CELEX: 31986R2239
Language: en
Date: 1986-07-14 00:00:00
Title: Council Regulation (EEC) No 2239/86 of 14 July 1986 on a specific common measure to improve vine-growing structures in Portugal

18 . 7 . 86                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No L 196/ 1
                                                                I
                                              (Acts whose publication is obligatory)
                                       COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2239/86
                                                         of 14 July 1986
                     on a specific common measure to improve vine-growing structures in Portugal
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                           Whereas the measures for restructuring vineyards must
                                                                    not lead to an increase in areas planted with vines in
                                                                    Portugal ; whereas these measures should be confined to
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European              areas particularly suitable for vine-growing ;
 Economic Community, and in particular Article 43
 thereof,
                                                                    Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 458/80 of 18
                                                                    February 1980 on collective projects for the restructuring
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('),             of vineyards (4), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No
                                                                    3827/85 (5), cannot apply to Portugal on account of the
                                                                    absence of a classification of vine-growing areas in that
 Having regard to the opinion of the European Parli­                Member State ; whereas, in addition, it is not suited to
ament (2),                                                          Portuguese vine-growing structures, on account in parti­
                                                                    cular of the limited size and the dispersion of vine­
 Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social            growing areas ;
Committee (3),
                                                                   Whereas provision should accordingly be made for a
                                                                    specific measure for Portugal, and whereas the restructur­
Whereas Article 263 (2) of the 1985 Act of Accession                ing measures should be extended to include the necessary
provides in particular for the application in Portugal, from        support operations, such as land improvement and conso­
the date of accession, of Community rules in the socio­             lidation, and areas under vines intended for the produc­
structural field, including those relating to producers'            tion of table grapes ;
organizations ;
                                                                   Whereas the restructuring measures can be implemented
Whereas, to achieve the objectives of the common agri­             successfully only if aid is granted to compensate for the
cultural policy mentioned in Article 39 ( 1 ) (a) and (b) of        cost of restructuring work (restructuring aid) and for the
the Treaty, special provisions adapted to the situation in          income losses entailed by the restructuring operations
the least-favoured agricultural areas must be taken at             (additional premium) ;
Community level ;
                                                                   Whereas, in order to ensure maximum effectiveness for
Whereas the vine-growing structures in Portugal must be             the vineyard restructuring operations, priority should be
improved in view of the present major structural imba­             given to those operations which cover large areas carried
                                                                   out on a collective basis ; whereas, to this end, additional
lances, particularly as regards the general state of
vineyards, the location and the dispersion of areas and the        aid should be granted where restructuring operations are
quality of the vine products ;                                     carried out by a group or on a collective basis ;
                                                                   Whereas, in order to obtain the economic and qualitative
Whereas the imbalances on the wine market may be                   results expected of the restructuring measures, vine­
gradually eliminated only by a coherent series of                  growers involved in restructuring operations should be
measures ; whereas, consequently, provision should be              afforded the requisite technical assistance , including assis­
made for Portugal to qualify both for measures relating to         tance with the preparation of restructuring projects ;
restructuring and for measures to encourage the abandon­
ment of certain areas planted with vines ;                         Whereas the abandonment of certain areas under vines
                                                                   should be encouraged on account of the growing
(') OJ No C 153 , 19 . 6 . 1986, p. 5.                             imbalance on the wine market and the need to reduce
(2) Opinion delivered on 11 July 1986 (not yet published in the
    Official Journal).
(3) Opinion delivered on 3 July 1986 (not yet published in the     (4) OJ No L 57, 29 . 2. 1980 , p. 27 .
    Official Journal).                                             0 OJ No L 372, 31 . 12. 1985, p. 1 .
