Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on a programme to supply agricultural products to the Russian Federation
Date: 1998-12-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: USSR, agricultural product, food aid, intervention stock, supply

C  408/12

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

29.12.98

II

(Preparatory  Acts)

COMMISSION

Proposal  for  a  Council  Regulation  (EC)  on  a  programme  to  supply  agricultural  products  to  the
Russian  Federation

(98/C  408/08)

COM(1998)  725  final  -  98/0343(CNS)

(Submitted  by  the  Commission  on  10  December  1998)

THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

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

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission,

Having 
Parliament,

regard 

to 

the  opinion  of 

the  European

Whereas  the  Commission  has  agricultural  products  in
stock  as  a  result  of  intervention  measures;

Whereas  there  are  already  considerable  gaps 
in  the
supply  of  certain  agricultural  products  to  the  Russian
market,  which  are  likely  to  become  worse  in  the  coming
months;

the 

Whereas 
already
mobilised  to  deal  with  this  situation  and  the  Union  must
also  assume  its  responsibilities;

international 

community 

is 

Whereas  requirements  to  ensure  that  the  operation  is
properly  carried  out  should  be  laid  down  and  provision
made  for  supply  to  be  staggered;  whereas  particulars  of
the  actual  organisation  of 
including
product  destination,  must  be  set  out  in  a  memorandum
to  be  concluded  between  the  Community  and  Russia;
whereas  under  the  memorandum  the  Russian  authorities
must  be  responsible  for  selling  the  products  on  local
markets  at  prices  that  do  not  disturb  them  and  for  using
the  net  receipts  for  social  measures;

the  operation, 

the  Commission 

should  be  authorised 

Whereas 
to
negotiate  and  conclude  this  agreement;  whereas  to  help
achieve  the  ends  of  the  operation  the  Commission  should
be  authorised  to  take  all  necessary  action, 
including
deferral  or  suspension  of  supply  according  to  the  diffi(cid:220)
culties  encountered,  if  the  requirements  set  are  no  longer
being  met;

for  monitoring, 

Whereas  the  Commission  is  calling  on  outside  technical
and
assistance 
evaluation  of  the  proper  conduct  of  the  operation,
including  on  the  territory  of  the  Russian  Federation;
whereas,  for  reasons  of  urgency,  the  Commission  may
in
restricted  procedures  or  private  contracts, 
use 
particular  for  monitoring  and  control;

auditing, 

control 

the  diversity  of 

taking  account  of 

Whereas  agricultural  products  should  therefore  be  made
available  to  Russia  in  order  to  improve  its  food  supply
local
position, 
situations  and  without  compromising  the  trend  to  a  free
market  in  food;  whereas  moreover  as  an  exceptional
measure  it  is  intervention  products  that  should  be  sent  in
the  first  place  to  Russia  either  as  they  are,  or  after
processing;  whereas  it  should  finally  also  be  possible  to
mobilise  agricultural  products  on  the  Community  market
where  no  intervention  stocks  are  available;

Whereas,  despite  all  the  precautions  which  have  been
involves
and  will  be  taken,  the  operation 
inherent  risks;

inevitably 

Whereas  rules  applying  to  the  execution  of  the  operation
should  be  adopted  by  the  Commission  through  the
procedures 
in  force  for  common  agricultural  policy
purposes;

this  operation  will  help 

Whereas 
the
precarious  situation  of  the  Russian  population  and  at  the
same  time  help  to  regularise  the  agricultural  markets;

improve 

to 

Whereas 
imperative  that
products  reach  their  destination  as  soon  as  possible;

in  view  of  the  need 

is 

it 

29.12.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C  408/13

whereas  supply  should  begin  immediately  and  its  cost  be
met  by  the  Guarantee  Section  of  the  European  Agri(cid:220)
cultural  Guidance  and  Guarantee  Fund,

priate  processing  in  the  Community,  shall  be  determined
by  public  tendering  procedure  or,  for  reasons  of  urgency
or  routing  difficulty,  by  restricted  tendering  procedure.

HAS  ADOPTED  THIS  REGULATION:

Article  1

1.(cid:218)(cid:217)Under  the  terms  of  this  Regulation  free  supply  shall
be  made  to  Russia  of  agricultural  products  as  referred  to
in  Article  3  that  are  either  available  following  inter(cid:220)
vention  or  if  not  so  available  will  be  mobilised  on  the
Community  market.

2.(cid:218)(cid:217)The  products  shall  be  supplied  to  the  neediest
regions  as  identified  by  joint  agreement  between  the
Community  and  Russia.

3.(cid:218)(cid:217)Supply  shall  be  staggered  as  determined  in  consul(cid:220)
tation  with  the  Russian  authorities.

4.(cid:218)(cid:217)The  terms  of  the  operation  shall  be  the  subject  of  a
memorandum  between 
the  Community  and  Russia
negotiated  and  concluded  by  the  Commission.  They  shall
include,  on  the  responsibility  of  the  Russian  authorities,
sale  of  the  products  supplied  on  local  markets  at  prices
whereby  the  regional  market  will  not  be  disturbed  and
also  the  principle  of  exclusive  allocation  of  the  net
receipts  of  sales  to  social  measures.  Exceptionally  the
products  supplied  may  be  distributed  free  to  the  neediest
people  of  the  regions  concerned.

The  memorandum  shall  also  cover  assistance  and  coop(cid:220)
eration  by  the  Russian  authorities  in  any  monitoring,
auditing,  control  and  evaluation  activities  to  be  carried
out  within  Russian  territory,  in  particular  by  the  Court
of  Auditors  or  by  outside  bodies  delegated  by  the
Commission  for  the  purpose.

