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PURPOSE: to
reform the Common Market Organisation in Bananas (CMO). LEGISLATIVE
ACT: Council Regulation (EC) No 2013/2006 amending Regulations (EEC) No
404/93, (EC) No 1782/2003 and (EC) No 247/2006 as regards the banana sector. CONTENT: the Council adopted a regulation reforming the banana sector. The
Commission issued a statement to address the specific problem of Cyprus which abstained, as did the Netherlands. Latvia, the UK and Sweden voted against and issued a
common statement. Estonia, Germany and Poland issued their own statements. The Regulation
replaces the aid scheme in the banana CMO through a transfer to the POSEI
scheme of the financial envelope for sustaining local banana production in
the outermost regions concerned. It also includes "non-POSEI" areas
under banana cultivation in the Single Payment Scheme (as of 2007 for Greece and Portugal, and in the following years for Cyprus), similarly with an appropriate budget
transfer. The financial
envelope included in the proposal is based on the 2000-2002 reference period.
The total envelope amounts to EUR 280 million for the major producing Member
States (Spain, France, Portugal and Greece). For Cyprus, where banana
producers are currently supported under the single area payment scheme, an
additional budget of EUR 3.4 million is allocated. This
Regulation offers the advantages of: - consistency
with the CAP reform and with WTO disciplines;
- flexibility,
for example in the promotion of environmentally-sound cultivation
methods;
- permitting
additional financing by member states;
- contributing
to the attainment of a fair standard of living of the agricultural
community in EU banana-producing regions;
- predictability
and stabilising public expenditure, which was not the case with the
former regulation.
ENTRY INTO
FORCE: 01/01/2007.
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