CELEX: 51986PC0286
Language: en
Date: 1986-05-23
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ADAPTING, BY REASON OF THE ACCESSION OF SPAIN, REGULATIONS ( EEC ) NO 797/85, NO 355/77 AND NO 1360/78 ON AGRICULTURAL STRUCTURES

13. 6. 86                                Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 146/13
                                                                II
                                                        (Preparatory Acts)
                                                   COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) adapting, by reason of the accession of Spain, Regu-
              lations (EEC) No 797/85, (EEC) No 355/77 and (EEC) No 1360/78 on agricultural structures
                                                       COM(86) 286 final
                                 (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 23 May 1986)
                                                          (86/C 146/07)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                            III of Regulation (EEC) No 797/85, seems insufficient
                                                                    to enable these measures to be effectively implemented;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European               whereas the rate should therefore be increased to 50 % ;
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43
thereof,                                                            Whereas the areas to which the 50 % reimbursement
                                                                    rate is to apply can be determined only in conjunction
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                  with the establishment of the Community list of less-
                                                                    favoured areas in Spain;
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-
liament,                                                            Whereas in many regions of Spain the marketing and
                                                                    processing of agricultural products are insufficiently
                                                                     developed and, in many cases, in need of rationalization;
Whereas the declaration made by the Community on 18                 whereas the expansion and improvement of marketing
April 1985 in the context of the negotiations on Spain's             and processing facilitites are essential if agricultural
accession to the Communities provides that, following                structures, which are particularly inadequate in many
Spanish accession, there should be an extension of the               regions of Spain including the Canary Islands, are to be
scope of certain specific provisions and more favourable             developed and if production is to be redirected and
conditions laid down in the Community's horizontal                   adapted in line with market requirements;
legislation as at the date of accession, and in particular
those on behalf of less-favoured areas;
                                                                     Whereas, particularly because of the slowness of overall
                                                                     economic development and financing              difficulties,
Whereas the structural situation in Spanish agriculture              worthwhile economic initiatives to improve the
and the situation on the Spanish capital markets justify             processing and marketing of agricultural products in
the application of the special conditions referred to in             such regions cannot be encouraged without particularly
Article 2 (1) (d) and Article 4 (2) of Council Regulation            intensive efforts suited to the requirements of the various
 (EEC) No 797/85 of 12 March 1985 on improving the                   regions; whereas there should consequently be an
efficiency of agricultural structures (*), as last amended           increase in the Community financial contribution
by Regulation (EEC) No 3827/85 ( 2 );                                provided for in Council Regulation (EEC) No 355/77 of
                                                                      15 February 1977 on common measures to improve the
Whereas in the mountain areas and less-favoured areas                conditions under which agricultural and fishery products
 of Spain three hectares of utilized agricultural area is too        are processed and marketed (3), as last amended by
 high a minimum level for farms qualifying for the                   Regulation (EEC) No 3827/85;
 compensatory allowance referred to in Title III of Regu-
 lation (EEC) No 797/85, given the preponderance of                  Whereas, in the same context, application of the
 very small farms in that country; whereas the level                 common measure introduced by Council Regulation
 should be fixed at two hectares of UAA;                             (EEC) No 1360/78 of 19 June 1978 on producer groups
                                                                     and associations thereof (4), as last amended by Regu-
 Whereas in the less-favoured areas of Spain, including              lation (EEC) No 3827/85 may help to achieve the
 those on the Canary Islands, the 25 % rate of                       abovementioned objectives,
 reimbursement for eligible expenditure on investment
 aids, and in particular the measures referred to in Title
 C) OJ No L 93, 30. 3. 1985, p. 1.                                    (3) OJ No L 51, 23. 2. 1977, p. 1.
