(1)

Regulation (EC) No 3223/94 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in the Annex thereto.

(2)

In compliance with the above criteria, the standard import values must be fixed at the levels set out in the Annex to this Regulation,

(1)

Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 958/2006 of 28 June 2006 on a standing invitation to tender to determine refunds on exports of white sugar for the 2006/07 marketing year (2) opens a standing invitation to tender to determine export refunds on white sugar covered by CN code 1701 99 10 for all destinations excluding Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro (3), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Romania.

(2)

In accordance with Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 38/2007 of 17 January 2007 opening a standing invitation to tender for the resale for export of sugar held by the intervention agencies of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden (4), the intervention agencies concerned are to offer for sale by standing invitation to tender for export to all destinations excluding Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro a total quantity of 852 681 tonnes of sugar accepted into intervention and available for export.

(3)

In line with Articles 32 and 33 of Council Regulation (EC) No 318/2006, export refunds may be set to cover the competitive gap between Community and third country's exports. Community exports to certain close destinations and to third countries granting Community products a preferential import treatment are currently in a particular favourable competitive position. Therefore, refunds for exports to those destinations should be abolished.

(4)

Regulations (EC) No 958/2006 and (EC) No 38/2007 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5)

In view of the dates for the submission of tenders under Regulations (EC) No 958/2006 and (EC) No 38/2007, this Regulation should enter into force immediately. However, so as to preserve the rights of tenderers who have already lodged offers, it should only apply to tenders lodged after the date of entry in to force.

(6)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Sugar,

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1483/2006 (2) opened standing invitations to tender for the resale on the Community market of cereals held by the intervention agencies of the Member States.

(2)

In view of the situation on the Community markets for rye and barley and of the changes in demand for cereals in various regions in recent weeks, new quantities of cereals held in intervention should be made available in some Member States. The intervention agencies in the Member States concerned should therefore be authorised to increase the quantities put out to tender by 96 150 tonnes of rye in Germany and by 342 tonnes of barley in Lithuania.

(3)

Regulation (EC) No 1483/2006 should be amended accordingly.

(4)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Cereals,

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 990/2006 (2) opened standing invitations to tender for the export of cereals held by the intervention agencies of the Member States.

(2)

Recently, the resale of rye on the internal market has sharply increased. This is due in particular to the more favourable conditions for resale on the internal market under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1483/2006 of 6 October 2006 opening standing invitations to tender for the resale on the Community market of cereals held by the intervention agencies of the Member States (3).

(3)

In view of this situation and in order to make the quantities of rye currently covered by the standing invitation to tender under Regulation (EC) No 990/2006 available for resale on the internal market, the quantity covered by those invitations to tender should be reduced by 96 150 tonnes for Germany.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 990/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Cereals,

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2247/2003 (2) opens, on a multi-annual basis for periods from 1 January to 31 December, a quota for the import of certain products in the beef and veal sector originating from the ACP States. The products eligible for import under this quota are listed in Annex I to that Regulation.

(2)

Article 6(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1301/2006 of 31 August 2006 laying down common rules for the administration of import tariff quotas for agricultural products managed by a system of import licences (3) provides that applicants for import licences shall not lodge more than one import licence application for the same quota order number in respect of an import tariff quota period or subperiod. Moreover, Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1445/95 of 26 June 1995 on rules of application for import and export licences in the beef and veal sector and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2377/80 (4) provides that, without prejudice to more specific provisions, licence applications should be made for products of a single CN subheading or one of the groups of CN subheadings listed in Annex I of that Regulation. In view of the range of products that can be imported under Regulation (EC) No 2247/2003, applicants should be entitled to sub-divide their single application for the same quota order number by CN code or group of CN codes.

(3)

For statistical purposes, the licences issued under Regulation (EC) No 2247/2003 should specify per CN code or group of CN codes the quantities concerned.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 2247/2003 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Beef and Veal,

1.

In Article 4(2), the following subparagraph is added:

‘Notwithstanding Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1445/95, applications may cover, for the same quota order number, one or several of the products covered by the CN codes or groups of CN codes listed in Annex I to this Regulation. In case applications cover several CN codes, the respective quantity applied for per CN code or group of CN codes shall be specified. In all cases, all the CN codes shall be indicated in section 16 and their description in section 15 of licence applications and licences.’

2.

In Article 5(2), the following subparagraph is added:

‘Each licence issued shall specify per CN code or group of CN codes the quantity concerned.’

(1)

Article 34(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2771/1999 of 16 December 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards intervention on the market in butter and cream (2) stipulates that the amount of aid for private storage referred to in Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 is to be fixed each year.

