Commission Regulation (EC) No 243/1999 of 1 February 1999 amending Regulations (EC) No 478/97 and (EC) No 20/98 laying down rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards preliminary recognition and aid to producer organisations, respectively
Date: 1999-02-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid system, aid to agriculture, producer organisation, production aid

L 27/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

2. 2. 1999

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 243/1999

of 1 February 1999

amending Regulations (EC) No 478/97 and (EC) No 20/98 laying down rules for
the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards preliminary
recognition and aid to producer organisations, respectively

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Article 1

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of
28 October 1996 on the common organisation of the
amended by
and vegetables (1),
market
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2520/97 (2), and in
particular Article 48 thereof,

in fruit

as

Whereas Article 2(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No
20/98 (3) provides that
the aid to cover the costs of
forming and operating producer organisations granted
preliminary recognition is to be determined on the basis
of their marketed production; whereas natural disasters
can cause a steep fall in marketed production in a given
year; whereas in such cases in order to avoid drastic reduc-
tions in the Community aid to producer organisations
granted preliminary recognition as might jeopardise its
operation, there should be a limit on the reduction in
marketed production taken into account for the purposes
of calculating the aid; whereas that limit must be deter-
mined by reference to the yield and the average prices
obtained by the producer organisations granted prelim-
inary recognition or by their members in the three years
preceding the year of the disaster, and must be fixed to
take account of normal production fluctuations due to
weather conditions; whereas, in the case of Portugal, the
marketed production thus fixed must also be used to
calculate the aid granted pursuant
to Article 14(7) of
Regulation (EC) No 2200/96;

Whereas Articles 2(2) and 5(1) of Commission Regulation
(EC) No 478/97 (4) lay down two different dates for imple-
mentation of recognition plans; whereas, for the sake of
consistency, a single date should be fixed for the start of
implementation of any recognition plan;

Regulation (EC) No 20/98 is hereby amended as follows:

1. the following paragraph 3 is added to Article 1:

‘3.
In the event of a natural disaster recognised by
the competent national authorities, marketed produc-
tion within the meaning of paragraph 2 shall be
deemed to be at least 70 % of the average theoretical
value equal to:

— the area belonging to the producer organisation
granted preliminary recognition and sown to the
product in question during the year of the natural
disaster, multiplied by:

— the average yield and average price obtained by
the producer organisation or its members for
the product in question during the three years
prior
to the natural disaster or, where the
Member State so decides, obtained in the same
production region during the three years prior
to the disaster.';

2. the following paragraph is added to Article 13:

‘In the event of a natural disaster recognised by the
competent Portuguese authorities, Article 1(3) of this
Regulation shall apply for
the
marketed production to be used for the purposes of
Article 14(7) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96.'

the calculation of

Article 2

Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 478/97 is deleted.

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are
in accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables,

Article 3

(1) OJ L 297, 21. 11. 1996, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 346, 17. 12. 1997, p. 41.
(3) OJ L 4, 8. 1. 1998, p. 40.
(4) OJ L 75, 15. 3. 1997, p. 4.

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

2. 2. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 27/9

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

Done at Brussels, 1 February 1999.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission