CELEX: 51990PC0323
Language: en
Date: 1990-09-26
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) AMENDING REGULATION ( EEC ) NO 1785/81 ON THE COMMON ORGANIZATION OF THE MARKETS IN THE SUGAR SECTOR

13. 10.90                              Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 258/9
                                                              II
                                                      (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
             Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 1785/81 on the
                                   common organization of the markets in the sugar sector
                                                     COM(90) 323 final/2
                                      (Submitted by the Commission on 3 August 1990)
                                                        (90/C 258/05)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          Whereas the common organization of the markets in the
                                                                  sugar sector has been based since the 1986/87 marketing
                                                                  year, on the one hand, on the principle of financial
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European             responsibility of producers for each marketing year for
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 42 and             losses incurred from the disposal of surpluses of
43 thereof,                                                       Community production under the system of quotas
                                                                  related to internal consumption and, on the other hand,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                on a system of price and disposal guarantees differen-
                                                                  tiated according to production quotas allocated to each
                                                                  undertaking; whereas the abovementioned principle and
Having regard      to   the   opinion   of   the  European        system should be renewed for a further period of two
Parliament,                                                       marketing years from 1991/92 and 1992/93 in order to
                                                                  curb the production of the Community, with its great
                                                                  technical production capacity, at a time when the world
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                  sugar market continues to be characterized, despite some
Social Committee,                                                 improvement, by great volatility of prices and by cyclical
                                                                  trends;
Whereas the Community aid schemes aimed at placing
raw sugar imported on preferential conditions and sugar
imported for refining, in particular in Portugal, on              Whereas, therefore, on the one hand the medium-term
similar terms expire on 30 June 1991; whereas, however,           outlook for the world market in sugar is not for a
the Community stated in its declaration annexed to the            marked and lasting improvement in the price situation
Final Act of Accession of Portugal on supplies to the             but rather a return to very low prices; whereas, on the
sugar refining industry in Portugal that it was prepared          other hand, the absence of an international sugar
to carry out, before the end of the transitional period, an       agreement containing binding clauses for all the member
overall examination of the supply situation of the                countries of such an agreement makes it difficult to alter
refining industry in the Community on the basis of a              unilaterally the price and disposal guarantees conferred
report from the Commission; whereas since the transi-             on Community producers; whereas, furthermore, in the
                                                                  current situation, any reduction of guarantees in this
tional period expires at the end of 1992, in order not to
                                                                  sector entails the risk of a substantial decrease in areas
anticipate the conclusions of that report, the above-
                                                                  under sugar beet within the quota system to the
mentioned arrangements should be continued until the
                                                                  advantage of other agricultural enterprises for which the
end of the 1992/93 marketing year;
                                                                  sector is not or is only partly financed by the producers
                                                                  themselves; whereas, under these circumstances, the
Whereas Article 23 of Regulation (EEC) No                         basic quantities of sugar and isoglucose should be kept
1785/81 O , as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No                unchanged for the two marketing years referred to above
1068/89 O , lays down, on the one hand, that the system           but appropriate provisions should be laid down to enable
of production quotas for sugar is to apply for the                international commitments entered into by the
marketing years 1986/87 to 1990/91 and, on the other              Community concerning sugar, in particular within the
hand, that the Council is to determine, before 1 January          framework of GATT, to be implemented rapidly;
1991, the system to be applied from 1 July 1991;
                                                                  Whereas, by reason of the binding system of production
                                                                  quotas it has introduced, the common organization of
(') OJ No L 177, 1. 7. 1981, p. 4.                                the market in sugar has provided for the possibility for
O OJ No L 114, 27. 4. 1989, p. 1.                                 undertakings to decide in agreement with beet and cane
 ---pagebreak--- No C 258/10                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                13. 10.90
producers to carry forward part of their production from        to a restructuring plan; whereas account should also be
one marketing year to the next as production of the             taken of the situation as regards interest rates in Italy;
latter year with obligatory storage for 12 months;
whereas this possibility of carrying forward was basically
intended to enable those concerned to cope with                 Whereas the transition to application of the provisions of
unforeseen developments in production arising from one          this Regulation must take place under the best possible
marketing year to the next, without, in the case of C           conditions; whereas, to that end, certain transitional
sugar produced, necessarily having to export it to third        measures may prove necessary; whereas it should be laid
countries whatever the world sugar market situation;            down that these are to be adopted in accordance with
whereas from the 1981/82 marketing year it was laid             the procedure laid down in Article 41 of Regulation
down that C sugar carried forward could henceforth              (EEC) No 1785/81,
qualify for the reimbursement provided for by the
Community compensation system for storage costs
during the obligatory storage period; whereas after             HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
application of this reimbursement for nine marketing
years, experience shows a very substantial increase in the
volumes of C sugar carried forward and hence a use of                                      Article 1
the facility for carrying forward which no longer bears
                                                                Regulation (EEC) No 1785/81 is hereby amended as
any resemblance to the idea of carrying forward referred
                                                                follows:
to above;
                                                                  1. In Article 9 (4b) '1987/88 until 1990/91' is replaced
Whereas, furthermore, the systematic practice of
                                                                     by '1991/92 until 1992/93';
carrying forward large volumes may constitute an
incentive to produce C sugar and a misuse of the quotas;
whereas under these circumstances there should be a               2. In Article 9 (4c) '1988/89 until 1990/91' is replaced
return, as far as C sugar carried forward is concerned, to           by'1991/92 until 1992/93';
the situation which existed from 1968/69 to 1980/81, i.e.
