Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006 laying down specific measures for agriculture in favour of the smaller Aegean islands and amending Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003
Date: 2008-04-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Aegean Sea, agricultural product, aid system, aid to agriculture, island, production aid, support policy

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 3.4.2008 
COM(2008) 168 final 

2008/0065 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006 laying down specific measures for agriculture 
in favour of the smaller Aegean islands and amending Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

On  18  September  2006  the  Council  adopted  Regulation  (EC)  No  1405/2006  laying  down 
specific measures for agriculture in favour of the smaller Aegean islands. 

This Regulation provides for two lines of support, i.e. aid for the specific supply arrangements 
and aid to assist local agricultural products. 

The  first  of  the  two  lines  is  actually  designed  to  supply  products  which  are  essential  for 
human  consumption  (Article  3),  for  processing  or  as  agricultural  inputs,  thus  introducing 
specific  supply  arrangements  aiming  at  easing  the  problems  deriving  from  the  particular 
geographical  situation  of  some  of  the  Aegean  islands  imposing  additional  transport  costs. 
These essential products are included in Annex I to the Treaty. Therefore, Article 3 should be 
amended in order to include reference to the Annex I in question, thus limiting the scope of 
the Article to these products only. 

The  second  line  of  support  (Article  7),  introduces  measures  to  assist  local  agricultural 
products in general, thus having a wider scope than Article 3. Therefore Article 7 should be 
amend to include reference to Title II of Part Three of the Treaty thus covering products of the 
soil, of stock farming and of fisheries and products of first-stage processing directly related to 
these products. 

Furthermore,  most  of  the  measures  referred  to  in  Chapter  III  of  Regulation  (EC) 
No 1405/2006  constitute  direct  payments  and  as  such  they  should  be  referenced  in  Council 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1782/2003.  Due  to  an  error,  the  entry  for  the  Aegean  Islands  was 
incorrectly  deleted  from  Annex  I  to  Regulation  (EC)  No  1782/2003  by  Article  20(3)  of 
Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006. Annex I should, therefore, be corrected with effect from date 
of application of Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006. 

Article  6  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1405/2006  provides  for  the  procedure  for  adoption  of 
detailed rules for the application of Chapter II of Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006. As a similar 
provision is laid down in Article 14 of the said Regulation concerning the implementation of 
the Regulation in its entirety, Article 6 should therefore be deleted. 

Finally,  Article  9(e)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1405/2006  refers,  among  other  issues  to  be 
included  in  the  support  programme,  to  provisions  for  checks  and  administrative  penalties. 
However, national provisions on checks and administrative penalties cannot be the subject of 
approval  in  the  framework  of  the  Community  support  programme  for  the  smaller  Aegean 
islands.  These  national  measures  may  only  be  communicated  to  the  Commission  in 
accordance with Article 16 of that Regulation. Therefore, Article 9(e) should be amended in 
order to exclude any provisions for checks and administrative penalties to be included in the 
programme submitted by the competent authorities of Greece. 

In  light  of  the  above,  we  seek  your  approval  to  proceed  with  the  correction  of  these 
oversights. 

In  this  respect,  please  find  attached  a  draft  Council  Regulation  amending  Regulation  (EC) 
No 1405/2006 and all necessary documents for the initiation of the respective procedure. 

The  Regulation  does  not  affect  the  sources  of  financing  or  the  intensity  of  Community 
support. 

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2008/0065 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006 laying down specific measures for agriculture 
in favour of the smaller Aegean islands and amending Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

Article  1  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1405/20061  lays  down  the  scope  of 
application  of  the  Regulation  and  gives  the  definition  of  the  smaller  islands.  The 
experience  from  the  application  of  that  Regulation  shows  that  the  scope  of  the 
Regulation should be adapted. 

