Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down general rules for the application of measures to improve the production and marketing of honey (Codified version)
Date: 2003-12-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: codification of EU law, honey, marketing, production improvement

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 2.12.2003
COM(2003) 737 final

2003/0288 (CNS)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

laying down general rules for the application of measures to improve the production and
marketing of honey

(Codified version)

1.

2.

3.

4.

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3

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

In  the  context  of  a  people’s  Europe,  the  Commission  attaches  great  importance  to
simplifying  and  clarifying  Community  law  so  as  to  make  it  clearer  and  more
accessible to the ordinary citizen, thus giving him new opportunities and the chance
to make use of the specific rights it gives him.

This aim cannot be achieved so long as numerous provisions that have been amended
several times, often quite substantially, remain scattered, so that they must be sought
partly  in  the  original  instrument  and  partly  in  later  amending  ones.  Considerable
research work, comparing many different instruments, is thus needed to identify the
current rules.

For  this  reason  a  codification  of  rules  that  have  frequently  been  amended  is  also
essential if Community law is to be clear and transparent.

On  1  April  1987  the  Commission  therefore  decided1  to  instruct  its  staff  that  all
legislative acts should be codified after no more than ten amendments, stressing that
this is a  minimum requirement  and  that  departments  should  endeavour  to  codify  at
even  shorter  intervals  the  texts  for  which  they  are  responsible,  to  ensure  that  the
Community rules are clear and readily understandable.

The  Conclusions  of 
the  Edinburgh  European  Council
(December 1992) confirmed this2, stressing the importance of codification as it offers
certainty as to the law applicable to a given matter at a given time.

the  Presidency  of 

Codification  must  be  undertaken  in  full  compliance  with  the  normal  Community
legislative procedure.

Given  that  no  changes  of  substance  may  be  made  to  the  instruments  affected  by
codification, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have agreed,
by  an  interinstitutional  agreement  dated  20  December  1994,  that  an  accelerated
procedure may be used for the fast-track adoption of codification instruments.

is 

this  proposal 

to  undertake  a  codification  of  Council
The  purpose  of 
Regulation (EC)  No  1221/97  of  25  June  1997  laying  down  general  rules  for  the
application of measures to improve the production and marketing of honey3. The new
Regulation  will  supersede  the  various  actsincorporated  in  it4;  this  proposal  fully
preserves  the  content  of  the  acts  being  codified  and  hence  does  no  more  than
bringing  them  together  with  only  such  formal  amendments  as  are  required  by  the
codification exercise itself.

COM(87) PV 868.
See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions.
Carried out pursuant to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the
Council – Codification of the Acquis communautaire, COM(2001) 645 final.
See Annex I to this proposal.

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5.

The codification proposal was drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation,
in  all  official  languages,  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1221/97  and  the  instruments
amending  it,  carried  out  by  the  Office  for  Official  Publications  of  the  European
Communities, by means of a data-processing system. Where the Articles have been
given new numbers, the correlation between the old and new numbers is shown in a
table set out in Annex II to the codified Regulation.

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2003/0288 (CNS)

(cid:1) 1221/97 (adapted)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

laying down general rules for the application of measures to improve the production and
marketing of honey

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular
Articles (cid:2) 36 and 37 (cid:3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament1,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee2,

Whereas:

(1) 

Council Regulation (EC) No 1221/97 of 25 June 1997 laying down  general rules for
the  application  of  measures  to  improve  the  production  and  marketing  of  honey3  has
been  substantially  amended4.  In  the  interests  of  clarity  and  rationality  the  said
Regulation should be codified.

(cid:1) 

(2)

The Commission (cid:2) should send periodically (cid:3) to the European Parliament and the
Council  a  discussion  paper  on  European  beekeeping  (cid:2) explaining (cid:3)  the  situation
and the difficulties of this sector.

(cid:1) 1221/97 Recital 1 (adapted)

1

2

3

4

OJ C
OJ C
OJ  L  173,  1.7.1997,  p.  28.  Regulation  as  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  2070/98
(OJ L 265, 30.9.1998, p. 1).
See Annex I.

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(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

Beekeeping  is  a  sector  of  agriculture,  the  main  functions  of  which  are  economic
activity and rural development, the production of honey and other products of the hive
and the maintenance of ecological balance.

(cid:1) 1221/97 Recital 2

The  sector  is  marked  by  diversity  of  production  conditions  and  yields  and  by  the
dispersion and variety of producers and traders. There is an imbalance between supply
and demand on the Community market for honey.

(cid:1) 1221/97 Recital 3

In  view  of  the  spread  of  varroasis  in  several  Member  States  in  recent  years  and  the
problems which this  disease  and (cid:2) related (cid:3)  diseases cause for  honey production,
action by the Community is necessary.

(cid:1) 1221/97 Recital 4 (adapted)

(cid:1) 1221/97 Recital 5 (adapted)

Given  these  circumstances  and  in  order  to  improve  the  production  and  marketing  of
honey  in  the  Community,  (cid:2) as  defined  by  Council  Directive  2001/110/EC
of 20 December  2001  relating  to  honey5, (cid:3)  national  programmes  should  be
established  each  year  comprising  technical  assistance,  measures  to  control  varroasis
and  related  diseases,  a  rationalisation  of  transhumance,  the  management  of  regional
beekeeping centres and cooperation on research programmes to improve the quality of
honey.

