Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999 establishing a support system for producers of certain arable crops, in order to include rice
Date: 2000-06-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common customs tariff, common organisation of markets, production aid, production quota, rice

C 311 E/342

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

31.10.2000

Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999 establishing a support
system for producers of certain arable crops, in order to include rice

(2000/C 311 E/26)

COM(2000) 278 final (cid:151) 2000/0152(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 13 June 2000)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Articles 36 and 37 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of
Committee,

the Economic and Social

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Whereas:

(1) The

common agricultural policy aims

to attain the
objectives referred to in Article 33 of the Treaty, taking
account of the market situation.

(2) The European rice market

is in serious unbalance;

the
volume of rice stored in public intervention is very large,
equivalent to about one fifth of Community output, and
increasing significantly each year. The imbalance is caused
by increases in both domestic output and imports as well
as by the
in
restrictions on exports with refunds
accordance with the general agreement on agriculture.

(3) If the price support system provided for in Council Regu-
lation (EC) No 3072/95 of 22 December 1995 on the
common organisation of the market in rice (1) were main-
finding outlets for intervention
tained,
stocks of
to increase
rice would cause those stocks
steadily, with a considerable impact on budget expenditure.

the difficulty of

(4) This problem must be solved by revising the common
market organisation for rice,
in such a way as to take
control of output, improve the equilibrium and fluidity of
the market and enhance the competitiveness of Community
agriculture, while pursuing the other aims of Article 33 of
the Treaty, including maintaining suitable income support
for producers. This amendment is achieved by means of
Regulation (EC) No . . ./2000.

(1) OJ L 329, 30.12.1995, p. 18.

(5) After careful consideration of all aspects of the situation, it
appears that the most suitable solution is to integrate rice
into the support arrangements for the producers of certain
arable crops, governed by Council Regulation (EC) No
1251/1999 (2),
(EC) No
by
2704/1999 (3), and by Regulation (EC) No . . ./2000 to
include fibre flax and hemp, while discontinuing the inter-
vention price arrangements.

Regulation

amended

(6) As rice has a different yield from other cereals, the Member
States should be given the possibility of using a specific
yield for rice.

(7) In some Member States, the effect of including rice in the
support scheme for certain arable crop producers is to
change average yields; consequently, the data on average
yields in the Regulation should be adapted.

(8) In view of the discontinuation of intervention prices, the
single base amount defined for all arable crops should be
applied to rice from the first marketing year.

(9) The measures required for the implementation hereof will
be adopted under Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28
June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of
implementing powers conferred on the Commission (4),

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999 is amended as follows:

1. The second subparagraph of Article 3(3) is replaced by the

following:

(cid:145)The irrigated base area shall be equal to the average area
irrigated from 1989 to 1991 with a view to harvesting
to
arable crops including the increases made pursuant
Article 3(1), fourth subparagraph,
last sentence of Regu-
lation (EEC) No 1765/92. Areas to take into consideration
for rice in the framework of this separate area shall be
those provided for in Article 6(4) of Regulation (EC) No
3072/95.

(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 327, 21.12.1999, p. 12.
(4) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

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The irrigated base area in Portugal shall be progressively
increased by 60 000 hectares, for those areas where it has
been established that investment in irrigation began after 1
August 1992. This increase may be added partially or
totally to the irrigated maize base area as referred to in
Article 3(2).(cid:146)

2. In Article 3, the following paragraph 3a is added:

(cid:145)3a
In their regionalisation plans, Member States may
apply a specific yield figure for rice, for each production
region concerned. These specific yields shall be set at such
a level that their weighted average amounts to 6,04 for
Italy, 6,35 for Spain, 7,48 for Greece, 6,05 for Portugal and
5,86 for France. In this case, a base area as referred to in
Article 2(2) must be established separately for rice.(cid:146)

6. The following words are added to the first subparagraph of

Article 4(3):

(cid:145)for rice:

(cid:151) EUR 63,00/t
onwards.(cid:146)

from the 2001/02 marketing

year

7.

In Article 6(2) the following subparagraph is added:

(cid:145)By 31 December 2003, the producer Member States shall
send the Commission a report on the environmental
situation of rice production with special reference to the
development in traditional zones and the effect of any
national measures taken to safeguard the environmental
interest of rice-growing areas set aside.(cid:146)

3. In Article 3(6) the following subparagraph is added:

8. Article 9 is amended as follows:

(cid:145)Any revision of the regionalisation plans to incorporate
data concerning rice shall be presented by the Member
States to the Commission at the latest on 1 August 2000.(cid:146)

4. The first subparagraph of Article 3(7) is replaced by the

following:

If

the

(cid:145)Should a Member State, pursuant to paragraph 1, choose
to establish production regions the demarcation of which
does not correspond to that of regional base areas, it shall
send the Commission a summary statement of payment
applications and the yields pertaining to these.
it
emerges from this information that,
in a Member State,
the average yield resulting from the regionalisation plan
in the case of Austria, Finland and
applied in 1993 or,
average yield resulting from the plan
Sweden,
applied in 1995 or,
in the case of Italy, Spain, Greece,
Portugal and France, the yield fixed respectively at 4,00
tonnes per hectare, 2,95 tonnes per hectare, 3,48 tonnes
per hectare, 3,00 tonnes per hectare and 6,02 tonnes per
hectare,
is exceeded, all payments to be made in that
Member State for the following marketing year shall be
reduced in proportion to the overrun which has been
recorded. However, this provision shall not apply where
the quantity for which applications were made, expressed
in tonnes of cereals, does not exceed that resulting from
the product of the total base areas of the Member State by
the aforementioned average yield.(cid:146)

5. In Article 4, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

(cid:145)2.
The calculation mentioned in paragraph 1 shall be
made using the average cereals yield for all arable crops.
Where a Member State chooses to apply a specific yield as
provided for in Article 3(3a), that yield shall be used for
rice, and the average cereals yield shall be used for arable
crops other than rice.

(a) the introductory sentence is replaced by the following:

(cid:145)Detailed rules for the application of this Chapter shall
be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 9a(2), and in particular:(cid:146)

(b) in the first

subparagraph,

the following indent

is

inserted after the fifth indent:

(cid:145)(cid:151) those relating to rice, and where applicable to the
fixing of the specific base area taking account of
the areas provided for in Article 6(4) of Regulation
(EC) No 3072/95;(cid:146)

(c) in the first indent of the second subparagraph, point (ii)

is replaced by the following:

(cid:145)(ii) certified seed in the case of durum wheat, rice and

flax and hemp grown for fibre,(cid:146)

9. The following Article 9a is inserted:

(cid:145)Article 9a

The Commission shall be assisted by the Management
1.
Committee for Cereals set up under Article 23 of Regu-
lation (EEC) No 1766/92.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4
and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance
with Article 8 thereof.

The period referred to in Article 4(3) of Decision

3.
1999/468/EC shall be set at one month.(cid:146)

Where maize is treated separately, the (cid:147)maize(cid:148) yield shall
be used for maize, and the (cid:147)cereals other than maize(cid:148) yield
shall be used for cereals, oilseeds, rice, linseed and flax and
hemp grown for fibre.(cid:146)

10. In the last subparagraph of Article 10(3) and in Article 12,
references to Article 23 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92
are replaced by references to Article 9a(2).

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11. In Annex I, the following point VI is added:

Article 2

CN code

Description

VI. RICE

1006 10

Rice

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 2001/02 marketing year.

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