12.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 9/3

Summary of the Opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor on the first reform package on the Common European Asylum System (Eurodac, EASO and Dublin regulations)

(The full text of this Opinion can be found in English, French and German on the EDPS website www.edps.europa.eu)

(2017/C 9/04)

Since several years, Europe is faced with a pressing migration and refugee crisis, which became even more challenging in 2015. Therefore, the Commission proposed to reform the Dublin Regulation in order to adapt it to the current situation. This reform is combined with a Proposal for the creation of a European Union Agency for Asylum, to assist Member States to perform their duties regarding asylum.

Since it was established, Eurodac has served the purpose of providing fingerprint evidence to determine the Member State responsible for examining the asylum application made in the EU.

A recast of the Eurodac Regulation was also proposed by the Commission. The main change in this Regulation is the extension of the scope of Eurodac to register the third country nationals illegally found in a Member State or apprehended in connection with the irregular crossing of a border of a Member State with a third country.

The EDPS recognises the need for more effective management of migration and asylum in the EU. However, he recommends important improvements to better consider the legitimate rights and interests of the relevant individuals who may be affected by the processing of personal data, in particular of vulnerable groups of people requiring specific protection such as migrants and refugees.

In his Opinion, the EDPS recommends, among others, the following main points:

—	mentioning in the Dublin Regulation that the introduction of the use of unique identifier in the Dublin database may not, in any case, be used for other purposes than the purposes described in the Dublin Regulation;

—	the performing of a full data protection and privacy impact assessment in the Eurodac recast 2016 in order to measure the privacy impact of the new text proposed and of the extension of the scope of Eurodac database;

—	conducting an assessment of the need to collect and use the facial images of the categories of persons addressed in the Eurodac recast 2016 and on the proportionality of their collection, relying on a consistent study or evidence-based approach;

—	conducting a detailed assessment of the situation of minors and a balance between the risks and harms of the procedure of taking fingerprints of the minors and the advantages they can benefit, in addition to the Explanatory Memorandum.

The Opinion further defines other shortcomings of the different proposals and identifies additional recommendations in terms of data protection and privacy that should be taken in consideration in the legislative process.

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

On April 2016, the Commission adopted a Communication entitled ‘Towards a reform of the Common European Asylum System legal avenues to Europe’ (1), defining priorities for improving the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). In this context, on 4 May 2016, the Commission issued three proposals as part of a first package of reform of the CEAS:

—

a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third country national or a stateless person (hereinafter ‘the Dublin Proposal’) (2);

—	a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Union Agency for Asylum and repealing Regulation (EU) No 439/2010 (hereinafter ‘the Proposal for a European Union Agency for Asylum’ or ‘the EUAA Proposal’) (3); and

—

a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on amending Regulation (EU) No 603/2013 on the establishment of Eurodac for the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of [Regulation (EU) No 604/2013] establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third country national or a stateless person, for identifying an illegally staying third country national or stateless person and on requests for the comparison with Eurodac data by Member States' law enforcement authorities and Europol for law enforcement purposes (recast 2016) (hereinafter ‘the Eurodac Recast 2016 Proposal’) (4).

The EDPS was consulted informally before the publication of the Eurodac Recast and the EASO Proposal and communicated informal comments to the Commission on both texts.

The EDPS understands the need for the EU to address the challenges of the migration and refugee crisis since 2015, as well as the need to have an effective and harmonised EU policy to tackle irregular immigration that occurs within the EU as well as to the EU. In full respect for the role of the legislator in assessing the necessity and the proportionality of the proposed measures, the EDPS, in his advisory role, will provide in this Opinion some recommendations in terms of data protection and privacy, in order to help the legislator to meet the requirements of Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights regarding the rights to privacy and data protection and Article 16 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.

The EDPS will first address the main recommendations regarding the three proposals. These main recommendations represent the major issues observed by the EDPS and that should in any event be addressed in the legislative process. Additional recommendations are the points identified by the EDPS as requiring clarification, additional information, or minor modifications. This distinction should help the legislator to give priority to the major issues addressed by this Opinion.

IV. CONCLUSION

68.

The EDPS welcome the efforts in terms of data protection in the different texts. He can see that the culture of data protection is becoming part of the legislative process and can also be observed in the drafting of the proposals.

69.

In full respect for the role of the legislator in assessing the necessity and the proportionality of the proposed measures, the EDPS, in his advisory role, provides in this Opinion some recommendations in terms of data protection and privacy with regard to the three proposals examined.

70.

Regarding the Dublin Proposal, the EDPS expresses concerns about the fact that the unique identifier might be used for other purposes, for example for identifying the individuals in other databases, making the comparison of databases easy and simple. The EDPS recommends specifying that any other use of the identifier should be prohibited.

71.

Regarding the Eurodac recast Proposal, the EDPS considers that extension of the scope of Eurodac raises concern regarding the respect of the purpose limitation principle as enshrined in Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. The EDPS also recommends further specifying the types of measures other than removal and repatriation that could be taken by the Member States on the basis of the Eurodac data. The EDPS recommends that the Commission make available a full data protection and privacy impact assessment of the Eurodac recast 2016 in order to measure the privacy impact of the text proposed.

72.

The EDPS is also concerned about the inclusion of facial images: the Regulation does not refer to any assessment of the need to collect and use the facial images of the categories of persons addressed in the Eurodac recast Proposal. Moreover, the EDPS considers that Proposal should clarify the cases in which a comparison of fingerprints and/or facial images shall take place, since the drafting of the recast Proposal seems to imply that such a comparison should take place systematically.

73.

The EDPS also recommends that a detailed assessment is made available with regard to the situation of minors, the balance between the risks and harms of such procedure for the minors and the advantages they can benefit from, in addition to the Explanatory Memorandum. In this context, the regulation should further define (i.e. in a recital) the meaning of taking the fingerprints of minors in a child-friendly manner.

74.

Concerning the retention period, which will be in principle of five years, the EDPS recommends giving more details and explanation why and how a data retention period of five years was considered as necessary in this context to achieve the new purposes of the Eurodac database. Moreover, the EDPS recommends reducing the retention period to the actual length of the entry ban upon a specific individual. Finally, the EDPS recommends specifying in the Proposal that the starting point of the retention period will be the date of the first fingerprinting processed by a Member State.

75.

Finally, the EDPS recommends blocking of all data for law enforcement purposes after three years, and stop making a difference between different categories of non-EU individuals with this respect.

76.

In addition of the main shortcomings identified above, the recommendations of the EDPS in the present Opinion concern the following aspects:

—

regarding the Eurodac recast proposal,

—	The EDPS recommends specifying in the text of the Proposal that the final responsibility of the processing of personal data will be with the Member States which will be considered as controllers within the meaning of the Directive 95/46/EC.

—	Article 37 should be redrafted to clarify in which case an international transfer is allowed or prohibited, and specifically concerning the transfer to the applicant's country of origin.

—	Article 38(1) should specify that only the data strictly necessary for the purpose of return can be transferred by the Member States.

—	Coercion should not be allowed to obtain fingerprints of individuals. This should be specified in the Eurodac Regulation.

—	In this context, the EDPS recommends clarifying that detention should not be considered as a sanction for non-compliance with the obligation to provide fingerprints.

—

The use of real data by eu-LISA for testing purposes raises a serious concern and should not be allowed by the Eurodac Regulation. The alternative of using non real data should be considered and assessed by the legislator, considering the risk for the privacy of the concerned individuals. In any case, the text should not consider that biometric data can be anonymised, since they will always relate to an individual and therefore be considered as personal data.

—	Regarding the processing of information by eu-LISA, the EDPS recommends specifying that appropriate safeguards regarding the access to the data by external contractors must be put in place.

—	Finally, the EDPS welcomes the efforts to make sure that access by law enforcement authorities is assessed by an independent body. However, designated authorities and verifying authorities should not be part of the same organisation, in order to preserve the independence of the verifying authority.

—

regarding the EUAA Proposal,

—	The EDPS recommends specifying that the experts of the Agency should only be allowed to access databases in compliance with the legal acts governing these databases and data protection rules.

—	The EDPS recommends further specifying what is meant by administrative purposes in Article 30(3), since any purpose pursued by an administration could qualify under this term.

—	The EDPS recommends clarifying the responsibilities for ensuring the security of the equipment used by the Agency which should be defined at all steps of the lifecycle of the equipment, namely from its acquisition, throughout its storage and use, and ending with its disposal.

Brussels, 21 September 2016.

Giovanni BUTTARELLI

European Data Protection Supervisor

(1) COM(2016) 197 final.

(2) COM(2016) 270 final.

(3) COM(2016) 271 final.

(4) COM(2016) 272 final.

