CELEX: 51986PC0281
Language: en
Date: 1986-05-28
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) ON A COMMON MEASURE TO IMPROVE VINE-GROWING STRUCTURES IN PORTUGAL

19. 6. 86                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 153/5
                                                               II
                                                       (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
               Proposal for a Council Regulation on a common measure to improve vine-growing structures in
                                                            Portugal
                                                      COM(86) 281 final
                                (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 3 June 1986)
                                                        (86/C 153/06)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                            made for Portugal to qualify both for measures relating
                                                                   to restructuring and for measures to encourage the
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European               abandonment of certain areas under vines;
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43
thereof,
                                                                   Whereas    the measures for restructuring vineyards must
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                 not lead  to an increase in areas under vines in Portugal;
                                                                   whereas     action to restructure vineyards should be
Having regard        to  the  opinion   of  the    European        confined  to areas particularly suitable for vine-growing;
Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                   Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 458/80 of 18
Social Committee,                                                  February 1980 on collective projects for the restructuring
                                                                   of vineyards ('), as last amended by Regulation (EEC)
Whereas the measures referred to in Article 263 (2) (b)            No 3827/85 (2), cannot apply to Portugal on account of
and (c) of the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal              the absence of a classification of vine-growing areas in
provide in particular for:                                         that Member State; whereas, in addition, it is not suited
                                                                   to Portuguese vine-growing structures, on account in
— the application in Portugal, from the date of                    particular of the limited size and the dispersion of vine-
     accession, of Community rules in the socio-structural         growing areas in Portugal;
     field, including those relating to producers' organ-
     izations,
                                                                   Whereas provision should accordingly be made for a
— the extension, to the advantage of Portugal, within
                                                                   specific measure for Portugal and whereas the restruc-
    the framework of the rules referred to under (b), of           turing measures should be extended to include the
    the most favourable specific provisions existing at            necessary support operations, such as land improvement
    that date, in horizontal Community rules, to the               and consolidation, and areas under vines intended for
    least-favoured areas of the Community as constituted           the production of tables grapes;
     on 31 December 1985;
Whereas, to achieve the objectives of the common agri-
cultural policy mentioned in Article 39 (1) (a) and (b) of         Whereas the restructuring measures can only be
the Treaty, special provisions adapted to the situation in         implemented successfully if aid is granted to compensate
the least-favoured agricultural areas must be taken at             for the cost of restructuring work (aid for restructuring)
Community level;                                                   and for the income losses entailed by the restructuring
                                                                   operations (additional premium);
Whereas the vine-growing structures in Portugal must be
improved in view of the major imbalances of a structural
nature encountered, particularly as regards the general            Whereas, in order to ensure maximum effectiveness for
state of vineyards, the location and the dispersion of             the vineyard restructuring operations, priority should be
areas and the quality of the vine products;                        given to those covering large areas carried out on a
                                                                   collective basis; whereas, to this end, additional aid
Whereas the imbalances on the wine market may be
gradually eliminated only by a coherent series of                  (') OJ No L 57, 29. 2. 1980, p. 27.
measures; whereas, consequently, provision should be               O OJ No L 372, 31. 12. 1985, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak---  No C 153/6                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                   19.6. 86
 should be granted where restructuring operations are              HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
 carried out by a group or on a collective basis;
                                                                                             Article 1
                                                                   With a view to contributing towards improving the
Whereas, in order to obtain the economic and qualitative           situation in the wine sector in Portugal by improving the
results expected of the restructuring measures, vine-              basic vine-growing structures on the one hand and by
growers involved in restructuring operations should be
                                                                   encouraging the permanent abandonment of certain
 afforded the requisite technical assistance, including
                                                                   areas under vines on the other, a common measure
assistance with the preparation of restructuring projects;
                                                                   within the meaning of Article 6 (1) of Regulation (EEC)
                                                                   No 729/70 is hereby instituted.
Whereas the abandonment of certain areas under vines
should be encouraged on account of the growing                                               TITLE I
imbalance on the market for wine and the need to
reduce the Community vine-growing potential; whereas,                               Restructuring of vineyards
to this end, premiums for the permanent abandonment of
certain areas under vines, varying with productivity,                                        Article 2
should be granted;
                                                                   1.    In accordance with Articles 3 and 5, the
                                                                   Community shall grant aid for the common measure by
                                                                   providing finance through the Guidance Section of the
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 777/85 of 26                   European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund,
March 1985 on the granting, for the 1985/86 to 1989/90             hereinafter referred to as 'the Fund', for the following:
wine years, of permanent abandonment premiums in
respect of certain areas under vines ('), as last amended          — measures to restructure vineyards intended for the
by Regulation (EEC) N o 3775/85 (2), provides for                      production of wine or table grapes,
permanent abandonment premiums which are not                       — various support measures connected with restruc-
adapted to the real price situation in Portugal;                       turing.
