CELEX: 51985PC0609
Language: en
Date: 1985-11-04
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) ON A SYSTEM OF STRUCTURAL AID FOR THE CONVERSION OF SARDINE CANNING PLANTS

20.11.85                               Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 297/3
                                                              II
                                                      (Preparatory Acts)
                                                COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on a system of structural aid for the conversion of
                                                   sardine canning plants
                                                     COM(85) 609 final
                             (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 31 October 1985)
                                                       (85/C 297/03)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                                        Article 1
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 42 and
43 thereof,                                                       To facilitate the adaptation of the sardine canning plants
                                                                  of the Community as constituted on 31 December 1985,
Having regard to the proposal of the Commission,                  hereinafter referred to as 'the Community of Ten', to the
                                                                  new circumstances arising from the enlargement of the
                                                                  Community to include Spain and Portugal, the
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-
                                                                  Commission may grant structural aid, hereinafter
liament,
                                                                  referred to as 'Community assistance', in respect of
                                                                  projects satisfying the requirements laid down in this
Whereas the accession of Spain and Portugal to the                Regulation.
European Economic Community alters the existing equi-
librium in the market for canned sardines in the                  Such assistance shall consist of capital grants paid in a
Community, as at present constituted;                             lump sum or in instalments.
Whereas this new context, by altering the conditions of                                      Article 2
competition, affects the situation of sardine canning
plants in the Community, as at present constituted;               For the purposes of this Regulation, Community sardine
                                                                  canning plants, hereinafter referred to as 'canning
Whereas a three-year structural measure should                    plants', means undertakings of the Community of Ten,
therefore be introduced to enable such canning plants to          all or part of whose production at the date of accession
adapt to the new situation;                                       falls within subheading 16.04 D of the Common
                                                                  Customs Tariff.
Whereas the said structural measure should aim at the
conversion of Community sardine canning plants to the                                        TITLE I
manufacture of other products based on sardines or on                                Descriptive programme
other fishery products; whereas it should also aim at the
permanent cessation of operations of certain existing                                        Article 3
canning plants; whereas subject to certain conditions, it
should also facilitate the rationalization of canned              1.     The Member States concerned shall draw up
sardine production;                                               descriptive programmes designed to inform the
                                                                  Commission regarding the measures to be implemented
                                                                  under this Regulation.
Whereas Community financial assistance should be made
available for projects complying with the aims of this            2.     Each descriptive programme shall comprise at least:
structural measure;
                                                                  — a description of the situation of canning plants at the
Whereas such projects should form part of descriptive                  date of accession with particular reference to their
programmes of the measures to be undertaken, drawn up                  production capacity, their geographical location and
by the Member States;                                                  the origin of the sardines which they process,
                                                                  — a description and financial appraisal             of the
Whereas detailed rules for       the   granting   of   such
                                                                       conversion operations to be undertaken;
assistance must be drawn up;
                                                                  — the laws, regulations and administrative measures
Whereas the provisional cost of this structural measure                which exist or are planned for carrying out those
to be borne by the Community must be specified,                        operations.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 297/4                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                  20. 11. 85
3.    The Commission shall assess the compatibility of             2.     Community assistance for projects shall not exceed
the said programme with:                                           75 % of the expenditure resulting from the research
                                                                   work in question. The contribution to be made by the
— the objectives of this measure
                                                                   Member State concerned shall be not less than 5 % and
— the programme presented by the Member State                      that of the beneficiary not less than 10 % of the
    concerned within the framework of Council Regu-                expenditure involved.
    lation (EEC) No 355/77 (»).
Member States shall at the request of the Commission,                                         Article 6
furnish additional data needed to carry out the said
                                                                   1.    Projects concerning promotional measures within
assessment.
                                                                   the meaning of Article 4 (c) shall be proposed by and
4.     Throughout the duration of this measure, the                implemented under the supervision of organizations
Member States concerned shall submit annual reports to             representing the sardine canning industry in one or more
the Commission on the results and on the evolution of              Member States. Such measures shall be collective and
the situation of canning plants. The said reports shall be         shall not focus on particular brands or canning plants,
submitted by 1 July of each year at the latest. The first          nor refer to a particular country or region of production.
such report shall be submitted by 1 July 1987 at the
latest.                                                            2.    Community assistance for such measures shall not
                                                                   exceed 60 % of the expenditure concerned. The con-
                                                                   tribution to be made by the organization in receipt of
                              TITLE II
                                                                   assistance shall be not less than 25 % and the contri-
                              Projects                             bution to be made by the Member State concerned not
                                                                   less than 5 °/o of the said expenditure.