12.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 9/7

2017 CALL FOR PROPOSALS

SIMPLE PROGRAMMES

Grants to information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council

(2017/C 9/06)

1. Background and purpose of this call

1.1. Information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products

On 22 October 2014, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 on information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 3/2008 (1). This Regulation is supplemented by the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829 (2), and the rules for its application are laid down in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831 (3).

The general objective of the information provision and promotion measures is to enhance the competitiveness of the Union agricultural sector.

The specific objectives of the information provision and promotion measures are to:

(a)	increase awareness of the merits of Union agricultural products and of the high standards applicable to the production methods in the Union;

(b)	increase the competitiveness and consumption of Union agricultural products and certain food products and to raise their profile both inside and outside the Union;

(c)	increase the awareness and recognition of Union quality schemes;

(d)	increase the market share of Union agricultural products and certain food products, specifically focusing on those markets in third countries that have the highest growth potential;

(e)	restore normal market conditions in the event of serious market disturbance, loss of consumer confidence or other specific problems.

1.2. The Commission's Annual Work Programme for 2017

The Commission's Annual Work Programme for 2017, adopted by Implementing Decision (4) on 9 November 2016, sets out the details for the award of co-financing and the priorities for actions for proposals for simple and multi programmes in the internal market and in third countries. It is available at the following address:

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/promotion/annual-work-programmes/2017/index_en.htm

1.3. Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency

The Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (hereafter Chafea) is entrusted by the European Commission with the management of certain parts of the information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries, including the evaluation of simple programmes.

1.4. The present call for proposals

The present call for proposals relates to the implementation of simple programmes, in the framework of Section 1.2.1.1 and 1.2.1.2 of Annex I of the 2017 Annual Work Programme related to actions under thematic priority 1 and 2, namely simple programmes in the internal market and in third countries.

2. Objective(s) — Themes — Priorities

Section 1.2.1.1 and 1.2.1.2 of Annex I of the 2017 Annual Work Programme sets out the thematic priorities for actions to be co-financed through the present call (see also section 6.2 on eligible activities below). Only proposals which directly correspond to the topic and description given in this section of the Annual Work Programme will be considered for funding. Therefore, 8 topics for proposals are announced with the present call document. Applications submitted under this call must fall under the scope of one of these priority topics. It is possible for a proposing organisation to submit several applications for different projects under the same priority topic. It is also possible to submit several applications for different projects under different priority topics.

3. Timetable

The deadline for submission is 20 April 2017, 17.00 CET (Central European Time).

	Stages	Date and time or indicative period
(a)	Publication of the call	12.1.2017
(b)	Deadline for submitting applications	20.4.2017
(c)	Evaluation period (indicative)	21.4-31.8.2017
(d)	Decision by the Commission (indicative)	October 2017
(e)	Information to applicants (indicative)	October 2017
(f)	Signature of the contract with Member State (indicative)	January 2018
(g)	Starting date of the action (indicative)	> 1.1.2018

4. Budget available

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of actions under this call is EUR 85 500 000. The indicative amounts available per topic are indicated in the table ‘Eligible activities’ under point 6 below.

This amount is subject to the availability of the appropriations after the adoption of the budget for 2018 by the EU budgetary authority or provided for in the provisional twelfths. This amount is also subject to the availability of appropriations for the following 3 years taking into account the non-differentiated nature of the appropriations.

The Commission reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

5. Admissibility requirements

Applications must be sent no later than the submission deadline referred to in section 3.

Applications must be submitted online by the coordinator via the participant portal (electronic submission system available at: https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/agrip/index.html).

Failure to comply with the above requirements will lead to the rejection of the application.

Proposals may be submitted in any official language of the European Union. Nevertheless, when preparing their proposals, applicants should take into account that contracts will be managed by the Member States. Consequently, applicants are encouraged to submit their proposal in the language(s) of the Member State of origin of the proposing organisation(s) unless if the Member State concerned has indicated its agreement to sign the contract in English (5). To facilitate the review of proposals by independent experts who provide technical input to the evaluation, an English translation of the technical part (part B) should preferably accompany the proposal if it is written in another EU official language.

6. Eligibility criteria

6.1. Eligible applicants

The proposals for simple programmes can only be submitted by legal persons or other entities which do not have a legal personality under the applicable national law, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on behalf of the entity and offer guarantees for the protection of the Union's financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons as referred to in Article 131(2) of the Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.

More specifically, applications from the following organisations and bodies are eligible, as referred to in Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014:

(i)

trade or inter-trade organisations, established in a Member State and representative of the sector or sectors concerned in that Member State, and in particular the interbranch organisations as referred to in Article 157 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and groups as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, provided that they are representative for the name protected under the latter Regulation which is covered by that programme;

(ii)	producer organisations or associations of producer organisations, as referred to in Articles 152 and 156 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 that have been recognised by a Member State; or

(iii)

agri-food sector bodies the objective and activity of which is to provide information on, and to promote, agricultural products and which have been entrusted, by the Member State concerned, with a clearly defined public service mission in this area; those bodies must have been legally established in the Member State in question at least two years prior to the date of the call for proposals referred to in Article 8(2).

The abovementioned proposing organisations may submit a proposal provided that they are representative of the sector or product concerned by the proposal complying with conditions set out in Articles 1(1) or 1(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829 of 23 April 2015, namely:

(i)

trade or inter-trade organisation, established in a Member State, as referred to in Article 7(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 respectively, shall be deemed to be representative of the sector concerned by the programme:

—	where it accounts for at least 50 % as a proportion of the number of producers, or 50 % of the volume or value of marketable production of the product(s) or sector concerned, in the Member State concerned, or

—	where it is an interbranch organisation recognised by the Member State in accordance with Article 158 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council or with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

(ii)

a group as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and referred to in Article 7(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, shall be deemed to be representative of the name protected under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and covered by the programme, where it accounts for at least 50 % of the volume or value of marketable production of the product(s) whose name is protected;

(iii)

a producer organisation or an association of producer organisations as referred to in Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 shall be deemed to be representative of the product(s) or sector concerned by the programme where it is recognised by the Member State in accordance with Articles 154 or 156 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 or with Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013;

(iv)	an agri-food sector body as referred to in Article 7(1)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 shall be deemed to be representative of the sector(s) concerned by the programme by means of having representatives of that product(s) or sector among its memberships.

By way of derogation from points (i) and (ii) above, lower thresholds may be accepted if the proposing organisation demonstrates in the submitted proposal that there are specific circumstances, including the evidence on the structure of the market, which would justify treating the proposing organisation as representative of the product(s) or sector concerned.

Proposals can be submitted by one or more proposing organisations from the same EU Member State.

Only applications from entities established in EU Member States are eligible.

Non-eligible entities: applicants who already receive Union financing for the same information provision and promotion measures that are part of their proposal(s) shall not be eligible for Union financing for those measures under Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014.

In order to assess the applicants' eligibility, the following supporting documents are requested:

—	private entity: extract from the official journal, copy of articles of association, or extract of trade or association register,

—	public entity: copy of the resolution or decision establishing the public company, or other official document establishing the public-law entity,

—	entities without legal personality: documents providing evidence that their representative(s) have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf,

—	documentation proving that the applicant meets the representativeness criteria set out in Article 1 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829.

6.2. Eligible activities

The proposals shall comply with the criteria of eligibility listed in Annex II of the Annual Work Programme, namely:

(a)	proposals can only cover products and schemes listed in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014;

(b)

proposals shall ensure that measures are implemented through implementing bodies as referred to in Article 13 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014. Proposing organisations must select bodies responsible for implementing programmes ensuring best value for money and absence of conflict of interest (see Article 2 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829 and point (e) of section 11.1 of the call). The proposing organisation shall undertake that the body responsible for the implementation of the programme shall be selected at the latest before the signature of the contract (see Article 10 of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831);

(c)	if a proposing organisation proposes to implement certain parts of the proposal itself, it shall ensure that the cost of the measure which it plans to carry out itself is not in excess of the normal market rates;

(d)	proposals shall comply with Union law governing the products concerned and with all the provisions described under Article 3(1) of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829;

(e)	if a message conveyed concerns information on the impact on health, proposals shall comply with the rules as referred to in Article 3(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829;

(f)	if the proposal proposes to mention origin or brands, it shall comply with the rules as referred to in Chapter II of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831.

For the purposes of assessing the eligibility of the planned activities, the following information must be provided:

—	proposals covering national quality schemes shall provide documentation or a reference to publically available sources that prove that the quality scheme is recognised by the Member State,

—

proposals targeting the internal market and relaying a message on proper dietary practices or responsible alcohol consumption shall describe how the proposed programme and its message(s) are in line with the relevant national rules in the field of public health in the Member State where the programme will be carried out. Justification should include references or documentation in support of the claim.

