Council Regulation (EC) No 2013/2006 of 19 December 2006 amending Regulations (EEC) No 404/93, (EC) No 1782/2003 and (EC) No 247/2006 as regards the banana sector
Date: 2006-12-19
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU aid, aid to agriculture, common organisation of markets, marketing, peripheral region, regional aid, tropical fruit

29.12.2006

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Official Journal of the European Union

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COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2013/2006

of 19 December 2006

amending Regulations (EEC) No 404/93, (EC) No 1782/2003 and (EC) No 247/2006 as regards the
banana sector

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 37 and Article 299(2)
thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament,

After consulting the European Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Currently the regime for the banana sector is set out in
Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 of 13 February
1993 on the common organisation of the market in
bananas (1). Specifically,
the aid scheme for banana
producers
is based on principles which have been
substantially reformed for other common market organi-
sations. In order to better ensure a fair standard of living
for the agricultural community in regions where bananas
are produced, to better direct resources towards market-
orientation of producers,
to
the
ensure respect of
Community, to take adequately into account the particu-
larities of
to simplify the
management of the regime and align it on the principles
is
the reformed common market organisations,
of
necessary to amend this regime.

to stabilise expenditure,
the international obligations of

the producing regions,

it

the

developments

Changes should take into account developments and
potential
governing
in
imports into the Community of bananas produced in
third countries,
in particular the move from a system
governed by tariff quotas to one currently governed by
a tariff-only system, subject only to a preferential quota
for bananas produced in ACP countries.

regime

overseas

departments

the outermost regions of

Bananas are one of the main agricultural crops of certain
the Union, notably the
of
and
French
Martinique, the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands.
Production of bananas is disadvantaged in particular by
the remoteness, insularity, small size, and difficult topo-
graphy of these regions. Local banana production is an
social and
essential
economic balance of the rural areas in those regions.

of Guadeloupe

environmental,

element of

the

and the

the
for

taken of

should be

the banana sector

contribution which it makes

socio-economic
Account
the outermost
importance of
regions
to
achieving social and economic cohesion on account of
the
the income and employment which it generates,
economic
(both
to which it
upstream and downstream), and the effect which it has
of maintaining a landscape balance which encourages the
development of tourism.

activities

gives

rise

The current Community system of compensatory aid for
in Title III of Regulation (EEC) No
bananas set out
404/93 does not adequately respect the local particula-
rities of production in each of those outermost regions.
Provision should therefore be made to cease paying the
existing compensatory aid for bananas in respect of those
regions, which would allow banana production to be
is therefore
included in the support programmes.
appropriate to seek a better
to support
banana production in those regions.

It
instrument

for

regions of

Title III of Council Regulation (EC) No 247/2006 of 30
January 2006 laying down specific measures for agri-
the Union (2)
culture in the outermost
provides for the establishment of Community support
regions
the outermost
programmes
containing
specific measures to assist
lines of agricultural
local
production. That Regulation provides for a review not
later than 31 December 2009. If there are substantial
changes to the economic conditions affecting livelihoods
in the outermost regions, the Commission should submit
the report sooner. That instrument seems best adapted to
the regions
support banana production in each of
concerned by providing for flexibility and decentrali-
sation of mechanisms to support banana production.
The possibility of
in those
support programmes should reinforce the coherence of
the strategies for support of agricultural production in
those regions.

including banana support

(1) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by the 2003

(2) OJ L 42, 14.2.2006, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC)

Act of Accession.

No 318/2006 (OJ L 58, 28.2.2006, p. 1).

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Official Journal of the European Union

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(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

to

the

facilitate

The budgetary allocation under Title III of Regulation
(EC) No 247/2006 should be increased accordingly.
Technical amendments should also be made to that
Regulation
from the
arrangements under Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 to
In particular
those
the modification of
provision should be made for
In order to
existing Community support programmes.
provide for a smooth transition,
those modifications
should apply from the date of application of this Regu-
lation.

laid down by this Regulation.

transition

than in the outermost

As regards production of bananas in the Community
other
seems no
longer necessary to provide for a specific aid scheme
for bananas, given the small proportion of
the total
Community production concerned.

regions,

it

for direct

Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 of 29 September
2003 establishing common rules
support
the common agricultural policy and
schemes under
farmers (1)
establishing certain support
provides for a system of decoupled income support for
farms (hereinafter
referred to as the Single Payment
Scheme). This system was intended to allow for the
shift from production support to producer support.

schemes

for

Information and infrastructure measures in the context of
rural development can play an important role in the shift
to producer support, whereby one aim could be to shift
banana production and marketing to various quality and
production standards such as organic products or local
varieties. Bananas can also be marketed as a special local
product within the framework of existing tourism in
these areas, thereby creating a link between consumers
and local bananas as an identifiable product.

