The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission delegated regulation C(2023)05369,

–  having regard to the Commission’s letter of 8 August 2023 asking Parliament to declare that it will raise no objections to the delegated regulation,

–  having regard to the letter from the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development to the Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs of 30 August 2023,

–  having regard to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007(1), and in particular Articles 37 and 173 and Article 227(5) thereof,

–  having regard to Rule 111(6) of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the recommendation for a decision of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development,

–  having regard to the fact that no objections have been raised within the period laid down in Rule 111(6), third and fourth indents, of its Rules of Procedure, which expired on 12 September 2023,

A.  whereas, due to severe adverse meteorological events (inter alia droughts and floods) affecting several Member States’ regions in 2023, the production of fruit and vegetables has been dramatically damaged, affecting both the volume produced and its quality;

B.  whereas many recognised producer organisations and associations of producer organisations are facing difficulties in implementing their approved operational programmes;

C.  whereas some of the approved actions and measures will not be implemented in 2023 and therefore part of the operational funds will not be spent; whereas other recognised producer organisations and associations of producer organisations are amending their operational programmes with a view to implementing actions and measures to address the impact of the severe adverse meteorological events in the fruit and vegetables sector, such as crisis management measures;

D.  whereas, with a view to addressing the consequences of the unprecedented nature of severe adverse meteorological events of the spring of 2023, the Commission proposed that it is necessary to alleviate those difficulties by derogating from certain provisions of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/891(2) applicable in the fruit and vegetables sector; whereas, therefore, the producer organisations should be exempted in the year 2023 from the provisions regarding the obligation that the economic value of products sold from producers that are not members of the producer organisation or of the association of producer organisation must be below the value of marketed production of the producer organisation or of the association of producer organisations; whereas, in addition, Member States should also be exempted from their obligation to set out in the national strategy the maximum percentages of the operational fund which may be spent on individual measures or types of action;

E.  whereas, to ensure the financial stability of producer organisations, Union financial assistance received for multiannual commitments in the fruit and vegetables sector, such as environmental actions, should not be recovered and reimbursed to the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) as provided for in Article 36(3) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/891, if their long-term objectives could not be realised because of their interruption in the year 2023 for reasons linked to the consequences of the adverse meteorological events of the spring of 2023;

1.  Declares that it has no objections to the delegated regulation;

2.  Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Council and the Commission.

(1) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671. (2) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/891 of 13 March 2017 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors and supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to penalties to be applied in those sectors and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 (OJ L 138, 25.5.2017, p. 4).