In addition, a proposal shall also comply with one of the thematic priorities listed in the 2017 Annual Work Programme for simple programmes. Below are extracts of the 2017 Annual Work Programme detailing the 8 topics for which applications may be submitted. The text describes the topic, related amount foreseen, objectives and expected results.

Actions under thematic priority 1: Simple programmes in the internal market

Topics

Total amount foreseen

Priorities of the year, objectives pursued and expected results

Topic 1 — Information provision and promotion programmes aiming at increasing the awareness and recognition of Union quality schemes as defined in Article 5(4)(a), (b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014

EUR 12 375 000

The objective is to increase the awareness and recognition of the Union quality schemes:

(a)	quality schemes: Protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) and optional quality terms;

(b)	organic production method;

(c)	the logo for quality agriculture products specific to the outermost regions of the Union.

Information and promotion programmes targeting Union quality schemes should be a key priority in the internal market since such schemes provide consumers with assurances on the quality and characteristics of the product or the production process used, achieve added value for the products concerned and enhance their market opportunities.

One of the expected results is to increase the levels of recognition of the logo associated with the Union quality schemes by the European consumers knowing that, according to special Eurobarometer (No 440), only 20 % of Europeans consumers recognise the logos of products that benefit from a protected designation of origin (PDO), 17 % for a protected geographical indication (PGI) and 15 % for the Traditional Specialty Guaranteed, these being the main Union quality schemes. In addition, only 23 % of European consumers recognise the logo of organic farming.

The expected ultimate impact is to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of Union agri-food products registered under a Union quality scheme, raise their profile and increase their market share.

Topic 2 — Information provision and promotion programmes aiming at highlighting the specific features of agricultural methods in the Union and the characteristics of European agricultural and food products, and quality schemes defined in Article 5(4)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014

EUR 10 125 000

The objective is to highlight the specific features of agricultural production methods in the Union, particularly in terms of food safety, traceability, authenticity, labelling, nutritional and health aspects (including proper dietary practices and responsible consumption of eligible alcoholic beverages), animal welfare, respect for the environment and sustainability, and the characteristics of agricultural and food products, particularly in terms of their quality, taste, diversity or traditions.

The expected impact is to increase the awareness of the merits of Union agricultural products by the European consumers and to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of the concerned Union agri-food products, raise their profile and increase their market share.

Actions under thematic priority 2: Simple programmes in third countries (6)

Topics	Total amount foreseen	Priorities of the year, objectives pursued and expected results
Topic 3 (*1) — Information provision and promotion programmes targeting one or more of the following countries: China (including Hong-Kong and Macao), Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, south-east Asian region or India	EUR 14 750 000	The information and promotion programmes should target one or more countries identified in the corresponding topic. The objectives of these programmes should comply with the general and specific objectives set out in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014. The expected ultimate impact is to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of Union agri-food products, raise their profile and increase their market share in these targeted countries.
Topic 4 (*1) — Information provision and promotion programmes targeting one or more of the following countries: USA, Canada or Mexico	EUR 11 600 000
Topic 5 (1) — Information provision and promotion programmes targeting one or more countries of Africa, Middle East (2), Iran or Turkey	EUR 8 450 000
Topic 6 (*1) — Information provision and promotion programmes targeting geographical areas other than those included under Topics 3, 4 and 5.	EUR 11 600 000
Topic 7 — Information provision and promotion programmes on milk products, pigmeat products or a combination of those two targeting any third country Products eligible under this Topic are those listed in Part XVII of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (*3) for pigmeat products and Part XVI of Annex I to that Regulation for milk and milk products, respectively.	EUR 12 600 000
Topic 8 — Information provision and promotion programmes on beef products targeting any third country. Products eligible under this topic are those listed in Part XV of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council	EUR 4 000 000

In case a proposing organisation wishes to target several of the prioritised regions in third countries in one programme, it should submit several applications (one application per topic). Alternatively, it could also apply under the topic ‘information and promotion programmes targeting other geographical areas’. This topic relates to the geographical areas that have not been listed in topic 3 to topic 5, but it may also concern a combination of several prioritised regions listed in topic 3 to topic 5.

Types of eligible activities

Promotion and information provision actions may notably consist of the following activities, eligible under this call:

1.	Management of project

Public relations

—	PR activities

—	Press events

Website, social media

—	Website setup, updating, maintenance

—	Social media (accounts setup, regular posting)

—	Other (mobile apps, e-learning platforms, webinars, etc.)

Advertising

—

Radio

—

Online

—

Outdoor

—

Cinema

Communication tools

—	Publications, media kits, promotional merchandise

—	Promotional videos

Events

—	Stands at trade fairs

—	Seminars, workshops, B2B meetings, trainings for trade/cooks, activities in schools

—	Restaurant weeks

—	Sponsorship of events

—	Study trips to Europe

Point-of-sale (POS) promotion

—	Tasting days

—	Other: promotion in retailers' publications, POS advertising.

Implementation period

The co-financed action (information provision/promotion programmes) shall be implemented over a period of at least one but not more than three years.

Proposals should specify the duration of the action.

7. Exclusion criteria

7.1. Exclusion from participation

Applicants will be excluded from participating in the call for proposals procedure if they are in any of the exclusion situations (7):

(a)

the economic operator is bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding-up procedures, where its assets are being administered by a liquidator or by a court, where it is in an arrangement with creditors, where its business activities are suspended, or where it is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for under national laws or regulations;

(b)

it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the economic operator is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions in accordance with the law of the country in which it is established, with those of the country in which the contracting authority is located or those of the country of the performance of the contract;

(c)

it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the economic operator is guilty of grave professional misconduct by having violated applicable laws or regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which the economic operator belongs, or by having engaged in any wrongful conduct which has an impact on its professional credibility where such conduct denotes wrongful intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:

(i)	fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of selection criteria or in the performance of a contract;

(ii)	entering into agreement with other economic operators with the aim of distorting competition;

(iii)

violating intellectual property rights;

(iv)	attempting to influence the decision-making process of the contracting authority during the procurement procedure;

(v)	attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the procurement procedure;

(d)

it has been established by a final judgment that the economic operator is guilty of any of the following:

(i)	fraud, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995 (8);

(ii)

corruption, as defined in Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997 (9), and in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA (10), as well as corruption as defined in the law of the country where the contracting authority is located, the country in which the economic operator is established or the country of the performance of the contract;

(iii)

participation in a criminal organisation, as defined in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA (11);

(iv)	money laundering or terrorist financing, as defined in Article 1 of Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (12);

(v)	terrorist-related offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA (13) respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision;

(vi)	child labour or other forms of trafficking in human beings as defined in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (14);

(e)

the economic operator has shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations in the performance of a contract financed by the budget, which has led to its early termination or to the application of liquidated damages or other contractual penalties, or which has been discovered following checks, audits or investigations by an authorising officer, OLAF or the Court of Auditors;

(f)	it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that the economic operator has committed an irregularity within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95.

7.2. Exclusion from award

Applicants will be excluded from the award of co- financing if, in the course of the grant award procedure, they fall under one of the situations described under article 107 of the Financial Regulation:

(a)	are in an exclusion situation established in accordance with article 106 of the Financial Regulation;

(b)	have misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the procedure or have failed to supply that information in the grant award procedure or fail to supply this information;

In order to demonstrate compliance with the exclusion criteria, the applicant has to check the relevant box while submitting its online application. If selected for co-funding, all beneficiaries have to sign a declaration on honour certifying they are not in one of the situations referred to in articles 106(1) and 107 to 109 of the Financial Regulation. The applicants should follow the instructions in the participant portal.

8. Selection criteria

8.1. Financial capacity

Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the period of implementation of the action and to participate in its funding.

The financial capacity of all applicants will be assessed in line with the requirements of the Financial Regulation No 966/2012. This assessment will not be carried out if:

—	the EU-contribution requested by the applicant is ≤ EUR 60 000,

—	the applicant is a public body.

The supporting documents that need to be annexed to the online application to allow the assessment of the financial capacity include:

—	the annual accounts (including the balance sheet and the profit and loss statement) for the past financial year for which the accounts were closed (for newly created entities, the business plan shall be submitted to replace the accounts),

—	a pre-filled financial viability form summarising the necessary data from the annual accounts contributing to the assessment of the applicant's financial capacity.

In addition for a coordinator or other beneficiary requesting an EU-contribution of ≥ EUR 750 000 (threshold applicable per beneficiary):

—	an audit report produced by an approved external auditor certifying the accounts for the last financial year available. This provision shall not apply to public bodies.

8.2. Operational capacity

Applicants must have the professional competencies and qualifications required to complete the action.