 ---pagebreak--- No L 196/ 2                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                 18 . 7 . 86
Community vine-growing potential ; whereas, therefore,               finance through the Guidance Section of the European
premiums for the permanent abandonment of certain                    Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, hereinafter
areas planted with vines, varying with productivity, should          referred to as 'the Fund', for the following :
be granted ;
                                                                     — measures to restructure vineyards intended for the
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 777/85 of 26                         production of wine or table grapes,
March 1985 on the granting, for the 1985/86 to 1989/90               — various support measures connected with restructu­
wine years, of permanent abandonment premiums in                     ring.
respect of certain areas under vines ('), as last amended by
Regulation (EEC) No 3775/85 (2), provides for permanent              2.     For the purposes of this Regulation, the restructu­
abandonment premiums which are not adapted to the real               ring operations shall comprise :
price situation in Portugal ;
                                                                     — the grubbing of vines on plots with a minimum area
Whereas funds available in Portugal are fairly limited ;                 equivalent to that referred to in the second indent,
whereas provision should be made for a Community
co-financing rate of 50 % of expenditure incurred in                 — the replanting of vines intended for the production of
implementing restructuring measures and that rate should                 wines deemed equivalent to quality wines produced in
be raised to 70 % for expenditure incurred in implemen­                  specified regions or table wines and table grapes, of
ting measures for the permanent abandonment of vine­                     improved quality, by means of an appropriate selec­
                                                                         tion of recommended vine varieties, on land whether
growing where the results will reduce EAGGF Guarantee
Section expenditure ;                                                    or not located on the same holding with a minimum
                                                                         area of 0,25 hectares in the case of individual restruc­
Whereas the achievement of such objectives should be                     turing, 1 hectare in the case of group restructuring
encouraged via action combining the indispensable                        involving at least three vine-growers and 10 hectares
measures and involving a programme extending over                        in the case of collective restructuring involving at least
several years ;                                                          1 5 vine-growers, whether or not including land conso­
                                                                         lidation ,
Whereas it is the responsibility of the Commission,
having obtained the opinion of the Standing Comittee on              — the double grafting of vines under the conditions and
                                                                         with the vine varieties referred to in the second
Agricultural Structures, to decide on the approval of a                  indent.
programme submitted by the Portuguese Republic ;
Whereas it follows from the foregoing that the measures               However, for the autonomous regions of Madeira and the
in question constitute a common measure within the                    Azores, the Commission may, at the request of the
meaning of Article 6 of Council Regulation (EEC) No                   Member State, authorize, in accordance with the proce­
729/70 of 21 April 1970 on the financing of the common                dure laid down in Article 12, a reduction in the requisite
agricultural policy (3), as last amended by Regulation                minimum area.
(EEC) No 3769/85 (4),
                                                                      3.    For the purposes of this Regulation, support
                                                                      measures shall consist of :
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
                                                                      — the production of replanting material in line with the
                                                                          requirements of the common measure,
                            Article 1
                                                                      — land improvement work, including drainage and anti­
With a view to contributing towards improving the situa­                  erosion measures, and work connected with land
tion in the wine sector in Portugal by improving the basic                consolidation such as levelling, the creation of
vine-growing structures on the one hand and by encoura­                   embankments, ditches and access roads or tracks and
ging the permanent abandonment of certain areas planted                   other work made necessary as a result of land consoli­
with vines on the other, a common measure within the                      dation ,
 meaning of Article 6 ( 1 ) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70             — improvement of access roads or tracks to vineyards,
 is hereby instituted.                                                — land consolidation ,
                                                                      — such technical assistance as is essential for achieving
                             TITLE I                                      the aims of the common measure .
                Restructuring of vineyards                            4. Vineyards situated on the following types of land
                                                                      shall not qualify for restructuring aid :
                            Article 2
                                                                      — deep soil containing little coarse matter,
  1.    In accordance with Articles 3 and 5, the Community                or
 shall grant aid for the common measure by providing                  — land clearly unsuitable for vine-growing owing in
                                                                           particular to adverse natural soil conditions in the
 (') OJ  No  L 88, 28 . 3. 1985, p. 8 .                                    form of inadequate slopes, excessive humidity and
 (2) OJ  No  L 362, 31 . 12. 1985, p. 39 .                                 adverse exposure,
 (3) OJ  No  L 94, 28 . 4. 1970, p. 13.
