Commission Regulation (EC) No 1408/2003 of 7 August 2003 derogating, for the marketing year 2003/2004, from Regulation (EC) No 2316/1999 as regards the use of land set aside in certain Member States
Date: 2003-08-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid system, drought, fodder, set-aside

8.8.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 201/5

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1408/2003

of 7 August 2003

derogating, for the marketing year 2003/2004, from Regulation (EC) No 2316/1999 as regards the
use of land set aside in certain Member States

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

should be urgently introduced whereby the Member
States affected may allow arable crop set-aside land to be
used for animal feed purposes before expiry of the set-
aside period in line with terms and criteria set by them.
These rules must however effectively disallow any lucra-
tive utilisation of such land.

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999 of 17
May 1999 establishing a support system for producers of
certain arable crops (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
1038/2001 (2), and in particular Article 9 thereof,

(5)

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

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2316/1999 of 22
October 1999 laying down detailed rules for the applica-
tion of Council Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999 estab-
lishing a support system for producers of certain arable
crops (3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1035/
2003 (4), sets the terms on which area payments are
granted for certain arable crops. Under Article 19(2) and
(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2316/1999 areas set aside
must remain so for a period commencing on 15 January
at the latest and ending on 31 August at the earliest and,
except as otherwise provided for, may not be used for
agricultural production or a lucrative purpose.

In recent months certain regions of the Community have
experienced extreme drought that has seriously affected
fodder supplies and occasioned livestock farmers severe
income loss because obliged to sell their stock when its
normal feed has been unavailable.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1360/2003 derogating,
for the marketing year 2003/2004, from Regulation (EC)
No 2316/1999 as regards the use of land set aside in
certain regions of the Community (5) authorises use for
animal feed purposes of the land declared as set aside in
these regions. But since drought conditions have spread
to other Community regions it is desirable to find addi-
tional feed resources prior to the autumn.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1.
By way of derogation from Article 19(2) and (3) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 2316/1999, Member States may, in regions of
the Community not listed in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No
1360/2003, allow land declared as set-aside for the 2003/2004
marketing year to be used for animal feed purposes in line with
terms and criteria set by them.

2.
The Member States concerned shall take all necessary
measures to ensure that the set-aside land indicated in para-
graph 1 is not used for lucrative purposes, and in particular
that no dried fodder production aid under Council Regulation
(EC) No 603/95 (6) is granted on crops from it.

Article 2

The Member States listed in the Annex shall notify to the
Commission the measures they adopt under this Regulation.

(4)

Since under the present exceptional weather conditions
feed supply availability remains highly unpredictable a
new derogation from Regulation (EC) No 2316/1999

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publica-
tion in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 3

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 16.
(3) OJ L 280, 30.10.1999, p. 43.
(4) OJ L 150, 18.6.2003, p. 24.
(5) OJ L 194, 1.8.2003, p. 35.

It shall apply with effect from 18 July 2003.

(6) OJ L 63, 21.3.1995, p. 1.

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Official Journal of the European Union

8.8.2003

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

Done at Brussels, 7 August 2003.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

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Official Journal of the European Union

L 201/7

ANNEX

Belgium

Germany

Spain

France

Italy

Luxembourg

Austria

Portugal.