Proposal for a Council Decision on the prolongation of the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 1986 .
Date: 2002-10-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: international agreement, international cooperation, olive, olive oil, olive-growing

25.2.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 45 E/59

Proposal for a Council Decision on the prolongation of the International Agreement on Olive Oil
and Table Olives, 1986

(2003/C 45 E/05)

COM(2002) 560 final — 2002/0244(ACC)

(Submitted by the Commission on 14 October 2002)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. The International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives of 1986, of which the Community is a
member, entered into force on 1 July 1986. It was amended in 1993 and its application prolonged to
1998. It has been prolonged twice for further periods of two years until 31 December 2000 and 31
December 2002. It will expire on 31 December 2002. However, under Article 61 of the International
Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives of 1986 and Article 9 of the Protocol amending and
prolonging the Agreement, the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) may decide to prolong the
Agreement for successive periods not exceeding two years on each occasion.

2. The IOOC is planning to take the decision to prolong the Agreement for a further period of two years,
until 31 December 2004, in the course of its 87th session which will take place between 25 and 29
November 2002.

3. The budgetary implications are as follows:

4. The European Community participation share pertaining to the Administrative Budget amounts to
781/1000,
i.e. 78.1 %, which is paid under budget-item B 7-8210. The Community share of the
IOOC budget for 2003 as foreseen in the Draft General Budget of the European Communities for
the financial year 2003 has been estimated at EUR 3 923 000. Starting from the assumption of an
increase of a maximum of 4 % for the year 2004 the Community share could, at the most, increase to
EUR 4 080 000 for that financial year.

5. Moreover, the Agreement foresees an obligatory contribution of EUR 500 000/year to the Promotion
Fund to be paid under budget line B 1-3811. The European Community share is 809,7/1000, i.e.
80,97 % and, therefore, amounts to EUR 404 850/year. This amount is fixed and will stay the same for
the years 2003 and 2004.

6. The mission-man-day-involvement of Commission staff for the participation in IOOC-sessions twice per

year and in the various committees can be estimated at around 70 man-days/year.

7. The purpose of this proposal is to authorise the Commission on behalf of the Community to vote in
favour of the prolongation of the Agreement until 31 December 2004. However, the Commission
reserves its right to review this proposal in the light of the results of a forthcoming audit into the entire
financial management of the IOOC, which are scheduled to become available later this year.

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 133,
conjunction with the first sentence of Article 300 (2) thereof,

in

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 1986, (hereafter: the Agreement), was
concluded for the Community by Council Decision 87/401/EEC (1) and amendments thereof were
approved in 1993 by Council Decision 93/622/EC (2).
It was prolonged thereafter for additional
periods of two years and remains in force until 31 December 2002 unless the International Olive
Oil Council (hereafter: IOOC) decides on a prolongation for a further period of two years.

(1) OJ L 214, 4.8.1987, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 298, 3.12.1993, p. 36.

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Official Journal of the European Union

25.2.2003

(2) The objective of the Agreement is to promote the international co-operation in the field of olive oil
and table olives. The prolongation of the Agreement is, therefore, in the interest of the Community.

(3) The Commission, representing the Community in the IOOC, should, therefore, be authorised to vote in

favour of such prolongation,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Sole Article

The European Community is hereby in favour of the prolongation of the International Agreement on

1.
Olive Oil and Table Olives for a period of two years until 31 December 2004.

The Commission is hereby authorised to express this position within the International Olive Oil

2.
Council.