Article  3  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1405/2006  introduces  specific  supply  arrangements 
aiming  at  easing  the  problems  deriving  from  the  particular  geographical  situation  of 
some of the Aegean islands imposing additional transport costs in supplying products 
which  are  essential  for  human  consumption,  for  processing  or  as  agricultural  inputs. 
These  essential  products  are  included  in  Annex  I  to  the  Treaty.  Therefore,  Article 3 
should  be  amended  in  order  to  include  reference  to  the  Annex  I  in  question,  thus 
limiting the scope of the Article to these products only. 

Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006 provides for the procedure for adoption of 
detailed rules for the application of Chapter II of Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006. As a 
similar  provision  is  laid  down  in  Article  14  of  the  said  Regulation  concerning  the 
implementation of the Regulation in its entirety, Article 6 should therefore be deleted. 

Article  7  of  the  Regulation  (EC)  No  1405/2006  introduces  measures  to  assist  local 
agricultural products in general, thus having a wider scope than Article 3. Therefore, 
Article 7 should be amend to include reference to Title II of Part Three of the Treaty 
thus  covering  products  of  the  soil,  of  stock  farming  and  of  fisheries  and  products  of 
first-stage processing directly related to these products.  

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OJ L 265, 26.9.2006, p.1. 

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(5) 

Article  9(e)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1405/2006  refers,  among  other  issues  to  be 
included  in  the  support  programme,  to  provisions  for  checks  and  administrative 
penalties. However, national provisions on checks and administrative penalties cannot 
be the subject of approval in the framework of the Community support programme for 
the  smaller  Aegean  islands.  These  national  measures  may  only  be  communicated  to 
the  Commission  in  accordance  with  Article  16  of  that  Regulation.  Therefore, 
Article 9(e)  should  be  amended  in  order  to  exclude  any  provisions  for  checks  and 
administrative penalties to be included in the programme submitted by the competent 
authorities of Greece. 

(6) 

Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly. 

(7)  Most  of  the  measures  referred  to  in  Chapter  III  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1405/2006 
constitute  direct  payments  and  should  as  such  be  referenced  in  Council  Regulation 
(EC) No 1782/20032. Due to an error, the entry for the Aegean Islands was incorrectly 
deleted  from  Annex  I  to  Regulation  (EC)  No 1782/2003  by  Article 20(3)  of 
Regulation  (EC)  No 1405/2006.  Annex  I  should  therefore  be  corrected  with  effect 
from date of application of Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006 is amended as follows: 

(1) 

Article 1(1) is replaced by the following: 

"1.  This  Regulation  lays  down  specific  measures  on  agriculture  to  remedy  the 
difficulties  caused  by  the  remote  and  insular  nature  of  the  smaller  Aegean 
islands, hereafter referred to as the ‘smaller islands’." 

(2) 

Article 3(1) is replaced by the following: 

"1.  Specific  supply  arrangements  are  hereby  introduced  for  the  agricultural 
products listed in Annex I to the Treaty (“the agricultural products”), which are 
essential in the smaller islands for human consumption, for the manufacture of 
other products or as agricultural inputs." 

(3) 

(4) 

Article 6 is deleted. 

Article 7(1) is replaced by the following: 

"1.  The support programme shall contain the measures needed to ensure continuity 
and development of local lines of agricultural production in the smaller islands 
within the scope of Title II of Part Three of the Treaty." 

(5) 

Article 9(e) is replaced by the following: 

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OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p.1, Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1182/2007 (JO L 273 du 
17.10.2007, p. 1) 

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"(e) 

the  steps  taken  to  ensure  the  support  programme  is  implemented  effectively 
and  appropriately,  including  the  arrangements  for  publicity,  monitoring  and 
evaluation;". 

In Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 the following entry is inserted after POSEI: 

Article 2 

" 

Aegean Islands 

Chapter  III  of  Council  Regulation 
(EC) No 1405/2006 (*******) 

Direct payments within the meaning 
of  Article  2  of  this  Regulation, 
under  measures  established  in  the 
programmes 

(*******) OJ L 265, 26.9.2006, p. 3." 

Article 3 

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  day  following  that  of  its  publication  in  the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

However, Article 2 shall apply with effect from 1 January 2007. 

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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