20.

the following Chapters is inserted in Title IV: ‘Chapter 10a Crop specific payment for cotton Article 110a Scope Aid shall be granted to farmers producing cotton, falling within CN code 5201 00 under the conditions laid down in this Chapter. Article 110b Eligibility 1. The aid shall be granted per hectare of eligible area of cotton. In order to be eligible, the area shall be located on agricultural land authorised by the Member State for cotton production, sown under authorised varieties and maintained at least until the boll opening under normal growing conditions. However, if the cotton does not attain the stage of boll opening as a result of exceptional weather conditions recognised as such by the Member State, areas fully sown under cotton shall remain eligible for aid provided that the areas in question have up to the boll opening not been used for any other purpose than for the production of cotton. 2. Member States shall authorise the land and the varieties referred to in paragraph 1 in accordance with detailed rules and conditions to be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2). Article 110c Base areas and amounts 1. A national base area is hereby established for: — Greece: 370 000 ha — Spain: 70 000 ha — Portugal: 360 ha. 2. The amount of the aid per eligible hectare shall be in: — Greece: EUR 594 for 300 000 hectares and EUR 342.85 for the remaining 70 000 hectares — Spain: EUR 1 039 — Portugal: EUR 556. 3. If the eligible area of cotton in a given Member State and in a given year exceeds the base area laid down in paragraph 1, the aid referred to in paragraph 2 for that Member State shall be reduced proportionately to the overrun of the base area. However, for Greece the proportionate reduction shall be applied in respect of the amount of the aid fixed for the part of the national base area composed of the 70 000 hectares in order to respect the global amount of EUR 202,2 million. 4. Detailed rules for the implementation of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2). Article 110d Approved inter-branch organisations 1. For the purpose of this Chapter, an “approved inter-branch organisation” shall mean a legal entity made up of farmers producing cotton and at least one ginner, aiming at, in particular, the supply of qualitatively suitable unginned cotton to the ginner. The Member State in whose territory the ginners are established shall approve the organisation that respects the criteria to be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2). 2. The approved inter-branch organisation shall be financed by its members. Article 110e Differentiation of aid by approved inter-branch organisations 1. The approved inter-branch organisation may decide that a maximum of half of the total amount of the aid to which its farmer-members are entitled on the basis of the areas eligible pursuant to Article 110b(1) is differentiated according to a scale fixed by it. 2. The scale referred to in paragraph 1 shall be approved by the Member State and shall respect the criteria to be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2). These criteria shall concern, in particular, the quality of the unginned cotton to be delivered, adapted to the environmental and economic conditions of the zones concerned. Article 110f Payment of aid 1. Farmers shall be granted the aid per eligible hectare pursuant to Article 110c. 2. Farmers who are members of an approved inter-branch organisation shall be granted an aid per eligible hectare pursuant to Article 110c, increased by an amount of EUR 10. However, in case of differentiation, the aid shall be granted per eligible hectare pursuant to Article 110c adjusted in accordance with Article 110e(1). The adjusted amount shall be increased by an amount of EUR 10. Chapter 10b Aid for olive groves Article 110g Scope Aid shall be granted to farmers as a contribution to the maintenance of olive groves of environmental or social value according to the conditions laid down in this Chapter. Article 110h Eligibility Payment of the aid shall be subject to the following conditions: (a) the olive grove shall be registered in the geographic information system referred to in Article 20(2); (b) only surfaces corresponding either to olive trees planted before 1 May 1998, except for Cyprus and Malta, for which the date shall be 31 December 2001, or to replacing trees or surfaces covered by a programme approved by the Commission shall be eligible for the aid; (c) the number of olive trees in the olive grove shall not differ by more than 10 % from the number registered on 1 January 2005 in the geographic information system referred to in Article 20(2); (d) the olive grove shall comply with the features of the olive grove category under which aid is claimed; (e) the aid applied for shall amount to at least EUR 50 per application. Article 110i Amount 1. The aid for olive groves shall be granted per olive GIS-ha. An olive GIS-ha shall be the area unit used in a common method to be established in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2) on the basis of data from the geographical information system for olive cultivation referred to in Article 20(2). 