13.10.2004 Official Journal of the European Union L 314/3 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1761/2004 of 12 October 2004 laying down specific measures in the cauliflower sector 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 ('), and in particular Article 17 thereof, Whereas: (1) Cauliflower production is characterised by wide fluc- tuations in supply depending on the weather. Demand for cauliflowers also fluctuates in line with the weather, but inversely to supply. The market in fresh cauliflowers is therefore marked by rapid and unpredictable devel- opments, with an extremely wide range of prices charged on the markets in fresh cauliflowers not intended for processing. Fluctuations occur each year, at irregular intervals and to varying degrees, which causes continuing difficulties for the cauliflower sector. Under the intervention arrangements laid down in Title IV of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 and implemented by Commission Regulation (EC) No 103/2004 of 21 January 2004 laying down detailed rules for imple- menting Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards intervention arrangements and market with- drawals in the fruit and vegetable sector (%), the quantities withdrawn may not exceed 10% of the quantity marketed at any point of the marketing year. The scale of the short-term cyclical developments for cauliflowers is such that these limits prevent effective regulation of the market by producer organisations using only the general instruments of intervention. To improve competitiveness in the sector, provisions should be introduced to smooth cyclical developments by allowing, through the payment of a specific aid, the processing of certain quantities intended initially for the fresh product market where excess supply leads to a collapse in prices and provided that these quantities meet certain quality requirements. However, to avoid this mechanism generating a rise in production, the amount of aid must remain well below the difference in the prices of cauliflowers intended for the fresh product market and cauliflowers intended for processing. () O L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 47/2003 (O L 7, 11.1.2003, p. 64). () O] L 16, 23.1.2004, p. 3. 4 (®) There is also a need to ensure that producer organi- sations employ their own resources for the prevention and management of cyclical crises. As a result, the minimum quantities delivered for processing must be taken over by producer organisations without benefiting from the aid, for the purposes of prevention and management of cyclical crises. As the purpose of the operation is to smooth out the occasional peaks in production, the total share of production which may benefit from either these new provisions or the traditional withdrawals mechanism must continue to be limited to 15 %. Producer organisations wishing to make use of these provisions must guarantee the processors with whom they work supplies of minimum quantities throughout the marketing year, by means of contracts, so that the activity of those processors does not depend entirely on crises affecting cauliflowers intended for the fresh market. To identify a state of crisis, a price quotation must be fixed as a reference amount for monitoring cyclical devel- opments on the market in fresh cauliflowers, as must the price level below which, for this price quotation, the market in fresh cauliflowers must be considered to be in crisis and specific measures may be triggered. This kind of system means that producers must notify all deliveries of cauliflowers for processing, even those which do not benefit from the aid in question, in order to allow checks on the total quantities processed. Specific measures are innovative compared with the general instruments used by the common organisations of the markets in fruit and vegetables. At this stage, therefore, their scope should be limited in terms of budget and quantity and also of time, so as to allow a precise assessment of the impact of these measures before these provisions are extended. As a result, in order to avoid any budget overrun, a system for the quarterly notification of aid applications should be organised to enable a reduction percentage for appli- cations to be fixed where necessary. In this kind of noti- fication system, any delay in communicating aid appli- cations by producer organisations renders the operation ineligible.