In order to supplement the statistical data on the (cid:2) honey (cid:3) sector, Member States
should carry out studies on the structure of the sector, covering production, marketing
and price formation.

(cid:1) 1221/97 Recital 6 (adapted)

(cid:1) 1221/97 Recital 7 (adapted)

Expenditure  by  the  Member  States  in  fulfilment  of  the  obligations  arising  from  this
Regulation should be borne by the Community pursuant to Article (cid:2) 2(2) and (3) (cid:3)
of Council Regulation (cid:2) (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 (cid:3) on the financing of
the common agricultural policy6,

5

6

(cid:1) OJ L 10, 12.1.2002, p. 47. (cid:2)
OJ (cid:1) L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103 (cid:2).

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(cid:1) 1221/97

Article 1

(cid:1) 1221/97 (adapted)

1.

2.

This Regulation lays down measures for improving (cid:2) the (cid:3) general conditions for
the production and marketing of honey as defined by Directive (cid:2) 2001/110/EC (cid:3).
To this end, Member States may lay down national programmes for each year.

The  measures  which  may  be  included  in  the  (cid:2) annual  national (cid:3)  programmes
(cid:2) referred to in paragraph 1 (cid:3) shall be the following:

(cid:1) 1221/97

(a)

technical assistance to members of beekeepers' associations and honey houses
with  a  view  to  improving  the  conditions  for  the  production  and  extraction  of
honey;

(b)

the control of varroasis and related diseases: improvement of the conditions for
the treatment of hives;

(c)

rationalisation of transhumance;

(d) measures to support laboratories carrying out analyses on the physico-chemical

properties of honey;

(e)

cooperation with specialised bodies for the implementation of applied research
programmes to improve the quality of honey.

3.

The  provisions  of  Article  4  of  (cid:2) Council (cid:3)  Regulation  No  267  shall  remain
applicable  to  State  aids  other  than  those  included  in  the  (cid:2) annual  national (cid:3)
programmes approved pursuant to Article 4 of this Regulation.

(cid:1) 1221/97 (adapted)

Article 2

In  order  to  be  eligible  for  the  part-financing  provided  for  in  Article  3  (cid:2) (2) (cid:3),  Member
States shall carry out a study of the production and marketing structure in the (cid:2) honey (cid:3)
sector in their territory.

7

OJ 30, 20.4.1962, p. 993/62.

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Article 3

(cid:2) 1. (cid:3) Expenditure  made  in  accordance  with  this  Regulation  shall  be  considered  as
(cid:2) interventions (cid:3)  within  the  meaning  of  Article  (cid:2) 2(2)  and  (3) (cid:3)  of
Regulation (cid:2) (EC) No 1258/1999 (cid:3).

(cid:2) 2. (cid:3) The  Community  shall  provide  part-financing  for  the  (cid:2) annual (cid:3)  national
programmes (cid:2) referred to in Article 1(1) (cid:3) equivalent to 50 % of the expenditure
borne by Member States for the measures referred to in Article 1(2) included in the
national programme.

(cid:2) 3. (cid:3) Expenditure  by  the  Member  States  for  the  measures  taken  under  the  annual
national programmes referred to in Article 1 (cid:2) (1) (cid:3) must be made by 15 October
each year.

(cid:1) 2070/98 Art. 1 (adapted)

(cid:1) 1221/97 (adapted)

Article 4

The (cid:2) annual national (cid:3) programmes referred to in Article 1(1) shall be drawn up in close
collaboration with the representative organisations and beekeeping cooperatives. Programmes
shall  be  forwarded  to  the  Commission,  which  shall  approve  them  in  accordance
Council
referred 
with the procedure 
Regulation (EEC) No 2771/758.

17  (cid:2) (2) (cid:3) 

Article 

of 

to 

in 

Measures contained in operational programmes for Objective 1 and (cid:2) 2 (cid:3) regions shall be
excluded from those programmes.

Article 5

Detailed rules for the application of this Regulation, in particular those relating to monitoring,
shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  (cid:2) referred  to (cid:3)  in  Article  17  of
Regulation (EEC) No 2771/75.

The Commission shall present to the European Parliament and the Council every three years a
report on the application of this Regulation.

Article 6

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OJ L 282, 1.11.1975, p. 49.

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(cid:1) 

Article 7

Regulation (EC) No 1221/97 is repealed.

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and
shall be read in accordance with the correlation table set out in Annex II.

(cid:1) 1221/97 Art. 7 (adapted)

Article 8

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  (cid:2) twentieth (cid:3)  day  following  that  of  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, […]

For the Council
The President
[…]

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(cid:4)

ANNEX I

Repealed Regulation and its amendment

Council Regulation (EC) No 1221/97

(OJ L 173, 1.7.1997, p. 1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 2070/98

(OJ L 265, 30.9.1998, p. 1)

_______________

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ANNEX II

CORRELATION TABLE

Regulation (EC) No 1221/97

This Regulation

Articles 1-2

Article 3, first paragraph

Article 3, second paragraph

Article 3, third paragraph

Article 4

Article 5

Article 6

_

Article 7

_

_

Articles 1-2

Article 3(1)

Article 3(2)

Article 3(3)

Article 4

Article 5

Article 6

Article 7

Article 8

Annex I

Annex II

_______________

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