2. Within the maximum amounts established in paragraph 3, and after deduction of the amount withheld pursuant to paragraph 4, Member States shall fix an aid per olive GIS-ha of up to a maximum of five categories of olive grove areas. These categories shall be established in accordance with a common framework of environmental and social criteria, including aspects related to landscape and social tradition, to be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2). In this context, particular attention shall be given to the maintenance of olive groves in marginal areas. 3. Where the coefficient of 0,4, resulting from the application of the coefficient of 0,6 laid down in Annex VII (H) is applied, the maximum amount of aid referred to in paragraph 2 shall be as follows: EUR million France 2,11 Greece 208,14 Italy 272,05 Cyprus 2,93 Malta 0,07 Spain 412,45 Portugal 22,66 Slovenia 0,17 Member States shall allocate the maximum amount between the different categories in accordance with objective criteria and in a non-discriminatory manner. For each category, the aid per olive GIS-ha may amount to, but may not exceed, the level of the maintenance costs excluding harvest costs. Should Member States decide upon a decrease in the coefficient of 0,4 the maximum amount of the aid referred to in the above table, as well as the Annexes VIII and VIIIa, shall be adjusted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2). The maximum amounts of aid set for Cyprus and Malta are provisional. They may be revised in 2005 after the introduction of the geographical information system referred to in Article 20(2), in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 144(2), to adjust the Cypriot and Maltese maximum amount of aid accordingly. 4. Member States may withhold up to 10 % of the amounts referred to in paragraph 3 to ensure Community finance of work programmes drawn up by approved operators' organisations pursuant to Article 8 of Council Regulation (EC) No 865/2004 of 29 April 2004 on the common organisation of the market in olive oil and table olives (13). However, should a Member State decide to apply a higher coefficient than 0,6 as laid down in Annex VII (H), it may withhold a maximum of 10 % of the olive oil component in the national ceiling referred to in Article 41 to ensure Community financing of the work programmes referred to in the first subparagraph. This maximum amount shall be fixed in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2). Chapter 10c Tobacco Aid Article 110j Scope of application For the harvest years 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 aid may be granted to farmers producing raw tobacco, falling within CN code 2401, under the conditions laid down in this Chapter. Article 110k Eligibility The aid shall be granted to farmers who received a tobacco premium payment in accordance with Regulations (EEC) No 2075/92 in the calendar years 2000, 2001 and 2002, and to farmers who acquired tobacco production quotas during the period 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2005. The payment of the aid shall be subject to the following conditions: (a) the tobacco must come from a production area referred to in Annex II to Commission Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 (14); (b) the quality requirements defined in Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 must be fulfilled; (c) the leaf tobacco must be delivered by the farmer to the premises of the first processor under a cultivation contract; (d) it shall be made in such a way as to ensure equal treatment between farmers and/or according to objective criteria such as location of tobacco producers in an Objective 1 region or the production of varieties of a certain quality. Article 110l Amount 1. Where a coefficient of 0,6, resulting from the application of the coefficient of 0,4 laid down in Annex VII (I) is applied, the maximum amount of the total of the aid, including the amounts to be transferred to the Community Tobacco Fund referred to in Article 110m, shall be as follows: 2006 - 2009 EUR million Belgium 2,374 Germany 21,287 Greece 227,331 Spain 70,599 France 48,217 Italy 200,821 Austria 0,606 Portugal 10,161 Should Member States decide upon a decrease in the coefficient of 0,6, the maximum amount of the aid referred to in the above table, as well as Annex VIII, shall be adjusted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2). Article 110m Transfer to the Community Tobacco Fund An amount equal to 4 % for the calendar year 2006 and 5 % for the calendar year 2007 of the aid granted in accordance with this Chapter shall finance actions of information under the Community Tobacco Fund provided for in Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 2075/92. Chapter 10d Hops area aid Article 110n Scope of application Aid shall be granted to farmers producing hops falling within CN code 1210, under the conditions laid down in this Chapter. Article 110o Eligibility Eligible areas shall be areas that are: — located in hop production areas as published by the Commission pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1784/77 (15), — planted with hops, and — actually harvested.