As evidence, the following information must be provided in part B of the proposal:

—	general profiles (qualifications and experiences) of the applicant's staff primary responsible for managing and implementing the proposed action,

—	the proposing organisation(s) activity report or a description of activities performed in connection to the activities that are eligible for co-financing as described under point 6 (above).

In cases where proposing organisations propose to implement certain parts of the proposal, evidence shall be given that they have at least three years' experience in implementing information provision and promotion measures.

9. Award criteria

Part B of the application serves to evaluate the proposal against the award criteria.

Generally, projects are expected to have an efficient management structure, a clear strategy and a precise description of expected results.

The content of each proposal will be assessed according to the following criteria and sub criteria:

Criteria

Maximum points

Threshold

1.	Union dimension

2.	Technical quality of the project

3.	Management quality

4.	Budget and cost-effectiveness

TOTAL

100

Proposals falling below the overall and/or the individual thresholds announced above shall be rejected.

The following sub-criteria shall be taken into account in the assessment of each of the main award criteria:

Union dimension

(a)	Relevance of proposed information and promotion measures to the general and specific objectives listed in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, aims listed in Article 3 of that Regulation, as well as to priorities, objectives and expected results announced under the relevant thematic priority;

(b)	Union message of the campaign;

(c)	Impact of project at Union level.

Technical quality of the project

(a)	Quality and relevance of the market analysis;

(b)	Suitability of the programme strategy, objectives, and key messages;

(c)	Suitable choice of activities with respect to objectives and programme strategy, balanced communication mix, synergy between activities;

(d)	Concise description of activities;

(e)	Quality of the proposed evaluation methods and indicators.

Management quality

(a)	Project organisation and management structure;

(b)	Quality control mechanisms and risk management.

Budget and cost-effectiveness

(a)	Return on investment;

(b)	Suitable split of budget in relation to the objectives and scope of the activities;

(c)	Consistency between the estimated costs and deliverables;

(d)	Realistic estimation of person/days for activities implemented by the proposing organisation, including costs of project coordination.

Following the evaluation, all eligible proposals are ranked according to the total number of points awarded. The highest ranked proposal or proposals will be awarded co-financing depending on budget availability.

A separate ranked list shall be established for each of the priority topics listed under section 6.2 of the present call.

If there are two (or more) proposals with the same number of points on the same ranked list, then the proposal(s) which allows for diversification in terms of products or targeted markets shall be retained. It means than between two ex aequo proposals, Commission shall first select the one the content of which (firstly in terms of products, secondly in terms of targeted market) is not yet represented in the ranked list. If this criterion cannot be applied, then the Commission shall select first the programme which got the highest score for the individual award criteria. It will first compare the scores for ‘Union dimension’, then for ‘Technical quality’, and finally for ‘Budget and cost-effectiveness’.

10. Legal commitments

Following the evaluation, Chafea establishes a list of proposals recommended for funding, ranked according to the total number of points awarded.

According to Article 11(2) Regulation (UE) No 1144/2014, the European Commission shall adopt an implementing act, determining the simple programmes selected, any changes to be made to them, and the corresponding budgets (award decision).

This Commission decision will list the selected programmes accepted for a financial contribution from the Union under Article 15 of Regulation (UE) No 1144/2014. This Decision will be addressed to the competent Member States. The Member States concerned shall be responsible for the proper implementation of the simple programmes selected and for the relevant payments.

As soon as the Commission adopts this implementing act, it shall forward the copies of the selected programmes to the Member States concerned. Member States shall without delay inform the proposing organisations concerned whether or not their applications have been accepted.

Member States shall conclude contracts for the implementation of programmes with the selected proposing organisations in accordance with the requirements mentioned under Article 10 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831. The contract will notably detail the conditions and level of funding, as well as the obligations of the parties.

11. Financial provisions

11.1. General principles

(a)

Non-cumulative award

An action may only receive one grant from the EU budget.

In no circumstances shall the same costs be financed twice by the Union budget.

Applicants shall indicate the sources and amounts of Union funding received or applied for the same action or part of the action or their functioning (operating grants), as well as any other funding received or applied for the same action.

(b)	Non-retroactivity No grant may be awarded retrospectively for actions already completed.

(c)

Co-financing

Co-financing means that the resources which are necessary to carry out the action are not entirely provided by the EU grant.

The remaining expenditure shall be borne exclusively by the proposing organisation.

Financial contributions given to a beneficiary by its members, specifically to be used for costs that are eligible under the action, are allowed and will be considered as receipts.

(d)

Balanced budget

The estimated budget of the action must be presented in part A of the application form. It must have revenue and expenditure in balance.

The budget must be drawn up in euros.

Applicants who foresee that costs will not be incurred in euros, are invited to use the exchange rate published in the Official Journal of the European Union:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/inforeuro_en.cfm

(e)

Implementation contracts/subcontracting

Where the implementation of the action requires the award of procurement contracts (implementation contracts), the beneficiary must award the contract to the bid offering best value for money or the lowest price (as appropriate), avoiding conflicts of interests and retain the documentation for the event of an audit.

Where the proposing organisation is a body governed by public law within the meaning of Article 2(1)(4) of Directive 2014/24/EU, it must select the subcontractors in accordance with the national legislation transposing that Directive.

Sub-contracting, i.e. the externalisation of specific tasks or activities which form part of the action as described in the proposal must satisfy the conditions applicable to any implementation contract (as specified above) and in addition to them the following conditions:

—	it must be justified having regard to the nature of the action and what is necessary for its implementation,

—	it must be clearly stated in the technical and financial parts of the proposal.

(f)

Subcontracting to entities having a structural link with the beneficiary

Subcontracts may also be awarded to entities that have a structural link with the beneficiary, but only if the price is limited to the actual costs incurred by the entity (i.e. without any profit margin).

The tasks to be implemented by such entities must be clearly stated in the technical part of the proposal.

11.2. Funding forms

Co-financing shall take the form of reimbursement of a specified proportion of eligible costs actually incurred; it will also comprise a flat rate covering indirect costs (equal to 4 % of eligible personnel costs) that are linked with the implementation of the action (15).

Maximum amount requested

The EU grant is limited to the following maximum co-funding rate of:

—	for simple programmes in the internal market: 70 % of the programme's eligible costs,

—	for simple programmes in third countries: 80 % of the programme's eligible costs,

—	for simple programmes in the internal market of beneficiary established in Member States receiving on or after 1 January 2014 financial assistance in accordance with Article 136 and 143 TFEU (16): 75 % of the programme's eligible costs,

—	for simple programmes in third countries of beneficiary established in Member States receiving on or after 1 January 2014 financial assistance in accordance with Article 136 and 143 TFEU: 85 % of the programme's eligible costs.

These two latest percentages shall apply to those programmes decided upon by the Commission before the date from which the Member State concerned no longer receives such financial assistance.

Consequently, part of the total eligible expenses entered in the estimative budget must be financed from sources other than the EU grant (co-financing principle).

Eligible costs

Eligible costs are actually incurred by the beneficiary of the grant and meet all the criteria indicated in Article 4 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829.

Ineligible costs

Ineligible costs are costs that do not comply with the conditions set out in Article 4 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829, in particular:

—	return on capital,

—	debt and debt service charges,

—	provisions for losses or debts,

—	interest owed,

—	doubtful debts,

—	exchange losses,

—	costs of transfers from the Commission charged by the bank of a beneficiary,

—

costs declared by a beneficiary and covered by another action receiving a European Union grant. In particular, indirect costs shall not be eligible under a grant for an action awarded to a beneficiary who already receives an operating grant financed from the Union budget during the period in question,

—	contributions in kind,

—	excessive or reckless expenditure,

—	deductible VAT,

—	costs incurred during suspension of the implementation of the action.

Calculation of the final grant amount

The final grant amount is calculated after completion of the programme, upon approval of the payment request.

The ‘final grant amount’ depends on the actual extent to which the programme is implemented in accordance with the Agreement's terms and conditions.

This amount is calculated by the Member State — when the payment of the balance is made — in accordance with Article 15 of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831.

11.3. Payment arrangements

The proposing organisation may submit an application for an advance payment to the Member State concerned in accordance with Article 13 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831.

Applications for an interim payment of the Union's financial contributions shall be submitted by the proposing organisation to the Member States in accordance with Article 14 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831.

Applications for payment of the balance shall be submitted by the proposing organisation to the Member State States in accordance with Article 15 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831.

11.4. Advance guarantee

In accordance with Article 13 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831, the advance payment shall be paid on condition that the proposing organisation has lodged a security equal to the amount of that advance in favour of the Member State in accordance with Chapter IV of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 907/2014 (17).

12. Publicity

Beneficiaries must clearly acknowledge the European Union's contribution in all activities for which the grant is used.