                                                                   2.    For the purposes of this Regulation, the restruc-
Whereas funds available in Portugal are fairly limited;            turing operations shall comprise:
whereas provision should be made for a cofinancing rate
                                                                   — the grubbing of vines on plots with a minimum area
at Community level of 50 % of expenditure incurred on
                                                                       equivalent to that referred to in the second indent,
implementation of restructuring measures and that rate
should be raised to 70 °/o for expenditure incurred on the         — the replanting of vines intended for the production of
implementation of measures for the permanent                           quality wines produced in specified regions (quality
abandonment of vine-growing where the results will                     wines psr) or tables wines and table grapes, of
reduce EAGGF Guarantee Section expenditure;                            improved quality, by means of an appropriate
                                                                       selection of recommended vine varieties, on land
                                                                       whether or not located on the same holding with a
Whereas the achievement of such objectives should be                   minimum area of 0,25 hectares in the case of
encouraged via action combining the indispensable                      individual restructuring, 1 hectare in the case of
measures and involving a programme extending over                      group restructuring involving at least three vine-
several years;                                                         growers and 10 hectares in the case of collective
                                                                       restructuring involving at least 15 vine-growers,
                                                                       whether or not including land consolidation,
Whereas it is the responsibility of the Commission,                — the double grafting of vines under the conditions and
having obtained the opinion of the Standing Committee                  with the vine varieties referred to in the second
on Agricultural Structure, to decide on the approval of a              indent.
programme submitted by the Portuguese Government;
                                                                   However, in the autonomous regions of Madeira and the
                                                                   Azores, the Commission may, at the request of the
                                                                   Member State, authorize the minimum area required to
Whereas it follows from the foregoing that the                     be reduced.
abovementioned measures constitute a common measure
within the meaning of Article 6 of Council Regulation              3.    For the purposes of        this Regulation,   support
(EEC) No 729/70 of 21 April 1970 on the financing of               measures shall consist of:
the common agricultural policy (3), as last amended by
Regulation (EEC) No 3769/85 (4),                                   — the production of replanting material in line with the
                                                                       requirements of the common measure,
0) OJ No L 88, 28. 3. 1985, p. 8.                                  — land-improvement work such as measures to prevent
(2) OJ No L 362, 31. 12. 1985, p. 39.                                  the erosion of areas under vines, the laying of
(3) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.                                    intercepting ditches, drainage, levelling and stone
(4) OJ No L 362, 31. 12. 1985, p. 17.                                  clearance,
 ---pagebreak---  19.6.86                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 153/7
— improvement of access roads or tracks to vineyards,                                           Article 4
                                                                  The programme referred to in Article 3 shall contain in
— land consolidation,
                                                                  particular information on the following:
— such technical assistance as is essential for achieving         (a) restructuring:
    the aims of the common measure.
