CELEX: 51985PC0759(01)
Language: en
Date: 1985-12-18
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) ESTABLISHING A COMMON MEASURE FOR THE ACCELERATION OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN CERTAIN LESS-FAVOURED AREAS OF FRANCE WHERE BEEF CATTLE ARE REARED

31. 12. 85                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 358/1
                                                                  II
                                                          (Preparatory Acts)
                                                    COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) establishing a common measure for the acceleration of
                 agricultural development in certain less-favoured areas of France where beef cattle are reared
                                                         COM(8S) 759 final
                                                           (85/C 358/01)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                              (France) ( 2 ), agricultural incomes are particularly low
                                                                      because of the existence of substantial structural
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                 inadequacies;
Economic Community,
                                                                      Whereas in these less-favoured areas joint land-development
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 797/85 of                measures are an essential condition for improving the
 12 March 1985 on improving the efficiency of agricultural            profitability of cattle farming based on beef breeds;
structures (*), and in particular Article 18 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                    Whereas, because of the fragmentation of holdings,
                                                                      consolidation measures are necessary for the efficient
                                                                      management of agricultural land;
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social               Whereas the availability of shared equipment for fodder
Committee,                                                            production and improvements in the health of the cattle
                                                                      would enable better use to be made of fodder production;
Whereas Article 39 (2) (a) of the Treaty provides that, in
working out the common agricultural policy, account is to be          Whereas closer monitoring of the yield and the progeny of
taken of the social structure of agriculture and of the               beef bulls ensures more efficient selection of breeding bulls
structural and natural disparities between the various                with a high genetic value;
agricultural regions;
Whereas, in order to achieve the objectives of the common             Whereas in the regions concerned farmers derive additional
agricultural policy set out in Article 39 (1) (a) and (b) of the      income from the management of woodlands; whereas
Treaty, special measures appropriate to production                    forestry measures should be carried out and shelter belts
conditions in the less-favoured agricultural areas should be          should be planted, mainly in connection with joint
adopted at Community level;                                           land-development measures;
Whereas, in accordance with Article 18 of Regulation (EEC)            Whereas costs can be reduced by the joint use of equipment
No 797/85, specific measures may be taken to encourage                for the management of woodlands;
agriculture as a whole in regions suffering from structural or
infrastructural handicaps;
                                                                      Whereas rural infrastructures in these regions are extremely
Whereas in certain less-favoured regions of France, specified         inadequate, particularly as regards farm roads and access
in Council Directive 75/271/EEC of 28 April 1975                      roads, and whereas the provision or improvement of such
concerning the Community list of less-favoured farming                facilities is essential to the improvement of agricultural
areas within the meaning of Directive 75/268/EEC                      structures;
(0 OJNoL 93, 30. 3. 1985, p. 1.                                       (2) OJ No L 128, 19. 5. 1975, p. 33.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 358/2                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                    31. 12. 85
Whereas additional technical assistance should be provided          Guidance Section, hereinafter referred to as 'the Fund', those
and information campaigns should be launched with a view            agricultural measures which form part of one or more
to remedying the lack of structural development;                    programmes drawn up by the French Government or other
                                                                    authorities designated at the relevant geographical level and
Whereas, with a view to limiting Community expenditure, it          approved by the Commission.
is important to prohibit the granting of aid under Regulation
(EEC) No 797/85 in conjunction with aid under Council
Regulation (EEC) No 2088/85 of 23 July 1985 concerning              4.     The common measure implemented in the regions
the integrated Mediterranean programmes ( ] );                      specified in paragraph 2 shall comprise:
Whereas the achievement of these aims should be promoted            (a) joint land-development measures such as drainage,
by means of a measure combining these various elements and               work to improve the quality of pastures and
applied in the context of the programmes;                                consolidation, including ancillary operations;
Whereas it follows from the foregoing that the measures             (b) improvement of the conditions for the rearing of beef
referred to above constitute a common measure within the                 cattle, by the use of shared equipment for fodder
meaning of Article 6 of Council Regulation (EEC) No                      production and improvements in the health of the
729/70 of 21 April 1970 on the financing of the common                   cattle;
agricultural policy (2), as last amended by Regulation (EEC)
No 870/85 ( 3 ) ;                                                   (c) closer monitoring of the yield of beef bulls, with a view
                                                                         to the initial and final breeding of animals with a high
Whereas it is the responsibility of the Commission, having               genetic value, to raise the qualitative level of beef cattle
consulted the Standing Committee on Agricultural                         production;
Structures, to decide on the approval of a programme
submitted by the French Government,
                                                                    (d) forestry measures, mainly in conjunction with the
                                                                         measures referred to in (a), including joint facilities for
                                                                         the management of woodlands belonging to agricultural
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:                                             holdings and the planting of shelter belts for the
                                                                         protection of agriculture;
                             TITLE I                                (e) the improvement of agricultural infrastructures in rural
                                                                         areas;
Measures to accelerate agricultural development in certain
        regions of France where beef cattle are reared              (f) measures to promote this common measure, launching
                                                                         aid for the provision of the extra technical assistance
                                                                         required to achieve the objectives of the common
                            Article 1                                    measure and aid for information campaigns.
