CELEX: 32000R2097
Language: en
Date: 2000-10-03 00:00:00
Title: Commission Regulation (EC) No 2097/2000 of 3 October 2000 on a special intervention measure for cereals in Finland and Sweden

4.10.2000             EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                        L 249/15
                                          COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2097/2000
                                                            of 3 October 2000
                             on a special intervention measure for cereals in Finland and Sweden
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                                       storage are more costly to the Community budget than
                                                                                  direct exports.
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                     (5)     These additional costs can be avoided under a special
Community,                                                                        intervention measure within the meaning of Article 6 of
                                                                                  that Regulation. This intervention measure may be taken
                                                                                  in the form of a measure intended to relieve the market
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 of 30                        in oats in Finland and Sweden. The grant of a refund by
June 1992 on the common organisation of the market in                             a tendering procedure which would apply only to oats
cereals (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1666/                          produced and exported from those two countries would
2000 (2), and in particular Article 6 thereof,                                    be the most appropriate measure in the circumstances.
                                                                                  This approach was followed in the 1999/2000
                                                                                  marketing year pursuant to Commission Regulation (EC)
Whereas:                                                                          No 1897/1999 (3), as last amended by Regulation (EC)
                                                                                  No 2482/1999 (4).
(1)     Oats are one of the products covered by the common
                                                                          (6)     The nature and objectives of the said measure make it
        organisation of the market in cereals. It is not, however,
                                                                                  appropriate to apply to it, mutatis mutandis, Article 13 of
        included among the basic cereals referred to in Article 4
                                                                                  Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 and the Regulations
        of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 for which provision is
                                                                                  adopted for its implementation, in particular Commis-
        made for intervention buying in.
                                                                                  sion Regulation (EC) No 1501/95 of 29 June 1995
                                                                                  laying down certain detailed rules for the application of
                                                                                  Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 on the granting
(2)     Oats is a major traditional crop in Finland and Sweden                    of export refunds on cereals and the measures to be
        which is well suited to the weather conditions obtaining                  taken in the event of disturbance on the market for
        in those countries. Production far exceeds requirements                   cereals (5), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2513/
        in those countries with the result that they are required                 98 (6).
        to dispose of surpluses by exporting them to third coun-
        tries. Membership of the Community has not altered the
        previously existing situation.                                    (7)     Regulation (EC) No 1501/95 requires tenderers to apply
                                                                                  for an export licence among their other undertakings.
                                                                                  Compliance with this obligation may be ensured by
(3)     Any reduction in the quantity of oats grown in Finland                    requiring tenderers to lodge a security of EUR 12 per
        and Sweden would be beneficial to other cereals quali-                    tonne when they submit their tenders.
        fying for the intervention arrangements, especially
        barley. Production of barley is in surplus both in the two        (8)     The cereals in question should actually be exported from
        Nordic countries and across the whole of the                              the Member States for which a special intervention
        Community. A switch from oats to barley would only                        measure was implemented. It is necessary therefore to
        worsen the situation and create further surpluses. It is                  limit the use of export licences to exports from the
        necessary therefore to ensure that exports of oats to                     Member State in which application for the licence was
        third countries can continue.                                             made and to oats produced in Finland and Sweden.
(4)     Refunds may be granted in respect of oats pursuant to             (9)     In order to ensure equal treatment for all concerned, it is
        Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92. The                            necessary to make provision that the licences issued
        geographical situation of Finland and Sweden places                       have an identical period of validity.
        them in a less favourable position from the point of
        view of exporting than other Member States. The fixing            (10)    In order to ensure the smooth operation of the export
        of refunds on the basis of Article 13 favours primarily                   tendering procedure, it is necessary to prescribe a
        those other Member States. It is anticipated therefore                    minimum quantity and a time limit and form for the
        that the production of oats in the two Nordic countries                   submission of tenders to the competent agencies.
        will give way increasingly to that of barley. Conse-
        quently, in coming years, substantial quantities of barley        (11)    The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
        must be expected to enter intervention storage in                         accordance with the opinion of the Management
        Finland and Sweden pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation                    Committee for Cereals,
        (EEC) No 1766/92, the only possibility of disposal being
        export to third countries. Exports from intervention
                                                                          (3) OJ L  233,  3.9.1999, p. 10.
                                                                          (4) OJ L  303,  26.9.1999, p. 3.
( ) OJ L 181, 1.7.1992, p. 21.
 1                                                                        (5) OJ L  147,  30.6.1995, p. 7.
(2) OJ L 193, 29.7.2000, p. 1.                                            (6) OJ L  313,  21.11.1998, p. 16.
 ---pagebreak--- L 249/16               EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                       4.10.2000
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:                                                                             Article 5
                                                                           The refund shall be valid only for exports from Finland and
                              Article 1                                    Sweden.
