4. 12. 90 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 337/7 COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3493/90 of 27 November 1990 laying down general rules for the grant of premiums to sheepmeat and goatmeat producers THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, ' Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3013/89 of 25 September 1989 on the common organization of the market in sheepmeat and goatmeat (!), and in parti- cular Article 5 (8) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Whereas Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 3013/89 lays down that to offset any income loss by sheepmeat and goatmeat producers a premium is to be granted ; whereas the beneficiaries under the said measure should therefore be specified ; Whereas the same Atticle lays down limits as regards eligibility for the premium which vary according to whether the beneficiary’s holding is located in a less- favoured area within the meaning of Council Directive 75/268/EEC of 28 April 1975 on mountain and hill farming and farming in certain less-favoured areas ('), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 797/85 (%) or not ; whereas, so as to ensure equal treatment of applicants, rules should be laid down for the applicatgion of the said limits where the holding is located partly in a less- favoured area and, by analogy, in cases where the benefi- ciary practises transhumance of his flock to a less- favoured area during a sufficiently long period ; whereas, to that end, the criteria on which a beneficiary is to be regarded as being engaged in farming on terms similar to those of farmers whose holdings are located entirely in less-favoured areas should be laid down ; whereas, there- fore, the term ‘holding’ must be defined ; whereas the conditions for the application of the abovementioned limits in the case of producer groups should also be speci- fied ; Whereas the practical application of the present defini- tions of the terms ‘eligible ewe’, ‘eligible she-goat’ and ‘eligible female of the ovine species other than eligible ewe’ laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 872/84 of 31 March 1984 laying down general rules for the gran- ting of premiums to sheepmeat producers(*), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1970/87 (), results in difficulties of control ; whereas those terms must be rede- () OJ No L 289, 7. 10. 1989, p. 4. () OJ No L 128, 19. 5. 1975, p. 1. () OJ No L 93, 30. 3. 1985, p. 1. () OJ No L 90, 1. 4. 1984, p. 40. () OJ No L 184, 3. 7. 1987, p. 23. fined in view of experience gained; whereas discussions on formulating new definitions have revealed administra- tive difficulties that are as yet unresolved; whereas it should therefore be stipulated that the present definitions will remain in force for the 1991 marketing year, pending a Council decision to be taken not later than 31 May 1991 ; Whereas, for reasons of efficient management, provisions should be made to postpone payment of premiums to the following marketing year in cases where the unit amount is very small ; whereas, however, where the amount of the advance payments made during a marketing year is higher than the amount of the premium payable in respect of the marketing year in question, provision should be made for the difference to be deducted from the amount of the premium payable in respect of the following marketing year, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : Article 1 For the purposes of this Regulation : 1. ‘sheepmeat and/or goatmeat producer’ means : an indi- vidual farmer, whether a natural or a legal person, who, on a permanent basis, assumes the risks and/or orga- nizes the rearing of at least 10 ewes or, in the case of - the areas referred to in Article 5 (5) of Regulation (EEC) No 3013/89, 10 ewes and/or she-goats within the territory of a single Member State. For the purposes of applying this Regulation, the farmer is the owner of the flock, except for special cases still to be determined which arise from contractual forms provided for in agricultural law or covered by national customs and practices under which the farmer, while assuming the risks and/or organization of the rearing, is not the owner of all or part of the flock; 2. ‘producer group’ means : any form of group, associa- tion or cooperation involving reciprocal rights and obligations between producers of sheepmeat and/or goatmeat. Associations the object of which is the joint rearing of the flock in a such a manner that ownership of it cannot be attributed to its members individually are also considered to be producer groups, provided that it is established that those members personally assume the risks and/or the organization of rearing ;