 (4) OJ  No  L 362 31 . 12. 1985, p. 17.                                   or
 ---pagebreak---  18 . 7 . 86                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                No L 196/3
 — land suitable for providing sufficient income with                        at a parcelling ratio of at least 2 to 1 must be
      other crops which have normal outlets on the markets.                  provided for,
                                                                         — arrangements to ensure that the establishment of
 5.     For the duration of the common measure, the
                                                                             new vineyards takes the form solely of replanting,
 measures for restructuring Portuguese vineyards shall not                   i . e. planting after grubbing operations carried out
 qualify for the Community aid provided for in Regulation                    with a view to restructuring ;
 (EEC) No 458 / 80 .
                                                                    (b) support measures :
 Vine-growers who have received the permanent abandon­
 ment premium provided for in Title II may subsequently                  — the provisions contemplated with a view to the
 qualify for the aid for restructuring provided for in this                  production of selected replanting and grafting
 Title only where the areas in respect of which the above­                   material ,
 mentioned abandonment premium was paid are not adja­                    — as regards land improvement, a description of the
cent to the other areas of the holding.                                      works planned for each major restructuring area,
                                                                         — a summary of total expenditure broken down into
                             Article 3                                       the public, private and Community expenditure
                                                                             envisaged and a timetable showing such break­
 1 . The financial contribution by the Community shall                       down ,
be granted only in the context of the implementation of a                — the arrangements for providing the technical
programme involving all the operations referred to in                        supervision which is essential for the success of
Article 2 ( 1 ). That programme shall be submitted to the                    the restructuring operations and for ensuring that
Commission by the Portuguese Republic.                                       new staff will be recruited only for carrying out the
                                                                             common       measure .
2. At the request of the Commission, the Portuguese
Republio shall provide additional information for asses­
sing the data provided for in Article 4.                                                         Article 5
3 . The programme and any amendments to it shall be                 Investments qualifying for a financial contribution from
examined and approved after the Fund Committee has                  the Community under Council Regulation (EEC) No
been consulted on the financial aspects in accordance               797/85 (') or other common measures within the meaning
with the procedure laid down in Article 12. When the                of Article 6 ( 1 ) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 may not
programme is approved, the Commission shall determine,              qualify for a financial contribution from the Fund under
in agreement with the Member State, the information                 this Title .
which must appear in the annual report on the applica­
tion of this Regulation to be submitted to the Commis­
sion each year.                                                                                  TITLE II
4.     The duration of the programme shall not be less                    Permanent abandonment of vine-growing
than that of the common measure .
                                                                                                 Article 6
                            Article 4
                                                                    1 . In accordance with Articles 7 and 8 , vine-growers
The programme referred to in Article 3 shall contain, in            cultivating areas under vines as referred to in Article 2 (4)
particular, information on the following :                          shall qualify, on application, for a premium for the
(a) restructuring :                                                 permanent abandonment of vine-growing.
     — a definition of the quality of soil suitable for             2. The grant of the permanent abandonment premium
          restructuring,                                            shall entail for the vine-grower :
     — the estimated number of hectares of vineyard to              (a) forfeiture of the right to replant the area for which the
          have been restructured on completion of the                    premium is paid ;
          programme and a timetable for the works,
                                                                    (b) a reduction of the replanting right originating from
     — the location of the main areas of restructuring,
                                                                         any grubbing carried out on the residual vine-growing
     — the suitability of those areas for providing products             area of the holding after grant of the premium and
          of sound quality,                                              exercised before the date of expiry of this Regulation .