where during the obligatory storage period, C sugar
carried forward can no longer qualify for reimbursement           3. Article 23 is replaced by the following:
of storage costs under the Community system of
compensation of those costs;
                                                                      'Article 23
Whereas the impact of this rule should be alleviated as a
transitional measure by making provision in respect of                1.    Articles 24 to 32 shall apply is respect of the
the 1991/92 and 1992/93 marketing years that the reim-               marketing years 1991/92 and 1992/93.
bursement of storage costs should be granted for the first
six months of the compulsory storage period;
                                                                     2.     For the period referred to in paragraph 1 and
                                                                     notwithstanding Article 24 (2) and Article 25, the A
Whereas production of sugar beet in Italy, because of its
                                                                     and B quotas of sugar-producing undertakings and
special situation and given the size of agricultural
                                                                     isoglucose-producing undertakings shall be those
holdings, is still encountering difficulties, even in the
                                                                     which obtained in the 1990/91 marketing year.
northern regions, in particular as regards application of
modern production methods, and for structural reasons
in the central and southern regions where sugar beet                 3.     For the period referred to in paragraph 1 and
growing is essential for regeneration of the particularly            notwithstanding Article 25 (3a) the basic A and B
clayey soils and thus preventing a return to monoculture,            production quantities for sugar and isoglucose
whereas the Italian Republic should therefore be auth-               serving for the allocation of quotas shall be those
orized to grant for a specified period corresponding to              fixed in Article 24 (2).
that of the quota system a national adjustment aid
confined to cultivation of sugar beet, on a degressive
                                                                     4.     The Council, acting in accordance with the
basis, having regard to the reduction already attained for
                                                                     procedure laid down in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty,
the 1990/91 marketing year under the authorization to
                                                                     shall determine, before 1 January 1993, the system to
grant such an aid provided for in Article 4 (1) and (2) of
                                                                     be applied from 1 July 1993.'
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1254/89 ('); whereas,
furthermore, the Italian Republic intends to continue
restructuring the sugar-beet sector and sugar production         4. Article 24 (1) is replaced by the following:
under restructuring plans pursuant to Articles 92 and 94
of the EEC Treaty; whereas, therefore, it is justifiable to
authorize Italy to continue, for the marketing years                 '1.     Member States shall, under the conditions of
1991/92 and 1992/93, adjusting the said aid, notwith-                this Title, allocate an A quota and a B quota to
standing the said Articles, where the aid is linked                  each sugar-producing         undertaking and      each
                                                                     isoglucose-producing undertaking established in
                                                                     their territory which had an A quota and a B quota
(') OJ No L 126, 9. 5. 1989, p. 1.                                   during the 1990/91 marketing year.'
