2002/889/EC: Commission Decision of 13 November 2002 on a Community financial contribution to cover expenditure incurred by Greece, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland for the purpose of combating organisms harmful to plants or plant products (notified under document number C(2002) 4372)
Date: 2002-11-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EAGGF Guarantee Section, EU financing arrangements, distribution of EU funding

L 311/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

14.11.2002

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 13 November 2002

on a Community financial contribution to cover expenditure incurred by Greece, Spain, France,
the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland for the purpose of combating organisms harmful to
plants or plant products

(Only the Spanish, German, Greek, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Finnish and Swedish texts are authentic)

(notified under document number C(2002) 4372)

(2002/889/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May
2000 (1) on protective measures against the introduction into
the Community of organisms harmful
to plants or plant
products and against their spread within the Community (the
Directive), as amended by Commission Directive 2002/36/
EC (2), and in particular Article 23 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Pursuant to the Directive, a financial contribution from
the Community may be granted to Member States to
cover expenditure relating directly to the necessary
measures which have been taken or are planned to be
taken for the purpose of combating harmful organisms
introduced from third countries or from other areas in
the Community, in order to eradicate or, if that is not
possible, to contain them.

Greece, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal
and Finland have each established a programme of
actions to eradicate organisms harmful to plants intro-
duced in their territories. These programmes specify the
objectives to be achieved, the measures carried out, their
duration and their cost. They have applied for the alloca-
tion of a Community financial contribution to these
programmes within the time limit
in the
Directive.

set out

(4)

(5)

(6)

accurately and comprehensively. The information has
also been considered by the Standing Committee on
Plant Health. The Commission has concluded that the
conditions for the grant of a financial contribution have
been met.

Accordingly, it is appropriate to provide a Community
financial contribution to cover the expenditure on these
programmes.

eligible

Excluding

The Community financial contribution may cover up to
50 % of
those
expenditure.
programmes for which degression has to be applied in
accordance with the third paragraph of Article 23(5) of
the Directive, the Community financial contribution for
the purposes of this Decision should be set in general to
50 %, noting that the programmes received have been
treated in equal way.

An extension of
the period in which eradication
measures have to take place, as foreseen in the third
paragraph of Article 23(5) of the Directive, have been
granted to certain existing programmes in Austria and
Portugal, as the examination of the situation has lead to
the conclusion that the objective of these eradication
measures is likely to be achieved within a reasonable
period. The Community financial contribution for these
programmes, have been progressively reduced in accor-
dance with the third paragraph of Article 23(5).

(3)

The technical information provided for by Greece, Spain,
France, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland
has enabled the Commission to analyse the situation

(7)

(1) OJ L 169, 10.7.2000, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 116, 3.5.2002, p. 16.

The expenditure which Greece, Spain, France, the Neth-
erlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland have incurred, and
taken into account in this Decision, relates directly to
the matters specified in Article 23(2)(a) and Article
23(2)(b) of the Directive.

14.11.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 311/17

(8)

(9)

(10)

The contribution referred to in Article 2 of this Decision
is without prejudice to further actions taken or to be
taken and necessary for the achievement of the objective
of eradication or control of the relevant harmful organ-
isms.

The present Decision is without prejudice
to the
outcome of the verification by the Commission under
Article 24 of the Directive on whether the introduction
of the relevant harmful organism has been caused by
inadequate examinations or inspections and the conse-
quences of such verification.

In accordance with Article 3(2) of Council Regulation
(EC) No 1258/1999 (1), veterinary and plant health
measures undertaken in accordance with Community
rules shall be financed under the Guarantee section of
the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee
Fund. Financial control of these measures comes under
Articles 8 and 9 of the above Regulation.

(11)

The measures provided in this Decision are in accor-
dance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on
Plant Health,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The allocation of a Community financial contribution to cover
expenditure incurred by Greece, Spain, France, the Netherlands,
Austria, Portugal and Finland relating directly to necessary
measures as specified in Article 23(2) of Directive 2000/29/EC
and taken for
the purpose of combating the organisms
concerned by the eradication programmes listed in the Annex
to this Decision, is hereby approved.

Article 2

The total amount of the financial contribution referred to

1.
in Article 1 is EUR 1 344 247.