                                                                       — a definition of the quality of soil suitable for
4.    The following     shall  not  qualify   for  aid   for               restructuring,
restructuring:
                                                                       — the estimated number of hectares of vineyard to
                                                                           have been restructured on completion of the
— areas on deep soil containing little coarse matter,
                                                                           programme and a timetable for the works,
                                                                       — the location of the main areas of restructuring,
    areas which are clearly unsuitable for vine-growing                — the suitability of those areas         for   providing
    owing in particular to adverse natural soil conditions,                products of sound quality,
    unsuitable slopes, excessive humidity and adverse
    exposure,                                                          — details of the vine varieties, their origin and
                                                                           regional distribution,
                                                                       — in the case of collective restructuring, the nature
                                                                           of the constraints imposed in order to ensure the
— areas suitable for providing sufficient income with
                                                                           effectiveness of the operations,
    other crops which have normal outlets on the
    markets.                                                           — the provisions contemplated in order to improve
                                                                           land distribution, i.e. land consolidation or other
5.    For the duration of the common measure, the                          measures. In the latter case, arrangements to
measures for restructuring Portuguese vineyards shall not                  arrive at a parcelling ratio of at least 2 to 1 at
qualify for the Community aid provided for in                              commune level must be provided for, to ensure
Regulation (EEC) No 458/80.                                                that the establishment of new vineyards takes the
                                                                           form solely of replanting, i.e. planting after
Vine-growers who have received the permanent                               grubbing operations carried out with a view to
abandonment premium provided for in Title II may sub-                      restructuring;
sequently qualify for the aid for restructuring provided
for in this Title only where the areas in respect of which        (b) support measures:
the abovementioned abandonment premium was paid are
not adjacent to the other areas of the holding.                        — the provisions contemplated with a view to the
                                                                           production of selected replanting and grafting
                                                                           material,
                         Article 3
                                                                      — as regards land improvement, a description of the
1.    The financial contribution by the Community shall                    works planned for each major restructuring area,
be granted only in the context of a programme involving
all the operations referred to in Article 2 (1). That                 — a summary of total expenditure broken down
programme shall be submitted to the Commission by                          into public, private and Community expenditure
Portugal.                                                                  and a timetable,
2.    At the request of the Commission, Portugal shall                 — the arrangements for providing the technical
provide additional information for assessing the data                      supervision which is essential for the success of
provided for in Article 4.                                                 the restructuring operations and for ensuring that
                                                                           new staff will be recruited only for carrying out
                                                                           the common measure.
3.    The programme and any amendments to it shall be
examined and approved after the Fund Committee has
been consulted on the financial aspects in accordance                                          Article 5
with the procedure laid down in Article 12. At the time           Investments qualifying for a financial contribution from
when the programme is approved, the Commission shall              the Community under Council Regulation (EEC) No
determine in agreement with the Member State, the                 797/85 ( l ) or other common measures within the
information which must appear in the annual report on             meaning of Article 6 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No
the application of the Regulation to be submitted to the          729/70 may not qualify for a financial contribution from
Commission each year.                                             the Fund under this Title.
4.    The duration of the programme shall be not less
than that of the common measure.                                  (') O J N o L 9 3 , 30.3. 1985, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 153/8                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                  19. 6. 86
                          TITLE II                                  2.    The grant of the premium shall be subject to a
                                                                    written declaration in which the applicant undertakes:
          Permanent abandonment of vine-growing                     — by 31 May of the year following that in which the
                                                                        application is submitted, to grub, or cause to be
                                                                        grubbed, the vines on the areas for which the
                           Article 6                                    premium has been applied for,
1.     In accordance with Articles 7 and 8, vine-growers            — not to plant, on the holding to which the area for
cultivating areas under vines as referred to in Article 2               which the premium is received belongs, new vines
(4) may, on application, qualify for a premium for the                  within the meaning of Annex IVa (e) of Council
permanent abandonment of vine-growing.                                  Regulation (EEC) No 337/79 for 16 wine years
                                                                        following that in which the vines are grubbed,
2.     The grant of the permanent abandonment premium
                                                                    — to declare each year during that period, where
shall entail for the vine-grower:
                                                                        appropriate at the same time as his harvest, the area
                                                                        under vines which is in production and the area
(a) forfeiture of the right to replant the area for which               which is not in production.
     the premium is paid;
                                                                    3.    The grant of the premium shall also be subject to
(b) a reduction of the replanting right originating from            the applicant:
     any grubbing carried out on the residual vine-
     growing area of the holding after the grant of the             — being entitled, when the application is submitted, to
     premium and exercised before the date of expiry of                 continue to cultivate the land in question during the
     this Regulation. The reduction shall be equal to                   period referred to in the second indent of para-
     20 % ;                                                             graph 2,
                                                                    — producing, if he does not fulfil the condition laid
(c) compensation for the reduction provided for in (b)                  down in the first indent, a written undertaking by the
     equal to 500 ECU per hectare of vineyard grubbed.                  owner of the land that he will guarantee that the
     Such compensation shall be paid, on application by                 obligations laid down in paragraphe 2 are complied
     the holder of the replanting right, by Portugal when               with or that he will comply with them personally.
     the right in question is exercised.
                                                                    If, after the grant of the premium, and in the course of
                                                                    the period referred to in the second indent of paragraph
3.     Paragraph 2 (b) and (c) may be amended by the
                                                                    2, all or part of the holding should pass to another party,
Council acting by a qualified majority on a proposal
                                                                    the recipient of the premium or his assignees shall remain
from the Commission.