1.     A special intervention measure in the form of an export
refund shall be implemented in respect of 500 000 tonnes of                                              Article 6
oats produced in Finland and Sweden and intended for export
from Finland and Sweden to all third countries.                            The security referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No
                                                                           1501/95 shall be EUR 12 per tonne.
Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 and the provisions
adopted for the application of that Article shall apply, mutatis
mutandis, to the said refund.                                                                            Article 7
2.     The Finnish and Swedish intervention agencies shall be              1.     Notwithstanding Article 23(1) of Commission Regulation
responsible for implementing the measure referred to in para-              (EEC) No 1291/2000 (2), export licences issued in accordance
graph 1.                                                                   with Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1501/95 shall, for the
                                                                           purpose of determining their period of validity, be deemed to
                              Article 2                                    have been issued on the day on which the tender was
                                                                           submitted.
1.     Tenders shall be invited in order to determine the amount
of the refund referred to in Article 1.                                    2.     Export licences issued under this tendering procedure
                                                                           shall be valid from their date of issue, as defined in paragraph
2.     The invitation to tender shall relate to the quantity of oats       1, until the end of the fourth month following that of issue.
referred to in Article 1(1) for export to all third countries.
                                                                           3.     Notwithstanding Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 1291/
3.     The invitation shall remain open until 28 June 2001.                2000, export licences issued under this tendering procedure
During its period of validity weekly awards shall be made, for             shall be valid in Finland and Sweden only.
which the time limits for the submission of tenders shall be
specified in the notice of invitation to tender.
                                                                                                         Article 8
Notwithstanding Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1501/95,
the time limit for the submission of tenders for the first partial         1.     On the basis of tenders notified, the Commission shall
invitation to tender shall be 5 October 2000.                              decide, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
                                                                           23 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92, either:
4.     Tenders must be submitted to the Finnish and Swedish
intervention agencies named in the notice of invitation.                   — to fix a maximum export refund, taking into account in
                                                                               particular the criteria laid down in Article 1 of Regulation
5.     The tendering procedure shall take place in accordance                  (EC) No 1501/95, or
with this Regulation and Regulation (EC) No 1501/95.                       — to make no award.
                              Article 3                                    2.     Where a maximum export refund is fixed, a contract shall
                                                                           be awarded to any tenderer whose tender specifies a rate of
A tender shall be valid only if:                                           refund not exceeding such maximum export refund.
(a) it relates to not less than 1 000 tonnes;
                                                                                                         Article 9
(b) it is accompanied by a written undertaking from the
     tenderer specifying that it relates solely to oats grown in           Tenders submitted must reach the Commission via the Finnish
     Finland and Sweden which are to be exported from those                and Swedish intervention agencies not later than one and a half
     countries.                                                            hours following expiry of the deadline for the weekly submis-
                                                                           sion of tenders as specified in the notice of invitation to tender.
Where the undertaking referred to in paragraph (b) is not
                                                                           They must be communicated in the form shown in Annex I to
fulfilled, the security provided for in Article 10 of Commission
                                                                           the telex or fax numbers given in Annex II.
Regulation (EC) No 1162/95 (1) shall be forfeited, except in
cases of force majeure.                                                    If no tenders are received, the Finnish and Swedish intervention
                                                                           agencies shall inform the Commission thereof within the
                              Article 4                                    period specified in the first paragraph.
Under the tendering procedure referred to in Article 2, one of             The times fixed for the submission of tenders shall correspond
the following entries shall be made in box 20 of applications              to Belgian time.
and export licences:
— ”Asetus (EY) N:o 2097/2000 — Todistus on voimassa                                                     Article 10
     ainoastaan Suomessa ja Ruotsissa”,
— ”Förordning (EG) nr 2097/2000 — Licensen giltig endast i                 This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its
     Finland och Sverige”.                                                 publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
(1) OJ L 117, 24.5.1995, p. 2.                                             (2) OJ L 152, 24.6.2000, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak--- 4.10.2000          EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                         L 249/17
                 This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
                 Done at Brussels, 3 October 2000.
                                                                                    For the Commission
                                                                                      Franz FISCHLER
                                                                              Member of the Commission
                                                                ANNEX I
            Weekly tender for the refund for the export of oats from Finland and Sweden to all third countries
                                                    (Regulation (EC) No 2097/2000)
                                       (Closing date for the submission of tenders (date/time))
                      1                      2                                             3
                    Number                Quantity                             Amount of export refund
                 of tenderer             in tonnes                                (in EUR per tonne)
                      1
                      2
                      3
                     etc.
                                                               ANNEX II
          The only numbers to use to call Brussels are:
          — fax:                (32-2) 296 25 15,
                                (32-2) 296 49 56.
          — telex:              22037 AGREC B,
                                22070 AGREC B (Greek characters).