 ---pagebreak--- 13. 10.90                                Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 258/11
 5. Article 24 (3), (4) and (5) is replaced by the                  10. Article 46 is replaced by the following:
     following:
                                                                          'Article 46
     '3.      For the period referred to in Article 23 (1) and
     notwithstanding Article 25 (la), the A quota and the                 1.    The Italian Republic shall be authorized,
     B quota of each sugar-producing undertaking and                     during the marketing years 1991/92 and 1992/93, to
     each isoglucose-producing undertaking shall be                      grant, under the terms of paragraphs 2 and 3,
     equal, respectively, to the A quota and the B quota                 adjustment aid to sugar-beet producers.
     allocated to it for the 1990/91 marketing year.'
                                                                         2.     The aid referred to in paragraph 1 may be
                                                                         granted only in respect of the quantity of sugar
 6. Article 24 (7) is deleted, and paragraphs 6 and 8                    produced within the limit of the A and B quotas of
     become paragraphs 4 and 5 respectively.                             each sugar-producing undertaking.
 7. The second indent of Article 27 (2) is replaced by                   For this production, the maximum amount of the aid
     the following:                                                      may not:
     '— and must store the quantity or quantities to be                  a) per 100 kilograms of white sugar, exceed
           carried forward for a period of twelve conse-                     23,64 % of the intervention price for white sugar
           cutive months, the starting date of which is to be                fixed in accordance with Article 3 (1) (a) of
           determined. For the period in question the                        Regulation (EEC) No 1785/81 for the marketing
           storage costs shall not be reimbursed in                          year in question;
           accordance with Article 8 for the C sugar
           carried forward.                                             and
                                                                        b) may not exceed, for:
           However, for the 1991/92 and 1992/93
           marketing years the storage costs shall be reim-
                                                                             — the 1991/92 marketing year, 70 %
           bursed as a transitional measure in respect of the
           first six months of the compulsory storage
           period for the C sugar that is carried forward.'                  — the 1992/93 marketing year, 60 %
                                                                        of the overall financial commitment in ecus already
 8. In Article 28 (2), the introductory words              are          authorized for the 1988/89 marketing year.
    replaced by the following :
                                                                        3.      However, the Italian Republic may adjust the
    '2.      Before the end of the marketing year 1992/93,              aids referred to in paragraph 2 where this is
    a cumulative recording shall be compiled for the                    necessitated by exceptional requirements connected
    marketing years 1991/92 and 1992/93'.                               with current plans for restructuring the sugar sector
                                                                        in Italy. In applying Articles 92 to 94 of the EEC
                                                                        Treaty, the Commission shall assess in particular
9. Article 29 (1) is replaced by the following:                        whether such aid is consistent with the restructuring
                                                                        plans.
    '1.      If it is found, after application of Articles 28
    and 28a to the 1990/91 marketing year, that the                     4.      In addition, during the marketing years
    actual total loss for the said marketing year:                      1991/92 and 1992/93, the Italian Republic shall be
                                                                        authorized, when the interest rate granted in Italy to
                                                                        the most solvent applicant is higher, by 3 % or more,
    a) is not fully covered by the proceeds of the
                                                                        than the interest rate used to calculate the reimbur-
         production levy and, where appropriate, the
                                                                        sement referred to in Article 8 of Regulation (EEC)
         additional levy, the resulting financial burden
                                                                        No 1785/81, to cover the effect of this difference on
         shall be added to the estimated total loss referred
                                                                        the storage costs by a national aid.'
         to in Article 28 (1) (e) for the marketing year
         during which the finding is made.
                                                                   11. Article 47 is replaced by the following:
    b) is less than the proceeds of the production levies
         and, where appropriate, the additional levy, an                 'Article 47
         amount equal to the difference shall be deducted
         from the estimated total loss or, as the case may             Should special measures be necessary for the
         be, added to the estimated total loss resulting               implementation within the framework of this Regu-
         from application of Articles 28 and 28a for the               lation of international commitments entered into by
         marketing year during which the finding is made.'             the Community vis-a-vis GATT concerning sugar
 ---pagebreak--- No C 258/12                          Official Journal of the European Communities                            13. 10.90
    or of the International Sugar Agreement, the                                         Article 2
    Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal
    from the Commission, shall adopt such measures,            This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its
    which may derogate from the provisions of this             publication in the Official Journal of the European
    Regulation.'                                                Communities.
                                                               It shall apply from 1 July 1991.
12. In Article 48 'until 30 June 1987' is replaced by 'until   This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
    30 June 1992'.                                             directly applicable in all Member States.