 (2) OJ No L 372, 31. 12. 1985, p. 1.                                 (4) OJ No L 166, 23. 6. 1978, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 146/14                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                    13. 6. 86
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:                                         2.     For each project, in relation to the investment
                                                                     made:
                           Article 1                                 (a) the financial contribution of the beneficiary must
Regulation (EEC) No 797/85 is hereby amended as                           be not less than 50 %, however, this shall be
follows:                                                                  reduced to:
                                                                          — 35 % in the case of projects carried out in
1. The second subparagraph of Article 2 (1) (d) is                            Languedoc-Roussillon and the departments of
   replaced by the following:                                                 Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhone, Var, Ardeche
    'However, in the less-favoured areas determined in                        and Drome in France, and in the autonomous
    accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of Directive 75/268/                     regions of Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque
    EEC, Spain, Greece, Italy, as regards the                                 country excluding the province of Vizcaya,
    Mezzogiorno including the islands, and Portugal, as                       Navarra, Rioja, in Aragon the province of
   regards its entire territory, shall be authorized to                       Zaragoza, Catalonia excluding the province
    accept improvement plans submitted during the first                       of Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia
   three years of the duration of this common measure                         excluding the provinces of Granada and
    and, in the case of Spain and Portugal, submitted                         Huelva and the Balearic Islands in Spain,
    during the first three years following the entry into                 — 25 % in the case of projects carried out in the
    force of the provisions implementing, in these two                        Mezzogiorno, in the less-favoured areas of
    Member States, the measures provided for in Title I,                      the west of Ireland, in all regions of Greece
   by holdings which do not satisfy the conditions laid                       except greater Athens, in Portugal, in the
    down in this point, provided that the volume of work-                     French overseas departments and in the
    on the holding does not require more than the                             autonomous regions of Galicia, Castile-
    equivalent of one MWU and that projected                                  Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura, in
    investments do not exceed 25 000 ECU.'                                    Andalusia the provinces of Granada and
                                                                              Huelva, in Aragon the provinces of Huesca
2. The last sentence of the last subparagraph of Article 4                    and Teruel, and the Canary Islands in Spain.
    (2) is replaced by the following:
                                                                              Moreover, the Commission may, if this is
    'In the case of Spain and Portugal, the period referred                   justified by the situation on the capital market
    to above shall begin on the date of the entry into                        of a Member State, authorize that Member
    force of the provisions implementing, in these two                        State to reduce the beneficiary's financial
   Member States, the measures specified in Title I.'                         contribution from 50 % to 45 %, in
                                                                              accordance with the procedure laid down in
3. The last subparagraph of Article 14 (1) is replaced by                     Article 22;
    the following:
    'However, in the Mezzogiorno, including the islands,              (b) the financial contribution of the Member States
    in the regions in the French overseas departments and                 on whose territory the project is to be carried out
                                                                          must be not less than 5 % ;
    in the Greek, Portuguese and Spanish regions, the
    minimum utilized agricultural area per holding shall
                                                                      (c) the aid granted by the Fund shall not exceed:
    be two hectares.'
                                                                          — 50 % for projects carried out in the
4. The following paragraph 4 is added to Article 26:                          Mezzogiorno, in the less-favoured areas of
                                                                              the west of Ireland, in all regions of Greece,
    '4.     The Council, when drawing up the list of less-
                                                                              except greater Athens, in Portugal, in the
    favoured agricultural areas in Spain within the
                                                                              French overseas departments and in the
    meaning of Article 3 of Council Directive 75/268/
                                                                              autonomous regions of Galicia, Castile-
    EEC, shall determine which of these less-favoured
                                                                              Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura, in
    agricultural areas shall qualify for the 5 0 % rate of
                                                                              Andalusia the provinces of Granada and
    reimbursement for the measures referred to in Articles
                                                                              Huelva, in Aragon the provinces of Huesca
    3, 4, 14 and 17.'
