Council Regulation (EEC) No 1716/91 of 13 June 1991 concerning the alignment of the sugar and beet prices applicable in Spain on the common prices

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 1716/91 of 13 June 1991 concerning the alignment of the sugar and beet prices applicable in Spain on the common prices
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, and in particular Article 70 (3) (b) and Article 89 (2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Whereas Article 70 (3) (a) of the Act of Accession lays down that where the price of a product in Spain is higher than the common price, the price in that Member State is to be maintained at the level resulting from the application of Article 68 of the  Act of Accession, the moves towards alignment having to result from the development of common prices during the seven years following accession; whereas, however, under these provisions, the price in Spain is to be adjusted to the extent necessary to  avoid an increase in the variation between that price and the common price;
Whereas, following the application of the relevant provisions of Article 68 and 70 of the Act of Accession, the buying-in price of sugar applicable in Spain for the 1990/91 marketing year is 16,2 % higher than the buying-in price fixed for the  non-deficit areas, which represents a variation of ECU 8,60 per 100 kilograms for white sugar, and the basic price of beet applicable in Spain is 17,7 % higher than the basic price of beet valid in the Community regions other than Spain, which  corresponds to a variation of ECU 7,09 per tonne for beet; whereas this situation results from the development of common prices over the first five marketing years following accession; whereas these prices, instead of moving closer to the Spanish prices  as implied by the Act of Accession, have either been maintained for several marketing years or been reduced, albeit with the relevant adjustment of the Spanish prices in order to avoid an increase in the variation obtaining between them; whereas,  therefore, the substantial variation obtaining at the time of accession has been maintained;
Whereas the foreseeable development of common prices will continue to maintain the said variations at their initial level for several years yet; whereas, therefore, it will not be possible for these variations to be absorbed, at any rate over
the period for moves toward price alignment of the first seven
marketing years following accession, as provided for in Article 70 (3) (a) of the Act of Accession, in other words by the 1992/93 marketing year;
Whereas the price of sugar and the price of beet applicable in Spain are significantly higher than the common prices; whereas the analysis of the development of prices after the first five marketing years following accession, carried out in accordance  with Article 70 (3) (b) of the Act of Accession on the basis of an opinion from the Commission, shows that it is necessary in the first instance to prolong the period of moves towards price alignment until 1 July 1995 so that the aforementioned  variations can be absorbed over a period of five marketing years, a sufficiently long period to prevent farmers, in particular, being affected by too swift a drop in beet prices; whereas, however, the system of production quotas is applicable only for  the 1991/92 and 1992/93 marketing years; whereas the prices of sugar and beet are to some extent linked to the existence of quotas; whereas provision should therefore be made for a move towards price alignment in two stages, the first stage ending 30  June 1993; whereas with regard to the second stage covering the 1993/94, 1994/95 and 1995/96 marketing years, the conditions for the moves towards alignment of the Spanish prices on the common prices should be determined particularly in the light of the  production arrangements to be applied from 1 July 1993 in this sector, the Community's international commitments and their specific implications for Spain;
The aforementioned analysis clearly shows that Spain is currently in an extremely difficult situation in the sugar sector owing to the structural constraints weighing on the sector in which restructuring measures are in progress; whereas these  constraints could lead to shortfalls in the said sector in any marketing year and subject producers to precarious production conditions;
Whereas, for these reasons, a method for moves towards price alignment should be established for the first stage so that, by the end of that stage, the Spanish prices, through a part of the variation having been absorbed, will be aligned on the common  prices; whereas, to achieve this, it is appropriate that for this move towards alignment over this period a reference price be used incorporating a fixed component to take into account the specific situation of the market for sugar in Spain;
Whereas moves towards price alignment must also be accompanied for the calculation of accession compensatory amounts applicable to trade between the Community and Spain and between Spain and third countries by a gradual dismantling of the additional  transitional component of ECU 1,40 per 100 kilograms for sugar expressed in white sugar and ECU 1,82 per tonne of beet; whereas, to that end, the concept of common prices within the meaning of Article 72 (1) of the Act of Accession should be determined  by increasing it by an amount equivalent to the phased reduction
of the transitional component taken into account in the reference price for moves towards alignment of Spanish prices; whereas in order to avoid prejudging the system of moves towards alignment to be applied as from the 1993/94 marketing year, provision  should be made for the measure to apply only in the first stage of the said moves towards alignment,