Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 establishing a support system for producers of certain arable crops (94/C 297/11) COM(94) 404 final - 94/0217(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 4 October 1994)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 42 and 43 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 of 30 June 1992 establishing a support system for producers of certain arable crops (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 920/94 (2), provides for the payment to producers of durum wheat in traditional production zones of a supplement to the compensatory payment provided for in Title I of that Regulation in order to offset the additional loss of income to the producers in question as compared with producers of other cereals as a result of the setting of a single price for all cereals; whereas payment of the supplement is made only for areas sown to durum wheat in the traditional production zones;

Whereas, as a result of the alignment of the price for durum wheat on that for other cereals and the restriction of the supplement to the compensatory payment for areas sown to durum wheat to the zones listed in Annexes II and III to Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 only, cultivation of this cereal outside those zones, especially in France, shows a disproportionate fall having regard to the objectives sought;

Whereas a certain level of production should thus be safeguarded in regions where production was well established outside the traditional production zones before the introduction of the reform;

Whereas aid should accordingly be introduced for areas sown to durum wheat outside the zones listed in Annexes II and III to Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92, the aid being limited to an amount reflecting the loss of income due to the alignment of the price for durum wheat on that for other cereals;

Whereas, however, in order to avoid a rise in the areas sown to durum wheat, the areas eligible for additional support as compared with other cereals should be limited;

Whereas, moreover, in Spain and Portugal, the national quota for the production of durum wheat should be adjusted in order to reflect better the true situation of producers during the reference period; whereas, for the sake of fairness, the Italian region of Umbria should also be regarded as a traditional durum-wheat production zone as regards a limited number of hectares which reflect the area traditionally sown to durum wheat;

Whereas, in view of the particular structural situation of the new German Länder, oil seed production in Germany is threatening to develop in different ways in the various Länder; whereas, for the sake of fairness, provision should be made in Germany for penalties to vary according to the Länder in the event of any simultaneous overrun in the maximum guaranteed area and the national reference area; whereas the necessary measures should also be taken to prevent the application of this scheme from affecting the amount or the date of payment of the advance payment on oil seeds in other parts of the Community,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 is hereby amended as follows:

1. in the second subparagraph of Article 4 (3), '550 000 hectares` and '30 000 hectares` are replaced by '570 000 hectares` and '35 000 hectares` respectively;

2. in Article 4 (4), 'In France` and 'departments` are replaced by 'In France and Italy` and 'departments and regions` respectively;

3. the following paragraph is added to Article 4:

'5. In France, in the departments where production of durum wheat is well established, other than those listed in Annexes II and III, aid of ECU 115/ha shall be paid in respect of not more than 50 000 ha.`;

4. in Article 5 (1) (f), the following is inserted before the last sentence:

'However, in the case of Germany, the appropriate additional reduction may be adjusted at its request, in whole or in part, according to the regional base area; where this option is exercised, Germany shall immediately send the Commission the data used to calculate the reductions to be applied.`;

5. in Article 11 (2), the following is inserted after the first sentence:

'Where the provisions specifically applying to Germany laid down in the second-to-last sentence of Article 5 (1) (f) are likely to affect the date of payment of the advance payment provided for in Article 11 (2) or the amount thereof, a date for payment and/or advance payment specific to Germany may be fixed.`;

6. the fifth indent of Article 12 is replaced by the following:

'- those determining, for durum wheat, the eligibility requirements for the supplement to the compensatory payment provided for in Article 4 (3) and (4) and those for the aid provided for in Article 4 (5), and in particular the departments concerned and the measures to be taken in the event of an overrun in the limit fixed for the payment of the aid.`;

7. the following is added to Annex III:

'Italy

- Umbria: 5 000 ha.`

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

It shall apply from the 1995/96 marketing year.

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

(1) OJ No L 181, 1. 7. 1992, p. 12.

(2) OJ No L 106, 27. 4. 1994, p. 14.