Commission Regulation (EC) No 1327/2008 of 19 December 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 laying down implementing rules of Council Regulations (EC) No 2200/96, (EC) No 2201/96 and (EC) No 1182/2007 in the fruit and vegetable sector
Date: 2008-12-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: CCT duties, financial aid, marketing standard, operational programme, producer organisation, quality label

L 345/24

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Official Journal of the European Union

23.12.2008

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1327/2008

of 19 December 2008

amending Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 laying down implementing rules of Council Regulations
(EC) No 2200/96, (EC) No 2201/96 and (EC) No 1182/2007 in the fruit and vegetable sector

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(5)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of
22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agri­
cultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agri­
cultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (1), and in particular
Articles 103h and 127 in conjunction with Article 4 thereof,

Whereas:

(6)

(7)

(8)

(1)

(2)

(3)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 (2) provides
for detailed rules concerning producer organisations in
the fruit and vegetable sector.

To ensure that all producers may participate democra­
tically in decisions concerning the producer organisation,
Member States should be able to adopt measures to
permit, restrict or prohibit the powers of a legal entity
to modify, approve or reject decisions of a producer
organisation where it is a clearly defined part of that
legal entity.

Article 32(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 provides
for the possibility for Member States to allow, restrict or
prohibit the right to vote of non-producer members of a
producer organisation on decisions relating to operation­
al funds. It is desirable to apply this provision equally to
members of associations of producer organisations which
are not producer organisations pursuant to Article 36(2)
of the said Regulation in order to make the implemen­
tation of partial operational programmes by associations
of producer organisations more flexible. Moreover, the
reference made to the right
to vote on decisions
relating to operational funds should refer, for reasons
of
operational
relating to operational
programmes,
funds should be taken by the producer organisation
directly and not by the association of producer organis­
ations.

to
decisions
since decisions

relating

clarity,

to

(4)

In order to ensure legal certainty, it should be made clear
that aid to encourage the formation of producer groups
and to facilitate their administrative operation provided
for in Article 103a(1)a of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007
is a flat-rate payment and that evidence as to the use of
aid is not necessary in the applications for aid.

Article 52(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 provides
that only the production of the members of the producer
organisation marketed by the producer organisation itself
or in conformity with Article 125a(2)(b) and (c) of Regu­
lation (EC) No 1234/2007 should be counted in the
value of marketed production (VMP). This allows the
themselves under
production that members market
the
those paragraphs to be included in the VMP of
producer organisation in which the producer
is
member, but
the
members themselves under Article 125a(2)(a) of Regu­
lation (EC) No 1234/2007. In the interests of producer
organisations,
sold directly by farmers
through a second producer organisation should be
included in the VMP of the second producer organis­
ation. The product sold directly by farmers on the
the
market should not be included in the VMP of
producer organisation of which this producer is member.

excludes products marketed by

the product

In order to ensure legal certainty, it should be made clear
that the level of support for producer groups as laid
down in Articles 103a(1) of Regulation (EC) No
1234/2007 and Article 49 of Regulation (EC) No
1580/2007 may under certain circumstances exceed
that applicable for the measures under the rural develop­
ment programme.

for

the

actions

support

environmental

The third and fourth subparagraphs of Article 60(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 provide for a limitation
of
to the
maximum amounts laid down in the Annex to Council
Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 of 20 September 2005
on support for rural development by the European Agri­
cultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (3). Certain
types of environmental actions do not relate directly or
indirectly to a particular parcel. Article 60(2) should
therefore be amended to exclude such actions from this
limitation.

the operational

Article 63(3)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007
provides that Member States have to ensure that the
actions concerning partial operational programmes are
fully financed from contributions of member producer
organisations paid out of
funds of
those organisations. It is desirable to allow members of
associations of producer organisations, which are not
producer organisations, to finance actions or investments
undertaken by the association of producer organisation,
on condition these members are producers or their coop­
eratives. However, pursuant to Article 36(2) of Regu­
lation (EC) No 1580/2007,
they may only indirectly
benefit from measures financed by the Community, e.g.
as a result of effects of scale.

(1) OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 350, 31.12.2007, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 277, 21.10.2005, p. 1.

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L 345/25

(9)

In particular

Article 120 of Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 provides
for sanctions following first-level checks on withdrawal
operations.
in Article 120(a)(b) and (c)
reference is made to the amount of the compensation.
In the interests of clarity and legal certainty the provision
should instead refer to the amount of the Community
contribution.

(15)

(16)

In order to allow for the changes to Articles 52(5) and
63(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 to be introduced
smoothly, those changes should apply as from 1 January
2010.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural
Markets,

for

the obligation for Member States

(10) Article 103f(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007
provides
to
establish a national strategy for sustainable operational
programmes. For reasons of transparency, the national
strategy applicable in any given year shall be integrated
into the Member States' annual reports and sent to the
Commission.

(11)

(12)

specific difficulties

in
Several Member States meet
preparing their national
framework for environmental
actions on time, referred to in Article 103f(1) of Regu­
lation (EC) No 1234/2007 and Article 58 of Regulation
(EC) No 1580/2007, as part of their national strategy for
sustainable operational programmes. Therefore, as a tran­
sitional measure, Member States should be allowed to
postpone decisions on the operational programmes for
2009 until 1 March 2009 at the latest. The estimated
amounts of all operational programmes
should be
submitted by 31 January 2009 and the final approved
amounts by 15 March 2009.

