CELEX: 31973R1353
Language: en
Date: 1973-05-15 00:00:00
Title: Regulation (EEC) No 1353/73 of the Council of 15 May 1973 introducing a premium system for the conversion of dairy cow herds to meat production and a development premium for the specialized raising of cattle for meat production

No L 141 / 18                         Official Journal of the European Communities                                   28 . 5 . 73
                                 REGULATION (EEC) No 1353 /73 OF THE COUNCIL
                                                       of 15 May 1973
               introducing a premium system for the conversion of dairy cow herds to meat production
               and a development premium for the specialized raising of cattle for meat production
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                        Whereas it is necessary to restrict the granting of this
                                                                  premium to farmers who already have sufficient
                                                                  means of production to ensure that the conversion to
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                     meat production will not involve any appreciable
 European Economic Community, and in particular                   reduction in their income ; whereas, however, account
 Article 43 thereof;                                              should    be  taken       of  the      existence within    the
                                                                  Community of certain regions in which small dairy
 Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No                     cow herds predominate and in which agricultural
 805/68 (x ) of 27 June 1968 on the common                        production may be directed towards products other
                                                                  than milk;
 organization of the market in beef and veal, as last
 amended by Regulation (EEC) No 187/73 (2), and in
 particular Article 2 thereof;                                    Whereas the amount of this premium must be fixed
                                                                  at such level that it may be considered as
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ;              compensation for temporary loss of income from the
                                                                  marketing of the products in question ;
Having regard to the Opinion of the European
Parliament;                                                      Whereas, however, where in one or more regions of a
                                                                  Member State the raising of cattle is difficult and
                                                                  consequently the price paid to the producer for milk
 Whereas the present situation on the Community                   is clearly higher than the target price, it may prove
beef and veal market is marked by a substantial                  expedient to authorize that Member State not to
deficit ;                                                         implement the provisions concerning the conversion
                                                                  premium in the regions concerned, and, in this case,
                                                                 to make provision for the possibility of granting in
Whereas, however, it is possible to increase the meat            these regions a development premium for the
production potential in certain Community categories             specialized raising of cattle for meat production ;
of bovine animals ;
                                                                 Whereas all the proposed measures envisaged are of
Whereas this trend is at present encouraged by the               importance to the Community and are designed to
favourable development of market prices for beef and              attain the objectives defined by Article 39 ( 1 ) ( a ) of
veal ; whereas, moreover, the guide prices in this               the Treaty, including the structural changes necessary
sector for the 1973/74 marketing year have been                  for the common market to function properly;
fixed at a sufficiently high level to encourage
agricultural producers to increase appreciably the
                                                                 whereas they therefore constitute a joint action,
                                                                 within the meaning of Article 6 of Council
production potential of these animals ;                          Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 (3) of 21 April 1970 on
                                                                 the financing of the Common Agricultural Policy, as
Whereas the present situation in the milk and milk               last amended by the Act (4) concerning the
products sector is marked by substantial and                     Conditions of Accession and the Adjustments to the
increasing surpluses ; whereas it therefore seems                Treaties ;
justified to grant a premium for the conversion of
dairy cow herds to meat production to farmers, who,
                                                                 Whereas half the expenditure incurred by the
although they do not dispose of their cows , give up,
                                                                 granting of these premiums should be financed at
for a period of four years, all marketing of milk and
                                                                 Community level ;
milk products ;
H OJ No L 148 , 28 . 6. 1968 , p . 24.                           (8 ) OJ No L 94, 29 . 4 . 1970, p . 13 .
H OJ No L 25 , 30. 1 . 1973 , p . 23 .                           (4 ) OJ No L 73 , 27. 3 . 1972, p . 14.
 ---pagebreak---  28 . 5 . 73                           Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 141 / 19
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :                                     2. , However, where cows are retained by the
                                                                   producer, the latter must in addition, in order to be
                           TITLE I
                                                                  eligible for the premium, show evidence to the
                                                                  satisfaction of the competent authority that he is
                                                                  building up his herd in such a way that, by the end of
    Premium for the conversion of dairy cow herds to              the third year at the latest following the date of
   meat production and development premium for the                approval of his application at least 80 % of the
     specialized raising of cattle for meat production             number of cows or heifers in calf kept on the farm
                                                                  referred to in paragraph 1 (b) shall consist either of
                                                                  females with characteristics of one of the recognized
                          Article 1                               meat producing breeds or of females born as a result
                                                                  of cross-breeding with a bull listed in the herd book
                                                                  of one of those breeds or, failing that, presenting
Producers may, upon application submitted either                  sufficient guarantees of its ability to transmit the
individually or jointly through a producers'                      essential characteristics of that breed to its progeny.
association to which they belong, receive a premium
for the conversion of dairy cow herds to meat
production .                                                                                Article 4
                                                                  The amount of the premium shall be 7-5 units of
                          Article 2                               account per 100 litres of milk or milk products,
                                                                  expressed in milk equivalent, supplied by the
1 . In order to be eligible for the premium, each                 producer during the twelve months preceding the
producer must show evidence to the satisfaction of                reference date.
the competent authority that at a reference date
established by each Member State he kept at least 11
                                                                                            Article 5
dairy cows.
