CELEX: 
Language: en
Date: 1976-12-10 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 24 November 1976 on the reform of agricultural structures in Ireland pursuant to Title II of Directive 75/268/EEC of 28 April 1975

No L 341 /38                          Official Journal of the European Communities                             10. 12. 76
                                                COMMISSION DECISION
                                                  of 24 November 1976
              on the reform of agricultural structures in Ireland pursuant to Title II of Direc­
                                            tive 75/268/EEC of 28 April 1975
                                             (Only the English text is authentic)
                                                        (76/903/EEC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN                                    Whereas on 4 October 1976 the Irish Government
COMMUNITIES,                                                      further notified the following schemes, which
                                                                  replaced those abovementioned :
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community,                                               — cattle headage payments in severely handicapped
                                                                      areas (August 1976),
Having regard to Council Directive 75/268/EEC of 28
April 1975 on mountain and hill farming and farming               — beef cow scheme in disadvantaged areas (August
in certain less-favoured areas (]), and in particular                 1976),
Article 13 thereof,
                                                                  — scheme of headage payments on hogget ewes and
                                                                      mountain lambs in disadvantaged areas 1976,
Having regard to Council Directive 72/ 159/EEC of 17
April 1972 on the modernization of farms (2), and in              — beef cattle incentive scheme (August 1976);
particular Article 18 (3) thereof,
Whereas on 22 January 1976 the Irish Government
notified, pursuant to Article 13 of Directive                     Whereas,    under    Article    18   (3)  of   Directive
                                                                  72/ 159/EEC and Article 13 of Directive 75/268/EEC,
75/268/EEC in conjunction with Article 17 (4) of
Directive 72/ 159/EEC, the following schemes, which               the Commission has to determine whether, having
had entered into force in July 1975 :                             regard to the compatibility of the legal and administra­
                                                                  tive provisions notified with Directive 75/268/EEC,
— cattle headage payments in severely handicapped                 and taking into account the aims of that Directive and
     areas,
                                                                  the necessary connection between the various
                                                                  measures, the conditions for financial contribution by
— handicapped areas (mountain sheep) scheme 1975,                 the Community are satisfied ;
— hogget ewe and mountain lamb subsidy schemes
     1975 ;
                                                                  Whereas the basic aim of Directive 75/268/ EEC is to
                                                                  ensure the continuation of farming in the mountain
Whereas these schemes provide for the granting of aid             areas and less-favoured areas determined by the
for cattle farming and for the keeping of hogget ewes             Council, thereby maintaining a minimum population
and mountain lambs in certain handicapped areas                   level or conserving the countryside ; whereas Directive
listed in Directive 75/272/EEC (3) ;                              75/268/EEC therefore authorizes the Member States
                                                                  to introduce a system of aid, which may take the form
Whereas a scheme encouraging beef production,                     of an allowance to compensate for permenent natural
providing for the granting of premiums to beef cattle             handicaps, to encourage farming and to raise farm
farmers generally and also applying in 1975 to less­              incomes in these areas ;
favoured areas within the meaning of Directive
75/268/EEC, has existed in Ireland since              1969 ;
whereas farmers who are eligible for the 'cattle
                                                                  Whereas the aim of the Directive is not, however, that
headage payments in severely handicapped areas' can
choose between this aid scheme and the general                    an existing general system of aid which also applies to
scheme for the encouragement of beef production ;                 other areas should be replaced by the abovementioned
whereas the two types of aid may not be granted                   compensatory allowance in the less-favoured areas,
concurrently ;                                                    which would result in these latter areas losing their
                                                                  special advantage over others, namely a compensatory
                                                                  allowance of at least 1 5 and not more than 50 units of
0 ) OJ No L 128, 19 . 5. 1975, p. 1 .
(2) OJ No L 96, 23. 4. 1972, p. 1 .                               account per livestock unit ; whereas the maintenance
(3) OJ No L 128, 19 . 5. 1975, p. 68 .                            of this general system in other areas presupposes that
 ---pagebreak--- 10. 12. 76                         Official Journal of the European Communities                       No L 341 /39
the system of aid introduced in less-favoured areas           whereas the EAGGF Committee has been consulted
pursuant to Title II of Directive 75/268/EEC to               on the financial aspects ;
replace that general scheme in the less-favoured areas
provides for distinctly more favourable aid, thus consti­     Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision
tuting an allowance to compensate for natural handi­          are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing
caps ;
                                                              Committee on Agricultural Structures,
Whereas the measures provided for in the abovemen­            HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :
tioned schemes of 1975 for the less-favoured areas
were consistent with the aims and requirements of
                                                                                    Article 1
Directive 75/268/EEC, though it would seem, in view
of the restrictions on cattle farming and of the rela­        The provisions implementing Title II of Directive
tively small difference between the incentive measures        75/268/EEC, notified by the Irish Government on 22
in question, that such aid could properly be regarded         January and 4 October 1976, satisfy the conditions for
merely as a first, albeit not insignificant, step towards     financial contribution by the Community towards
achieving the aims of the Directive and that further          common measures as referred to in Article 13 of
adjustments were accordingly necessary ;                      Directive 75/268 / EEC and Article 15 of Directive
                                                              72/ 159 /EEC .
Whereas for 1976 such adjustments have been made
by means of the abovementioned schemes notified on
4 October 1976 ; whereas these meet the conditions                                  Article 2
and purposes of Directive 75/268/EEC ;                        This Decision is addressed to Ireland.
Whereas, under Article 17 of Directive 75/268/EEC,
the Member States have a period of one year in which          Done at Brussels, 24 November 1976.
to adapt to the provisions of the Directive ; whereas,
in view of this transitional period and of the fact that
                                                                                       For the Commission
the said necessary adjustments have now been made
for 1976, a financial contribution by the Community                                      P.J. LARDINOIS
to the costs of the abovementioned schemes is also
justified in respect of the year 1975 ;                                            Member of the Commission