For the sake of consistency it is appropriate to abolish
the existing compensatory aid scheme for bananas and to
include bananas in the Single Payment Scheme. To this
end it is necessary to include the compensatory aid for
bananas in the list of direct payments in relation to the
Single Payment Scheme referred to in Regulation (EC) No
1782/2003. Provision should also be made for the estab-
lishment by Member States of reference amounts and
eligible hectares under the Single Payment Scheme on
the basis of a representative period appropriate to the
banana market and of appropriate objective and non-
discriminatory criteria. Areas planted with bananas
which are treated as permanent crops should not be
excluded. National ceilings should be amended appro-
the
priately. Provision should also be made

for

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

Commission to adopt detailed rules and any necessary
transitional measures.

Title II of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 provides for
producers' organisations and concentration mechanisms.
As regards producers' organisations, the objectives of the
existing regime are to form such organisations so that as
many producers as possible are members of such orga-
nisations and to limit the payment of compensatory aid
to producers who are members of recognised producers'
organisations.

The regime has succeeded in its first objective since the
vast majority of Community producers are now members
of producers' organisations. The second objective is
obsolete since the compensatory aid scheme is to be
therefore no longer necessary to
abolished.
maintain rules at Community level on producer organi-
sations, thus leaving Member States free to adopt such
rules,
if necessary, targeted at the specific situations in
their territories.

is

It

and

administrative

The scheme providing for assistance to encourage the
establishment
of
producers' organisations should therefore be abolished.
However
legal certainty and the
protection of legitimate expectations, provision should
be made for the continued payment of such assistance
to recently recognised producers' organisations already
benefiting from this assistance.

in the interests of

operation

The provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 allowing
for the recognition and operation of groups encom-
passing one or more of the economic activities relating
to the production, marketing or processing of bananas
have not found any practical application. They should
therefore be deleted.

In the light of the changes made to the banana regime, it
is no longer necessary to have a separate Management
Committee for Bananas. The Management Committee for
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables established by Council Regu-
lation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the
common organisation of the market in fruit and vege-
tables (2) should be used instead, as appropriate.

(1) OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1405/2006 (OJ L 265, 26.9.2006, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by
Commission Regulation (EC) No 686/2004 (OJ L 106, 15.4.2004,
p. 12).

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(17) A number of provisions contained in Regulation (EEC)
No 404/93 are obsolete and should therefore be repealed
for the sake of clarity.

References to the Management Committee for Bananas shall
be construed as references to the Committee referred to in
the first subparagraph.’;

(18)

Regulations (EEC) No 404/93, (EC) No 1782/2003 and
(EC) No 247/2006 should therefore be
amended
accordingly.

3. Article 29 shall be replaced by the following:

(19)

(20)

Provision should be made for the Commission to adopt
any detailed rules necessary for the implementation of
the amendments provided for in this Regulation and
transitional measures necessary to facilitate the switch-
over
to those laid
down by this Regulation.

from the existing arrangements

The Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania (here-
inafter referred to as the 2005 Act of Accession), this
Regulation and Regulation (EC) No 2011/2006 (1) (Sugar
and Seeds) all amend Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003,
and those amendments should come into force on the
same day. In the interest of legal certainty, the order in
which those amendments are to be applied should be
specified.

‘Article 29

Member States shall provide the Commission with the infor-
mation it requires to implement this Regulation.’;

4. The following Article shall be inserted:

‘Article 29a

Detailed rules for the application of this Regulation shall be
adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 27(2).’

(21)

In order to avoid prolonging unnecessarily the current
aid scheme for bananas and in the interests of simple and
effective management, the amendments provided for in
this Regulation should apply as soon as practicable,
namely from the 2007 marketing year for bananas,

Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003

Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 as amended, including by the
2005 Act of Accession, and Regulation (EC) No 2011/2006
(Sugar and Seeds), is hereby amended as follows:

Article 2

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

1. In Article 33(1), point (a) shall be replaced by the following:

Article 1

Amendments to Regulation (EEC) No 404/93

Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Titles II and III, Articles 16 to 20, Article 21(2), Article 25

and Articles 30 to 32 shall be deleted;

2. In Article 27, paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following:

‘1.
The Commission shall be assisted by the Management
Committee for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables referred to in
Article 46(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96.