In this respect, beneficiaries are required to give prominence to the name and emblem of the European Union on all their publications, posters, programmes and other products realised under the co-financed project.

Rules for the graphic reproduction of the European emblem are found in the Interinstitutional Style Guide (18).

In addition, all visual material produced in the framework of a promotion programme co-financed by the European Union must bear the signature ‘Enjoy it's from Europe’. Guidelines on the use of the signature, as well as all graphic files can be downloaded from the promotion website on Europa (19).

Lastly, all written material, i.e. brochures, posters, leaflets, banners, billboards, print advertisements, articles in newspaper, webpages (with the exception of small gadgets) should include a disclaimer according to the terms detailed in the grant agreement, explaining that it represents the views of the author. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

13. Data protection

The reply to any call for proposals involves the recording and processing of personal data (such as name, address and CVs of individuals participating in the co-financed action). Such data will be processed pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. Unless indicated otherwise, the questions and any personal data requested are required to evaluate the application in accordance with the specifications of the call for proposal will be processed solely for that purpose by the Executive Agency/the Commission or third parties acting on behalf and under the responsibility of the Executive Agency/Commission. Data subjects may be informed regarding further details of the processing operations, their rights and how they may be enforced by referring to the privacy statement published in the participant portal:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/support/legal_notices.html

and the Agency's website:

http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/about/data_protection.html

Applicants are invited to check the relevant privacy statement at regular intervals so as to be duly informed on possible updates that may occur by the deadline for submission of their proposals or afterwards. Beneficiaries assume the legal obligation to inform their staff on the relevant processing operations that are to be performed by the Agency; in order to do so, they have to provide them with the privacy statements published by the Agency in the participant's portal before transmitting their data to the Agency; Personal data may be registered in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) of the European Commission provided for in articles 105a and 108 of the EU Financial Regulation according to the applicable provisions.

14. Procedure for the submission of proposals

Proposals must be submitted by the deadline set out under section 5 via the Electronic Submission System: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/agrip/index.html

Before submitting a proposal:

1.	Find a call: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/agrip/index.html

2.	Create an account to submit a proposal: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/organisations/register.html

3.	Register all partners via the beneficiary registry: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/organisations/register.html

Applicants will be informed in writing about the results of the selection process.

In submitting a proposal, the applicant accepts the procedures and conditions as described in this call and in the documents to which it refers.

No modification to the application is allowed once the deadline for submission has elapsed. However, if there is a need to clarify certain aspects or for the correction of clerical mistakes, the Commission/Agency may contact the applicant for this purpose during the evaluation process (20).

Contacts

For questions on the online submission tools please contact the IT helpdesk set-up for this purpose via the participant portal website:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=enquiries

For non-IT-related questions a helpdesk at the Chafea is available at: +352 430136611, email address: CHAFEA-AGRI-CALLS@ec.europa.eu weekdays between 9.30-12.00 and 14.30-17.00 CET (Central European Time). The helpdesk is unavailable on weekends and public holidays.

Frequently asked questions are published on the website of the Chafea:

http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/agri/faq.html

In all correspondence relating to this call (e.g. when requesting information, or submitting an application), reference must be clearly made to this specific call. Once the electronic exchange system allocated a proposal ID, the applicant must use this number in all subsequent correspondence.

After the deadline for submission modifications to the application are impossible.

Related documents

—	Guide for applicants with the relevant annexes

—	Application form

—	Model grant agreement (mono- and multi-beneficiary version).

(1) Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 3/2008 (OJ L 317, 4.11.2014, p. 56).

(2) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829 of 23 April 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries (OJ L 266, 13.10.2015, p. 3)

(3) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831 of 7 October 2015 laying down rules for application of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in the third countries (OJ L 266, 13.10.2015, p. 14).

(4) Commission Implementing Decision of 9 November 2016 on the adoption of the Work Programme for 2017 of information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries, C(2016) 7100 final.

(5) This information will be available at http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/promotion/member-states/index_en.htm

(6) The composition of regions follows the United Nations country and regional classification. For more details on the list of countries composing the geographical areas, see: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm

(*1) Programmes shall not cover milk/dairy products, pigmeat products, beef products or a combination of these three. They may however cover theseif they are associated with other agri-food products.

(*2) Middle East is also referred to as ‘Western Asia’.

(*3) 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 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671).

(7) Articles 106 of the Financing Regulation and its corresponding Rules of Application adopted by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 as lastly amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/1929 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2462 respectively.

(8) OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p. 48

(9) OJ C 195, 25.6.1997, p. 1.

(10) Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA of 22 July 2003 on combating corruption in the private sector (OJ L 192, 31.7.2003, p. 54).

(11) Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA of 24 October 2008 on the fight against organised crime (OJ L 300, 11.11.2008, p. 42).

(12) Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing (OJ L 309, 25.11.2005, p. 15).

(13) Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA of 13 June 2002 on combating terrorism (OJ L 164, 22.6.2002, p. 3).

(14) Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA (OJ L 101, 15.4.2011, p. 1).

(15) Applicant's attention is drawn to the fact that in case they receive an operating grant, indirect costs are not eligible.

(16) At the date of the publication of this call: Greece.

(17) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 907/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to paying agencies and other bodies, financial management, clearance of accounts, securities and use of euro (OJ L 255, 28.8.2014, p. 18).

(18) http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-5000100.htm

(19) http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/promotion/index_en.htm

(20) Article 96 of Financial Regulation.

12.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 9/23

2017 CALL FOR PROPOSALS

MULTI PROGRAMMES

(2017/C 9/07)

1. Background and purpose of this call

1.1. Information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products

On 22 October 2014, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 on information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 3/2008 (1). This Regulation is supplemented by the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829 (2) and the rules for its application are laid down in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831 (3).

The general objective of the information provision and promotion measures is to enhance the competitiveness of the Union agricultural sector.

The specific objectives of the information provision and promotion measures are to:

(a)	increase awareness of the merits of Union agricultural products and of the high standards applicable to the production methods in the Union;

(b)	increase the competitiveness and consumption of Union agricultural products and certain food products and to raise their profile both inside and outside the Union;

(c)	increase the awareness and recognition of Union quality schemes;

(d)	increase the market share of Union agricultural products and certain food products, specifically focusing on those markets in third countries that have the highest growth potential;

(e)	restore normal market conditions in the event of serious market disturbance, loss of consumer confidence or other specific problems.

1.2. The Commission's Annual Work Programme for 2017

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/promotion/annual-work-programmes/2017/index_en.htm

1.3. Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency

The Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (hereafter Chafea) is entrusted by the European Commission with the management of some of the phases of the programme implementation, including the publication of calls for proposals, reception and evaluation of proposals, the preparation and signature of grant agreements for multi programmes and the monitoring of their implementation.

1.4. The present call for proposals

The present call for proposals relates to the implementation of multi programmes, in the framework of Sections 1.2.1.3 and 1.2.1.4 of Annex I to the 2017 Annual Work Programme related to Actions under thematic priority 3: multi programmes in the internal market and priority 4: multi programmes in the internal market or in third countries.

2. Objective(s) – Theme(s) – Priorities

Sections 1.2.1.3 and 1.2.1.4 of Annex I to the 2017 Annual Work Programme set out the thematic priorities for actions to be implemented through the present call. Only proposals which directly correspond to the topic and description given in these sections of the Annual Work Programme will be considered for funding. Therefore, 3 topics for proposals are announced with the present call document. Applications submitted under this call must fall under the scope of one of these priority topics. A proposing organisation may submit several applications for different projects under the same priority topic. A proposing organisation may as well submit several applications for different projects under different priority topics.

3. Timetable

The deadline for submission of proposals is 20 April 2017, 17:00 CET (Central European Time).

	Stages	Date and time or indicative period
a)	Publication of the call	12.1.2017
b)	Deadline for submitting applications	20.4.2017
c)	Evaluation period (indicative)	21.4 – 31.8.2017
d)	Information to applicants (indicative)	< 20.10.2017
e)	Signature of the grant agreement (indicative)	< 20.1.2018
f)	Starting date of the action (indicative)	> 1.1.2018

4. Budget available

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of multi programmes is estimated at EUR 43 000 000.

This amount is subject to the availability of the appropriations provided for in the general budget of the EU for 2017 following its adoption by the budgetary authority or provided for in the provisional twelfths.

Chafea reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

5. Admissibility requirements

Applications must be sent no later than the submission deadline referred to in section 3.

Failure to comply with the above requirements will lead to the rejection of the application.

Even though proposals may be submitted in any of the official languages of the European Union, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their proposal in English to facilitate processing of the application including its review by independent experts who provide technical input to the evaluation. In addition, applicants should be aware that Chafea will, in principle, use English to communicate with beneficiaries regarding the follow up and the monitoring of the co- financed actions (grant management stage).

