27.3.2015 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 82/73
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2015/517
of 26 March 2015
amending Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1788/2003 establishing a levy in the milk and milk products sector
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (1), and in particular Articles 81(1) and 83(4) in conjunction with Article 4 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) has repealed and replaced Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as from 1 January 2014. However, Article 230(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 provides that, as regards the system of milk production limitation, Section III of Chapter III of Title I of Part II of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as well as Article 55, Article 85 thereof and Annexes IX and X thereto continue to apply until 31 March 2015.
(2) In a context of low prices for milk and financial difficulties in the milk sector, it is appropriate to ease the financial burden for producers who have to pay a surplus levy related to the milk quota year 2014/2015 as referred to in Article 15(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 (3). It is therefore appropriate to enable Member States to decide, taking account of varying national circumstances, to collect the amount due according to an instalment scheme. Instalment schemes applied free of interest would however constitute State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) of the Treaty unless the deferred instalments comply with the conditions laid down in Commission Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 (4).
(3) Where instalment schemes are applied, the deadlines for controls and notifications should be adapted accordingly in order to ensure that the final controls and notifications cover the deferred payments. Member States should be requested to provide information on the number of beneficiaries under the instalment scheme and the amount not recovered from them each year of the instalment scheme. By 30 November 2015, this information should be available in column (d) of the table in Part 2 of the report set out in Annex IIa to Regulation (EC) No 595/2004. By 30 November 2016 and 30 November 2017, this information should be inserted in column (i) of that table, with the comment ‘instalment scheme’.
(4) Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(5) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,
Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 is amended as follows:
(1) in Article 15, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
(2) in Article 19(3), the following subparagraph is inserted after the second subparagraph:
(3) in Article 27, the following paragraph 7 is added:
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.