THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to 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, and in particular Article 219(1) in conjunction with Article 228 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Global demand for milk and milk products has generally deteriorated throughout year 2014 and in the first half of 2015, notably as a result of the slowdown in imports from China, the main world importer of milk products.
(2)
Downward pressure on prices for dairy products had been registered due to increased supply both in the Union and in the main milk producing regions of the world.
(3)
In addition, on 25 June 2015 the Russian government announced the prolongation of the ban on the import of agricultural products and foodstuffs originating in the Union for another year, up to 6 August 2016.
(4)
The dairy sector is therefore confronted with a market disturbance situation due to a strong supply-demand imbalance.
(5)
As a consequence, prices of raw milk and dairy products in the Union have further deteriorated and downward pressure is likely to carry on, reaching unsustainable levels for many farmers, which are experiencing cash-flow and treasury difficulties. Union average prices for the main cheeses had decreased by 17 % in 2015.
(6)
The market intervention measures available under Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 do not appear to be sufficient for the situation recently created, since they are targeted to other products such as butter and skimmed milk powder, or limited to cheeses with a geographical indication.
(7)
The threat of a serious imbalance in the cheese market might be mitigated or eliminated by storage. It is therefore appropriate to grant aid for private storage of cheese and to fix the amount of aid in advance.
(8)
It is appropriate to set a ceiling for the maximum volume to be covered by the scheme and a breakdown of the total volume per Member States based on their cheese production.
(9)
Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 provides for the granting of private storage aid only for cheeses benefiting from a protected designation of origin or from a protected geographical indication under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council. However, cheeses with protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication represent only a small share of the total Union cheese production. For reasons of operational and administrative efficiency it is appropriate to set up a single private storage aid scheme covering all types of cheeses.
(10)
It is appropriate to exclude cheeses which are not suitable for storage.
(11)
As a general rule, to facilitate management and control, private storage aid should be granted only to operators established and registered for VAT purposes in the Union.
(12)
To ensure that the arrangements can be monitored properly, the information needed to conclude the storage contract should be specified in this Regulation as well as the obligations of the contracting parties.
(13)
In order to make the scheme more effective, contracts should relate to a certain minimum quantity and to the obligations to be fulfilled by the contracting party, in particular those enabling the competent authority responsible for checking storage operations to make an effective inspection of the storage conditions.
(14)
Storage of the contractual quantity during the contractual storage period is one of the requirements for the granting of private storage aid. To take account of commercial practice and practical reasons, a margin of tolerance in respect of the quantity subject to aid should be allowed.
(15)
In order to guarantee the seriousness of the application and in order to ensure that the measure will have its desired effect on the market, a security is needed. Therefore, provisions should be adopted for the lodging, release and forfeit of the security.
(16)
To ensure that the storage is properly managed, it is appropriate to adopt provisions for reducing the amount of aid to be paid when the quantity stored during the contractual storage period is less than the contractual quantity.
(17)
The amount of aid should be fixed on the basis of storage costs and/or other relevant market elements. It is appropriate to set an aid for fixed storage costs for entry and exit of the products concerned and an aid per day of storage for costs for cold storage and financing.
(18)
It is necessary to indicate the conditions under which an advance payment may be granted, the adjustment of the aid in cases where the contractual quantity is not entirely respected, the checks on compliance with entitlement to aid, the possible penalties and the information to be notified to the Commission by the Member States.
(19)
The measure might not be used to the full extent by all Member States, it is appropriate to provide for the reallocation of quantities after three months of application of the measure. The Commission should be authorised to adopt where appropriate implementing act laying down the reallocation per Member States of unused quantities and the new period for lodging applications.
(20)
Rules should also be laid down regarding documentation, accounting and frequency and nature of checks,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: