(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,