4.11.2003 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/5 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1943/2003 of 3 November 2003 laying down rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards aid to producer groups granted preliminary recognition THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables ('), as last amended by Commission Regula- tion (EC) No 47/2003 (%), and in particular Article 48 thereof, Whereas: 1 0000 AN NN il il N NN In the view of experience gained during the last years, it is necessary to amend Commission Regulation (EC) No 20/98 of 7 January 1998 laying down rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards aid to producer organisations granted preli- minary recognition (*), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 983/2000 (*). In the interests of clarity and rationality, that Regulation should be replaced by a new Regulation. Regulation (EC) No 20/98 should consequently be repealed. Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 states that new producer groups may be allowed a transitional period of no more than five years in which to meet the conditions for recognition laid down in Article 11 of that Regulation. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1432/ 2003 (°) establishes the conditions for granting preli- minary recognition to producer groups. In order to encourage the formation of producer groups, Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 also states that Member States may grant two sorts of aid to producer groups granted preliminary recognition in the five years following such preliminary recognition, one to cover the costs of their formation and administrative operation and one to cover part of the investments required to attain recognition and set out in their recog- nition plans. To facilitate the correct application of the system of aid to cover the costs of formation and administrative operation, that aid should be granted at a flat rate. That flat-rate aid should be subject to a ceiling in order to comply with budgetary constraints. Moreover, to take account of the differing financial needs of producer 97,21.11.1996, p. 1. ,11.1.2003, p. 64. , 8.1.1998, p. 40. 13, 12.5.2000, p. 36. 03, 12.8.2003, p. 18. ( ( ( ( ( 6 x 8 9 ) ) ) ! 0J ) 0J 0 groups of different sizes, that ceiling should be adjusted in line with the marketable production of the producer groups. In order to guarantee equal treatment between the producer organisations referred to in Article 11 of Regu- lation (EC) No 2200/96 and the producer groups referred to in Article 14 of the same regulation, the aid referred to in Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisa- tion of the markets in processed fruit and vegetables (%), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 4532002 (), and in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2202/96 of 28 October 1996 introducing a Community aid scheme for producers of certain citrus fruits (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2699/ 2000 (°), should be added to the appropriate value of marketed production, as provided for in Article 3 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1433/2003 of 11 August 2003 laying down detailed rules for the applica- tion of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards operational funds, operational programmes and financial assistance ('°). Natural disasters can cause a steep fall in marketed production in a given year. In such cases, in order to avoid such drastic reductions in the Community aid to producer groups granted preliminary recognition as might jeopardise its operation, there should be a limit on the reduction in marketed production taken into account for the purposes of calculating the aid. That limit should be determined by reference to the yield and the average prices obtained by the producer groups granted preliminary recognition or by their members in the three years preceding the year of the disaster, and should be fixed to take account of normal production fluctuations due to weather conditions. In order to ensure that the aid provided for in this Regu- lation is applied properly, the Member State in question should check that the grant of the aid is duly justified, account being taken of any previous grants of aid for the launching of producer groups and of any move- ments of producers between producer groups and/or organisations. The Member States should also ensure that duplicate Community or national financing is not granted for measures qualifying for Community finan- cing in accordance with this Regulation. L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 29. L 72, 14.3.2002, p. 9. L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 49. L 311, 12.12.2000, p. 9. %) OJ L 203, 12.8.2003, p. 25.