L_2007273EN.01000101.xml
| 17.10.2007 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | L 273/1 |
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1182/2007
of 26 September 2007
laying down specific rules as regards the fruit and vegetable sector, amending Directives 2001/112/EC and 2001/113/EC and Regulations (EEC) No 827/68, (EC) No 2200/96, (EC) No 2201/96, (EC) No 2826/2000, (EC) No 1782/2003 and (EC) No 318/2006 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2202/96
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 36 and 37 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament,
Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),
Having regard to the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions,
Whereas:
| (1) | The current regime for the fruit and vegetables sector is laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables (2), Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisation of the markets in processed fruit and vegetable products (3) and Council Regulation (EC) No 2202/96 of 28 October 1996 introducing a Community aid scheme for producers of certain citrus fruits (4). |
| (2) | In the light of experience it is necessary to change the regime for the fruit and vegetables sector in order to achieve the following objectives: improving the competitiveness and market orientation of the sector so as to contribute to achieving sustainable production that is competitive both on internal and external markets; reducing fluctuations in producers’ income resulting from crises on the market; increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables in the Community; and continuing the efforts made by the sector to maintain and protect the environment. |
| (3) | Since those objectives cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States due to the common nature of the market in fruit and vegetables and can therefore, by reason of the need for further common action, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives. |
| (4) | The Commission has submitted a separate proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets which could initially incorporate certain provisions of a horizontal nature covering the fruit and vegetables sector and applying to a range of other agricultural products, in particular provisions on a management committee. It is appropriate to leave such provisions in Regulations (EC) No 2200/96 and (EC) No 2201/96. Those provisions should however be updated, simplified and streamlined so as to allow for their easy incorporation into the Regulation establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets. |
| (5) | As regards other provisions specific to the fruit and vegetables sector, the scope of the changes to the current regime make it necessary, in the interests of clarity, to incorporate all such provisions into a separate Regulation. Where such provisions are to some extent also of a horizontal nature and apply to a range of other agricultural products, such as those on marketing standards and trade with third countries, they should also be updated and simplified so as to allow for their easy incorporation, at a later date, into the abovementioned Regulation establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets. This Regulation should not, therefore, repeal or change existing instruments of a horizontal nature unless they have become obsolete, redundant or should not, by their very nature, be dealt with at Council level. |
| (6) | The scope of this Regulation should be products covered by the common market organisations of the markets in fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables. However, the provisions on producer organisations and interbranch organisations and agreements apply only to products covered by the common market organisation for fruit and vegetables and this distinction should be maintained. The scope of the common market organisation in fruit and vegetables should also be extended to certain culinary herbs to allow them to benefit from that regime. Thyme and saffron are currently covered by Council Regulation (EEC) No 827/68 of 28 June 1968 on the common organisation of the market in certain products listed in Annex II to the Treaty (5), from which they should therefore be removed. |
| (7) | Marketing standards, in particular relating to definition, quality, grading into classes, sizing, packaging, wrapping, storage, transport, presentation, marketing and labelling, should apply in respect of certain products to permit the market to be supplied with products of uniform and satisfactory quality. Moreover, special measures, in particular up-to-date methods of analysis and other measures to determine the characteristics of the standards concerned, may need to be adopted to avoid abuses as regards the quality and authenticity of the products presented to the consumers and the significant disturbances on the markets to which such abuses may give rise. |
| (8) | Currently, Council Directive 2001/112/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to fruit juices and certain similar products intended for human consumption (6) and Council Directive 2001/113/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to fruit jams, jellies and marmalades and sweetened chestnut purée intended for human consumption (7) lay down specific provisions regarding production, composition and labelling of these products. However, those rules are not fully updated to take account of developments in relevant international standards and should therefore be modified to allow for such updating. |
| (9) | The production and marketing of fruit and vegetables should take full account of environmental concerns, including cultivation practices, the management of waste materials and the disposal of products withdrawn from the market, in particular as regards the protection of water quality, the maintenance of biodiversity and the upkeep of the countryside. |
| (10) | Producer organisations are the basic actors in the fruit and vegetables regime, the decentralised operation of which they ensure at their level. In the face of ever greater concentration of demand, the grouping of supply through these organisations continues to be an economic necessity in order to strengthen the position of producers in the market. Such grouping should be effected on a voluntary basis and prove its utility by the scope and efficiency of the services offered by producer organisations to their members. Since producer organisations act exclusively in the interests of their members, they should be deemed as acting in the name and on behalf of their members in economic matters. |
| (11) | Experience shows that producer organisations are the proper tool for grouping supply. However, the spread of producer organisations in different Member States has been uneven. In order to further improve the attractiveness of producer organisations, provision should be made for more flexibility in their operation wherever possible. Such flexibility should concern in particular the product range of a producer organisation, the extent of direct sales permitted and the extension of rules to non-members as well as permitting associations of producer organisations to carry out any of the activities of their members and permitting the outsourcing of activities, including to subsidiaries, in both cases subject to necessary conditions. |
| (12) | A producer organisation should not be recognised by its Member State as able to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the common market organisation unless its articles of association impose certain requirements on it and its members. The establishment and proper functioning of operational funds require that producer organisations should in general take charge of the whole of the relevant fruit and vegetable production of their members. |
| (13) | Producer groups in Member States which acceded to the European Union on 1 May 2004 or after that date and wishing to acquire the status of producer organisations in accordance with this Regulation should be allowed the benefit of a transitional period during which national and Community financial support can be given against certain commitments by the producer group. |
| (14) | In order to give producer organisations greater responsibility for their financial decisions in particular and to gear the public resources assigned to them towards future requirements, terms should be set for the use of these resources. Joint financing of operational funds set up by producer organisations is an appropriate solution. Additional scope for financing should be permitted in particular cases. In order to control Community expenditure, there should be a cap on assistance granted to producer organisations that establish operational funds. |
| (15) | In regions where the organisation of production is weak, the grant of additional, national, financial contributions should be allowed. In the case of Member States which are at a particular disadvantage with regard to structures, those contributions should be reimbursable by the Community. |
| (16) | In order to simplify and reduce the cost of the scheme it could be helpful to align, where possible, the procedures and rules for the eligibility of expenditure under operational funds with those of rural development programmes by requiring Member |
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