(1) See page 1 of this Official Journal.

‘(a) they have been granted a payment

in the reference
period referred to in Article 38 under at least one of
the support schemes referred to in Annex VI or, in the
case of olive oil, in the marketing years referred to in the
second subparagraph of Article 37(1), or, in the case of
sugar beet, cane and chicory, if they have benefited from
market support in the representative period referred to
in point K of Annex VII, or, in the case of bananas, if
they have benefited from compensation for
loss of
income in the representative period referred to in
point L of Annex VII.’;

2. In Article 37(1), the following subparagraph shall be added:

‘For bananas the reference amount shall be calculated and
adjusted in accordance with point L of Annex VII.’;

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3. In Article 40, paragraph 2 shall be replaced by the following:

‘2.
If the whole reference period was affected by the case
of force majeure or exceptional circumstances, the Member
State shall calculate the reference amount on the basis of
the 1997 to 1999 period or, in case of sugar beet, cane and
chicory on the basis of the closest marketing year prior to
the representative period chosen in accordance with point K
in case of bananas on the basis of the
of Annex VII, or,
closest marketing year prior to the representative period
chosen in accordance with point L of Annex VII. In this
case, paragraph 1 shall apply mutatis mutandis.’;

Regulations and Articles referred to in Articles 152 and 153
shall continue to apply for the purpose of the establishment
of the reference amounts referred to in Annex VII.

___________
(*) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1.’

9. The Annexes shall be amended in accordance with the

Annex to this Regulation.

Article 3

Amendment to Regulation (EC) No 247/2006

4. In Article 43(2), point (a) shall be replaced by the following:

Regulation (EC) No 247/2006 is hereby amended as follows:

‘(a) in case of potato starch, dried fodder, seed, olive groves,
and tobacco aids listed in Annex VII, the number of
hectares whose production has been granted the aid in
the reference period, as calculated in points B, D, F, H, I
of Annex VII, in case of sugar beet, cane and chicory, the
number of hectares as calculated in accordance with
point 4 of point K of that Annex and in the case of
bananas,
calculated in
the number of hectares as
accordance with point L of that Annex;’;

5. In Article 44(2), the second subparagraph, the words ‘or
planted with bananas,’ shall be inserted after the words ‘or
being under temporary resting obligation,’;

6. In Article 51, point (a), the words ‘or bananas’ shall be added

after the word ‘hops’ at the end;

7. In Article 145, the following point shall be inserted after

point (d)b):

‘(d)c) detailed rules

relating to the inclusion of banana

support into the Single Payment Scheme.’;

8. Article 155 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 155

Other transitional rules

Further measures required to facilitate the transition from the
arrangements provided for in the Regulations referred to in
in Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001
Articles 152 and 153,
and in Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 (*) to those
established by this Regulation, notably those related to the
application of Articles 4 and 5 and the Annex to Regulation
(EC) No 1259/1999 and Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No
1251/1999 and from the provisions
related to the
improvement plans provided for in Regulation (EEC) No
1035/72 to those referred to in Articles 83 to 87 of this
Regulation, may be
adopted in accordance with the
procedure referred to in Article 144(2) of this Regulation.

1. Article 23 shall be amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following:

for Article 16,

The measures provided for

‘1.
in this Regulation,
except
shall constitute intervention
intended to stabilise the agricultural markets within the
meaning of Article 2(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No
1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the financing of the
common agricultural policy (*) for the period up to 31
December 2006. With effect from 1 January 2007 the
same measures shall constitute intervention to regulate
agricultural markets within the meaning of Article
3(1)(b), or direct payments to farmers under Article
3(1)(c), of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 of 21 June
2005 on the financing of
the common agricultural
policy (**).

___________
(*) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103. Regulation repealed
by Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 (OJ L 209,
11.8.2005, p. 1).

(**) OJ L 209, 11.8.2005, p. 1. Regulation as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 320/2006.’;

(b) paragraph 2 shall be replaced by the following:

The Community

‘2.
the measures
shall
provided for in Titles II and III of this Regulation up
to an annual maximum as follows:

finance

Financial
year 2007

Financial
year 2008

Financial
year 2009

(million EUR)

Financial
year 2010
and further

126,6

262,6

269,4

273

77,9

86,6

86,7

86,8

French overseas
departments

Azores and
Madeira

Canary Islands

127,3

268,4

268,4

268,4’

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(c) paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the following:

4. In Article 30, the following paragraph shall be added:

The annual amounts referred to in paragraphs 2
incurred in
in
to

any expenditure

the Regulations

referred

include

‘4.
and 3 shall
accordance with
Article 29.’;

