7.3.86 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 53/5 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 2727/75 on the common 
organization of the market in cereals 
COM(86) 30 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 12 February 1986) 
(86/C 53/06) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par­
liament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas the Community cereals market is burdened by 
structural surpluses because of the excess of supply of the 
products covered by Council Regulation (EEC) No 
2727/75 O, as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 
.../..; whereas production has outstripped both 
consumption in the Community and outlets on world 
markets; whereas the resulting costs and market 
management problems could, if that trend is not 
checked, jeopardize the future of the common agri­
cultural policy; 
Whereas, in order to achieve as quickly as possible a 
better balance on the market and to control growth, 
producers should be encouraged to allow more fully for 
market realities and be made to contribute towards the 
budget costs arising from overproduction; whereas this 
can best be achieved via a coresponsibility levy in respect 
of the quantities of cereals which are marketed or sent to 
intervention by producers; whereas, in the light of the 
social implications such a measure would have, the levy 
should not be applied in respect of some of the quantities 
concerned, so as to exempt small farmers who market 
very little grain; 
Whereas the levy must be determined each year in the 
light of the various factors used to calculate surplus 
(') OJNo L281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 1. production and the budget costs arising therefrom, and 
allowing for the Community's imports of grain sub­
stitutes; whereas, in the event of a major change in those 
factors after the levy has been fixed, the levy should be 
changed, if need be, during the first weeks of the new 
marketing year; 
Whereas determined action aimed at achieving a more 
satisfactory equilibrium between supply and demand on 
the market must also entail changes in the price-support 
arrangements and adjustment of the intervention 
machinery: whereas special intervention measures for 
common wheat of bread-making quality at a higher 
price-support level than the intervention price have, 
together with bread-making quality requirements which 
were not sufficiently stringent, boosted the production of 
that particular type of wheat; whereas eliminating the 
reference price and fixing a 'bread-making quality' 
intervention price can help to achieve the objective 
described above; 
Whereas accordingly, the target price for common wheat 
should henceforth be derived from the intervention price 
and, to ensure consistency, special premiums should no 
longer be granted when bread-making rye is bought in; 
Whereas over the past 10 years the relationship between 
the intervention price of durum wheat and that of 
common wheat has boosted the cultivation of durum 
wheat, even in the northern regions of the Community; 
while for industrial uses, common wheat has gradually 
replaced durum wheat; whereas, in order to remedy this 
imbalance, which might well become worse over the 
coming years, during which outlets outside the 
Community will continue to be very limited, action 
should be taken to establish a more satisfactory price 
relationship between common and durum wheat; 
Whereas when there is a surplus on the market and 
market prices are depressed, the fact that cereals can at 
all times be sent to intervention is very often, even at the 
beginning of the marketing year, seen as an outlet in its 
No C 53/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 7.3.86 
own right by many operators, with the result that the 
latter do not have to seek to market their grain; whereas, 
in order to encourage operators to seek more actively an 
outlet on the market during the early stages of the 
marketing year, the quantities bought in by intervention 
agencies should be limited to a certain period of the 
marketing year; whereas, moreover, allowing operators 
to offer their grain for intervention without necessarily 
being taken over by the intervention agency will allow 
them to seek, during a period to be determined, a more 
advantageous outlet, and will be in keeping with the 
objective described above while guaranteeing that the 
grain can, as a last resort, be bought in if such is the 
wish of the producer; 
Whereas a marketing year beginning on 1 July should 
allow more fully for the new conditions obtaining in the 
Community following the accession of Spain and 
Portugal, where harvests tend to take place early on in 
the year, and can ease the introduction of the new 
intervention arrangements referred to above; 
Whereas the threshold price applicable in the case of 
imports of maize and sorghum during June should be 
maintained until 30 September, since those two crops 
tend to be harvested fairly late; 
Whereas, in the context of the market organization 
adjusted as described above, a carry over payment can be 
regarded simply as a management measure designed to 
ease the transition from one marketing year to another; 
whereas the decision to grant such a carry-over payment 
should accordingly be a Commission responsibility under 
the management committee procedure; whereas carry­
over payments are no longer justified in the case of 
maize, in view of the recent provisions introduced in 
respect of that cereal; 
Whereas the aim of restoring balance on the market 
should be to encourage the search for and the 
development of new industrial outlets for cereals, in 
particular in the field of energy; whereas provision 
should therefore be made for granting aid for cereals 
used for such research and development work; whereas 
the aid, should, however, be fixed in such a way as to 
allow sound competition with world market outlets for 
those cereals, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
Regulation (EEC) No 2727/75 is hereby amended as 
follows: 
1. Article 2 is replaced by the following: 
'Article 2 
The marketing year for all the products listed in 
Article 1 shall begin on 1 July and end on 30 June of 
the following year.' 2. Article 3 is replaced by the following: 
Article 3 
1. Before the beginning of the marketing year 
referred to in Article 2, the following prices shall be 
fixed for the Community: 
— a common intervention price for common wheat, 
rye, barley, maize and sorghum, 
— an intervention price for durum wheat, 
— a target price for common wheat and durum 
wheat and a common target price for rye, barley, 
maize and sorghum. 