(2)

The third subparagraph of Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 specifies that the aid shall be fixed in the light of storage costs and the likely trend in prices for fresh butter and butter from stocks.

(3)

Regarding storage costs, notably the costs for entry and exit of the products concerned, the daily costs for cold storage and the financial costs of storage should be taken into account.

(4)

Article 29(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2771/1999 stipulates that the entry into storage must take place between 15 March and 15 August. The current situation on the butter market justifies bringing the entry date for butter and cream storage operations in 2007 forward to 1 March. Consequently a derogation from that Article should be introduced.

(5)

The Management Committee for Milk and Milk Products has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman,

(1)

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3149/92 (1) contains certain entries in all the languages of the Community as constituted at 31 December 2006. Entries in Bulgarian and Romanian should be added.

(2)

Regulation (EEC) No 3149/92 should therefore be amended,

(1)

Following the enlargement of the Community on 1 January 1995 and 1 May 2004, Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3149/92 (2) was not adapted to include entries in the languages of the new Member States joining the Community on those dates. Entries in the languages concerned should be added.

(2)

In order to ensure consistency with Commission Regulation (EC) No 208/2007 (3), which adapts Regulation (EEC) No 3149/92 following the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union, this Regulation should apply from 1 January 2007.

(3)

Regulation (EEC) No 3149/92 should therefore be amended.

(4)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Cereals,

1.

The third subparagraph of Article 7(5) is replaced by the following:

‘Dispatch declarations issued by the supplier intervention agency shall include one of the entries given in the Annex.’

2.

The text given in the Annex hereto is added as an Annex.

(1)

Article 8 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1282/2006 of 17 August 2006 laying down special detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards export licences and export refunds for milk and milk products (2) lays down the terms of validity of export licences.

(2)

The reduction of the intervention price for butter as from 1 July 2007 is likely to affect the difference between that price and the world market price.

(3)

As a precautionary measure, with a view to protect the Community budget from unnecessary expenditures and to avoid a speculative application of the export refund regime in the dairy sector, for products containing milk fat, the validity of export licences with advance fixing of the refund should be limited until 30 June 2007.

(4)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Milk and Milk Products,

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 809/2004 of 29 April 2004 implementing Directive 2003/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards information contained in prospectuses as well as the format, incorporation by reference and publication of such prospectuses and dissemination of advertisements (2) sets out in detail the information which must be included in a prospectus, for different kinds of securities, in order to comply with Article 5(1) of that Directive. Those detailed information requirements cover, among other things, the financial information concerning the issuer which must be included in a prospectus in order to enable investors to understand the financial position of the issuer.

(2)

However, there are cases where the financial position of the issuer is so closely linked with that of other entities that financial information concerning those entities is indispensable for the purposes of giving full effect to Article 5(1) of Directive 2003/71/EC, that is to say, for complying with the obligation to include in the prospectus all the information necessary to enable the investor to make an informed assessment of the issuer’s financial position and prospects. Such cases may arise where the issuer has a complex financial history and those where the issuer has made a significant financial commitment.

(3)

In order to ensure, therefore, that Article 5(1) of Directive 2003/71/EC is not deprived of useful effect in those cases and to introduce a greater measure of legal certainty in this regard, it should be made clear that the information requirements laid down in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 809/2004 are to be construed in that context as relating also to financial information concerning entities other than the issuer, where the omission of that information could prevent an investor from making an informed assessment of the issuer’s financial position.

(4)

In view of the fact that, under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 809/2004, the competent authorities may not request the inclusion of information for which no express provision is made in the Annexes, it is necessary to clarify the responsibilities of the competent authorities in this context.

(5)

Where an issuer has a complex financial history, the entire business undertaking of the issuer may not be covered by historical financial information relating to the issuer, but will be covered instead by financial information drawn up by another entity. This is likely to be the case where the issuer has made a significant acquisition not yet reflected in its own financial statements; where the issuer is a newly incorporated holding company; where the issuer is composed of companies that were under common control or ownership but which never formed a legal group; or where the issuer has been formed as a separate legal entity following the division of an existing business). In such cases, all or part of the business undertaking of the issuer will have been carried on by another entity during the period for which the issuer is required to provide historical financial information.

(6)

However, it is not currently possible to provide a comprehensive list of cases that should be treated as issuers with a complex financial history. It is likely that new and innovative forms of transaction might be developed that would fall outside the cases specified in any such list. It is therefore appropriate to provide a broad definition of the circumstances in which an issuer should be treated as having a complex financial history.

(7)

An issuer should be treated as having made a significant financial commitment where it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire or dispose of a significant entity or business, which is not yet completed at the date of the approval of the prospectus. It is appropriate that such cases should be subject to the same information requirements as apply where the issuer has already completed an acquisition or disposal, provided that the agreed transaction, on completion, would give rise to a significant gross change in the assets and liabilities and earnings of the issuer.