     — details of the vine varieties, their origin and regi­             The reduction shall be equal to 20 % :
          onal distribution ,                                       (c) compensation for the reduction provided for in (b)
     — in the case of collective restructuring, the nature of            equal to 500 ECU per hectare of vineyard grubbed .
          the constraints imposed in order to ensure the                 Such compensation shall be paid, on application by
          effectiveness of the operations,                               the holder of the replanting right, by the Portuguese
     — the provisions contemplated in order to improve                   Republic when the right in question is exercised.
          land distribution, i . e. land consolidation or other
          measures. In the latter case, arrangements to arrive      (<) OJ No L 93, 30 . 3 . 1985, p. 1 .
 ---pagebreak--- No L 196/4                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                   18 . 7 . 86
3.     Paragraph 2 (b) and (c) may be amended by the               — being entitled, when the application is submitted, to
Council acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from               continue to cultivate the land in question during the
the Commission .                                                        period referred to in the second indent of paragraph 2,
                                                                   — producing, if he does not fulfil the condition laid
4.     The permanent abandonment premium shall be                       down in the first indent of this paragraph, a written
limited to an overall area of 15 000 hectares . It shall be             undertaking by the owner of the land that he will
granted in respect of a minimum area of 0,10 hectares.                  guarantee that the obligations laid down in paragraph
                                                                        2 are complied with or that he will comply with them
5. The permanent abandonment premium may not be                         personally.
granted in respect of the following :
                                                                   If, after the grant of the premium, and in the course of
(a) areas under vines where infringements of national or           the period referred to in the second indent of paragraph
     Community provisions have been found to have been             2, all or part of the holding should pass to another party,
    committed ;                                                    the recipient of the premium or his assignees shall
(b) areas planted with vines which are no longer being             remain responsible for the successor's performance of the
    tended ;                                                       undertaking entered into by the recipient, unless :
(c) areas planted with vines after the entry into force of         — the successor enters into such an undertaking on his
    this Regulation .                                                   own account for the remainder of the period,
                                                                   or
6.     For the duration of the common measure, vine­               — the owner has given the undertaking provided for in
growers may not qualify for the permanent abandonment                   the second indent of the first subparagraph of this
premium provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 777/85.                     paragraph .
                                                                   4. The Portuguese Republic may decide to bring
                          Article 7                                forward the dates referred to in the first subparagraph of
                                                                   paragraph 1 and the first indent of paragraph 2.
1 . Applications for permanent abandonment premiums
must be submitted to the departments designated by the                                        Article 8
Portuguese Republic not later than 31 December for the
current wine year.                                                 1 . For the grant of the permanent abandonment
                                                                   premium, areas under mixed crops shall be expressed as
Applications relating to areas under wine grapes shall be          areas under specialized crops, using the customary conver­
accompanied by an official declaration stating the yield           sion factor for the production area concerned.
per hectare determined on the basis of the declared                2. The permanent abandonment premium shall be
average yield of the applicant's holding and the produc­           paid by the end of the calendar year following that in
tion capacity of the vineyard ato be grubbed determined
                                                                   which the application for a premium was submitted, on
on the spot before grubbing by the competent Portuguese            condition that the applicant has provided evidence that
agency.
                                                                   grubbing has in fact taken place .
