COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2150/94 of 31 August 1994 fixing, for unginned cotton, the actual production for the 1993/94 marketing year, the estimated production and the provisional reduction in the aid for the 1994/95 marketing year and the amount by which the guide price is to be reduced for the 1995/96 marketing year

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of Greece, and in particular Protocol 4 on cotton, as amended by the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, and in particular Protocol 14 annexed thereto,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2169/81 of 27 July 1981 laying down the general rules for the system of aid for cotton (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1554/93 (2), and in particular Article 11 thereof,

Whereas Article 7 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2169/81 provides that the actual production in each marketing year is to be determined each year, taking account of the quantities for which the aid has been applied for; whereas the application of that criterion gives the actual production for the 1993/94 marketing year indicated below;

Whereas Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 2169/81 provides that the estimated production of cotton must be established before the beginning of each marketing year; whereas, on the basis of the figures available, the estimated production for the 1994/95 marketing year should be fixed at the figure given below;

Whereas, pursuant to Article 2 (2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1964/87 of 2 July 1987 adjusting the system of aid for cotton introduced by Protocol 4 annexed to the Act of Accession of Greece (3), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1553/93 (4), where the maximum guaranteed quantity is exceeded by the estimated production, the aid should be reduced in accordance with the criteria laid down in that paragraph; whereas, however, the reduction in aid for the 1994/95 marketing year is limited to 20 % of the guide price but any reduction exceeding that limit is deducted from the guide price of the following marketing year up to a maximum of 7 %; whereas the application of the abovementioned provisions leads to the fixing of a reduction in the aid for the 1994/95 marketing year and a reduction of the guide price for 1995/96 as indicated below;

Whereas the Council recently undertook to reduce the maximum percentage reduction in the aid from 20 % to 18,5 %; whereas, pending formal amendment of the maximum percentage reduction, the reduction for 1994/95 should be fixed provisionally on the basis of the existing maximum reduction; whereas the carryover of the reduction for 1995/96 can, on the other hand, be fixed definitively, having regard to the extent by which the maximum guaranteed quantity is exceeded;

Whereas this Regulation is in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Flax and Hemp,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1. For the 1993/94 marketing year, actual production of unginned cotton is hereby determined at 1 084 559 tonnes.

2. For the 1994/95 marketing year:

- the estimated production is hereby fixed at 1 170 070 tonnes,

- the provisional reduction in the amount of the aid is hereby fixed at ECU 25,365 per 100 kilograms.

3. For the 1995/96 marketing year, the guide price shall be reduced by ECU 7,102 per 100 kilograms.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 September 1994.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 31 August 1994.

For the Commission

Karel VAN MIERT

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ No L 211, 31. 7. 1981, p. 2.

(2) OJ No L 154, 25. 6. 1993, p. 23.

(3) OJ No L 184, 3. 7. 1987, p. 14.

(4) OJ No L 154, 25. 6. 1993, p. 21.