                                                                    responsible for the performance by the successor of the
                                                                    undertaking entered into by the recipient, unless:
4.     The permanent abandonment premium shall be
limited to an overall area of 15 000 hectares. It shall be          — the successor enters into such an undertaking on his
granted in respect of a minimum area of 0,10 hectares.                  own account for the remainder of the period,
                                                                        or
5.     For the duration of the common measures provided
for in this Regulation, vine-growers may not qualify for            — the owner has given the undertaking provided for in
the permanent abandonment premium provided for in                       the second indent of the first subparagraph.
Regulation (CEE) No 777/85.
                                                                    4.     Portugal may decide to bring forward the dates
                                                                    referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 and
                           Article 7                                the first indent of paragraph 2.
 1.    Applications for permanent abandonment premiums
must be submitted to the departments designated by                                            Article 8
Portugal not later than 31 December for the current                  1.    For the grant of the permanent abandonment
wine year.                                                          premium, areas under mixed crops shall be expressed as
                                                                    areas under specialized crops using the customary
Applications relating to areas under wine grapes shall be           conversion factor for the production area concerned.
accompanied by an official declaration stating the yield
per hectare determined on the basis of the declared                 2.     The permanent abandonment premium shall be
average yield of the applicants' holding and the                    paid by the end of the calendar year following that in
production capacity of the vineyard to be grubbed                   which the application for a premium was submitted, on
determined on the spot before grubbing by the                       condition that the applicant has provided evidence that
competent Portuguese agency.                                        grubbing has in fact taken place.
 ---pagebreak---  19.6.86                                Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 153/9
                           TITLE III                                    Aid for the technical assistance necessary for
                                                                        carrying out the restructuring of the vineyards
              Financial and general provisions                          covered by the common measure, including aid for
                                                                        the preparation of restructuring projects, shall not
                           Article 9                                    exceed 5 % of the estimated total cost of restruc-
                                                                        turing in the programme approved in accordance
 1.   The following expenditure incurred by Portugal                    with the procedure laid down in Article 12;
shall be eligible for assistance from the Guidance Section
of the Fund:                                                        (c) the permanent abandonment premium granted in
                                                                        accordance with Article 6 shall be as follows:
(a) in the case of restructuring operations within the
     meaning of Article 2 (2) and in respect of a                       — for areas of not less than 10 ares but not more
     maximum overall area of 30 000 hectares, aid                           than 25 ares planted with wine grape varieties
    granted in the form of:                                                 and constituting the entire area under vines on
                                                                            the holding concerned: 2 500 ECU,
    — an aid per hectare intended to contribute towards
        the actual costs of restructuring work; the aid,                — for areas of more than 25 ares planted with wine
        hereinafter referred to as 'restructuring aid', shall               grape varieties:
        be fixed at a maximum of:
                                                                            — 1 000 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
        — 2 500 ECU per hectare where restructuring                             the said areas is not more than 20 hectolitres,
            involves grubbing of vines, soil preparation
                                                                            — 1 600 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
            and replanting,
                                                                                the said areas exceeds 20 hectolitres but not
        — 500 ECU per hectare where restructuring                               25 hectolitres,
            involves double grafting.
                                                                            — 2 200 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
    Restructuring aid may be increased by a maximum                             the said areas exceeds 25 hectolitres but not
    of:                                                                         30 hectolitres,
        — 200 ECU per hectare in the case of grouped                        — 2 800 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
            restructuring,                                                      the said areas exceeds 30 hectolitres but not
                                                                                50 hectolitres,
        — 400 ECU per hectare in the case of collective
            restructuring,                                                  — 3 500 ECU if the average yield per hectare of
                                                                                the said areas exceeds 50 hectolitres but not
        — 600 ECU per hectare in the case of collective
                                                                                90 hectolitres,
            restructuring carried out in the context of the
            land consolidation at commune level,                            — 5 000 ECU if the yield per hectare of the said
                                                                                areas exceeds 90 hectolitres but not 130
    — a degressive additional premium paid over several                         hectolitres,
        years to persons whose main occupation is
                                                                            — 6 200 ECU if the yield per hectare of the said
        farming to offset income losses due to restruc-
                                                                                areas exceeds 130 hectolitres but not 160
        turing; that premium, hereinafter referred to as
                                                                                hectolitres,
        the 'additional premium', shall be granted for a
        maximum period of four years, to total between                      — 6 500 ECU if the yield per hectare of the said
        800 and 1 500 ECU per hectare of replanted                              areas exceeds 160 hectolitres,
        vineyard or between 200 and 500 ECU per
        hectare of double-grafted vineyard, depending on                — for areas planted with varieties classified, for the
        the age and the yield of the vineyard which has                     administrative unit concerned, as table grapes or
        been grubbed or double grafted respectively; the                    as both table and wine grapes:
        yields to be taken into consideration for the                       — 5 500 ECU in the case of vines trained by the
        granting of the minimum and maximum amounts                             pergola method,
        of the additional premium shall be 15 and 80                        — 3 500 ECU in the case of vines trained by a
        hectolitres of wine per hectare respectively. The                       method other than the pergola method.
