Commission Regulation (EC) No 411/97 of 3 March 1997 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards operational programmes, operational funds and Community financial assistance

• Published date: 04 March 1997
• Subject Matter: Fruit and vegetables
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 62, 4 March 1997

|

Commission Regulation (EC) No 411/97 of 3 March 1997 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards operational programmes, operational funds and Community financial assistance

Official Journal L 062 , 04/03/1997 P. 0009 - 0015

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 411/97 of 3 March 1997 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards operational programmes, operational funds and Community financial assistance

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables (1), and in particular Articles 48 and 57 thereof,

Whereas Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 provides for financial assistance to be granted to producer organizations setting up an operational fund maintained and used within the framework of an operational programme in accordance with certain rules and within certain limits; whereas Article 13 of the abovementioned Regulation grants the same financial assistance to existing producer organizations needing a transitional period in order to qualify for recognition, provided that they comply with certain requirements and carry out a plan of action in accordance with certain rules; whereas Article 16 of the abovementioned Regulation lays down certain rules for the implementation of operational programmes; whereas detailed rules should be laid down for the application of those provisions;

Whereas, in the interests of simplification, operational programmes should be presented and approved in the same way as plans of action, and the producer organizations referred to in Articles 11 and 13 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 should be treated as producer organizations; whereas, to prevent misuse of the scheme, the marketed production of producer organizations should be defined as the entire production marketed by the organization itself or with its authorization; whereas, in order to facilitate the preparation of operational programmes and the calculation of the estimated amounts of the operational funds by the producer organizations in foreseeable conditions, the ceilings on Community financial assistance should be calculated on the basis of the value of production marketed during the year preceding that to which those ceilings relate;

Whereas, in the interests of sound management, the deadlines for the presentation and approval of operational programmes should be determined in the light not only of the time needed for the administrative procedures but also of the information and undertakings to be included in, and activities to be excluded from, the programmes; whereas, since the programmes are managed on an annual basis, it should be stipulated that programmes not approved before a given date should be postponed for one year;

Whereas there must be room for discrepancies between the actual execution of the programmes and the estimates contained therein, subject to certain limits and conditions, to prevent approved programmes from slipping away from their targets; whereas, in addition, there should be an annual procedure for amending operational programmes for the following year so that they can be adjusted to take account of any new conditions which could not have been foreseen when they were initially presented;

Whereas the procedure for determining and notifying information on the estimated amounts of the operational funds and the estimated amounts of financial assistance as referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 16 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 should be supplemented by an additional stage whereby the Commission sets the estimated ceiling on the financial assistance, since this will give producer organizations guidance as to the definitive ceiling likely to be set in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 15 (5) of the abovementioned Regulation;

Whereas arrangements should be made for creating a system of advance payments accompanied by appropriate securities; whereas it should be stipulated that, in order to prevent the systematic recovery of advances, such payments should not exceed the minimum level of financial assistance; whereas it should be possible for furnished securities to be progressively released as implementation of the operational programme proceeds, to the extent of up to 80 % of the advances paid, the remaining amount being retained until the balance of the assistance has been paid;

Whereas the information to be included in applications for assistance should be specified; whereas, in the interests of uniform application, the marketing stage at which the value of production is to be calculated must be specified; whereas it should also be specified that the financial contributions of members of the producer organization are based on the marketed production used to calculate the Community financial assistance; whereas, in order to avoid needless duplication of applications for amendments to operational programmes because of technical delays in their implementation, it must be possible for advances to be settled at the end of the operational programme, provided that the equivalent contribution from the producer organization is maintained in the operational fund;

Whereas it should be stipulated that the ceiling on Community financial assistance applies uniformly to all applications for assistance in excess of 2 % and, from 1999, in excess of 2,5 % of the value of production, while applications not exceeding this minimum limit fixed by the Council will not be affected;

Whereas, in view of the very short time available for the implementation of this Regulation, certain transitional provisions should be laid down, particularly as regards the deadlines for presentation and approval of operational programmes; whereas, in addition, for the purpose of the initial application of the new arrangements, calculation of the ceiling set on assistance should be based on the value of production marketed during a three-year period, so as not to disadvantage organizations having had a year with a low level of marketed production;

Whereas the activities of producer organizations and their effectiveness should be monitored; whereas this can be achieved by means of periodical reports and an assessment;

Whereas strict control procedures should be laid down, together with deterrent penalties in the event of infringement, given the high degree of responsibility and initiative conferred on the producer organizations;

Whereas the deadline for transmission to the Commission of the national frameworks referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 16 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 must be fixed; whereas, since for practical reasons that date is later than the deadline for approval by the Member States of the first set of operational programmes, those programmes must be approved by reference to the objectives laid down in Article 130r of the Treaty and the Community programme of policy and action in relation to the environment and sustainable development;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

Subject-matter and scope

Article 1

The rules laid down herein shall apply to Community...