2. The grant of the premium shall be subject to a
written declaration in which the applicant undertakes :                                       TITLE III
— by 31 May of the year following that in which the                             Financial and general provisions
    application is submitted, to grub, or cause to be
    grubbed, the vines on the areas for which the                                             Article 9
    premium has been applied for,
— not to plant, on the holding to which the area for                1 . The following expenditure incurred by the Portu­
    which the premium is received belongs, new vines               guese Republic shall be eligible for assistance from the
                                                                   Guidance Section of the Fund :
    within the meaning of Annex IVa (e) of Council
    Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 of 5 February 1979 on               (a) in the case of restructuring operations within the
     the common organization of the market in wine ('), as              meaning of Article 2 (2) and in respect of a maximum
     last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3805/85 (2), for               overall area of 30 000 hectares, aid granted in the form
     16 wine years following that in which the vines are                of :
    grubbed,                                                            — a restructuring aid per hectare intended to contri­
— to declare each year during that period, where appro­                      bute towards covering the actual costs of restructu­
     priate at the same time as his harvest, the area under                  ring work :
    which is in production or the area which is not yet in                   The amount of this aid shall be fixed at a
     production.                                                             maximum of :
3 . The grant of the premium shall also be subject to                        — 2 500 ECU per hectare where restructuring
the applicant :                                                                  involves grubbing of vines, soil preparation and
                                                                                 replanting,
(') OJ No L 54, 5 . 3 . 1979 , p. 1 .                                        — 500 ECU per hectare where restructuring
(2) OJ No L 367, 31 . 12 . 1985, p. 39 .                                         involves double grafting.
 ---pagebreak---  18 . 7. 86                              Official Journal of the European Communities                              No L 196/ 5
          This amount may be increased by a maximum of :                    — 1 600 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
                                                                               the areas exceeds 20 hectolitres but not 25
          — 200 ECU per hectare in the case of grouped                         hectolitres,
              restructuring,
          — 400 ECU per hectare in the case of collective                   — 2 200 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
                                                                               the areas exceeds 25 hectolitres but not 30
              restructuring,                                                   hectolitres,
          — 600 ECU per hectare in the case of collective                   — 2 800 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
              restructuring carried out in the context of land                 the areas exceeds 30 hectolitres but not 50
              consolidation at commune level,                                  hectolitres,
     — a degressive additional premium paid over several                   — 3 500 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
         years to persons whose main occupation is                             the areas exceeds 50 hectolitres but not 90
          farming, to offset consecutive income losses due to                  hectolitres,
         restructuring :                                                   — 5 000 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
                                                                               the areas exceeds 90 hectolitres, but not 130
         This premium shall be granted for a maximum                           hectolitres,
         period of four years, to total between 800 and                    — 6 200 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
          1 500 ECU per hectare of replanted vineyard or                       the areas exceeds 130 hectolitres but not 160
         between 200 and 500 ECU per hectare of double­                        hectolitres,
         grafted vineyard, depending on the age and the
         yield of the vineyard which has been grubbed or                   — 6 500 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
                                                                               the areas exceeds 1 60 hectolitres ;
         double grafted respectively.
                                                                        — for areas planted with varieties classified, for the
         The yields to be taken into consideration for the                 administrative unit concerned, as table grapes or as
         granting of the minimum and maximum amounts                       both table and wine grapes ;
         of the additional premiums shall be 15 and 80
         hectolitres of wine per hectare respectively. The                 — 5 500 ECU in the case of vines trained by the
         procedure for determining the variable amount of                      pergola method,
         the additional premium shall be laid down in the                  — 3 500 ECU in the case of vines trained by a
         programme referred to in Article 3 ;                                  method other than the pergola method .
(b) in the case of support measures within the meaning of          2. The amounts specified in the second and third
     Article 2 (3), investment aid of up to 1 500 ECU per          indents of paragraph 1 (c) shall be increased by 300 ECU
     hectare of restructured vineyard where the land               per hectare if the areas concerned constitute the entire
     improvement operations entail drainage and anti­              area under vines cultivated by the applicant.
     erosion measures, or work connected with land conso­
     lidation, such as levelling, the creation of embank­          3 . The Portuguese Republic shall be authorized to
     ments, ditches and access roads or tracks and other           reduce the amounts specified in paragraph 1 (c) if the
     work made necessary as a result of land consolidation .       applicant for the permanent abandonment premium is a
                                                                   member of a cooperative wine-cellar or other wine­
     Aid for the technical assistance necessary for carrying       growers' association. In this case, the premium shall be
     out the restructuring of the vineyards covered by the         reduced by an amount not exceeding 7 % and the corres­
     common measure, including aid for the preparation of          ponding sum shall be sent to the wine-cellar or associa­
     restructuring projects, shall not exceed 5 % of the           tion in question .
     estimated total cost of restructuring provided for in
     the programme approved in accordance with the                 4. The compensation provided for in Article 6 (2) (c)
     procedure laid down in Article 12 ;                           shall constitute intervention intended to stabilize the agri­
                                                                   cultural markets within the meaning of Article 1 (2) of
                                                                   Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 .
