2009/19/EC: Commission Decision of 9 January 2009 amending Decision 2008/655/EC as regards the approval of the emergency vaccination plans against bluetongue of certain Member States and fixing the level of the Community’s financial contribution for 2007 and 2008 (notified under document number C(2008) 8966)
Date: 2009-01-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU financing, animal disease, sheep, vaccination, veterinary legislation

13.1.2009

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 8/31

COMMISSION DECISION

of 9 January 2009

amending Decision 2008/655/EC as regards the approval of the emergency vaccination plans against
bluetongue of certain Member States and fixing the level of the Community’s financial contribution
for 2007 and 2008

(notified under document number C(2008) 8966)

(Only the French, Dutch, Czech, Danish, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Swedish texts are authentic)

(2009/19/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(4)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

to

regard

Council Directive

Having
of
20 November 2000 laying down specific provisions for the
control and eradication of bluetongue (1), and in particular
Article 9(2) thereof,

2000/75/EC

Having regard to Council Decision 90/424/EEC of 26 June
1990 on expenditure in the veterinary field (2), and in particular
Article 3(3), (4) and the second indent of (5) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Commission Decision 2008/655/EC of 24 July 2008
approving the emergency vaccination plans against blue­
tongue of certain Member States and fixing the level of
the Community’s financial contribution for 2007 and
2008 (3) approved the vaccination plans of Belgium,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Spain, France,
the Netherlands and Portugal and
Italy, Luxembourg,
established the maximum amount of
the Community
financial contribution.

In the second semester of 2008 outbreaks of bluetongue
In particular
have occurred in several Member States.
bluetongue serotype 8 occurred for the first
time in
Austria and Sweden. New outbreaks of bluetongue
serotype 8 were identified in Denmark and Spain.
In
addition, bluetongue
spread in
France, Spain and Portugal.

serotype 1 further

As the outbreaks in Austria and Sweden occurred after
publication of Decision 2008/655/EC, these two Member
States submitted their vaccination plans too late to meet
the deadline set in Article 4(2) of that Decision. Therefore
provisions related to the intermediate reports, including
those relating to the reduction of the contribution from
the Community should not apply to those Member
States.

(1) OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 74.
(2) OJ L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 19.
(3) OJ L 214, 9.8.2008, p. 66.

concerned have

informed the
The Member States
the
Commission and the other Member States of
occurrence of the disease. Those Member States have
presented their new or amended plans for emergency
vaccination indicating the
approximate number of
vaccine doses to be used in 2007 and 2008 and the
estimated costs of carrying out those vaccinations. The
Commission has assessed the new plans submitted by
Austria and Sweden and the amended plans submitted
by Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Portugal
from both the veterinary and the financial point of view
and the plans were found to comply with relevant
Community veterinary legislation. The vaccination of
animals
in the Member States
concerned should therefore be approved in accordance
with Article 9(2) of Directive 2000/75/EC.

against bluetongue

The eligibility of expenditure is currently restricted to
costs paid in the period 1 November 2007 to
31 December 2008. However, the emergency vaccination
plans run until the end of 2008. Therefore, the operative
event of carrying out vaccination should determine the
eligibility of expenditure. Measures with an operative
falling within the above mentioned period are
event
eligible for co-financing.

Decision 2008/655/EC should therefore be amended
accordingly.

The measures provided for
accordance with
Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

in this Decision are in
Standing
the

opinion

the

of

(5)

(6)

(7)

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Decision 2008/655/EC is amended as follows:

1.

in Article 1, the first subparagraph is replaced by following:

submitted by Belgium,

‘The vaccination plans, composed of technical and financial
provisions,
the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Sweden are hereby
approved for
the period from 1 November 2007 to
31 December 2008.’;

L 8/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

13.1.2009

2.

in Article 2(1),
following:

the first

subparagraph is

replaced by

‘In the context of the emergency measures taken to combat
bluetongue in 2007 and 2008 Belgium, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Sweden shall be entitled
to a specific contribution from the Community for the blue­
tongue emergency vaccination plans referred to in Article 1
amounting to:’;

3.

in Article 4(1), the letter (d) is replaced by the following:

‘However, paragraph 1(a) and (b) and paragraph 2 shall not
apply to the plans submitted by Austria and Sweden’.
Article 2

Addressees

This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Belgium, the
the
Czech Republic,
Federal
Republic of Germany,
the French
Republic, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg,
the Kingdom of Netherlands,
the
Portuguese Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden.

the Kingdom of Denmark,
the Kingdom of Spain,

the Republic of Austria,

‘(d) a final

report,

financial

in computerized form in
accordance with the Annex, on the costs incurred by
the Member State during the period 1 November 2007
to 31 December 2008 and paid before the submission of
the report;’;

4.

in Article 4(1), the following subparagraph is added:

Done at Brussels, 9 January 2009.

For the Commission

Androulla VASSILIOU
Member of the Commission