2. The prices shall be fixed for a standard quality. 
3. The intervention prices shall be fixed for the 
Ormes intervention centre, which is the centre for the 
Community area having the greatest surplus for all 
cereals, at the wholesale stage, goods delivered at the 
warehouse, before unloading. They shall be valid for 
all Community intervention centres designated for 
each cereal. 
4. (a) The target prices shall be fixed for Duisburg, 
which is the centre for the Community area 
having the greatest deficit for all cereals, at the 
wholesale stage, goods delivered at the 
warehouse, before unloading. 
They shall be calculated by adding a market 
component and a component reflecting the 
cost of transport between the Ormes area and 
the Duisburg area: 
— to the common intervention price, for 
common wheat, rye, barley, maize and 
sorghum, 
— to its intervention price, for durum wheat. 
(b) The market component for: 
— common wheat shall reflect the difference 
which should exist between the intervention 
price and the market price for high-quality 
European-type common wheat of bread-
making quality to be expected, in a normal 
harvest and under natural pricing 
conditions on the Community market, in 
the area having the greatest surplus, 
— rye, barley, maize and sorghum shall reflect 
the difference which should exist between 
the market price for barley and the 
common intervention price, plus the 
difference in market prices reflecting the 
ratio between the relative values of barley 
and maize for use in animal feed. The 
market prices to be taken into 
consideration are those to be expected in a 
7.3.86 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 53/7 
normal harvest and under natural pricing 
conditions on the Community market, in 
the production area having the greatest 
surplus, 
— durum wheat shall reflect the difference 
which should exist between the intervention 
price and the market price to be expected, 
in a normal harvest and under natural 
pricing conditions on the Community 
market, in the area having the greatest 
surplus. 
(c) The component reflecting the cost of transport 
shall be determined on the basis of the most 
favourable means of transport or combination 
of means of transport and on existing tariffs. 
When inland waterway or sea-freight rates are 
not based on a tariff, transport costs shall be 
determined by taking the average freight rate 
over the two months with the lowest average 
rate during the most recent 12-month period 
for which data are available. 
5. The prices referred to in paragraph 1 and the 
standard qualities referred to in paragraph 2 shall be 
determined in accordance with the procedure laid 
down in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty. 
6. The Council, acting by a qualified majority on a 
proposal from the Commission, shall lay down rules 
for determining the intervention centres to which the 
intervention prices apply. 
7. The intervention centres shall be determined, 
after consultation with the Member States concerned, 
in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 
26.' 
3. Article 3a is hereby repealed. 
4. Article 4 is replaced by the following: 
'Article 4 
1. In order to ensure that producers contribute 
towards the budget costs arising from intervention 
measures within the meaning of Regulation (EEC) 
No 729/70 in the cereals sector, a coresponsibility 
levy shall be payable in respect of the cereals 
referred to in Article 1 (a) and (b) harvested in the 
Community and marketed or sold to an intervention 
agency pursuant to Articles 7 and 8. 
However, for each marketing year, producers shall 
be exempt from the levy in respect of the first 25 
tonnes of cereals. 
2. The levy shall be fixed annually, before the 
beginning of the marketing year, in accordance with 
the procedure laid down in Article 43 (2) of the 
Treaty. However, in the event of a major change in the 
factors referred to for the determination of the levy, 
the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a 
proposal from the Commission, may, before 15 
September, alter the levy with effect from the 
beginning of the marketing year in question. 