(c) the permanent abandonment premium per hectare
     referred to in Article 6 , the amount of which shall be
     laid down as follows :                                        5. The Fund, Guidance Section , shall repay to the
                                                                   Portuguese Republic 50 % of eligible expenditure within
     — for areas of not less than 10 ares but not more             the limits laid down in paragraph 1 for restructuring.
         than 25 ares planted with wine grape varieties and
         constituting the entire area under vines on the          As regards the permanent abandonment premium , the
         holding concerned : 2 500 ECU,                            Fund, Guidance Section , shall repay 70 % of expenditure
     — for areas of more than 25 ares planted with wine            within the limits laid down in Article 6 (4).
         grape varieties :
                                                                   As regards the compensation provided for in Article 6 (2)
         — 1 000 ECU if the average yield per hectare of           (c), the Fund, Guarantee Section, shall finance 90 % of
             the areas is not more than 20 hectolitres,            expenditure within the limits laid down in Article 6 (4).
 ---pagebreak--- No L 196/6                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                  18 . 7 . 86
                          Article 10                            4.     Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall
                                                                be adopoted in accordance with the procedure laid down
1.    The period for carrying out the common measure            in Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.
shall be 10 years.
                                                                                          Article 12
2.    Every year, the Portuguese Republic shall submit a
progress report on the common measure in accordance              1 . Where reference is made to the procedure laid down
with the procedure laid down by the Commission when             in this Article, the Standing Committee on Agricultural
the programme is approved.                                      Structures shall be consulted by its chairman, either on
                                                                his own initiative or at the request of the representative of
                                                                a Member State .
3. Before the expiry of the period provided for in para­
graph 1 , the Council shall decide, on a proposal from the      2. The representative of the Commission shall submit a
Commission, whether the common measure should be                draft of the measures to be taken . The Standing
extended .                                                      Committee on Agricultural Structures shall deliver its
                                                                opinion on the draft within a time limit which the
4.    The estimated cost of the common measure to the           chairman may lay down depending on the urgency of the
Fund is 73 million ECU, that amount being indicative            matter. The opinion shall be delivered by a majority of 54
only.                                                           votes, the votes of the Member States being weighted as
                                                                provided for in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty. The
5. Article 6 (5) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 shall            chairman shall not vote .
apply.
                                                                3 . The Commission shall adopt the measures, which
                                                                shall be immediately applicable. However, • if these
                          Article 11                            measures are not in accordance with the opinion adopted
                                                                by the Standing Committee on Agricultural Structures,
1 . Applications for repayment shall relate to expendi­         they shall forthwith be communicated by the Commis­
ture incurred by the Portuguese Republic during one              sion to the Council . In that event the Commission may
                                                                defer, for not more than one month from the date of such
calendar year and shall be submitted to the Commission
before 1 July of the following year.                            communication, application of the measures which it has
                                                                adopted.
2. Any decision to grant aid from the Fund shall be             The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a
taken in accordance with Article 7 ( 1 ) of Regulation (EEC)     different decision within one month .
No 729 /70 .
                                                                                           Article 13
3 . Advance payments may be granted by the Fund
depending on the financing arrangements adopted by the          This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
Portuguese Republic and the progress of the measures             following its publication in the Official Journal of the
provided for in Titles I and II .                                European Communities.
                 This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
                 States .
                 Done at Brussels, 14 July 1986.
                                                                             For the Council
                                                                               The President
                                                                               M. JOPLING