CELEX: 51975PC0359
Language: en
Date: 1975-07-11
Title: Proposal for a REGULATION (EEG) OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation No 17/64/EEC on the conditions for granting aid from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (75) 359
Vol. 1975/0145
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                                                  COM(75 ) 359 final .
                                                  Brussels , 11 July 1975
                                   Proposai for a
                          REGULATION ( EEG ) (F THE COUNCIL
             emending Regulation Ho 17 /64 /^EC on the conditions for
             granting aid from the European Agricultural Guidance
                                 and Guarantee Fund
                  ( submitted, to the Council by the Commission )
   CCIîi 75 ) 359 final .
 ---pagebreak---                                                               4605/VI/74
                             EXPLA1TAT0RY MMORAEDUM
1 . It has been noted for some time that an increasing number of projects
    for which aid has been granted by the Guidance Section of the E.A.G.G.F.
    under Regulation 2To . 17/64/EEC have hot been carried out or have been
    only partially completed .   In the main these projects are for regions
    of the Community in which the agricultural structure is extremely
    unsatisfactory and in which there is therefore a particular need for
    investment in agriculture .
2 . One effect of such failure to use all or part of the funds allocated
    for projects in respect of which the Commission has decided to grant aid
    is that the appropriations have to be withdrawn , either because the
    beneficiary has Notified the Commission of his intention to abandon
    the project or because , in accordance with Article 6(5 ) of the financial
    regulation , after a period of five years the appropriations are no
    longer carried forward .   Thus , not only can the appropriations in question
    no longer be used for projects to which the Commission wished to
    contribute , they are also permanently lost for all purposes of improving
    agricultural structures .
3 « According to information received by the Commission the situation is
    getting worse , mainly as a result of the economic situation and ,, in
    particular , of price increases and the very high interest rates v
    prevailing on the money market . Moreover, it is particularly in those
    regions which are least developed from the economic point of view,
    where agriculture is of more than average importance in the Community
    and where the agricultural structure is most in need of improvement ,
    that the effects of that trend are increasingly being felt .
4 * It seems necessary therefore to prevent the situation arising in which
    part of the appropriations intended for the improvement of agricultural
    structures , and an ever increasing part , are not expended for that
    purpose . Provisions should therefore be adopted such as to ensure that ,
    as far as possible , funds allocated are in fact used .
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 2 -                   4605/VI/74
 Undfer Regulation No . 45/ 64/EEC applicants fo.r aid must specify in their
 applications the dates on which the work in question is expected to
begin and to be completed . . If, however, the work does not begin within
 a certain period of time following the Commission 's decision to grant
 the aid , the chances of the project being completed are considerably
 reduced . It would therefore seem neoessary, if the beneficiary is not
 in a position to give the necessary guarantees that the project will
be executed , to suppress the grant and to assign the community
contribution to another project                    whose execution is
assured, and so safeguard the credits engaged for the improvement of
the agricultural structure .
It is therefore proposed to provide in Regulation No .              that
the Commission may suppress the aid and instead utilise the funds for
other projects where :
– the beneficiary abandons the project 5
– the beneficiary carries out only a part of the project ( in this case ,
   only the aid in respect of the part not oarried out is to be
   transferred) y
– the beneficiary has not started work within two. ■ years following the
   date of the notification of the . decision, contrary to the information
   contained in his application and in the Commission decision, and has
   been unable to provide adequate assurances before the end of this
   period that the project be completed .
In order to adapt the system to take account of the different categories
of project , it has for several years been found necessary in certain
specific cases to depart , for the purposes of provisions concerning the
financial contribution of the beneficiary and the percentage of aid from
the Fund, from the provisions of Regulation Ho . 17/64/EHJC .
These adjustments have proved useful .     It seems appropriate therefore
to incorporate them in the body of the Regulation and thus obviate the
need to grant fresh derogations each year.
 ---pagebreak---                                         - 3 -                4605AI/74
                                  Proposal for a
                        REGULATION ( EEC ) OF THE COUNCIL
     amending Regulation No,17/54/li!EC on the conditions for granting aid
          from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund
THE COUNCIL OP TI-IE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard to the Treat;* establishing the European Economic Community ,
and in particular Articles 43 and 209 thereof 5
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission !
Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament ;
Whereas , in order to take account of the difficulties experienced in certain
sectorr , the naximum amount of aid from the European Agricultural Guidance
and Guarantee Fund for projects relating to production structure , being
projects submitted in accordance with Council Regulation No. 17/64/EEC^ ^ of 5
February I964 on the conditions for granting aid from the European Agricultural  л 1
Guidance and Guarantee Fund , as last amended by Regulation ( EEC ) No . 2684/ 74 »
should be raised to 45$5 whereas , however , it is only in the case of certain
projects that these difficulties justify aid being granted in excess of 257°
of the total amount of the investment |
Whereas provision should also be made for the financial contribution by the
beneficiary to vary according to whether tho project relates to marketing
structures or to production structures ?
                                                       3)
Whereas under Article 5 of the Financial Regulation       of 25 April 1973 appli­
cable to the general budget of the European Communities ( 73/9l/CECA , EEC,
Euratom ) appropriations committed for the financing of projects shall lapse
if the relevant payments have not been made by the end of a certain period ;
T-Jhereas provisions should be made to ensure as far as possible that appropri­
ations allocated for the improvement of the agricultural structure are not
lost to agriculture } whereas , therefore , where it appears doubtful whether a
project or part of a proj ct will be carried out , th3 aid should , after a
certain period , be cancelled or reduced and assigned to another project , thus
enabling the appropriations concerned to be utilised within the period pre­
scribed by the Financial Regulation 5
l ) O.J. No 34 1 27 February 1264 , p« 586/64
2 ) O.J. No L 288 , 25 October 1974 , p. 5
3 ) O.J. No L 116 , 1 May 1973 , p. 1
 ---pagebreak---                                    – 4 -                  4605Ai/74
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                                   Article 1
The text of the first subparagraph of Article I8(l ) of Re "illation No. 17/c4/EEC
is replaced by the following !
"For a given project , in relation to the investment made :
- the subsidies granted by the Fund may not exceed 25$» however, in the case
    of certain projects satisfying the requirements of Article ll(l)(a) or ( b )
    subsidies of up to 45$ nay be granted by the Fund }
- the financial contribution of the party benefiting from the improvement
    shall not be less than :                                      •
   – 20$, in the    case of projects satisfying the requirements of Article
       ll(l)(a ) or (b ), or
   - 38$, in the    case of projects satisfying the requirements of Article
       ll(l)(c ) or ( d )".
                                   Article 2
1 . In Article 22 of Regulation No . I7/64/EEC a new paragraph 3 as follows is
inserted ?
"Without prejudice to the principles of Article 6(5 ) of the Financial Regulation,
aid awarded by the Fund may be cancelled or reduced and the corresponding credits
utilised to finance other projects :
- if the beneficiary abandons the project , or ,
- if the beneficiary, contrary to the information as contained in his
    application and set out in the decision to grant aid , has not within two
    years from the date of notification of that decision commenced the work
    furnished assurances sufficient to ensure that the project will be carried
    out , or
- if the beneficiary reduces the investment provided for in the decision to
    grant aid .
A decision under the preceding subparagraph to cancel or reduce aid shall be
taken in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19(1 ) | the decision
shall be made by the Commission , after consultation with the Fund Committee on
the financial aspects . The decision shall be notified to the Member State con­
cerned and to the beneficiaries ."
2. - Paragraph 3 of Article 22 of Régulation No. I7/64/EEC becomes paragraph 4 «
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 5 -                  4605 Ai/74
                                   Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Conmurities ,
This Regulation shall "be "binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States .
Done at Brussels ,                                    For the Council
                                                      The President