 1.    A common measure within the meaning of Article 6(1)
of Regulation (EEC) No 729/JO is hereby introduced for the
purpose of accelerating agricultural development in certain
regions of France.                                                                              Article 2
2.     The common action shall apply to regions within the
Massif Central with the following characteristics:                  All programmes referred to in Article 1 (3) shall include at
                                                                    least the following particulars:
— which are less-favoured areas within the meaning of
    Council Directive 75/268/EEC ( 4 ), with the exception          1. a definition of the areas concerned in accordance with the
    of the regions covered by Regulation (EEC) No                       criteria laid down in Article 1 (2), the number of
    2088/85,                                                            stockfarmers, the size of the cattle herds and the areas
— where the permanent pasture accounts for at least 65 %                farmed;
    of the UAA,
                                                                    2. for each type of measure, a description of the existing
— where the main types of cattle reared are beef breeds or              situation, the objectives to be achieved, the estimated
    various crosses thereof.                                            cost and the financing arrangements;
3.     In accordance with Title II the Community may grant          3. the timetable for carrying out the various measures and
aid towards the common measure by financing through the                 an indication of the additional effect attributable to the
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund,                      introduction of the common measure with assistance
                                                                        from the Fund;
H   OJ No L  197, 27. 7. 1985, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L  94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.
(3) OJ N o L 95, 2. 4. 1985, p. 1.                                  4. the arrangements to coordinate the programme with any
(") OJNoL    128, 19. 5. 1975, p. 1.                                    other programmes or measures which may influence the
 ---pagebreak--- 31. 12. 85                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                  No C 358/3
     development of agriculture in the regions covered by the                                     Article 6
    programmed);
                                                                       1.    The Fund shall reimburse to France 40 % of eligible
5. an assurance that the measures proposed are compatible
                                                                      expenditure. However, the eligible expenditure may not
     with the protection of the environment.
                                                                      exceed the maximum amounts specified in paragraph 2.
                                                                      2.     The Fund shall reimburse to France its actual
                            Article 3                                 expenditure on the measures referred to in Article 1 (4), up to
                                                                      the following maximum eligible amounts:
1.     All programmes and any amendments to programmes
                                                                      — 900 ECU per hectare for drainage of pastures over a total
shall be forwarded to the Commission by the French
                                                                          area of 45 000 hectares,
Government. The duration of the programmes shall be at
least that of the common measure.                                     — 400 ECU per hectare for improvements to pastures over a
                                                                          total area of 30 000 hectares,
2.     At the request of the Commission, the French
Government shall provide any background information                   — 400 ECU per hectare for consolidation operations,
required in addition to the particulars supplied pursuant to              including connected operations, over a total area of
Article 2.                                                                100 000 hectares in the case of the measures referred to
                                                                          under (a),
3.     The Commission shall deliver its opinion on
programmes and any amendments thereto in accordance                   — 5 million ECU in the case of the measures referred to
with the procedure laid down in Article 9, having consulted               under (b), subject where appropriate to the maximum
the Fund Committee on the financial aspects.                              eligible amounts specified in Article 17 (3) of Regulation
                                                                          (EEC) No 797/85,
                                                                      — 3 million ECU in the case of the measures referred to
                                                                          under (c),
                            TITLE II
                                                                      — 5 million ECU in the case of the measures referred to
               Financial and general provisions                           under (d), subject to the maximum eligible amounts
                                                                          specified in Article 20 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No
                                                                          797/85,
                            Article 4                                 — 10 million ECU in the case of the measures referred to
                                                                          under (e); however, the financial contribution of the
Joint investments in fodder production as referred to in                  beneficiary must not be less than 10 %,
Article 1 (4) (a) and (b), forestry investments on agricultural
land and woodland improvements which qualify for aid                  — 2 million ECU in the case of the measures referred to
under Article 17 or, as the case may be, under Article 20                 under (f), subject to a maximum of 14 newly-recruited
of Regulation (EEC) No 797/85 or which qualify for                        technicians. The aid to the strengthening of technical
Community aid under other common measures within the                      assistance shall amount to not more than 80 % of the
meaning of Article 6 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70                    actual cost and must be degressive over the period of the
shall not qualify for any contribution from the Fund under                common measure.
this Regulation.
