Commission Regulation (EC) No 224/2003 of 5 February 2003 determining the aid referred to in Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 for the private storage of butter and cream and derogating from Article 29 of Regulation (EC) No 2771/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards intervention on the market in butter and cream
Date: 2003-02-05
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: butter, cream, intervention price, market intervention, private stock, storage cost

6.2.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 31/9

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 224/2003

of 5 February 2003

determining the aid referred to in Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 for the private storage of
butter and cream and derogating from Article 29 of Regulation (EC) No 2771/1999 laying down
detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards intervention on the
market in butter and cream

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 of 17
May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in milk
and milk products (1), as last amended by Commission Regula-
tion (EC) No 509/2002 (2), and in particular Article 10 thereof,

Whereas:

Article 34(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2771/
1999 (3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1614/
2001 (4), stipulates that, without prejudice to Article 38
of that Regulation, the amount of the aid referred to in
Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 for
private storage is to be fixed each year. To this end,
account should be taken of the fixed, daily and financial
costs of storage, and of the movements in the European
Central Bank's interest rate in the case of the financial
costs.

Article 29(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2771/1999 stipu-
lates the period in which entry into store must take
place. The current situation on the butter market justifies
bringing the entry date of 15 March for butter and
cream storage operations in 2003 forward to 1 March,
as an exceptional measure.

(1)

(2)

(3)

Article 1

The aid referred to in Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1255/
1999 shall be calculated per tonne of butter or butter equiva-
lent for contracts concluded in 2003 on the following basis:

(a) EUR 24 for the fixed costs,

(b) EUR 0,35 for the costs of cold storage for each day of

contractual storage, and

(c) an amount per day of contractual storage, calculated on the
basis of 91 % of the intervention price for butter in force
on the day the contractual storage begins and on the basis
of an annual interest rate of 2,75 %.

Article 2

Article 29(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2771/1999 notwith-
standing, entry into store in 2003 may take place from 1
March.

Article 3

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
the Management
accordance with the opinion of
Committee for Milk and Milk Products,

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

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

Done at Brussels, 5 February 2003.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 48.
(2) OJ L 79, 22.3.2002, p. 15.
(3) OJ L 333, 24.12.1999, p. 11.
(4) OJ L 214, 8.8.2001, p. 20.