        procedure for determining the variable amount of
        the additional premium shall be laid down in the           2.    The amounts specified in paragraph 1 (c) shall be
        programme referred to in Article 3 of this                 increased by 300 ECU per hectare if the areas concerned
        Regulation;                                                constitute the entire area under vines cultivated by the
                                                                   applicant.
(b) in the case of support measures within the meaning
    of Article 2 (3), investment aid of up to 1 500 ECU            3.    The compensation provided for in Article 6 (2) (c)
    per hectare of restructured vineyard, where the land           shall constitute intervention intended to stabilized the
    improvement operations entail drainage and anti-               agricultural markets within the meaning of Article 1 (2)
    erosion measures for work connected with land                  of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.
    consolidation, such as levelling, the building of
    embankments, ditches and access paths and roads                4.    The Fund shall repay to the Portuguese
    and other works made necessary as a result of land             Government 50 % of eligible expenditure within the
    consolidation.                                                 limits laid down in paragraph 1 for restructuring.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 153/10                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                   19.6.86
As regards the permanent abandonment premiums, the               4.    Detailed rules for the application of this Article
Fund shall repay 70 % of expenditure within the limits           shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid
laid down in Article 6 (4).                                      down in Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.
As regards the compensation provided for in Article 6 (2)
(c), the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee                                       Article 12
Fund, Guarantee Section, shall finance 90 % of                   1.    Where reference is made to the procedure laid
expenditure within the limits laid down in Article 6 (4).        down in this Article, the Standing Committee on Agri-
                                                                 cultural Structure shall be consulted by its chairman,
                         Article 10                              either on his own initiative or at the request of the
                                                                 representative of a Member State.
 1.   The period for carrying out the common measure
shall be 10 years.
                                                                 2.    The representative of the Commission shall submit
                                                                 a draft of the measures to be taken.
2.    Every year, Portugal shall submit a progress report
on the common measure in accordance with the                     The Standing Committee on Agricultural Structure shall
procedure which shall be laid down by the Commission             deliver its opinion on these measures within a time limit
when the programme is approved.                                  which the chairman may lay down depending on the
                                                                 urgency of the matters examined. The Committee shall
3.    Before the expiry of the 10-year period, the               adopt its opinion by a majority of 54 votes, the votes of
Council shall decide, on a proposal from the                     the Member States being weighted as provided for in
Commission, whether the measure should be extended.              Article 148 (2) of the Treaty.
4.    The estimated cost of the common measure to the            The chairman shall not vote.
fund is 73 million ECU, that amount being indicative
only.                                                            3.    The Commission shall adopt the measures, which
                                                                 shall be immediately applicable.
5.    Article 6 (5) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 shall
apply.                                                           However, if such measures do not conform to the
                                                                 opinion adopted by the Standing Committee on Agri-
                         Article 11                              cultural Structure, they shall be referred forthwith by the
                                                                 Commission to the Council; in such case the
1.    Applications for repayment shall relate to                 Commission may defer for up to one month as from
expenditure incurred by Portugal during one calendar             such referral the application of the measures on which it
year and shall be submitted to the Commission before             has decided. The Council, acting by a qualified majority,
1 July of the following year.                                    may adopt a different decision within one month.
2.    Any decision to grant aid under the Fund shall be                                    Article 13
taken in accordance with Article 7 (1) of Regulation
(EEC) No 729/70.                                                 This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
                                                                 following its publication in the Official Journal of the
3.    Advance payments may be granted by the Fund                European Communities.
depending on the financing arrangements adopted by
Portugal and the progress of the measures provided for           This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
in Titles I and II.                                              directly applicable in all Member States.