http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/eur/2017/1185

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1185

of 20 April 2017

laying down rules for the application of Regulations (EU) No 1307/2013 and (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards notifications to the Commission of information and documents and amending and repealing several Commission Regulations

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 637/2008 and Council Regulation (EC) No 73/20091 and in particular Article 67(3) thereof,

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 1234/20072, and in particular Articles 126 and 151, and Article 223(3) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

Regulations (EU) No 1307/2013 and (EU) No 1308/2013 have repealed and replaced Council Regulations (EC) No 73/20093 and (EC) No 1234/20074 respectively. Regulations (EU) No 1307/2013 and (EU) No 1308/2013 and the acts adopted on the basis of those Regulations lay down a wide range of obligations to notify information and documents to the Commission. Those regulations also empower the Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts in that respect. In order to ensure the smooth notification of information and documents by Member States to the Commission, certain rules have to be adopted by means of such acts. Those acts should replace the rules laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 792/20095, which is repealed by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/11836.

(2)

The method to be used to notify the information and documents required to meet the notification obligations laid down in Regulations (EU) No 1307/2013 and (EU) No 1308/2013 as supplemented by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1183, should be laid down and exceptions to that notification method should be specified.

(3)

For documents to be recognised as valid for the Commission's purposes it should be possible to guarantee the authenticity, integrity and legibility of the documents and the associated metadata throughout the period for which they are required to be kept.

(4)

Documents must be managed in accordance with the personal data protection rules. To that end, the general rules laid down by Union legislation, notably Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council7, Regulations (EC) No 45/20018 and (EC) No 1049/20019 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council10 should apply, and further provisions should be laid down to guide Member States.

(5)

It is important that information notified is of relevance to the market concerned, accurate and complete and Member States should put in place arrangements to ensure this, including the necessary measures to ensure that economic operators provide them with the required information within appropriate time limits.

(6)

For the sake of simplification and reduction of administrative burden, when a Member State has not sent a notification, this should be interpreted by the Commission as a nil notification by the Member State.

(7)

Member States may notify additional information that is relevant to the market beyond what is required by this Regulation. The Commission shall make available, through the information system, the necessary form for the transmission of such information.

(8)

Information on product prices and production and market information is required for the purpose of monitoring, analysing and managing the market in agricultural products and for the purpose of applying Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. It is accordingly appropriate that rules concerning the notification of this information are laid down.

(9)

In order to simplify and facilitate access to rules concerning notification obligations, it is appropriate to incorporate in this Regulation the provisions regarding notifications from Member States to the Commission on the data on agricultural markets, particularly prices, production and balance sheet data, currently laid down in Commission Regulations (EC) No 315/200211, (EC) No 546/200312, (EC) No 1709/200313; (EC) No 2336/200314, (EC) No 2095/200515, (EC) No 952/200616, (EC) No 1557/200617, (EC) No 589/200818, (EC) No 826/200819, (EC) No 1249/200820, (EC) No 436/200921, (EU) No 1272/200922 and (EU) No 479/201023 and Commission Implementing Regulations (EU) No 543/201124, (EU) No 1288/201125, (EU) No 1333/201126 and (EU) No 807/201327. Those notification obligations should be updated in the light of acquired experience and for a more effective management of the common agricultural policy.

(10)

In order to have a comprehensive picture of price data notified and to follow trends, it is appropriate to require that each price series is defined.

(11)

Member States that have not adopted the euro shall report price information in their official currency.

(12)

The Union is required to make certain notifications to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in accordance with Article 18(2) of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture28, as further detailed in paragraph 4 of WTO document G/AG/2 of 30 June 1995 and the Annex to the WTO Ministerial Decision of 19 December 2015 on export competition (WT/MIN(15)/45-WT/L/980). In order to comply with these requirements, the Union requires certain information from Member States, notably information relating to domestic support and export competition. Provisions concerning the notifications to be made by Member States to the Commission for these purposes should therefore be laid down.

(13)

The provisions on notifications in the sugar sector should apply from 1 October 2017 in order to provide for a smooth transition with the ending of the quota system.

(14)

Regulations (EC) No 315/2002, (EC) No 952/2006, (EC) No 589/2008, (EC) No 826/2008, (EC) No 1249/2008, (EC) No 436/2009, (EU) No 1272/2009, (EU) No 479/2010, and Implementing Regulations (EU) No 543/2011, (EU) No 1333/2011 and (EU) No 807/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly. Regulations (EC) No 546/2003, (EC) No 1709/2003, (EC) No 2336/2003, (EC) No 2095/2005 and (EC) No 1557/2006 and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1288/2011 should be repealed.

(15)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee of Direct Payments and the Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: