regulation No 136/66/EEC an association may not be recognized unless
it comprises at least 10 producer organizations recognized under Article
5 or a number of organizations accounting for at least 5 % of the olive oil
produced in the Member State concerned.
However, the producer organizations comprising an association must be
from two or more economic regions.!B
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2. The provisions on recognition and withdrawal thereof set out in
Article 5 shall also apply to associations.
Article 10
The associations specified in Article 20c (2) of Regulation No
136/66/EEC:
— shall coordinate the activities of the organization of which they are
composed and ensure that these activities accord with this
Regulation, and in particular shall directly and in accordance with
a percentage to be determined verify the manner in which the checks
specified in Article 8 have been carried out,
— shall lodge with the competent authorities the crop declarations and
the aid applications forwarded to them by the organizations of which
they are composed,
— shall receive from the Member State concerned advances on the
production aid, as mentioned in Article 12, and the balance of the
aids, and shall forthwith divide them amongst the producers who are
members of the organizations of which they are composed.
CHAPTER 5
Rules common to olive oil producer organizations and associations
thereof
Article 11
1. The amount of the sum withheld referred to in Article 20d (1) of
Regulation No 136/66/EEC shall be used in the following way:
(a) a sum to be determined shall be paid to each association on the basis
of the number of members of the producer organizations of which it
is composed;
(b) the balance shall be paid to all the producer organizations on the
basis of:
— the number of individual aid applications lodged with each
organization by its members,
— of the quantity of olive oil for which aid is granted through each
organization,
2. Member States in which olive oil is produced shall ensure that the
sums made over to the associations and to producer organizations in
application of paragraph 1 are used by them only for financing the
activities for which they are responsible under this Regulation.
3. If sums are not used, in whole or in part, as specified in paragraph 2,
they must be repaid to the Member States concerned, and shall be
deducted from the expenditure financed by the EAGGF .
4. In order to facilitate the operation of associations and producer
organizations, Member States are authorized to pay to them, at the
beginning of each marketing year, and advance to be calculated on a
flat-rate basis on the number of members.
5. Producer Member States shall lay down rules regarding allocation of
the aid and the time limits for payment to olive growers.
Article 12
1. Each olive oil grower may receive an advance on the amount of the
aid applied for.!B
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2. The advance:
(a) shall be equal to the amount obtained by multiplying the unit amount
of the aid fixed "M8"C1pursuant to Article 17a(1) 33 by
the quantity of oil stated in the aid application;
(b) may not be granted unless:
— the olive yields and oil yields have been fixed for the current
marketing year in accordance with Article 18,
— the checks referred to in Article 8 (1) and the on-the-spot checks
referred to in Article 14 (3a) have been carried out,
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Article 13
1. Member States shall approve only mills whose proprietors:
(a) have forwarded to the relevant Member State, in accordance with
rules to be determined, full in formation on their technical equipment
and actual pressing capacity and any changes in this information;
(b) have agreed to undergo any check provided for under the aid
procedure, to accept on their premises any means of control deemed
necessary and to allow any checks on their accounts;
(c) have not been subject, during the preceding marketing year, to
proceedings for irregularities noted during checks made pursuant to
Article 14 and pursuant to this Article as regards approval for the
1984/85 marketing year;
— have not been subject to proceedings for irregularities noted
during checks made for the 1983/84 marketing year pursuant to
Articles 7 and 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 2959/82 (1), and
— have not had their approval withdrawn for a period extending
beyond 31 October 1984 in pursuance of that Regulation;
(d) agree to keep standardized stock records meeting criteria to be
determined;
(e) have undertaken to submit to the competent authorities, before dates
to be determined, monthly stock record summaries.
2. Member States shall verify before granting approval whether the
conditions for approval are fulfilled, and in particular shall check on the
spot the technical equipment and actual pressing capacity of mills.
3. Provisional approval may be granted to any mill that begins
operation under the production aid scheme governed by this Regulation.
Approval shall be granted as soon as an application for approval has been
submitted under the conditions referred to in paragraph 1. The period of
validity of the provisional approval may not exceed the end of the
marketing year during which it was granted. However, the period of
validity of provisional approval granted during the 1984/1985,
1985/1986 and 1986/1987 marketing years shall expire at the end of
the 1986/1987 marketing year.
Such provisional approval shall become definitive as soon as the Member
State concerned has ascertained that the conditions for approval laid
down in paragraph 1 are fulfilled.
Should it be found that one of the conditions specified in paragraph 1 is
not fulfilled, the provisional approval shall be withdrawn.
(1) OJ No L 309, 5. 11. 1982, p. 30.!B
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4. In cases where one of the conditions for approval set out in
paragraph 1 is no longer fulfilled, approval shall be withdrawn for a
period in keeping with the gravity of infringement.
5. In cases where approval is withdrawn in accordance with paragraphs
3 and 4, no new application for approval may be granted at any time
during the period of withdrawal:
— to the same natural or legal person operating the mill in question, or
— to any natural or legal person who wishes to operate the mill in
question, unless that person can show, to the satisfaction of the
Member concerned, that the application for fresh approval is not
intended to circumvent the sanction imposed.
6. Should the withdrawal of a mill’s approval have serious con-
sequences on the pressing capacity in a given production zone, it may be
decided to approve the mill under special control arrangements.
CHAPTER 6
System of checks
Article 14
1. Each producer Member State shall apply a system of checks to
ensure that the product in respect of which aid is granted is eligible for
such aid.
2. Producer Member States shall verify the activities of each producer
organization and association and, in particular, that the checking
operations have been carried out by these bodies within the meaning
of Article 8 (1) and Article 10, first indent.
3. In the course of each marketing year and during the oil-pressing
period in particular, producer Member States shall carry out on-the-spot
checks on the activities and the stock records of a percentage of approved
mills to be determined.
The mills selected must be representative of the pressing capacity of a
production zone.
3a."M8For the purposes of paying aid to olive growers, Member
States shall check: 3
— the accuracy of the crop declarations on the basis of criteria to be
determined,
— the correspondence between the quantity of oil entered in the aid
application and that stated in the stock records of approved mills,
— the compatibility between the olive production declared by each
olive grower as having been pressed in an approved mill and the
particulars given in his crop declaration on the basis of criteria to be
determined.
5. For these checks and verifications Member States shall use inter alia
the computerized data files provided for in Article 16.!B
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These files shall be used to guide the checking required under
paragraphs 1, 2 and 3.
Article 15
1. Member States shall determine the quantity of oil eligible for aid on
the basis of the applications submitted under Articles 3 and 6, taking into
account all relevant facts, and in particular all the checks and
verifications provided for in this Regulation.
The quantity of olive oil referred to in point 4 of the Annex to Regulation
No 136/66/EEC for which aid may be given shall be detemined on the
basis of production of the type of oil defined at point 1 of that Annex.
2. In the case of producers whose files have been forwarded to it by
their organization in accordance with Article 8 (2) the Member State
shall determine the quantity of oil for which aid shall be given.
3. Where the checks specified in Articles 13 and 14 do not confirm the
figures in the stock records of an approved mill, the Member State
concerned shall, without prejudice to any sanctions which may be
imposed on the mill, determine, for each producer "M8
3 who has had its olive crop pressed in the mill in question, the
quantity of oil for which aid shall be given.
4. For the purpose of determining the quantity eligible for aid in cases
covered by paragraphs 2 and 3, the Member State shall in particular, use
the olive yields and oil yields fixed in accordance with the standard
method of Article 18.
Article 16
1. Each producer Member State shall draw up and keep up to date
permanent computerized files of olive and olive-oil production data.
2. These files must contain at least the following information:
(a) for each olive grower and for each marketing year for which he has
made an application for aid:
— the information contained in the crop declaration provided for in
Article 3,
— the quantities of oil produced for which an application for
production aid has been made and the quantities for which aid is
paid,
— the information resulting from the on-the-spot checks made on
the olive grower;
(b) for producer organizations and associations of producer organiz-
ations, all information needed to verify their activities in connection
with the present aid system and also the results of checks made by
the Member States;
(c) for oil mills and for each marketing year the data appearing in the
stock records, information on technical equipment and pressing
capacity and the results of checks made pursuant to this Regulation;
(d) the indicative annual yields for each homogeneous production zone.
Article 17
1. The files referred to in Article 16 shall be confidential.
The following shall have access to them:
— the national authorities empowered by the Member State,!B
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— Commission employees in cooperation with the competent officials
of the Member States and in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No
729/70 (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3509/80 (2),
particularly with regard to the procedures laid down,
— producer organizations and associations thereof, as regards the
aspects which the Member States deem necessary in order to check
effectively on their respective existing members.
2. The information files set up and the processing systems used in
checking them must be compatible with the computerized systems used
by each producer Member State for the register of olive cultivation.
CHAPTER 7
Final provisions
Article 17a
1. In accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 38 of
Regulation No 136/66/EEC, the Commission shall determine before 1
October, for each producer Member State for the current marketing year:
— estimated production qualifying for the aid,— a single rate for advances on the production aid; this must be such
that, given the production forecast for the marketing year in
question, any risk of undue payment to growers is avoided.
2. No later than eight months after the end of the marketing year, the
Commission shall, in accordance with the procedure referred to in
paragraph 1, determine for each producer Member State for that
marketing year:
— actual production for which entitlement to aid is recognised,— a single production aid rate, possibly weighted by a coefficient as
provided for in Article 5(6) of Regulation No 136/66/EEC.
3. Member States shall notify to the Commission, by 5 September of
the marketing year concerned, their olive oil production estimates for
that marketing year. The Commission may make use of other sources of
information and if appropriate have studies or surveys of olive oil
production carried out.
Article 18
The olive yields and oil yields
"M8mentioned in Article 5(7) 3of
Regulation No 136/66/EEC shall be fixed by homogeneous production
zones, at the latest by "M730 June 3of each year, on the basis of the
figures supplied by producer Member States not later than "M731
May3of each year.
Article 19
Detailed rules for the application of this Regulation shall be adopted in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 38 of Regulation No
136/66/EEC.
The following shall be fixed in accordance with the same procedure:— the yields referred to in Article 18,— the sum referred to in Article 11 (1)
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Article 20
In order to ensure a smooth transition from the arrangements currently in
force to those established under this Regulation, the Commission may
decide on any necessary measures for the 1984/85 marketing year in
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 38 of Regulation No
136/66/EEC.
With a view to ensuring the respect of the objectives of this Regulation
whilst taking into consideration specific problems which may arise in
certain Member States in the application of these provisions, the Member
States concerned may, after consulting the Commission, whilst taking
into consideration any additional criteria, grant for a transitional period
of three marketing years, from the marketing year 1984/85, provisional
recognition to such producers organizations and their associations which
make a request.
Article 21
Before "M61 January 1995 3, the Commission shall submit to the
Council a report on the working of the system of aid for the production of
olive oil, accompanied if necessary by proposals for revision of the
system.
Article 22
The Member States shall notify the Commission of the measures taken
pursuant to this Regulation.
Article 23
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the
Official Journal of the European Communities .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.!B
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