2. The following Article shall be inserted:

‘Article 24a

1.
By 15 March 2007, Member States shall submit to the
to their overall
Commission the
amendments
programme to reflect the changes introduced by Regulation
(EC) No 2011/2006 (*).

draft

The Commission shall

2.
amendments
proposed and decide on their approval within four months
of their submission at the latest
in accordance with the
procedure referred to in Article 26(2).

evaluate

the

By way of derogation from Article 24(3),

3.
amendments shall apply from 1 January 2007.
___________
(*) See page 1 of this Official Journal.’;

the

3. In Article 28, paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

‘3.
later than 31 December 2009, and thereafter
Not
the Commission shall submit a general
every five years,
report
and the Council
showing the impact of the action taken under this Regu-
including in the banana sector, accompanied if
lation,
applicable by appropriate proposals.’;

to the European Parliament

‘In accordance with the same procedure, the Commission
may also adopt measures to facilitate the transition from
the arrangements provided for in Council Regulation (EEC)
No 404/93 (*) to those established by this Regulation.
___________
(*) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by

the 2003 Act of Accession.’

Article 4

Transitional measures

1.

Notwithstanding Article 1, point (1) of this Regulation:

— Member States shall continue to apply Articles 5, 6 and
25(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 to producers' organi-
sations which they have recognised no later
than 31
December 2006 and to whom aid has already been paid
under Article 6(2) of that Regulation prior to that date, and

— Article 12 of that Regulation shall continue to apply in

respect of the compensatory aid scheme for 2006.

Detailed rules necessary for

2.
implementation of
paragraph 1 shall be adopted in accordance with the procedures
referred to in Article 27(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93.

the

Article 5

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 2007.

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

Done at Brussels, 19 December 2006.

For the Council
The President

J. KORKEAOJA

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The Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 are hereby amended as follows:

ANNEX

1. In Annex I the row concerning bananas shall be deleted;

2. The following row shall be added to Annex VI:

‘Bananas

Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93

Compensation for loss of income’;

3. The following point shall be added to Annex VII:

‘L.

Bananas

Member States shall determine the amount to be included in the reference amount of each farmer on the basis of
objective and non-discriminatory criteria such as:

(a)

the quantity of bananas marketed by that farmer for which compensation for loss of income was paid under
Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 during a representative period between the 2000 and 2005 marketing
years;

(b) the areas on which the bananas referred to in point (a) were grown; and

(c)

the amount of compensation for loss of income paid to the farmer during the period referred to in point (a).

Member States shall calculate the applicable hectares referred to in Article 43(2) of this Regulation on the basis of
objective and non-discriminatory criteria such as the areas referred to in point (b).’

4. Annex VIII shall be replaced by the following:

‘ANNEX VIII

National ceilings referred to in Article 41

Member State

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

(EUR '000)

2010 and
subsequent years

Belgium

Denmark

Germany

Greece

Spain

France

Ireland

Italy

411 053

580 376

593 395

606 935

614 179

611 805

943 369

1 015 479

1 021 296

1 027 278

1 030 478

1 030 478

5 148 003

5 647 175

5 695 607

5 744 240

5 770 254

5 774 254

838 289

2 143 603

2 171 217

2 175 731

2 178 146

1 988 815

3 266 092

4 635 365

4 649 913

4 664 087

4 671 669

4 673 546

7 199 000

8 236 045

8 282 938

8 330 205

8 355 488

8 363 488

1 260 142

1 335 311

1 337 919

1 340 752

1 342 268

1 340 521

2 539 000

3 791 893

3 813 520

3 835 663

3 847 508

3 869 053

Luxembourg

33 414

36 602

37 051

37 051

37 051

37 051

Netherlands

386 586

428 329

833 858

846 389

853 090

853 090

Austria

Portugal

Finland

Sweden

613 000

633 577

737 093

742 610

745 561

744 955

452 000

504 287

571 377

572 368

572 898

572 594

467 000

561 956

563 613

565 690

566 801

565 520

637 388

670 917

755 045

760 281

763 082

763 082

United Kingdom

3 697 528

3 944 745

3 960 986

3 977 175

3 985 834

3 975 849’

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5.

In Annex VIIIa, the column concerning Cyprus shall be replaced by the following:

‘Calendar
year

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016 and
subsequent
years

Cyprus

8 900

12 500

17 660

22 100

26 540

30 980

35 420

39 860

44 300

44 300

44 300

44 300’