Commission Regulation (EC) No 544/2004 of 24 March 2004 laying down transitory measures to be adopted on account of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia in respect of the reserve drawn up in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1520/2000
Date: 2004-03-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agricultural product, export refund, primary product, processed foodstuff

L 87/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

25.3.2004

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 544/2004

of 24 March 2004

laying down transitory measures to be adopted on account of the accession of the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia in respect of the
reserve drawn up in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1520/2000

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland,
Slovenia and Slovakia, and in particular Article 41(2) thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3448/93 of 6
December 1993 laying down the trade arrangements applicable
to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural
products (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2580/
2000 (2), and in particular Articles 8(3), first subparagraph, and
16 thereof,

(3)

(4)

(5)

In circumstances where operators established in the new
Member States will not have access to refund certificates
valid in the period from 1 to 31 May 2004 it is appro-
priate to adopt special temporary measures exempting
such operators from the requirement of presenting
refund certificates in the period from 1 to 31 May 2004.

Accordingly,
it is appropriate to make certain deroga-
tions from Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1520/2000
so as to enable operators in new Member States to
qualify, in the period from 1 to 31 May 2004, for the
exemption provided by the said Article.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee on horizontal questions concerning trade in
processed agricultural products not listed in Annex I to
the Treaty,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1520/2000 of 13 July
2000 laying down common detailed rules for the appli-
cation of
the system of granting export refunds on
certain agricultural products exported in the form of
goods not covered by Annex I to the Treaty and the
criteria for fixing the amount of such refunds (3), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 543/2004 (4), provides
that, other than for certain exemptions, the granting of
export refunds on goods is conditional on production of
a refund certificate. These refund certificates are made
available to operators in six tranches over the budget
for applications applying in
period, with deadlines
respect of each tranche. Refund certificates may only be
issued to applicants established in the European Union.

On the occasion of the forthcoming accession of the
Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania,
Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, operators
in these new Member States may apply in the period
from 1 to 7 May 2004 for refund certificates from the
fifth tranche which will be valid for use from 1 June
2004. However, these operators will not have access to
refund certificates issued from previous tranches and
therefore will not have access to refund certificates valid
for use in the period from 1 to 31 May 2004.

(1) OJ L 318, 20.12.1993, p. 18.
(2) OJ L 298, 25.11.2000, p. 5.
(3) OJ L 177, 15.7.2000, p. 1.
(4) See page 8 of this Official Journal.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1520/2000 is derogated from
for the budgeting year ending 15 October 2004 as follows:

1. The limit of the total reserve mentioned in the first sub-
paragraph of paragraph 1 shall be increased to EUR 40
million.

2. The specified limit of EUR 75 000 mentioned in the first
subparagraph of paragraph 2 shall not apply to applications
from operators established in the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia
and Slovakia in respect of exports taking place in the period
from 1 to 31 May 2004, of goods manufactured or
assembled in the Member State in which the operator is
established.

3. The sum mentioned in the second subparagraph of para-

graph 3 shall be increased to EUR 30 million.

25.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 87/11

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 May 2004. It shall expire on 16 October 2004.

Article 2

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

Done at Brussels, 24 March 2004.

For the Commission

Erkki LIIKANEN

Member of the Commission