To facilitate the review of the proposals by independent experts, an English translation of the technical part (part B) should preferably accompany the proposal if it is written in another EU official language.

6. Eligibility criteria

6.1. Eligible applicants

Proposals can only be submitted by legal persons; entities which do not have a legal personality under the applicable national law may submit an application provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on behalf of the entity and offer guarantees for the protection of the Union’s financial Interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons as referred to in Article 131(2) of the Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.

More specifically, applications from the following organisations and bodies are eligible, as referred to in Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014:

(i)

(ii)	trade or inter-trade organisations of the Union representative of the sector or sectors concerned at Union level;

(iii)

producer organisations or associations of producer organisations, as referred to in Articles 152 and 156 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 that have been recognised by a Member State; or

(iv)

The abovementioned proposing organisations may submit a proposal provided that they are representative of the sector or product concerned, in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 1 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829, namely:

(i)

trade or inter-trade organisation, established in a Member State or at Union level, as referred to in Article 7(1)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 respectively, shall be deemed to be representative of the sector concerned by the programme:

—	where it accounts for at least 50 % as a proportion of the number of producers, or 50 % of the volume or value of marketable production of the product(s) or sector concerned, in the Member State concerned or at Union level; or

—	where it is an interbranch organisation recognised by the Member State in accordance with Article 158 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council or with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)	an agri-food sector body as referred to in Article 7(1)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 shall be deemed to be representative of the sector(s) concerned by the programme by means of having representatives of that product(s) or sector among its memberships.

Proposals can be submitted by:

a)	At least two organisations referred to in points (a), (c) or (d) of Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, which shall be from at least two Member States; or

b)	One or more Union organisations referred to in point (b) of Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014.

Only applications from entities established in EU Member States are eligible.

Non-eligible entities: applicants who already receive Union financing for the same information provision and promotion measures shall not be eligible for Union financing for those measures under Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014.

In order to assess the applicants' eligibility, the following supporting documents are requested:

—	private entity: extract from the official journal, copy of articles of association, or extract of trade or association register

—	public entity: copy of the resolution or decision establishing the public company, or other official document establishing the public-law entity;

—	entities without legal personality: documents providing evidence that their representative(s) have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf.

—	documentation proving that the applicant meets the representativeness criteria set by Article 1 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1829.

6.2. Eligible activities

The proposals shall comply with the following criteria of eligibility:

(a)	proposals can only cover products and schemes listed in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014;

(b)	proposals shall comply with Union law governing the products concerned and their marketing and have a Union dimension;

(c)

proposals in the internal market covering one or more schemes as referred to in Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, shall focus on the(se) scheme(s) in their main Union message. When in this programme, one or several products illustrate(s) the(se) scheme(s), it/they shall appear as a secondary message in relation to the main Union message;

(d)

if a message conveyed by a multi programme concerns information on the impact on health, this message shall:

—	in the internal market, comply with the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), or be accepted by the national authority responsible for public health in the Member State where the operations are carried out;

—	in third countries, be accepted by the national authority responsible for public health in the country where the operations are carried out.

(e)	if the proposal proposes to mention origin or brands, it shall comply with the rules as referred to in Chapter II of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1831.

For the purposes of assessing the eligibility of the planned activities, the following information must be provided:

—	proposals covering national quality schemes shall provide documentation or a reference to publically available sources that prove that the quality scheme is recognised by the Member State;

—

In addition, a proposal shall also comply with one of the thematic priorities listed in the 2017 Annual Work Programme for multi programmes. Below are extracts of the 2017 Annual Work Programme detailing the 3 topics for which applications may be submitted under the present call for proposals. The text describes the topic, related amount foreseen, objectives and expected results.

Action under thematic priority 3: Multi programmes in the internal market

Topic

Total amount foreseen

Priorities of the year, objectives pursued and expected results

Topic A- Programmes increasing the awareness of Union sustainable agriculture and role of the agri-food sector for climate action and the environment (*1)

EUR 15 050 000

Actions should highlight the environmental sustainability of Union Agriculture, stressing its beneficial role for climate action and the environment.

Actions should address how the product(s) promoted and its/their production method(s) contribute to:

a)	climate change mitigation (e.g. reduction in greenhouse gas emissions) and/or adaptation (e.g. water savings, climate-resistant crops and varieties) and;

at least one of the following:

(i)	biodiversity conservation and sustainable use (e.g. wildlife, landscape, genetic resources);

(ii)	sustainable water management (e.g. water use efficiency, reduction of nutrients or pesticides load);

(iii)

sustainable soil management (e.g. erosion control; nutrient balance; prevention of acidification, salinization).

Actions under thematic priority 4: Multi programmes in the internal market or in third countries

Topics

Total amount foreseen

Priorities of the year, objectives pursued and expected results

Topic B- Information provision and promotion programmes aiming at increasing the awareness and recognition of Union quality schemes mentioned in Article 5(4)(a), (b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014

EUR 15 050 000

The expected impacts are to increase the levels of recognition of the logo associated with those Union quality schemes by the consumers and to increase the competitiveness and consumption of Union agricultural and food products and their market share.

The objective is to increase the awareness and recognition of the Union quality schemes:

(a)	quality schemes: Protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) and optional quality terms;

(b)	organic production method;

(c)	the logo for quality agriculture products specific to the outermost regions of the Union.

Topic C- Information provision and promotion programmes highlighting the specific features of agricultural methods in the Union and the characteristics of EU agri-food products and quality schemes mentioned in Article 5(4)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014

EUR 12 900 000

The objective is to highlight at least one of the specific features of agricultural production methods in the Union, particularly in terms of food safety, traceability, authenticity, labelling, nutritional and health aspects (including proper dietary practices and responsible consumption of eligible alcoholic beverages), animal welfare, respect for the environment and sustainability (others than those covered under Topic A), and the characteristics of agricultural and food products, particularly in terms of their quality, taste, diversity or traditions.

The expected impacts are to increase the awareness of the merits of Union agricultural products by the consumers and to enhance the competitiveness and consumption of the concerned Union agri-food products, raise their profile and increase their market share.

Types of eligible activities

Promotion and information provision actions may notably consist of the following activities, eligible under this call:

1.	Management of project

Public relations

—	PR activities

—	Press events

Website, social media

—	Website setup, updating, maintenance

—	Social media (accounts setup, regular posting)

—	Other (mobile apps, e-learning platforms, webinars, etc.)

Advertising

—

Radio

—

Online

—

Outdoor

—

Cinema

Communication tools

—	Publications, media kits, promotional merchandise

—	Promotional videos

Events

—	Stands at trade fairs

—	Seminars, workshops, B2B meetings, trainings for trade/cooks, activities in schools

—	Restaurant weeks

—	Sponsorship of events

—	Study trips to Europe

Point-of-sale (POS) promotion

—	Tasting days

—	Other: promotion in retailers' publications, POS advertising

Implementation period

The co- financed action (information provision/promotion programmes) shall be implemented over a period of at least one but not more than three years.

Proposals should specify the duration of the action.

7. Exclusion criteria

7.1. Exclusion from participation

Applicants will be excluded from participating in the call for proposals procedure if they are in any of the exclusion situations described in Article 106 of the Financial Regulation and its Rules of Application (6):

(a)

(b)

(c)

(i)	fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of selection criteria or in the performance of a contract;

(ii)	entering into agreement with other economic operators with the aim of distorting competition;

(iii)

violating intellectual property rights;

(iv)	attempting to influence the decision-making process of the contracting authority during the procurement procedure;

(v)	attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the procurement procedure;

(d)

it has been established by a final judgment that the economic operator is guilty of any of the following:

(i)	fraud, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995 (7);

(ii)

corruption, as defined in Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997 (8), and in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA (9), as well as corruption as defined in the law of the country where the contracting authority is located, the country in which the economic operator is established or the country of the performance of the contract;

(iii)

participation in a criminal organisation, as defined in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA (10);

(iv)	money laundering or terrorist financing, as defined in Article 1 of Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (11);

(v)	terrorist-related offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA (12) respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision;

(vi)	child labour or other forms of trafficking in human beings as defined in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (13);

(e)

(f)	it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that the economic operator has committed an irregularity within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95.

7.2. Exclusion from award

Applicants will be excluded from the award of co- financing if, in the course of the grant award procedure, they fall under one of the situations described under Article 107 of the Financial Regulation:

a)	are in an exclusion situation established in accordance with Article 106 of the Financial Regulation;

b)	have misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the procedure or have failed to supply that information in the grant award procedure or fail to supply this information;

In order to demonstrate compliance with the exclusion criteria, the coordinator has to check the relevant box while submitting its online application. If selected for co-funding, all beneficiaries (in case of multi-beneficiary grant) have to sign a declaration on their honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to in Articles 106(1) and 107 to 109 of the Financial Regulation. The applicants should follow the instructions in the participant portal.

