Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1882 of 8 November 2019 opening tendering procedures for the amount of aid for private storage of olive oil

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 ¹, and in particular Article 18(2) and points (m) and (o) of the first paragraph of Article 20 thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) Prices for virgin olive oils on the Spanish, Greek and Portuguese markets have remained consistently low and close to reference thresholds established in Article 1a(1)(g) of Council Regulation (EU) No 1370/2013 ² for several months.

• (2) The prospect of a consecutive good harvest in the Union, the accumulation of stocks and current uncertainties in external trade create an imbalance between supply and demand, which in turn exerts a downward pressure on virgin olive oils prices and causes a serious disturbance to large parts of the Union market.

• (3) Spain is the most important olive oil producer of the Union and the price leader. The exceptionally high stocks in Spain therefore risk prolonging and exacerbating the serious disturbance of the Union market for virgin olive oils.

• (4) In order to reduce the current supply-demand imbalance and to alleviate those difficult market conditions, it is appropriate to grant private storage aid for virgin olive oils.

• (5) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1238 ³ and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1240 ⁴, which establish common rules for the implementation of a private storage scheme, should apply to private storage aid for virgin olive oils.

• (6) The amount of aid should be fixed by tendering procedure so as to allow for a flexible operational system. To this end, it is appropriate to provide for several tendering sub-periods.

• (7) To allow different operators to benefit from the measure, each operator should submit a maximum of one tender by category of virgin olive oils for each sub-period.

• (8) For private storage aid to be effective and have a real impact on the market, the aid should be granted for virgin olive oils in bulk. As it is usual in the olive sector to have product in storage, tenders should also be accepted for virgin olive oils already in storage.

• (9) The quantities of virgin olive oils benefiting from private storage aid should not be marketed during a minimum storage period in order to have a real effect on the supply-demand balance of the current year. The minimum storage period should be fixed at 180 days.

• (10) For reasons of administrative efficiency and simplification, the tenders should only be eligible for quantities not lower than 50 tonnes.

• (11) In order to prevent uncontrolled price falls, to react swiftly to the difficult market conditions and to ensure efficient management of this measure, this Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

• (12) The Committee for the Common Organisation of the Agricultural Markets has not delivered an opinion within the time limit laid down by its chair,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

• (a) extra virgin olive oil;

• (b) virgin olive oil;

• (c) lampante olive oil.

Article 2

• (a) from 21 November 2019 until 26 November 2019;

• (b) from 12 December 2019 until 17 December 2019;

• (c) from 22 January 2020 until 27 January 2020;

• (d) from 20 February 2020 until 25 February 2020.

If the last day of a sub-period is a public holiday, the time limit shall be 12.00 (Brussels time) on the previous working day.

Article 3

Member States shall notify the Commission of all the admissible tenders not later than 12.00 (Brussels time) on the day following the last day of each submission sub-period referred to in Article 2(1).

Article 4

Private storage aid contracts shall cover a storage period of 180 days.

Article 5

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 8 November 2019.

For the Commission

The President

Jean-Claude JUNCKER