                                                                      3.     Should France request the updating of any programme,
                                                                      the Commission may, in accordance with the procedure laid
                                                                      down in Article 9, approve changes in the maximum
                            Article 5                                 amounts specified in paragraph 2 of this Article with the
                                                                      exception of the seventh and eighth indents, without
1.     The duration of the common measure shall be not                however exceeding the overall amount specified in
longer than six years as from the date of approval of the first       Article 5 {3).
programme as referred to in Article 2.
                                                                      4.     Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall be
2.     During the third and fifth years the Commission shall          adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in
report on the progress of the common measure. Before the              Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.
six-year period has expired, the Council, acting on a
proposal from the Commission, shall decide whether the
measure should be continued.
                                                                                                  Article 7
3.     The estimated cost of the common measure to the Fund
amounts to 47 million ECU.                                            On approval of the programme referred to in Article 1 (4) the
                                                                      Commission shall, in agreement with France, determine the
4.     Article 6 (5) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 shall              manner in which it is to be informed of the progress of the
apply.                                                                development measures.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 358/4                                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                               31. 12. 85
                              Article 8                                           shall deliver its opinion on these measures within a time limit
                                                                                  set by the chairman according to the urgency of the matter. It
1.    Requests for reimbursement shall relate to expenditure                      shall act by a majority of 45 votes, the votes of the Member
incurred by France during one calendar year and shall be                          States being weighted as laid down in Article 148 (2) of the
submitted to the Commission before 1 July of the following                        Treaty. The chairman shall not vote.
year.
2.    Aid from the Fund shall be granted in accordance with                       3.      The Commission shall adopt the measures, which shall
Article 7 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.                                      be immediately applicable. However, if such measures are
                                                                                  not in accordance with the opinion delivered by the Standing
3.    The fund may make advance payments on the basis of                          Committee on Agricultural Structures, they shall be
the method of financing adopted by France and in the light of                     communicated forthwith by the Commission to the Council.
the progress of the programme.                                                    In that case, the Commission may defer application of the
                                                                                  measures which it has adopted by not more than one month
4.    Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall be                 from the date of such communication. The Council, acting
adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in                             by a qualified majority, may adopt a different decision within
Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.                                         one month.
                              Article 9
                                                                                                                Article 10
1.    In cases where recourse is had to the procedure laid
down in this Article, the matter shall be referred to the
Standing Committee on Agricultural Structures by its                              This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
chairman either on his own initiative or at the request of the                    following its publication in the Official Journal of the
representative of a Member State.                                                 European Communities.
2.    The chairman shall submit a draft of the measures to be                     This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
taken. The Standing Committee on Agricultural Structures                          applicable in all Member States.
                                                                        ANNEX
                                                                                                                            (million ECU)
                                 Measures to be financed                              Total maximum                    Total cost
                                                                                        eligible cost                 to EAGGF
               1. Collective land-improvement measures:
                  — drainage                                                                 40,5                        16,2
                                                                              (900 ECU/ha x 45 000 ha)
                  — qualitative improvement of pasture land                                  12,0                         4,8
                                                                              (400 ECU/ha x 30 000 ha)
                  — consolidation and connected work                                         40,0                        16,0
                                                                             (400 ECU/ha x 100 000 ha)
              2. Improvement of conditions for beef cattle                                    5,0                         2,0
                  production, improvement of health standards of
                  cattle
              3. Intensification of control over yield of beef                                3,0                         1,2
                  bulls
              4. Forestry measures linked          mainly     to   land                       5,0 n                       2,0
                  improvement measures
              5. Improvement of agricultural infrastructure in                               10,0                         4,0
                  rural areas
              6. — Measures to promote the scheme                           ~]                               )
                  — Aid for intensification of technical                                      2,0                         0,8
                      assistance
                  — Aid for awareness campaigns
                                                                            J                                J
                                                                 Total                     117,5                         47,0
              (') The cost has been calculated on the basis of a hypothetical area of approximately 5 500 hectares.