8. Selection criteria

8.1. Financial capacity

Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the period of implementation of the action and to participate in its funding.

The financial capacity of applicants will be assessed in line with the requirements of the Financial Regulation No 966/2012. This assessment will not be carried out if:

—	The applicant is a public body;

—	The EU contribution requested by the applicant is ≤ EUR 60 000;

The documents that will be requested when assessing the financial capacity include:

—	the profit and loss account, the balance sheet for the last financial year for which the accounts were closed;

—	for newly created entities, the business plan may replace the above documents.

In addition, for an applicant requesting an EU-contribution of ≥ EUR 750 000 (threshold applicable per applicant):

—	an audit report produced by an approved external auditor certifying the accounts for the last financial year available. This provision shall not apply to public bodies.

The assessment of the financial capacity of applicants will be performed through the participant portal.

8.2. Operational capacity

Applicants must have the professional competencies and qualifications required to complete the action.

As evidence, the following information must be provided in part B of the proposal:

—	General profiles (qualifications and experiences) of the applicant’s staff primary responsible for managing and implementing the proposed action.

—	The proposing organisation(s) activity report or a description of activities performed in connection to the activities that are eligible for co- financing.

9. Award criteria

Part B of the application serves to evaluate the proposal against the award criteria.

Generally, projects are expected to have an efficient management structure, a clear strategy and a precise description of expected results.

The content of each proposal will be assessed according to the following criteria and sub criteria:

Criteria

Maximum points

Threshold

1.	Union dimension

2.	Technical quality of the project

3.	Management quality

4.	Budget and cost-effectiveness

TOTAL

100

Proposals falling below the overall and/or the individual thresholds announced above shall be rejected.

The following sub-criteria shall be taken into account in the assessment of each of the main award criteria:

Union dimension

a)	Relevance of proposed information and promotion measures to the general and specific objectives listed in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014, aims listed in Article 3 of that Regulation, as well as to priorities, objectives and expected results announced under the relevant thematic priority;

b)	Union message of the campaign;

c)	Impact of project at Union level.

Technical quality

a)	Quality and relevance of the market analysis;

b)	Suitability of the programme strategy, objectives and key messages;

c)	Suitable choice of activities with respect to objectives and programme strategy, balanced communication mix, synergy between the activities;

d)	Concise description of activities

e)	Quality of the proposed evaluation methods and indicators

Management quality

a)	Project organisation and management structure;

b)	Quality control mechanisms and risk management.

Budget and Cost-effectiveness

a)	Return on investment;

b)	Suitable split of budget in relation to the objectives and scope of the activities;

c)	Consistency between the estimated costs and deliverables;

d)	Realistic estimation of person/days for activities implemented by the proposing organisation, including costs of project coordination.

A separate ranked list shall be established for each of the priority topics listed under section 6.2 of the present call.

If there are two or more proposals with the same number of points in the last place of the same ranked list, then the proposal(s) which allows for diversification in terms of products or targeted markets shall be retained. It means than between two ex aequo proposals, Commission shall first select the one the content of which (firstly in terms of products, secondly in terms of targeted market) is not yet represented in the ranked list. If this criterion is not sufficient to differentiate the proposals, then the Commission shall select first the programme which got the highest score for the individual award criteria. It will first compare the scores for ‘Union dimension’, then for ‘Technical quality’, and finally for ‘Budget and cost-effectiveness’.

10. Legal commitments

The coordinators of proposals included in the list for funding will be invited to engage in adaptation phase preceding the signature of the grant agreement; the adaptation will be carried out via an online grant preparation system (SYGMA). If successful, it will result in the signature of a grant agreement, drawn up in euro and detailing the conditions and level of funding.

The grant agreement must be signed electronically first by the coordinator on behalf of the consortium and then by Chafea. All co-beneficiaries must accede to the grant agreement by signing electronically the accession form to the grant.

11. Financial provisions

The Financial Regulation and the Rules of Application (14) define the applicable rules for the implementation of the multi programmes.

11.1. General principles

Non-cumulative award

An action may only receive one grant from the EU budget.

In no circumstances shall the same costs be financed twice by the Union budget.

Non-retroactivity

No grant may be awarded retrospectively for actions already completed.

A grant may be awarded for an action which has already begun only where the applicant can demonstrate the need to start the action before the grant agreement is signed.

In such cases, costs eligible for financing may not have been incurred prior to the date of submission of the grant application.

Co-financing

Co-financing means that the resources which are necessary to carry out the action are not entirely provided by the EU grant.

The remaining expenditure shall be borne exclusively by the proposing organisation. Financial contributions given to a beneficiary by its members, specifically to be used for costs that are eligible under the action, are allowed and will be considered as receipts.

Balanced budget

The estimated budget of the action must be presented in part A of the application form. It must have revenue and expenditure in balance.

The budget must be drawn up in euros.

Applicants, who foresee that costs will not be incurred in euros, are invited to use the exchange rate published in the Official Journal of the European Union:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/contracts_grants/info_contracts/inforeuro/inforeuro_en.cfm

Implementation contracts/subcontracting

—	it must be justified having regard to the nature of the action and what is necessary for its implementation;

—	the core tasks of the actions (i.e. the technical and financial coordination of the action and the management of the strategy) cannot be sub-contracted;

—	it must be clearly stated in the technical and financial parts of the proposal.

Subcontracting to entities having a structural link with the beneficiary

The tasks to be implemented by such entities must be clearly stated in the technical part of the proposal.

11.2. Funding forms

Maximum amount requested

The EU grant is limited to the following maximum co-funding rate of:

—	for multi programmes in the internal market and in third countries: 80 % of the programme’s eligible costs;

—	in case of applicants established in Member States receiving on or after 1 January 2014 financial assistance in accordance with Article 136 and 143 TFEU (16), the percentage shall be 85 %.

This shall only apply to those grants signed upon by Chafea before the date from which the Member State concerned no longer receives such financial assistance.

Consequently, part of the total eligible expenses entered in the estimative budget must be financed from sources other than the EU grant (co-financing principle).

Eligible costs

Eligible costs are actually incurred by the beneficiary of the grant and meet all the criteria indicated in Article 6 of the grant agreement.

—	Eligible (direct and indirect) costs are indicated in the grant agreement (see Article 6 par.1, 2 and 3)

—	Ineligible costs are indicated in the grant agreement (see Article 6.4)

Calculation of the final grant amount

The final amount of the grant depends on the actual extent to which the action is implemented in accordance with the grant agreement’s terms and conditions.

This amount is calculated by Chafea, when the payment of the balance is made, in the following steps:

(1)	Application of the reimbursement rate to the eligible costs

(2)	Limit to the maximum grant amount

(3)	Reduction due to the no-profit rule

(4)	Reduction due to improper implementation or breach of other obligations

EU grants may not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit within the framework of the action. ‘Profit’ shall be defined as the surplus of the amount obtained following steps 1 and 2 plus the action’s total receipts, over the action’s total eligible costs.

In this respect, where a profit is made, Chafea shall be entitled to recover the percentage of the profit corresponding to EU contribution to the eligible costs actually incurred by the beneficiary (ies) to carry out the action. A partner (co-ordinator or other beneficiary) requesting an EU-contribution of ≤ EUR 60 000, is exempted from this provision.

11.3. Payment arrangements

A pre-financing payment corresponding to 20 % of the grant amount will be transferred to the coordinator according to the conditions set out in the grant agreement (Art 16.2).

Interim payment(s) shall be paid to the coordinator according to the conditions set out in the grant agreement (Art 16.3). Interim payment(s) are intended to reimburse the eligible costs incurred for the implementation of the programme during the corresponding reporting period(s).

The total amount of pre-financing and interim payment(s) shall not exceed 90 % of the maximum grant amount.

Chafea will establish the amount of the payment of the balance on the basis of the calculation of the final grant amount and according to the conditions set out in the grant agreement.

If the total amount of earlier payments is greater than the final grant amount, the payment of the balance takes the form of a recovery.

11.4. Pre-financing guarantee

In the event that the applicant's financial capacity is not satisfactory, a pre-financing guarantee for an amount up that of the pre-financing payment may be requested in order to limit the financial risks linked to the pre-financing payment.

If requested, the financial guarantee, in euro, shall be provided by a bank or approved financial institution established in one of the Member State of the European Union. Amounts blocked in bank accounts shall not be accepted as financial guarantees.

