Council Regulation (EC) No 1553/95 of 29 June 1995 adjusting, for the fifth time, the system of aid for cotton introduced by Protocol 4 annexed to the Act of Accession of Greece

• CELEX: Regulation (EC) No 1553/95
• Articles: 8

Article 1

This Regulation provides for adjustments to the system of aid for the production of cotton provided for in paragraphs 3, 8, 9 and 11 of Protocol 4 annexed to the Act of Accession of Greece and adjusted by Regulation (EEC) No 1964/87 (1).

Article 2

Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 1964/87 shall be replaced by the following:

'Article 2 1. A guaranteed maximum quantity (GMQ) is hereby established for which the aid referred to in point 3 of Protocol 4 on cotton shall be granted.

This quantity shall be fixed for each marketing year at 1 031 000 tonnes of unginned cotton.

2. The GMQ shall be allocated as follows among the Member States (guaranteed national quantity - GNQ):

Spain: 249 000 tonnes,

Greece: 782 000 tonnes.

3. Without prejudice to paragraph 4, if during a marketing year actual production exceeds the GMQ, the guide price for that year shall be reduced in any Member State where production exceeds GNQ by a percentage equal to half of that by which the GNQ is exceeded. This reduction shall be established by, on the one hand, taking into account the amount by which the GMQ is exceeded and, on the other hand, by taking the proportion of the difference between the actual production of each Member State and its GNQ.

The reductions applicable shall be fixed in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 1308/70 (*).

4. If during a marketing year:

- the provisions of paragraph 3 are applied,

- the weighted average of the world market price adopted in order to fix the amount of aid is greater than ECU 30,2 per 100 kg, and - the total budgetary expenditure on the aid system is less than ECU 770 million,

the budgetary difference referred to in the third indent shall be used in order to increase aid in each Member State where actual production exceeds its GNQ.

However, the amount of aid, increased pursuant to the first subparagraph, may not exceed:

- the amount of aid calculated without the application of paragraph 3, nor - the amount of aid calculated after application of paragraph 3, on the basis of a GMQ of 1 120 000 tonnes of unginned cotton where the GNQ for Spain is 270 000 tonnes and the GNQ for Greece is 850 000 tonnes.

The detailed rules for determining the increase in the aid and the information to be supplied by the Member States to the Commission with a view to such determination shall be fixed in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 1308/70.

5. Paragraphs 3 and 4 shall not apply to Member States other than Greece and Spain. However, in the event that in one of these Member States, the actual production of unginned cotton exceeds 1 500 tonnes during the marketing year and the actual production of the Community exceeds the GMQ, the guide price shall be reduced in the Member State concerned by a percentage equal to half of that by which the quantity of 1 500 tonnes is exceeded.

(*) OJ No L 146, 4. 7. 1970, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 3290/94 (OJ No L 349, 31. 12. 1994, p. 105)`

Article 3

Paragraph 8 of Protocol 4 is replaced by the following:

'8. The guide price shall be set at ECU 106,30 per 100 kg of unginned cotton.

This price shall relate to cotton:

- of fair, sound and merchantable quality,

- having a 10 % moisture content and 3 % impurity content,

- having the necessary characteristics to produce, after ginning, 32 % grade 5 fibres (white middling) of 28 mm length (1-3/32M).`

Article 4

The following paragraph is inserted in Protocol 4:

'8a. Production aid shall be granted only to those undertakings which buy unginned cotton at a price at least equal to a minimum price. The minimum price shall be set at ECU 100,99 per 100 kg of unginned cotton for the quality selected for the guide price at the farm gate.`

Article 5

Point (a) in the second subparagraph of paragraph 9 of Protocol 4 shall be deleted.

Article 6

Paragraph 11 of Protocol 4 shall be replaced by the following:

'11. Before the start of the 1999/2000 marketing year at the latest, the Commission shall send the Council a report on the operation of the system of aid for cotton. If the report shows it to be necessary, the Council, acting by qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission and having consulted Parliament, shall decide on any adjustments to the system, account being taken of the experience acquired in operating both this system and the system of support for arable crops.`

Article 7

Regulation (EEC) No 1152/90 shall be repealed with effect from 1 September 1995. However, it shall continue to apply to requests for aid relating to the 1994/95 marketing year.

Article 8

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

It shall apply from the 1995/96 marketing year.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Luxembourg, 29 June 1995.

For the Council The President J. BARROT

(1) OJ No L 294, 15. 11. 1994, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 215, 30. 7. 1992, p. 10.

(3) OJ No C 94, 14. 4. 1995, p. 4.

(4) OJ No C 151, 19. 6. 1995.

(5) OJ No C 155, 21. 6. 1995, p. 21.

(6) OJ No L 22, 31. 1. 1995, p. 1.

(7) OJ No L 116, 8. 5. 1990, p. 3. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2054/92 (OJ No L 215, 30. 7. 1992, p. 13).

(1) OJ No L 184, 3. 7. 1987, p. 14. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2760/94 (OJ No L 294, 15. 11. 1994, p. 17).