The amount of the levy referred to in the first 
paragraph shall be determined in the light of the 
Community's imports of the products listed in Annex 
D to this Regulation. 
3. The levy referred to in this Article shall be 
regarded as one of the intervention measures 
designed to stabilize agricultural markets in the 
cereals sector. 
4. The Council, acting by a qualified majority on 
a proposal from the Commission, shall lay down 
general rules for the application of this Article. 
5. Detailed rules for the application of this Article 
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure 
laid down in Article 26.' 
5. Article 5 is hereby amended as follows: 
(1) The following subparagraph is added to 
paragraph 1: 
'However, the threshold price for maize and 
sorghum applicable in June shall remain valid 
until 30 September.' 
(2) The first indent of paragraph 4 shall be replaced 
by the following: 
'— a component representing the cost of 
transport between Rotterdam and Duisburg, 
determined in accordance with the criteria 
laid down in Article 3 (4) (c),'. 
(3) Paragraph 6 is replaced by the following: 
'6. Threshold prices for products referred to 
in this Article shall be fixed annually, before the 
beginning of the marketing year, in accordance 
with the procedure laid down in Article 26.' 
6. Article 6 is replaced by the following: 
'Article 6 
1. The intervention prices, the target prices and 
the threshold prices shall be the subject of monthly 
increases phased over part or all of the marketing 
year. 
2. The Council, acting by a qualified majority on 
a proposal from the Commission, shall determine 
annually, before the beginning of the marketing 
year, the number and amount of the monthly 
increases and in what months they are to apply'. 
No C 53/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 7.3.86 
7. Article 7 (1) is replaced by the following: 
'1. The intervention agencies designated by the 
Member States shall buy in cereals referred to in 
Article 3 which have been harvested in the 
Community and which are offered to them during 
the period from 1 December to 30 April, provided 
that the offers comply with conditions, in particular 
in respect of quality and quantity, to be determined 
in accordance with paragraph 5. 
However, subject to certain conditions and in 
respect of certain periods to be determined in 
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 
26, the Commission shall have power to authorize 
the submission to intervention agencies of others 
including a cancellation clause.' 
8. In Article 7 (2): 
(a) 'single intervention price' is replaced by 
'intervention price'; 
(b) the third sentence is deleted. 
9. Article 8 is replaced by the following: 
'Article 8 
1. Particular intervention measures may be 
adopted whenever the market situation in certain 
regions of the Community so requires. 
2. The Council, acting by a qualified majority on 
a proposal from the Commission, shall adopt general 
rules for the application of this Article. 
3. The nature and application of the particular 
intervention measures and the conditions and proc­
edures for the sale or for any other means of 
disposal of the products subject to those measures 
shall be determined in accordance with the proce­dure laid down in Article 26. Detailed rules for the 
application of the Article shall, where appropriate, 
be adopted in accordance with the same procedure.' 
10. Article 9 is replaced by the following: 
'Article 9 
To the extent required to facilitate the change-over 
from one marketing year to another, the 
Commission may, in accordance with the procedure 
laid down in Article 26, grant a carry-over payment 
in respect of stocks of one or more of the following 
cereals harvested in the Community which remain to 
the end of the marketing year: common wheat, 
durum wheat, rye and barley.' 
11. The following Article is inserted: 
'Article 11a 
1. Aid may be granted for cereals harvested in the 
Community that are used for research and 
development work on new industrial uses. 
The amount of the aid shall not exceed that of the 
export refund for the cereal concerned. 
2. The Council, acting by a qualified majority on 
a proposal from the Commission, shall adopt rules 
for the application of this Article.' 
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day 
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of 
the European Communities. 
It shall apply from 1 July 1986. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States. 
Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 2731/75 fixing standard 
qualities for common wheat, rye, barley, maize, sorghum and durum wheat 
COM(86) 30 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 12 February 1986) 
(86/C 53/07) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES; 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43 
thereof, 
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 
2727/75 of 29 October 1975 on the common organi­
zation of the market in cereals ('), as last amended by 
(') OJNoL281, 1. 11. 1975, p. 1. Regulation (EEC) No . . ./. ., and in particular Article 3 
(5) thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par­
liament, 
Whereas production and consumption trends in the 
cereals sector call for more stringent intervention 
requirements; whereas this may be achieved only by