Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)
Date: 2003-12-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EAGGF Guarantee Section, EAGGF Guidance Section, State aid, accession to the European Union, aid to agriculture, application of EU law, rural development

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 18.12.2003
COM(2003) 806 final

2003/0312 (CNS)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development
from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)

(presented by the Commission)

EN

  EN

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The  Act  of  Accession  provided  to  the  new  Members  States  the  measure  "Support  for
compliance with Community standards", financed under EAGGF Guarantee section, to adapt
to standards established by the Community in the field of the environment; public, animal and
plant health; animal welfare and occupational safety until such time as the required standard is
due to be met.

This  was  intended  to  support  farmers’  efforts  to  reach  EU  standards  during  the  transition
period granted by giving them additional transfers to offset the costs of compliance.

The CAP reform introduced a general "Meeting standards" measure intended to help farmers
adapt to the operating costs resulting from newly introduced EU standards.

The Commission proposal on the Act of Accession adaptation to CAP reform transmitted on
29  October 2003  to the Council and European  Parliament  deletes  the  measure  "Compliance
with  Community  standards"  in  order  to  avoid  any  overlap  and  to  maintain  the  possibilities
available to the new Member States under the new "Meeting standards" measure.

However,  the  new  Member  states  have  allocated  substantial  amounts  of  their  EAGGF-
Guarantee rural development allocations to cover on-farm investment to adapt to Community
standards in the field of  environment, rather than providing for this expenditure out of their
EAGGF Guidance allocations. Given the advanced state of the discussion concerning the use
of Structural Funds resources it seems at this stage very difficult to increase them to support
compliance  with  standards.  However,  speeding  up  compliance  with  Community  standards,
particularly in the field of environment, is a priority for the EU.

Therefore, a further derogation should be introduced to Council Regulation (EC) 1257/1999
to  allow  new  Member  States  to  take  investment  costs  into  account  under  certain  conditions
when determining the level of the annual support under the "Meeting standards" measure.

This temporary derogation would be limited to the 2004-2006 programming period.

The proposed measure does not involve additional spending from the Community budget. It
allows  the  implantation  of  the  dispositions  concerning  the  "Meeting  standards"  in  the  new
Member  States.  It  will  be  financed  within  the  envelopes  2004–2006  approved  for  the  new
Member States.

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2003/0312 (CNS)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development
from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular
Articles 36 and 37 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

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

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Chapter  Va  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 1257/19991  provides  for  a  support
measure to assist farmers meeting recently introduced binding standards.

As  a  result  of  accession,  farmers  in  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia,
Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia  must  deal  with  a  large
number of new standards based on Community legislation which they have to respect
from the date of accession or at the later date. It is essential to provide support to cover
at least a part of the cost of investments required to meet those standards. Therefore,
special  derogations  should  be  laid  down  for  implementing  the  "meeting  standards"
measure in the new Member States.

(3)

Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 should therefore be amended,

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OJ  L  160,  26.6.1999,  p.  80.  Regulation  as  last  amended  by  Decision  …..  of  …  adapting  the  Act  of
Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia
and Slovakia ( OJ L……).

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The  following  paragraph  2b  is  hereby  inserted  in  Article  33l  of  Regulation  (EC)
No 1257/1999:

"2b.

By  way  of  derogation  from  Articles  21a,  21b  and  21c,  costs  linked  to  investments
needed to comply with a standard set by the Community before the date of accession,
and  binding  for  farmers  from  this  date,  or  a  later  date,  may  be  taken  into
consideration for determining the level of annual support. This possibility is limited
to the first two years of the period of support, up to the annual ceiling per farm laid
down  in  Annex I.  During  this  investment  period,  the  degressivity  provided  for  in
Article  21c  shall  not  apply.  Loss  of  income  and  additional  costs  resulting  from
compliance with the standard may not be taken into consideration until the end of the
investment period.

Investments supported under the first subparagraph are not eligible for support under
in Chapter I."

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 May 2004 subject to the entry into force of the Act
of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  the  Republic  of  Estonia,  the  Republic  of  Cyprus,  the
Republic  of  Latvia,  the  Republic  of  Lithuania,  the  Republic  of  Hungary,  the  Republic  of
Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, and the Slovak Republic.

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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