The maximum amounts of

the Community financial
2.
contribution for each eradication programme and for each year
of implementation of the eradication programme shall be as
indicated in the Annex to this Decision.

The resulting maximum Community financial contribu-

3.
tion for the concerned Member States shall be as follows:

— EUR 1 472 to Greece,

— EUR 97 017 to Spain,

— EUR 377 571 to France,

— EUR 64 374 to the Netherlands,

— EUR 57 873 to Austria,

— EUR 662 793 to Portugal,

— EUR 83 147 to Finland.

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.

Article 3

1.
Subject to the verifications by the Commission under
Article 24 of Directive 2000/29/EC, the Community financial
contribution shall be paid only when evidence of the measures
taken has been given to the Commission through documenta-
tion related to the occurrence and the eradication of the rele-
vant harmful organisms.

The documentation referred to in paragraph 1 shall be

2.
included in an application including (mandatory information):

(a) general

information on the appearance of

the relevant
harmful organism, including details as the date on which
its presence was suspected or confirmed, and the presumed
cause of the appearance;

(b) a copy of the notification of the presence or of the appear-
ance of the relevant organism, in accordance with Article
16(1) or (2) of Directive 2000/29/EC;

(c) the necessary measures which have been taken or are
planned for combating the relevant harmful organism, their
expected duration and where available, the results obtained,
the actual or estimated cost of the expenditure incurred or
to be incurred, and the proportion of such expenditure
covered or to be covered from public funds. The duration
shall be no more than two years after the date of detection
of the appearance of the relevant harmful organism, except
in duly justified cases;

(d) information on inspections,

testing and other actions
undertaken to determine the nature and extent of
the
appearance of the relevant harmful organism, including the
method used for these actions;

(e) the statutory notice requiring treatments like destruction,
treat-
disinfection, disinfestation, sterilisation and other
ments to be carried out and an official description and
assessment of
including the
their achievement/results,
description of the methods used for these treatments;

(f) information on the identity of the consignment in accor-
dance with the provisions of Article 23(4) of Directive
2000/29/EC or if not possible the reasons why it cannot be
identified.

3. Moreover, Member States shall also submit the list of the
amounts excluding VAT and taxes, paid or to be paid for
carrying out the necessary measures for combating the relevant
harmful organism and the part of these amounts covered by
public funds. For each kind of such measures, the appropriate
details shall be enclosed:

(a) for inspections and analyses referred to in paragraph 2(d),
through a summary table indicating, inter alia, their dates,
places and the unit costs;

(b) for treatments referred to in paragraph 2(e), the list of hold-
ings/places treated, and the quantity of plants/areas treated.

L 311/18

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Official Journal of the European Communities

14.11.2002

This Decision is addressed to the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the
Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Austrian Republic, the Portuguese Republic and the Finnish Republic.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 13 November 2002.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 311/19

ANNEX

ERADICATION PROGRAMMES

S e c t i o n I

Programmes whose Community financial contribution corresponds to 50 % of eligible expenditure

Member
State

Harmful organisms
combated

Affected plants

Year

Greece

Spain

Citrus tristeza virus

Citrus

Erwinia amylovora

Apple, pear

France

Ralstonia solanacearum

Potato

2001

2000

2001

2000 and
2001

Eligible
expenditure
(EUR)

Maximum
Community
contribution
(EUR)
per programme

2 943

1 472

135 602

67 801

58 431

29 216

755 141

377 571

The Netherlands

Ralstonia solanacearum

Pelargonium

2001

128 747

64 374

Finland

Bemisia tabaci

Euphorbia pulcherrima

2000

166 294

83 147

Programmes whose Community financial contribution rates differ, in application of degressivity

S e c t i o n I I

Member
State

Harmful organisms
combated

Affected plants

Year

a (*)

Eligible
expenditure
(EUR)

Rate

Maximum
Community
contribution
(EUR)
per year/
programme

Austria

Erwinia amylovora

Apple, pear, other
Rosaceae

Portugal

Bursaphelenchus xylo-
philus

Pinus trees

(*) a = Year of implementation of the eradication programme.

2000

2001

3

3

144 682

40

57 873

1 656 982

40

662 793

Total Community contribution

EUR
1 344 247