Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council by reason of the accession of Croatia
Date: 2013-02-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Croatia, accession to the European Union, approximation of laws, marketing standard, plant health control

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 13.2.2013  
COM(2013) 73 final 

2013/0047 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
by reason of the accession of Croatia  

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

The proposal for a Council Regulation is necessitated by the upcoming accession of 
the Republic of Croatia to the European Union. 

The Treaty between the Member States of the European Union and the Republic of 
Croatia concerning the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union1 
(hereafter  referred  to  as  "Treaty  of  Accession")  was  signed  in  Brussels  on 
9 December 2011. 

Article 3(3) of the Treaty of Accession provides that it shall enter into force on 1 July 
2013 provided that all the instruments of ratification have been deposited before that 
date. 

Article 3(4) of the Treaty of Accession enables the institutions of the Union to adopt 
before  the  accession  the  measures  referred  to,  inter  alia,  in  Article  50  of  the  Act 
concerning  the  conditions  of  accession  of  the  Republic  of  Croatia  and  the 
adjustments to the Treaty on European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of the 
European  Union  and  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Atomic  Energy 
Community2 (hereafter referred to as "Act concerning the conditions of accession"). 
These measures shall enter into force only subject to and on the date of the entry into 
force of the Treaty of Accession. 

Article 50 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession affirms that where acts 
of  the  institutions  adopted  prior  to  accession  require  adaptation  by  reason  of 
accession, and the necessary adaptations have not been provided for in this Act or its 
Annexes,  the  Council  or  the  Commission  (if  the  original  acts  were  adopted  by  the 
Commission) shall adopt the necessary acts. 

Regulation  (EC)  No  1107/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of 
21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on  the  market 
and  repealing  Council  Directives  79/117/EEC  and  91/414/EEC3  provides  for  the 
division  of  the  Union  in  zones  with  comparable  agricultural,  plant  health  and 
environmental  conditions  in  order  to  facilitate  the  mutual  recognition  of  plant 
protection  products.  Annex  I  of  that  Regulation  lists  each  Member  State  in  the 
Northern, the Central or the Southern zone for the authorisation of plant  protection 
products. 

The  present  proposal  aims  at  adding  Croatia  in  the  Southern  zone  in  Annex  I  of 
Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. 

Croatia should be added to the list of Member States in the Southern zone of Annex I 
of Regulation (EU) No 1107/2009 due to the fact that on the whole the agricultural, 
plant health and environmental conditions specific to Croatia are comparable to those 
of  the  countries  already  placed  in  the  Southern  zone,  i.e.  Bulgaria,  Greece,  Spain, 
France, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, and Portugal. 

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OJ L 112, 24.4.2012, p. 10. 
OJ L 112, 24.4.2012, p. 21. 
OJ L 309, 24.11.2009, p. 1. 

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2. 

RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES AND 
IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

As  this  proposal  is  of  technical  nature  and  does  not  involve  any  political  choices, 
consultations  with  interested  parties  or  impact  assessments  would  not  have  made 
sense. 

3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

The legal basis for the proposal is Article 50 of the Act concerning the conditions of 
accession of the Republic of Croatia. 

The principles of subsidiarity and proportionality are fully respected. 

The action of the Union is necessary under the principle of subsidiarity laid down in 
Article  5(3)  TEU  as  it  concerns  technical  adaptations  to  a  legal  act  adopted  by  the 
Union.  The  proposal  respects  the  principle  of  proportionality  stated  in  Article  5(4) 
TEU because it does not go beyond what is necessary to reach the objective pursued. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION 

This proposal has no budgetary implications. 

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2013/0047 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
by reason of the accession of Croatia  

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty of Accession of Croatia, and in particular Article 3(4) thereof, 

Having regard to the Act of Accession of Croatia, and in particular Article 50 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Annex  I  to  Regulation  (EC)  No  1107/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the 
market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC4 defines zones 
composed  of  Member  States  with  comparable  agricultural,  plant  health  and 
environmental  (including  climatic)  conditions,  in  particular  in  order  to  facilitate  the 
examination of applications and granting of authorisations of plant protection products 
in the Union and the mutual recognition of authorisations. 

In view of the accession of Croatia to the Union, it is necessary to add Croatia to the 
Southern  zone  since  the  agricultural,  plant  health  and  environmental  conditions  in 
Croatia  are  comparable  to  those  in  Bulgaria,  Greece,  Spain,  France,  Italy,  Cyprus, 
Malta and Portugal. 

(3) 

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 should therefore be amended accordingly, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this 
Regulation. 

Article 1 

This Regulation shall enter into force subject to and on the date of the entry into force of the 
Treaty of Accession of Croatia. 

Article 2 

4 

OJ L 309, 24.11.2009, p. 1. 

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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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Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 is replaced by the following: 

ANNEX 

Definition of zones for the authorisation of plant protection products as referred to in 
Article 3(17) 

'ANNEX I 

The following Member States belong to this zone: 

Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden 

Zone A — North 

The following Member States belong to this zone: 

Zone B — Centre 

Belgium,  Czech  Republic,  Germany,  Ireland,  Luxembourg,  Hungary,  Netherlands,  Austria, 
Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, United Kingdom 

The following Member States belong to this zone: 

Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal' 

Zone C — South 

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