                                                                              and Teruel, and the Canary Islands in Spain,
                           Article 2                                      — 35 % for projects carried out in Languedoc-
                                                                              Roussillon and in the departments of
Regulation (EEC) No 355/77 is hereby amended as                               Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhone, Var, Ardeche
follows:                                                                      and Drome in France, and in the autonomous
                                                                              regions of Asturias, the Basque country
Article 17 is replaced by the following:                                      excluding the province of Vizcaya, Navarra,
                                                                              Rioja, in Aragon the province of Zaragoza,
      Article 17                                                              Catalonia      excluding    the   province      of
                                                                              Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia
     1.     The aid from the Fund shall consist of capital                    excluding the provinces of Granada and
     grants paid in a lump sum or instalments.                                Huelva and the Balearic Islands in Spain,
 ---pagebreak--- 13.6.86                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 146/15
       — 25 % in other regions; however, the                                     Roussillon and in the departments of
           Commission may, in accordance with the                                Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhdne, Var, Ardeche
           procedure laid down in Article 22, increase                           and Drome in France, and in the autonomous
           this to a maximum of 30 % in the case of                              regions of Asturias, in the Basque country the
           projects referred to in Article 11 (c).                               province of Navarra, Rioja, in Aragon the
                                                                                 province of Zaragoza, Catalonia excluding
   3.   Where aid is granted by the Fund for the                                 the province of Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia,
   purchase of harvesting equipment under Article 6 (f),                         Andalusia excluding the provinces of Granada
   the percentages referred to in paragraph 2 shall be                           and Huelva and the Balearic Islands in Spain,
   determined as follows:
                                                                            — 10 % in other regions and 20 % in the case
   (a) the financial contribution of the beneficiary must                        of projects submitted before 31 December
       be at least 80 % and, in the case of Greece,                              1986 in the other regions of Greece, Ireland,
       Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, for projects                          Italy and Spain.
       submitted before 31 December 1986, not less
       than 70 %.                                                                             Article 3
       However, this contribution shall be reduced to:
                                                                  Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78 is hereby amended as
       — 70 % and, in the case of projects submitted              follows:
           before 31 December 1986, 60 % in the case
           of projects carried out in the Mezzogiorno, in         1. The fifth indent of Article 2 is replaced by the
           the less-favoured areas of the west of Ireland,             following:
           in all regions of Greece except greater
           Athens, in Portugal and in the autonomous                   '— the whole of Portugal and Spain',
           regions of Galicia, Castile-Leon, Castile-La
           Mancha, Extremadura, in Andalusia the                  2. In Article 3 (1) the first sentence is replaced by the
           provinces of Granada and Huelva, in Aragon                  following:
           the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, and the
                                                                       '1.     In the case of Italy, Greece, Portugal and
           Canary Islands in Spain,
                                                                       Spain, this Regulation shall apply to the following
       — 70 % in the case of projects carried out in the               products provided that such products are produced in
           French overseas departments and those of                    those countries.'
           Valcluse, Bouches-du-Rhone, Var, Ardeche
           and Drome in France and in the autonomous              3. In the second indent of Article 11 (1), the first sub-
           regions of Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque                  indent is replaced by the following:
           country excluding the province of Vizcaya,
           Navarra, Rioja, in Aragon the province of                   '— in existence for more than three years on the date
           Zaragoza, Catalonia excluding the province                       of the entry into force of this Regulation and, in
           of Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia Andalusia                         the case of Greece, Portugal and Spain, on the
           excluding the provinces of Granada and                           day of accession'.
           Huelva and the Balearic Islands in Spain;
                                                                  4. In Article 19, the end of the second indent is replaced
   (b) the aid granted by the Fund shall not exceed:                   by the following:
       — 20 % and, in the case of projects submitted
                                                                       'and in the case of Portugal and Spain, by 31 March
           before 31 December 1986, 30 % in the case
                                                                        1987'.
           of projects carried out in the Mezzogiorno, in
           the less-favoured areas of the west of Ireland,
           in all regions of Greece except greater                                            Article 4
           Athens, in Portugal and in the autonomous
           regions of Galicia, Castile-Leon, Castile-La           This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
            Mancha, Extremadura, in Andalusia the                  following its publication in the Official Journal of the
           provinces of Granada and Huelva, in Aragon              European Communities.
           the provinces of Huesca and Teruel, and the
                                                                   It shall apply with effect from 1 January 1986.
            Canary Islands in Spain,
        — 20 % in the case of projects carried out in the         This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
            French overseas departments, in Languedoc-             directly applicable in all Member States.