Council Regulation (EC) No 2529/2001 of 19 December 2001 on the common organisation of the market in sheepmeat and goatmeat

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⁽¹⁾,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament⁽²⁾,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee⁽³⁾,

Whereas:

1. The provisions concerning the common organisation of the market in sheepmeat and goatmeat have been established in a number of regulations. For reasons of clarity these regulations should be repealed and replaced by a new Regulation. Council Regulations (EEC) No 2644/80 of 14 October 1980 laying down general rules for intervention with regard to the sheepmeat and goatmeat sector⁽⁴⁾, (EEC) No 3901/89 of 12 December 1989 defining lambs fattened as heavy carcasses⁽⁵⁾, (EEC) No 1323/90 of 14 May 1990 instituting specific aid for sheep and goat farming in certain less-favoured areas of the Community⁽⁶⁾, (EEC) No 3493/90 of 27 November 1990 laying down general rules for the granting of premiums to sheepmeat and goatmeat producers⁽⁷⁾, (EEC) No 338/91 of 5 February 1991 determining the Community standard quality of fresh or chilled sheep carcasses⁽⁸⁾ and Council Regulation (EC) No 2467/98 of 3 November 1998 on the common organisation of the market in sheepmeat and goatmeat⁽⁹⁾ are replaced by new arrangements in this Regulation and should therefore be repealed.

2. A common organisation of the agricultural markets may take various forms depending on the product.

3. In order to attain the objectives set out in Article 33 of the Treaty, in particular market stability and a fair standard of living for the agricultural community concerned, it is necessary to provide for certain arrangements facilitating adjustment of supply to market requirements. Provision should be made for internal market measures comprising, in particular, a premium to sheepmeat and goatmeat producers and a private storage scheme.

4. The amount of the premium to be granted to producers must take account of the different specialisations of production systems in the Community. The premium for she-goats should be granted to producers in specific areas where goat rearing is mainly directed towards the production of goatmeat and goat and sheep rearing techniques are similar in nature.

5. Provision should also be made for the payment of a supplementary premium to producers in areas where sheep and goat production constitutes a traditional activity or contributes significantly to the rural economy. The granting of the supplementary premium should be limited to producers whose holdings have at least 50 % of their area used for agriculture situated in less-favoured areas, as defined pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 27 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and appealing certain regulations⁽¹⁰⁾.

6. It is opportune for administrative purposes that the earliest date for the payment of the premiums should coincide with the beginning of the budgetary year. In order to achieve the desired economic impact, premiums must be granted within certain time limits.

7. It is necessary to provide for the possibility to change the amounts of the premiums in the light of developments in production, productivity and the markets.

8. In order to avoid encouraging production and increased expenditure it is appropriate to maintain individual ceilings for producers. The total number of premium rights of each Member State should be fixed on the basis of levels already established.

9. New producers and existing producers whose individual ceilings do not correspond, for various reasons, to the changed circumstances of their flocks should not be excluded from entitlement to the premium. Provision should therefore be made to operate national reserves to be stocked and administered in accordance with Community criteria. For the same reason, the transfer of rights to premium without the transfer of the associated holding should be subject to rules whereby part of the rights transferred is withdrawn without compensatory payment and is allocated to that national reserve.

10. In order to permit producers to reduce their production for a limited period, Member States should be enabled to provide the option of a temporary transfer of premium rights.

11. A link should be established between sensitive zones or localities and the production of sheep and goats so as to ensure the maintenance of such production, especially in areas where such production is important for the local economy.

12. The conditions for sheep and goat production and the income situation of producers varies significantly in different production areas of the Community. Therefore, it is appropriate to provide for a flexible framework of additional Community payments for Member States to be determined and make within fixed global amounts and in accordance with certain common criteria in order to respond adequately to the structural and natural disparities and the diverse needs of the sector. The global amounts should be allocated to the Member States on the basis of their share of premia paid. The common criteria are intended, inter alia, to prevent additional payments from producing discriminatory effects and to take full account of the relevant multilateral commitments of the Community. In particular, it is essential that Member States be obliged to act exclusively on the basis of objective criteria, to pay full regard to the concept of equal treatment and to avoid market and competition distortions.

13. Intervention measures take the form of private storage aid, which least affects normal marketing of products. In order to ensure proper application of such aid, the Commission should be fully informed about the development of prices on the common market for sheep and goatmeat.

14. As a general rule, whenever certain market price criteria are met the decision to grant private storage aid should be taken in the context of a tendering procedure. However, private storage aid could be made more effective if the amount of the aid is fixed in advance, where urgent recourse to private storage proves necessary in the light of a particularly difficult market situation in one or more quotation areas. It is therefore necessary to authorise the Commission to carry out advance fixing of the aid where such a market situation has arisen, even if the market price criteria in question have not been met.

15. Trade arrangements, in combination with price arrangements, premiums and intervention arrangements and containing a system of import duties, should serve to stabilise the Community market.

16. The competent authorities should be placed in a position to follow trade developments constantly in order to appraise market developments and, when necessary, the possible application of measures provided for in this Regulation. To that end, provision should be made for issuing import licences and, where appropriate, the corresponding export licences providing a guarantee to ensure the fulfilment of dealings for which the licences are sought.

17. In order to prevent or counteract adverse effects on the market in the Community due to the importation of certain agricultural products, the importation of one or more of these products must be subject to additional import duties if certain conditions are fulfilled.

18. It is appropriate, under certain conditions, to empower the Commission to open and administer tariff quotas resulting from international agreements concluded in accordance with the Treaty or resulting from other acts of the Council.

19. In addition to the system described above, provision should be made to the extent necessary for its proper working, for prohibiting in whole or in part, the use of inward or outward processing arrangements, when the situation on the market so requires.

20. The customs duty arrangements make it possible to dispense with all other protective measures at the external frontiers of the Community. However, the mechanism of common prices and customs duties may, in exceptional circumstances, prove inadequate. In such cases, in order to avoid leaving the Community market without protection against consequential disturbances following the removal of import barriers, the Community should be able to take all necessary measures without delay. These measures must be in conformity with the Community's obligations, including its international obligations.

21. Measures may also have to be taken when a substantial rise or fall in price disturbs or threatens to disturb the Community market.

22. Restrictions on free movement resulting from the application of measures intended to prevent the spread of animal diseases may cause difficulties on the market of one or more Member States. Exceptional market support measures may have to be introduced in order to remedy such situations.

23. The proper working of a single market based on common prices would be jeopardised by the granting of certain aids. Therefore, the provisions of the Treaty governing State aid should apply to sheepmeat and goatmeat.

24. The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission⁽¹¹⁾.

25. Expenditure incurred by the Member States in carrying out obligations under this Regulation falls within the scope of Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy⁽¹²⁾.

26. There are concerns about the environmental impact of sheep and goat production in certain regions of the Community. The Commission should draw up a report on this subject on the basis of experience gained if necessary accompanied by proposals.

27. The change from the arrangements under Regulation (EC) No 2467/98 to those provided for in this Regulation could give rise to difficulties, which are not dealt with in this Regulation. In order to deal with such difficulties, the Commission should be enabled to adopt transitional measures. The Commission should also be authorised to solve specific practical problems,

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