In accordance with the second subparagraph of point 15
of Annex VIII to Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007, promo­
tional material must bear the emblem of the European
Community (in the case of visual media only) and
include the following legend ‘Campaign financed with
the European Community’.
It should be
the aid of
made clear that this obligation refers only to generic
promotion and promotion of quality labels. The use of
the emblem of the European Community by producer
organisations, associations of producer organisations
and those subsidiaries referred to in Article 52(7) of
that Regulation in promotion of their brands/trademarks
should be explicitly forbidden.

(13)

In accordance with the sixth indent of paragraph 2(a) of
Annex XIII to Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007, Member
States have to report on the volume of products
withdrawn from the market broken down by products
and by months. However, for reasons of transparency, it
is necessary to break down these volumes between
amounts disposed of by way of free distribution and
total amounts.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 is amended as follows:

1.

in Article 33 the following paragraph is added:

‘Member States may adopt measures to restrict or prohibit
the powers of a legal entity to modify, approve or reject
decisions of a producer organisation where it is a clearly
defined part of that legal entity.’;

2. Article 36(2) is amended as follows:

(a) point (b) is deleted;

(b) the following subparagraph is added:

‘Member States may permit, restrict or prohibit
right
programmes.’;

their
relating to operational

to vote on decisions

3. Article 49(1) is amended as follows:

(a) points (a) and (b) are replaced by the following:

‘(a) 75 % in the regions eligible under the Convergence

Objective, and

(b) 50 % in other regions.’;

(b) the following subparagraph is added:

(14)

Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

‘The remainder of the aid shall be paid as a flat-rate
payment by the Member State. The aid application
shall not be required to include evidence as to the use
of the aid.’;

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Official Journal of the European Union

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4.

in Article 52, paragraph 5 is replaced by the following:

‘5.
Only the production of the members of the producer
organisation marketed by the producer organisation itself
shall be counted in the value of marketed production. The
production of the members of the producer organisation
marketed by another producer organisation designated by
their own organisation, pursuant to Article 125a(2)(b) and
(c) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (*) shall be
the
counted in the value of marketed production of
second producer organisation.

___________
(*) OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1.’;

condition these members are producers or their coop­
eratives.’;

7.

in Article 120, points (a),
replaced by ‘Community contribution’;

(b) and (c)

‘compensation’

is

8.

in Article 152, the following paragraphs are added:

‘9.
By way of derogation from the third subparagraph of
Article 65(2) of this Regulation, the Member States may, for
duly justified reasons, take a decision on the 2009 opera­
tional programmes and funds by 1 March 2009 at the latest.
The approval decision may stipulate that expenditure is
eligible from 1 January 2009 onwards.

5.

in Article 60, paragraph 2 is amended as follows:

(a)

the third subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘Where relevant, and without prejudice to provisions of
Articles 103a(3), 103d(1) and (3) and 103e of Regu­
lation (EC) No 1234/2007 and Article 49 of this Regu­
lation, the level of support for measures covered by this
Regulation shall not exceed that applicable for
the
measures under the rural development programme.’;

(b) the following fifth subparagraph is added:

‘The fourth subparagraph shall not apply to environmen­
tal actions which do not relate directly or indirectly to a
particular parcel.’;

6.

in Article 63(3), point (a) is replaced by the following:

‘(a) the actions are fully financed from contributions of
members of
associations of producer organisations
which are producer organisations, paid out of the oper­
ational funds of those producer organisations. However,
the actions may be financed in a proportional amount to
the contribution of member producer organisations, by
members of associations of producer organisations which
are not producer organisations pursuant to Article 36, on

shall

fund for

communicate

10.
By way of derogation from Article 99(2) of this Regu­
lation, Member States, who postponed decisions on the
to the previous
2009 operational programmes, pursuant
to the Commission by
paragraph,
31 January 2009 an estimate of the amount of the opera­
tional
all operational
programmes. This communication shall make clear both
the total amount of the operational fund and also the total
amount of Community financing of that operational fund.
These figures shall be further broken down between amounts
for crisis prevention and management measures and other
measures.

year 2009 for

the

The Member States referred to in the previous subparagraph
shall communicate to the Commission the final approved
amount of the operational fund for the year 2009 for all
operational programmes,
the breakdown as
including
indicated above, by 15 March 2009.’;

9. Annexes VIII and XIII are amended as set out in the Annex

to this Regulation.

Article 2

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

Points 4 and 6 of Article 1 shall apply from 1 January 2010.

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

Done at Brussels, 19 December 2008.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission

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ANNEX

The Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 are amended as follows:

1. In Annex VIII, the second subparagraph of point 15 is replaced by the following:

‘Promotional material for generic promotion and promotion of quality labels shall bear the emblem of the European
Community (in the case of visual media only) and include the following legend: “Campaign financed with the aid of
the European Community”. Producer organisations, associations of producer organisations and those subsidiaries
referred to in Article 52(7) shall not use the emblem of the European Community in promotion of their brands/tra­
demarks.’;

2. Annex XIII is amended as follows:

(a) point (a) of paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘(a) National legislation adopted in order to implement Section IVa of Chapter IV of Title I and Section IA of
Chapter II of Title II of Part II of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, including the national strategy for sustainable
operational programmes applicable to operational programmes implemented on the year being reported on.’;

(b) the sixth indent of point (a) of paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘— information on the volume of products withdrawn broken down by products and by months and between
total volumes withdrawn from the market and volumes disposed of by way of free distribution, expressed in
tonnes,’.