                              Article 4
For the purposes of this Regulation, project means any                                        Article 7
public, semi-public or private project, all or part of
which involves physical investments or measures intended           1.    Projects concerning measures relating to the manu-
to secure:                                                         facture of new products, the conversion of canning
                                                                   plants, the improvement of distribution networks and the
(a) research into new products or products derived from
                                                                   rationalization of existing installations within the
     sardines, more suited to the requirements of the              meaning of Article 4 (b), (e), (f) and (g) shall:
     market and whereby the markets of canning plants
     may be broadened;                                             — involve physical investments,
(b) the manufacture of such new products or derived
     products;                                                     — afford an adequate guarantee as to their profitability,
(c) the promotion of consumption of sardines and                   — contribute to the lasting economic              effect   of
     sardine-base4 products, including surveys into the                conversion aimed at by this measure, and
     consumption of such products and market surveys or
     pilot measures relating to the marketing of such              — ensure appropriate and lasting participation by
     products and, more particularly, the new products                 sardine producers in the resultant economic benefits.
     referred to under (a) above;
(d) the permanent cessation of operations of existing              2.    As a proportion of the investment taken into
     canning plants;                                               account for assistance, for each project:
(e) the conversion of canning plants to the manufacture            (a) Community assistance shall not exceed:
     of other fishery products of Community origin;
                                                                        — 60 % as regards the measures referred to in
(f) the improvement of marketing and             distribution               Article 4 (b) and (e),
     networks for sardine-based products;                               — 50 % as regards the measures referred to in
(g) the rationalization of canned sardine production                       Article 4 (f),
     units of existing canning plants.                                  — 35 % as regards the measures referred to in
                                                                           Article 4 (g);
                              Article 5
                                                                   (b) the contribution to be made by the beneficiary shall
1.     Projects involving research within the meaning of                be not less than:
Article 4 (a) shall be proposed and managed by one or
more canning plants or associations of canning plants                   — 25 % as regards the measures referred to in
which possess the necessary qualifications and experience                  Article 4(b) and (e),
and provide an adequate guarantee as to the satisfactory                —- 35 % as regards the measures referred to in
completion of the work.                                                    Article 4 (f) and (g).
                                                                   (c) the contribution to be made by the Member State
0) O J N o L 5 1 , 23. 2. 1977, p. 1.                                   concerned shall be not less than 5 %.
 ---pagebreak--- 20.11.85                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 297/5
3.     The rationalization measures referred to in Article                                    Article 11
4 (g) must enable the canning plants concerned to
become competitive on the Community market for                     Applications for Community assistance shall be submitted
canned sardines by the improvement of their productivity           in the form laid down, mutatis mutandis, by Commission
and the quality of their production but must in no                 Regulation (EEC) N o 219/78 ('). In addition, they shall
circumstances result in an increase in the capacity and            contain all the particulars needed to verify compliance
production of canned sardines of the production units              with the provisions of this Regulation.
concerned.
                                                                                              Article 12
4.     Priority shall be given to projects designed to
reduce energy consumption.                                         Projects which are eligible for Community aid under
                                                                   other common measures within the meaning of Article 6
                                                                   (1) and (2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 (2)
                          Article 8                                or for aid from the European Regional Development
1.     Community aid for projects concerning the                   Fund shall not come within the scope of this Regulation.
permanent cessation of operations referred to in Article 4
(d) shall consist of the grant of a financial incentive of a                                  TITLE IV
social and economic nature.
                                                                                   Financial and general provisions
2.     The social element of the financial incentive shall
be used to cover expenses in respect of payments to                                           Article 13
workers made redundant or taking early retirement.
                                                                   1.     Natural or legal persons, or groups thereof, who
The amount of the incentive shall be equal to one half of          are ultimately responsible for the cost of carrying out a
the expenditure concerned up to a ceiling of 5 000 ECU             project shall be eligible for Community assistance.
per worker.                                                        Assistance shall be paid through agencies appointed for
                                                                   that purpose by the Member State concerned.
Its payment shall be conditional upon payment by the
Member State in question of a similar financial incentive.         2.     Throughout the period during which Community
                                                                   assistance is granted, the authority or agency appointed
3.     The economic element of the financial incentive             for that purpose by the Member State concerned shall, at
shall be used to cover expenditure entailed through                the request of the Commission, forward to it all sup-
complete and definitive closure of the production                  porting documents which are evidence that the financial
facilities in question.                                            or other conditions laid down for each project have been
                                                                   fulfilled. The Commission may, if necessary, carry out an
The amount of the financial incentive, calculated on the           on-the-spot check.
basis of the average production of the installation in
question during the three years preceding the permanent
cessation of operations, shall be equal to one half of the         3.     The Commission may, in accordance with the
expenditure concerned and shall not exceed 150 ECU                 procedure laid down in Article 15, decide to suspend,
per tonne.                                                         reduce or discontinue assistance:
Its payment shall be conditional upon payment by the               (a) if the project is not carried out as planned, or
Member State in question of a similar financial incentive.
                                                                   (b) if certain of the conditions laid down are not
                          Article 9                                     fulfilled, or
Projects shall form part of the descriptive programme              (c) if the beneficiary, except if the decision to grant
referred to in Article 3.                                               assistance provides, following a reasoned request on
                                                                        his part, for different time limits:
                          TITLE III                                     — fails to begin the work within one year,
          Procedure for the examination of projects                     — fails to complete the work within a period of two
                                                                             years of the date of notification of the
                          Article 10                                         Commission Decision.
 1.    Applications for Community assistance shall be
submitted to the Commission through the Member State               4.     Appropriations made available by a decision taken
concerned after the latter has delivered a favourable              in accordance with paragraph 3 or because the
opinion thereon.                                                   beneficiary abandons the project or reduces the
                                                                   investment laid down in the decision to grant assistance,
2.     The Commission shall take     decisions once yearly         may be used for the financing of other projects.
on applications for assistance in     accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article        15. Applications for
assistance shall be submitted not    later than 31 May of          O OJ No L 35, 4. 2. 1978, p. 10.
each year.                                                         O OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.
 ---pagebreak---  No C 297/6                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                 20.11.85
 5.    The detailed rules for the application of this Article          3.     The Commission shall adopt the measures, which
 shall be mutatis mutandis, those laid down in Commission              shall be immediately applicable^ However, if such
 Regulation (EEC) No 1685/78 (').                                      measures are not in accordance with the opinion of the
                                                                       Standing Committee for the Fishing Industry, the
                          Article 14                                   Commission shall communicate them forthwith to the
                                                                       Council. In that case, the Commission may defer the
 Applications for assistance submitted to the Commission               application of the measures which it has adopted for not
 but which could not be granted owing to the                           more than one month from the date of such communi-
 insufficiency of the resources available may, with the                cation. The Council may, acting by a qualified majority,
 agreement of the applicants, be carried forward to the                adopt a different decision within one month.
 following financial year by the Member State concerned.
 Requests that such applications be carried forward shall                                        Article 16
 be submitted to the Commission within a period of 30
 days from the date on which the Member State receives                  1.    The granting of Community assistance must not
 notification of the result of the procedure laid down in              affect the conditions of competition in such a way as to
 Article 15. An application for assistance may, however,               be incompatible with the principles laid down in the
 be carried forward once only.                                         Treaty.
                                                                       2.     Articles 92, to 94 of the Treaty shall apply in
                          Article 15                                   respect of matters covered by this Regulation.
 1.    Where the procedure laid down in this Article is to                                       Article 17
 be followed, the matter shall be referred to the Standing
 Committee for the Fishing Industry by the chairman                    1.     The duration of this measure shall be three years
 thereof, either on his own initiative, or at the request of           commencing on 1 January 1986.
the representative of a Member State.
                                                                       2.     The provisional cost to be borne by the Community
 2.    The representative of the Commission shall submit               is estimated at 10 million ECU.
 a draft of the measures to be adopted. The Standing
                                                                                                Article 18
 Committee for the Fishing Industry shall deliver an
opinion on those measures by a majority of 54 votes                   This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
within a time limit which may be set by the chairman                   following its publication in the Official Journal of the
according to the urgency of the matter under examin-                   European Communities.
ation; the votes of the Member States shall be weighted
as provided for in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty. The                 It shall apply from 1 January 1986, subject to the entry
chairman shall not vote.                                               into force of the Treaty of accession of Spain and
                                                                      Portugal.
                                                                      This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
(') OJL 197, 22. 7. 1978, p. 1.                                       directly applicable in all Member States.
              Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 64/432/EEC as regards the definitive
              arrangements made in relation to enzootic bovine leukosis as laid down by Directive
                                                           80/1102/EEC
                                                         COM(85) 578 final
                                (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 5 November 1985)
                                                           (85/C 297/04)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                              Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
                                                                      Social Committee,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43
thereof,
                                                                      Whereas Council Directive 80/1102/EEC (') which
                                                                      amends Council Directive 64/432/EEC of 26 June 1964
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                    on animal health problems affecting intra-Community
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-
liament,                                                              (*) OJ No L 325, 1. 12. 1980, p. 18.