                                                                  Where it is found that in one or more regions of a
2.       Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 ,          Member State the average milk prices paid to
the Member States are authorized :                                producers in the 1972/73 milk year are higher than
                                                                  125 % of the target price for milk for that same year,
 ( a) to fix in certain regions a minimum threshold               that Member State may be authorized not to
      figure exceeding 11 but not greater than 15 dairy           implement the provisions of Articles 1 to 4 in the
      cows ;                                                      regions concerned.
 (b) to grant the premium to those producers keeping
       a number of dairy cows less than 11 but higher                                       Article 6
      than 4 in regions where at least 50 % of the dairy
      cows are kept in herds of less than 11 dairy cows.          1.      Those Member States which are authorized not
                                                                  to implement the provisions of Articles 1 to 4 in the
                                                                  regions referred to in Article 5 may grant in those
                          Article 3                               regions a development premium for the specialized
                                                                  raising of cattle for meat production.
1 - The grant of the premium shall in particular be
conditional upon a written undertaking from the                   2. To be eligible for the premium, and depending
producer :                                                        upon whether the application is submitted by a
                                                                  producer or a producers' association :
( a) to give up, for a period of four years, all sales of         ( a ) each producer must show evidence to the
      milk and milk products coming from the holding                    satisfaction of the competent authority that at a
      farmed    on   the   date   of  submission    of the
                                                                        reference date established by each Member State
      application ; this period shall start not later than              he kept at least five cows or in-calf heifers of beef
      at the end of the sixth month following that in                   breeds ;
      which the competent authorities approved the
      application;                                                ( b) each producers' association must show evidence
                                                                        to the satisfaction of the competent authority
(b) to keep, during the period referred to in ( a), a                   that the number of cows or in-calf heifers of beef
      number of units of adult bovine animals on the                    breeds kept at the reference date by all of the
      holding farmed on the date of submission of the                   producers applying for the grant of a premium
      application which is equal to or higher than the                  through the intermediary of that association, is
      number kept on that same holding on the                           not less than three times the number of those
      reference date .                                                  producers.
 ---pagebreak---   No L 141 /20                           Official Journal of the European Communities                               28 . 5 . 73
 3.        Furthermore, the grant of the premium shall be                                    Article 9
 conditional upon the written undertaking on the part
 of the producer to keep for a period of four years at               1.     The Member States shall be authorized,
 the holding farmed on the date of submission of the                 according to the terms defined below, to act as
 application a number of cows or in-calf heifers of                  guarantors for the beneficiary of the system of
 beef breeds which is higher than the number kept on                 premiums and, at his request, may guarantee a loan
that same holding on the reference date, and in any                  granted to him by a banking establishment approved
 case not less than 8 during the fourth year. This                   for this purpose by the competent authorities.
period shall start not later than at the end of the
 sixth month following the date on which the                        2. The loan must be granted for the purpose of
 application was approved by the competent                           facilitating compliance with the undertakings referred
 authorities .                                                      to in Article 3 and Article 6.
                            Article 7                                                       Article 10
                                                                     1 . Where a producer, to whom the benefit of the
 In respect of cows or in-calf heifers of beef breeds                premiums has been granted, belongs to a producers'
 kept on the holding of the beneficiary over and above              association     and   that    association submits        an
the number kept at the reference date referred to in                application for a premium, the amount to be granted
Article 6 (3 ), the amount of the premium shall be 240              to the association shall be reduced by the amount
units of account per head.                                          already granted to that producer.
                             TITLE II                               2. Where the benefit of the premiums has been
                  General and financial provisions                  granted to a producers' association, applications
                                                                    made individually by members of the association on
                                                                    the date of submission of the application by the
                            Article 8                               association shall not be accepted.
For the purposes of this Regulation :                                                      Article 11
                                                                    Any person taking over a holding may undertake in
1 . 'Producer' shall mean :                                         writing to continue to fulfil the obligations entered
                                                                    into by his predecessor. In such case, the amounts
       ( a ) an individual farmer, who is a natural or legal        already paid shall remain the property of the latter
             person, whose holding is situated in                   and the balance shall be paid to his successor.
             Community territory and who breeds bovine
             animals ;
                                                                                           Article 12
     ( b) a group of natural or legal persons, which
             jointly uses means of agricultural production          The     Member    States   shall  communicate    to    the
             enabling them to rear bovine animals jointly           Commission the list of the regions for which the
             in Community territory­                                authorizations provided for in Article 2 is requested,
                                                                    the characteristics of those regions, the measures
                                                                    proposed to achieve the objectives set out in the
2 . 'Producers ' association ' shall mean :
                                                                   abovementioned paragraph and the administrative
                                                                    control procedures laid down.
    an association of producers within the meaning of
    paragraph 1 , set up in the territory of a single              The Commission shall examine, with regard to
    Member State for the purpose of applying                        compatibility with this Regulation and taking
    common rules for the marketing of bovine animals                account of the aims thereof, whether the conditions
    reared by those producers.                                     obtain for the financial participation of the
                                                                   Community.