Article  2

1.(cid:218)(cid:217)The  products  shall  be  supplied  unprocessed  or  after
processing  in  the  Community.

foodstuffs
2.(cid:218)(cid:217)The  measures  may  also 
available  or  which  may  be  obtained  on  the  market  by
payment  with  products  coming  from  intervention  stocks
and  belonging  to  the  same  group  of  products.

relate 

to 

3.(cid:218)(cid:217)Supply  costs, 
to  ports  or
frontier  points,  unloading  excluded,  and  where  appro(cid:220)

including 

transport 

4.(cid:218)(cid:217)Export  refunds  on  agricultural  products  shall  not  be
granted  on  products  supplied  under  this  Regulation.

Article  3

The  maximum  quantities  for  free  supply  shall  be:

-(cid:217)1(cid:216)000(cid:216)000  tonnes  of  common  wheat  of  breadmaking

quality,

-(cid:217)500(cid:216)000  tonnes  of  rye  of  breadmaking  quality,
-(cid:217)50(cid:216)000  tonnes  of  milled  rice,
-(cid:217)100(cid:216)000  tonnes  of  pig  carcases,
-(cid:217)150(cid:216)000  tonnes  of  beef  carcases,
-(cid:217)50(cid:216)000  tonnes  of  skimmed  milk  powder.

Article  4

1.(cid:218)(cid:217)The  Commission  shall  be  responsible  for  execution
of  the  operation  under  the  terms  of  this  Regulation.

The  Commission  shall  defer  execution  of  one  or  more
instalments  of  the  operation  or  suspend  it  if  it  is  not
ensured  that  the  operation  is  being  carried  out  satisfac(cid:220)
torily,  in  particular  if  the  provisions  of  the  memorandum
referred  to  in  Article  1(4)  are  not  being  respected.

It  shall  take  all  necessary  action  to  ensure  that  supply  is
effected  at  the  stage  planned.

The  Commission  shall,  by  means  of  open  or  restricted
invitations  to  tender  or  private  contracts,  as  provided  for
in  the  Financial  Regulation,  call  on  outside  technical
assistance 
and
evaluation  of  the  proper  conduct  of  the  operation,
including  on  Russian  territory.

for  monitoring, 

auditing, 

control 

2.(cid:218)(cid:217)Detailed  rules  for  the  application  of  this  Regulation
shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid
down  in  Article  23  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1766/92  or,
as  appropriate,  the  corresponding  articles  of  the  other
regulations  on  the  common  organisation  of  markets.

C  408/14

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

29.12.98

Article  5

The  book  value  of  agricultural  products  from  inter(cid:220)
vention  shall  be  determined 
in  accordance  with  the
procedure  laid  down  in  Article  13  of  Council  Regulation
(EEC)  No  729/70(cid:216)(˛).

Article  6

Action  under  this  Regulation  shall  be  covered  by  Article
3  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  729/70,  including  the  costs

(˛)(cid:217)OJ  L  94,  28.4.1970,  p.  13.  Regulation  as  last  amended  by
Regulation  (EC)  No  1287/95  (OJ  L  125,  8.6.1995,  p.  1).

arising  from  the  application  of  the  last  subparagraph  of
Article  4(1)  of  this  Regulation.

Article  7

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

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

in 

its  entirety  and

Proposal  for  a  Council  Regulation  (EC)  regarding  the  implementation  of  measures  to  intensify
the  EC(cid:220)Turkey  customs  union

(98/C  408/09)

COM(1998)  600  final  -  98/0299(CNS)

(Submitted  by  the  Commission  on  22  October  1998)

THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

Whereas  the  Cardiff  European  Council  pointed  out  that
the  European  strategy  would  require  financial  support;

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
Community  and  in  particular  Article  235  thereof,

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission,

Having 
Parliament,

regard 

to 

the  Opinion  of 

the  European

Whereas  the  Luxembourg  European  Council  on  12  and
13  December  1997  confirmed  that  Turkey  was  eligible  to
accede  to  the  European  Union;

Whereas  on  4  March  1998  the  Commission  presented  to
the  Council  a  communication  entitled  the  European
strategy  for  Turkey:  the  Commission’s  initial  operational
proposals  to  prepare  Turkey  for  accession;

Whereas  the  Cardiff  European  Council  on  15  and  16
June  1998  welcomed  the  Commission’s  communication
as  a  platform  for  developing  relations  between  the
European  Union  and  Turkey  on  a  sound  and  evo(cid:220)
lutionary  basis;

Whereas  the  Commission  was  requested  by  the  Cardiff
European  Council  to  table  any  proposals  which  would  be
required  to  implement  the  European  strategy;

Whereas,  since  the  EC(cid:220)Turkey  customs  union  came  into
force  on  31  December  1995,  Turkey  has  been  pushing
ahead  with  economic  reform;

Whereas  the  provisions  of  this  Regulation  are  based  on
respect  for  democratic  principles,  the  rule  of  law,  human
rights  and  fundamental  freedoms  and  respect  for  inter(cid:220)
national 
the
European  Community  and  its  Member  States;

law,  which  underpin 

the  policies  of 

Whereas  the  Community  attaches  great  importance  to
the  process  on  which  Turkey  has  embarked  to  improve
its  democratic  practices,  promote  respect  for  funda(cid:220)
mental  human  rights  and  more  closely 
involve  civil
society  in  its  development;

financial 

reference  amount  within 

Whereas  a 
the
meaning  of  point  2  of  the  Declaration  of  the  European
Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission  of  6  March
1995  has  been  included  in  this  Regulation  for  the  period
1999(cid:220)2001,  although  it  does  not  affect  the  competence  of
the  budgetary  authority  as  defined  by  the  Treaty;