Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Council Regulation correcting Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 relative to the starting date of the transitional period for the recognition of producer organisations"

(COM(2002) 252 final - 2002/0111 (CNS))

(2003/C 61/10)

On 15 July 2002 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 37 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 29 August 2002. The rapporteur was Mr de las Heras Cabañas.

At its 393rd Plenary Session (meeting of 18 September 2002), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion with 129 votes in favour and three abstentions.

1. Introduction

1.1. The proposal for a Council Regulation modifies Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96(1) concerning producer organisations (POs) recognised under Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72(2) but which, on the date of entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, were unable to qualify for immediate recognition under the latter. Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 therefore allows these POs to continue operating for a transitional period of two years, extendable to five if the PO submits an action plan. These transitional periods are calculated from the date of entry into force of this regulation, i.e. 21 November 1996.

1.2. The modification proposed by the Commission is intended to correct an error in the starting dates of these transitional periods, postponing them until 1 January 1997 - the date of application of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 - in order to avoid any negative repercussions on the rights of the POs concerned and safeguard the legal security of their actions.

2. General comments

2.1. The Committee wishes to point out the general issues affecting producer organisations, which are still the cornerstone of the common market organisation for fruit and vegetables since the 1996 reform has not fully met its objectives of organising and grouping supply, and improving the efficiency of POs in response to increasingly concentrated distribution.

2.2. Incentives are therefore needed to encourage the setting-up of and cooperation between POs, and to encourage POs to merge and form associations.

2.3. To provide incentives for forming and joining associations, and improve the efficiency of POs, the recognition criteria should be adapted and producers involved in running and monitoring POs.

2.4. An analysis is therefore needed of existing obstacles in producer regions and possible incentives through specific programmes to encourage more farmers to join POs voluntarily, thus increasing their size.

3. Specific comments

3.1. The Committee welcomes the spirit of the Commission's proposal but points out that both transitional periods have now ended. It therefore regrets the Commission's delay in correcting the error in the starting date of the transitional period for the recognition of POs recognised under Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 but which, on the date of entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, were unable to qualify for immediate recognition.

3.2. The "a posteriori" modification of the Regulation is retroactive and may give rise to discriminatory treatment between POs which complied with the provisions in force and did not carry out the withdrawals to which they would be entitled under the proposed correction, and those POs who did carry out such withdrawals.

3.3. With this correction it will not be possible to alleviate the negative repercussions on POs' attempts to qualify for recognition in the allowed time or potential logistical problems owing to the lack of continuity between action plans and operational programmes.

4. Conclusions

4.1. The Committee welcomes the spirit of the Commission's proposal but questions its advisability, owing to the fact that it establishes the principle of discriminatory treatment between POs and will not alleviate the potential negative effects for POs affected by the delay in correcting the error.

4.2. The Committee calls on the Commission to present short-term proposals to adapt the common market organisation, based on the guidelines set out in this opinion.

Brussels, 18 September 2002.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke Frerichs

(1) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996.

(2) OJ L 118, 20.5.1972.