3 . 'Holding' shall mean :                                         Within two months following the communication,
                                                                   the Commission representative, having consulted the
    all the production units farmed by the producer                EAGGF Committee on the financial aspects, shall
    and situated in the territory of a single Member               submit a draft decision on this subject to the
    State .                                                        Standing Committee on Agricultural Structures .
 ---pagebreak--- 28 . 5 . 73                          Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 141 /21
The Standing Committee on Agricultural Structures                                        Article IS
shall issue its Opinion within a time limit to be fixed
by the Chairman according to the urgency of the                 1.      The total estimated cost of the joint action to be
matters submitted for examination . It shall decide by          borne by the EAGGF is 60 million units of account.
a majority of 41 votes, the votes of Member States
being weighted as laid down in Article 148 (2) of the
                                                                2.      The action referred to in paragraph 1 is
Treaty. The Chairman shall not vote.
                                                                intended to be completed by 31 December 1974.
The Commission shall adopt the Decision . However,
if the Decision is not in accordance with the Opinion                                    Article 16
issued by the Committee, it shall immediately be
communicated to the Council. In that event, the
Commission may defer application of the Decision                 1.     Expenditure incurred by Member States in
for a period not exceeding one month from the date               connection with the action provided for in this
of its communication .                                          Regulation shall be eligible for aid from the Guidance
                                                                 Section of the EAGGF .
The Council, voting as provided in Article 43 (2) of
the Treaty, may adopt a different Decision within               2.      The Guidance Section of the EAGGF shall
one month .
                                                                 refund to the Member States 50 % of the eligible
                                                                expenditure.
                         Article 13
                                                                3.      Detailed rules for the application of paragraph 2
The following shall be laid down in accordance with              shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
the procedure provided for in Article 27 of                     laid down in Article 13 of Regulation (EEC ) No
                                                                729 /70 .
Regulation ( EEC) No 805/68 :
( a) the time limit for submitting applications for the
      granting of premiums referred to in Article 2 and                                  Article 17
      Article 6 ;
( b) the period within which the reference dates                 1 . Requests tor refunds shall be made in respect of
      referred to in Article 2 and Article 6 must fall ;        expenditure incurred by the Member States in the
                                                                course of each calendar year and shall be submitted
( c) the conditions relating to recognition of breeds           to the Commission before 1 July of the following
      referred to in Article 3 (2) and Article 6 ;              year .
( d) the detailed rules for checking that obligations           2.      The Commission shall take Decisions on such
      arising from the grant of the premium, are
      observed ;                                                requests, either all at once or separately, in
                                                                accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7
(e) the determination of the equivalences to be                 ( 1 ) of Regulation ( EEC ) No 729/70­
     established for calculating the units of adult
      bovine animals ;
                                                                                         Article 18
(f) the conditions for continuing the entitlement to
     the premium in exceptional circumstances, in               1.      Notwithstanding Article 8 of Regulation ( EEC )
     particular where the recipient ceases to work in           No 729/70, the Member States shall, in accordance
     agriculture ;                                              with national laws, regulations or administrative
(g) the determination of the regions referred to in             provisions, take the measures necessary for the
     Article 6 ;                                                recovery of sums paid where, subject to Article 13 (f),
                                                                the undertakings given under Article 3 and Article 6
(h) the detailed rules for granting the loan referred to        are not observed .
     in Article 9 ;
(i ) the other detailed rules for implementing the              They shall inform the Commission of the measures
     preceding Articles.                                        applied, and in particular shall notify it periodically
                                                                of the position as regards administrative and judicial
                                                                proceedings relating thereto .
                         Article 14
                                                                2.      Sums recovered shall be paid to the bodies or
All the measures provided for in this Regulation,               services which made the payments and deducted by
except those provided for in Article 9 , shall constitute       them from expenditure financed by the Fund in
a joint action within the meaning of Article 6 ( 1 ) of         proportion to the amount financed by the
Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.                             Community.
 ---pagebreak---  No L 141 /22                      Official Journal of the European Communities                             28 . 5 . 73
3 . Where it is impossible to recover sums paid, the          of information supplied by the Member States, a
financial consequences shall be borne by the                  report on the application of the premiums system.
Community and the Member States in proportion to
their financial participation.
                                                              2- After examining this report, the Council, acting
4.    Interest may be charged on sums to be                   on a proposal from the Commission in accordance
recovered .                                                   with the voting procedure laid down in Article 43 (2)
                                                              of the Treaty, may decide before 31 December in
                                                              each current year, in the light of experience and of
5 . Detailed rules for the application of this Article        economic trends in the sector in question, to maintain
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure             or to amend the premiums system.
laid down in Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No
729/70 .
                                                                                    Article 20
                       Article 19
                                                              This Regulation shall enter into force on the third
1.    By 31 October of each year at the latest, the           day following its publication in the Official Journal
Commission shall submit to the Council, on the basis          of the European Communities.
              This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
              States .
              Done at Brussels, 15 May 1973 .
                                                                               For the Council
                                                                                 The Vr&r-dent
                                                                                  A. LAVENS