(8)

Since cases where the issuer has a complex financial history or has made a significant financial commitment are atypical, and indeed may be unique, it is not possible to specify the information needed to fulfil the standard specified by Directive 2003/71/EC for every conceivable case. Accordingly, the supplementary information to be required should be whatever is necessary, in each particular case, to ensure that the prospectus satisfies the obligation laid down in Article 5(1) of Directive 2003/71/EC. It is therefore appropriate that the competent authority of the issuer should determine on a case by case basis the information required (if any). The fact that a competent authority may request such additional information should not require the competent authority to apply a higher standard of scrutiny to that information, or to the prospectus in general, than that which may be derived from Article 13 of Directive 2003/71/EC.

(9)

Given the complexity of circumstances of each specific case, it would be neither practicable nor efficient to specify detailed rules to be applied by competent authorities uniformly to all cases. It is necessary to provide for a flexible approach so as to ensure, on the one hand, that disclosure requirements are effective and proportionate and, on the other hand, that the investor is adequately protected through the provision of sufficient and appropriate information.

(10)

Supplementary financial information should not be requested in cases where the financial information provided in the audited consolidated financial statements of the issuer itself, in any pro forma information, or in any financial information prepared using merger accounting (where permitted by the applicable accounting standards) is likely to be sufficient to enable investors to make an informed assessment of the assets and liabilities, financial position, profit and losses, and prospects of the issuer and of any guarantor, and of the rights attaching to such securities.

(11)

It is appropriate, given the fact that the need for further information can arise only where the prospectus concerns shares or other securities giving rights to shares, that, when determining whether such a need has arisen in the individual case, the competent authorities should base their examination on the requirements laid down in item 20.1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 809/2004 as regards the content of financial information and the applicable accounting and auditing principles. A competent authority should not impose requirements that go beyond those laid down in item 20.1 of Annex I, or make them more onerous. However, it should be possible to adjust their application of those requirements in the light of characteristics of the individual case relating to the precise nature of the securities, the economic substance of the transactions by which the issuer has acquired its business undertaking, the specific nature of that undertaking, and the range of information that is already included in the prospectus.

(12)

When making that determination, competent authorities should have regard to the principle of proportionality. In cases where there are alternative ways of satisfying the obligation laid down in Article 5(1) of Directive 2003/71/EC through the disclosure of different kinds of supplementary financial information, or the presentation of that information in different formats, the competent authority should not require the issuer to satisfy that obligation in a way that is more costly or onerous than an adequate alternative.

(13)

Furthermore, competent authorities should have regard to whether an issuer has access to financial information relating to another entity: it would not be proportionate to require the inclusion of such information where the issuer cannot obtain that information with reasonable effort. This consideration is likely to be relevant, in particular, in the context of a hostile takeover. Similarly, it may not be proportionate to require the inclusion of financial information which does not exist at the time when the prospectus is drawn up, or to require the auditing or restatement of supplementary financial information if the costs to the issuer of complying with that requirement outweigh any potential benefit to the investor.

(14)

Regulation (EC) No 809/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(15)

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) has been consulted for technical advice,

1.

In the second paragraph of Article 3, the second sentence is replaced by the following:

‘Subject to Article 4a(1), a competent authority shall not request that a prospectus contain information items which are not included in Annexes I to XVII.’

2.

The following Article 4a is inserted:

3.

In the first paragraph of item 20.1 of Annex I, and items 20.1 and 20.1 bis of Annex X, the following sentence is inserted in each case after the first sentence:

‘If the issuer has changed its accounting reference date during the period for which historical financial information is required, the audited historical information shall cover at least 36 months, or the entire period for which the issuer has been in operation, whichever is the shorter.’

4.

In the first paragraph of item 13.1 of Annex IV, items 8.2 and 8.2 bis of Annex VII, item 11.1 of Annex IX, and item 11.1 of Annex XI, the following sentence is inserted in each case after the first sentence:

‘If the issuer has changed its accounting reference date during the period for which historical financial information is required, the audited historical information shall cover at least 24 months, or the entire period for which the issuer has been in operation, whichever is the shorter.’

(1)

Article 19 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) foresees that the Contracting Parties undertake to continue their efforts with a view to achieving progressive liberalisation of agricultural trade between them.

(2)

The European Community and the Republic of Iceland held bilateral trade negotiations in agriculture in 2005, on the basis of Article 19 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area, which were concluded satisfactorily on 14 December 2006.

(3)

The Agreement, in the form of an Exchange of Letters, should be approved,