Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3813/89 of 19 December 1989 laying down detailed rules for the application of the system of transitional aids to agricultural income

• Published date: 20 December 1989
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 371, 20 December 1989

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31989R3813

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3813/89 of 19 December 1989 laying down detailed rules for the application of the system of transitional aids to agricultural income

Official Journal L 371 , 20/12/1989 P. 0017 - 0025

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 3813/89

of 19 December 1989

laying down detailed rules for the application of the system of transitional aids to agricultural income

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 768/89 of 21 March 1989 establishing a system of transitional aids to agricultural income (1), and in particular Article 12 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1676/85 of 11 June 1985 on the value of the unit of account and the conversion rates to be applied for the purposes of the common agricultural policy (2), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1636/87 (3), and in particular Article 2 (2) thereof,

Whereas the system of aids to agricultural income provides for positive action to assist the family agricultural holdings referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 768/89, while Article 11 of that Regulation in principle prohibits any national agricultural income aid if the conditions and rules governing its grant differ from those laid down in the said Regulation; whereas the concept of agricultural income aid within the meaning of the Community provisions in question should therefore be defined, bearing in mind in particular the objectives set out in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 768/89;

Whereas it is necessary to define the concept of a family agricultural holding and to specify the main components to be taken into account when determining the overall family income per work unit, namely the agricultural component generated on the holding in question and any income from other sources; whereas such income must be assessed on a basis which makes it comparable with gross domestic product per member of the working population;

Whereas, in order to quantify the injury suffered by potential aid beneficiaries as a result of the adjustment of the markets in the context of the reform of the common agricultural policy and of the adjustment of the common organizations of the markets, it is necessary to specify the period and other relevant factors to be taken into account when calculating this loss with sufficient precision so as to help to ensure no overcompensation; whereas it is necessary to exclude certain measures and price developments from any calculation of such income loss; whereas in order to take account of inflation or deflation, which varies considerably across the Community, Member States must be given the possibility to express injury in real terms; whereas a minimum annual rate of reduction in the level of aid to each beneficiary must be set in order to ensure its degressivity; whereas to help to ensure that the aid in question does not stimulate agricultural production or bring about distortion of competition, a ceiling must be placed on its level per work unit in relation to overall earnings per work unit in the relevant region of the Community; whereas various other limits governing eligibility for aid need to be set both to facilitate its management and to help to ensure attainment of the objectives of the measures; whereas the proportion of household income from farming which constitutes a negligible part of total household income should be defined;

Whereas circumstances may arise where it is desirable to allow beneficiaries to receive the aid in capitalized form; whereas the size of any such form of payment must be related to the level of non-capitalized payments; whereas capitalized payments must not increase the burden on the Community budget in any given year;

Whereas it is necessary to place limits on the financial benefits under this aid scheme where payments in respect of more than one programme of agricultural income aid per holding are made; whereas the Member State concerned may, for each holding, set an upper limit on the number of annual work units which may be taken into account, having regard to what is considered usual for holdings of the size and type concerned; whereas, in order to simplify management of each programme of agricultural income aid, the status of a beneficiary thereunder should, as a general rule, be that obtaining when entitlement is determined, even in cases where such status changes during the period when aid is payable;

Whereas Article 8 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 768/89 stipulates that the appropriations entered in the Community budget are not to be exceeded by the Community contribution towards the aid eligible and appropriate provisions need accordingly to be adopted;

Whereas for reasons of clarity it is desirable, having regard to the ceilings provided for in the second subparagraph of Article 6 (2) and Article 8 (2) (a) of Regulation (EEC) 768/89, to define precisely the exchange rate for conversion between national currencies and ecus;

Whereas for reasons of sound management it is necessary for the Member States to provide on a periodic basis information pertinent to the application of programmes of agricultural income aid; whereas given the nature of

the income aid system it is necessary to lay down special control conditions; whereas it is necessary to take specific account, where appropriate, of relevant aspects of the accession conditions affecting Spain, Greece and Portugal; whereas it is also necessary for the Member States to notify programmes of agricultural income aid on a standardized basis;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Agricultural Income Aid, the EAGGF Committee having been consulted on the financial aspects of the additional conditions relating to Community budget expenditure referred to in Article 8 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 768/89,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

TITLE I

DEFINITIONS AND MEASUREMENT

Article 1

Agricultural income aid

1. 'Agricultural income aid' (hereinafter referred to as 'AIA') means any public financial contribution granted exclusively to farmers, or to farmers and members of their families working on the holding, which supplements the overall family income within the meaning of the third subparagraph of Article 4 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 768/89 and is not subject to any conditions relating to its use. Notwithstanding the foregoing and without prejudice to Articles 92 and 93 of the Treaty, public financial contributions granted through the taxation and social security systems, provided they are justified on the basis of criteria inherent in these systems, shall not be deemed AIA.

2. Where aids designed to achieve the objectives set out in Article 1 (2) (a), (b) and (c) of Regulation (EEC) No 768/89 are granted in accordance with Articles 2 to 6 of that Regulation and in accordance with this Regulation, they shall not be considered subject to conditions on their use.

Article 2

Family and farmer's family

1. For the purposes of this Regulation family agricultural holding shall, in addition to the definition of family under national law, also cover members of units where there is a distinctly greater social and/or economic interdependence between the individuals concerned than that normally obtaining between economic partners. However the Member State concerned shall be free to lay down a more restrictive definition of a family agricultural holding for any 'programme of agricultural income aid' (hereinafter referred to as 'PAIA').

2. For the purposes of determining the composition of the family in accordance with Article 4 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 768/89, account shall be taken of the farmer, plus those members of the farmer's family who work on the holding provided their individual contribution to such work...