The guarantee may be replaced by a joint and several guarantee by a third party or by a joint guarantee of the beneficiaries of the action who are parties to the same grant agreement.

The guarantor shall stand as first-call guarantor and may not require Chafea to first have recourse against the principal debtor (i.e. the beneficiary concerned).

The pre-financing guarantee shall explicitly remain in force until the payment of the balance and, if payment of the balance takes the form of recovery, until three months after the debit note is notified to a beneficiary.

No guarantees will be required for a beneficiary receiving an EU contribution of EUR ≤60 000 (low value grants).

12. Publicity

12.1. By the beneficiaries

Beneficiaries must clearly acknowledge the European Union’s contribution in all activities for which the grant is used.

Rules for the graphic reproduction of the European emblem are found in the Inter-institutional Style Guide (17).

In addition, all visual material produced in the framework of a promotion programme co-financed by the European Union must bear the signature ‘Enjoy it's from Europe’:

Guidelines on the use of the signature, as well as all graphic files can be downloaded from the promotion website on Europa (18).

Lastly, all written material, i.e. brochures, posters, leaflets, banners, billboards, print advertisements, articles in newspapers, webpages (with the exception of small gadgets) should include a disclaimer according to the terms detailed in the grant agreement, explaining that it represents the views of the author. The European Commission/Agency does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

12.2. By the Chafea

All information relating to grants awarded in the course of a financial year shall be published on the internet site of Chafea no later than the 30 June of the year following the financial year in which the grants were awarded.

The Chafea will publish the following information:

—	name of the beneficiary (legal entity)

—	address of the beneficiary when the latter is a legal person, region when the beneficiary is a natural person, as defined on NUTS 2 level (19) if he/she is domiciled within EU or equivalent if domiciled outside EU,

—	subject of the grant,

—	amount awarded.

13. Data protection

The reply to any call for proposals involves the recording and processing of personal data (such as name, address and CVs of individuals participating in the co- financed action). Such data will be processed pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. Unless indicated otherwise, the questions and any personal data requested are required to evaluate the application in accordance with the specifications of the call for proposal will be processed solely for that purpose by the Executive Agency / the Commission or third parties acting on behalf and under the responsibility of the Executive Agency/Commission. Data subjects may be informed regarding further details of the processing operations, their rights and how they may be enforced by referring to the privacy statement published in the participant portal:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/support/legal_notices.html

and the Agency’s website:

http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/about/data_protection.html

Applicants are invited to check the relevant privacy statement at regular intervals so as to be duly informed on possible updates that may occur by the deadline for submission of their proposals or afterwards. Beneficiaries assume the legal obligation to inform their staff on the relevant processing operations that are to be performed by the Agency; in order to do so, they have to provide them with the privacy statements published by the Agency in the participant’s portal before transmitting their data to the Agency; Personal data may be registered in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) of the European Commission provided for in Articles 105a and 108 of the EU Financial Regulation according to the applicable provisions.

14. Procedure for the submission of proposals

Proposals must be submitted by the deadline set out under section 5 via the Electronic Submission System at:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/agrip/index.html

Before submitting a proposal:

1.	Find a call: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/agrip/index.html

2.	Create an account to submit a proposal: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/organisations/register.html

3.	Register all partners via the beneficiary registry: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/organisations/register.html

Applicants will be informed in writing about the results of the selection process.

In submitting a proposal, the applicant accepts the procedures and conditions as described in this call and in the documents to which it refers.

Contacts

For questions on the online submission tools please contact the IT helpdesk set-up for this purpose via the participant portal website:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=enquiries

For non-IT related questions a helpdesk at the Chafea is available at: +352 430136611, e-mail address: CHAFEA-AGRI-CALLS@ec.europa.eu weekdays between 9.30 – 12.00 and 14.30 – 17.00 CET (Central European Time). The helpdesk is unavailable on weekends and public holidays.

Frequently asked questions are published on the website of the Chafea:

http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/agri/faq.html

Related documents

—	Application form

—	Model grant agreement (mono- and multi- beneficiary version)

—	Guide for applicants

(4) Commission Implementing Decision of 9 November 2016 on the adoption of the work programme for 2017 of information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries

(5) Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods (OJ L 404, 30.12.2006, p. 9).

(*1) Campaigns under Topic A should not address Union organic production method as the main message

(6) Articles 106 of the Financial Regulation and its corresponding Rules of Application adopted by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 as lastly amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/1929 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2462 respectively

(7) OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p. 48

(8) OJ C 195, 25.6.1997, p. 1.

(9) Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA of 22 July 2003 on combating corruption in the private sector (OJ L 192, 31.7.2003, p. 54).

(10) Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA of 24 October 2008 on the fight against organised crime (OJ L 300, 11.11.2008, p. 42).

(11) Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing (OJ L 309, 25.11.2005, p. 15).

(12) Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA of 13 June 2002 on combating terrorism (OJ L 164, 22.6.2002, p. 3).

(13) Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA (OJ L 101, 15.4.2011, p. 1).

(14) Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1), and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 of 29 October 2012 on the rules of application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ L 362, 31.12.2012, p. 1).

(15) Applicant’s attention is drawn to the fact that in case they receive an operating grant, indirect costs are not eligible.

(16) At the date of the publication of this call: Greece.

(17) http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-5000100.htm

(18) http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/promotion/index_en.htm

(19) Commission Regulation (EC) No 105/2007 of 1 February 2007 amending the annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) (OJ L 39, 10.2.2007, p. 1).

(20) Article 96 of Financial Regulation.

12.1.2017

Official Journal of the European Union

C 9/42

Publication of an amendment application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2017/C 9/12)

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF NON-MINOR AMENDMENTS TO THE PRODUCT SPECIFICATION FOR A PROTECTED DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN OR PROTECTED GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION

Application for approval of amendments in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012

‘HUILE D'OLIVE DE CORSE’/‘HUILE D'OLIVE DE CORSE — OLIU DI CORSICA’

EU No: PDO-FR-02123 — 24.2.2016

PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

1. Applicant group and legitimate interest

Syndicat A.O.C. Oliu di Corsica

26, quartier de la Poste

20260 Lumio

FRANCE

Tel. +33 495566497

Fax +33 495551660

E-mail: oliudicorsica@orange.fr

The applicant group for the PDO ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ is composed of olive producers, processors and processor-suppliers and has a legitimate interest in submitting an amendment application.

2. Member State or Third Country

France

3. Heading in the product specification affected by the amendment(s)

—	☐	Name of product
—	☒	Description of product
—	☐	Geographical area
—	☒	Proof of origin
—	☒	Method of production
—	☒	Link
—	☒	Labelling
—	☒	Other (national requirements, the contact details of the group, the methods for identifying land parcels, the inspection body)

4. Type of amendment(s)

—	☒	Amendments to the product specification of a registered PDO or PGI not to be qualified as minor in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012
—	☐	Amendments to the product specification of a registered PDO or PGI for which a Single Document (or equivalent) has not been published and which cannot be qualified as minor within the meaning of the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012

5. Amendment(s)

5.1. ‘Description of product’ section

This section has been clarified and supplemented in order to take better account of traditional know-how and the producers' practices. This improved description has made it possible to distinguish oil obtained from olives harvested after they have fallen naturally, by using the additional indication ‘récolte à l'ancienne’ (‘traditional harvesting’). This oil was already covered by the initial registration, which was based on a rather broad definition of the product, but it was not identified as such. This distinction reflects the applicant group's wish to characterise and identify the product better and to provide the consumer with clear information on the harvesting technique.

—

More details have been added to the organoleptic description on the basis of the inspections carried out since the designation was recognised. This has been done to better identify the product. The provisions on the colour of the product remain the same.

Therefore the original wording:

‘“Huile d'olive de Corse” or “Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica” is a mild-tasting olive oil with virtually no fieriness or bitterness. Its aromas are fine and evocative of dried fruit, confectionery and Corsican scrub. The colour is straw to light yellow and may have green reflections.’

has been replaced by: ‘“Huile d'olive de Corse”/“Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica” is characterised by aromas reminiscent of almond, artichoke, hay, dried fruit or apple. The colour is straw to light yellow and may have green reflections.’

The introduction of the indication ‘récolte à l'ancienne’ for oils obtained from olives harvested after they have fallen naturally results in additional organoleptic characteristics related to the harvesting technique: the oil is full-bodied and rich in the mouth, with the following characteristic and dominant aromas: black olive, dry hay, dried fruit (almond, nut, hazelnut), floral fragrances from the scrub, mushroom and undergrowth.

—

Levels of bitterness and pungency (or sharpness) have been defined and introduced in the specification: ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ is characterised by bitterness and pungency of 3 or less on the scale of values based on the International Olive Council's rating (from 0 to 10). The levels have been increased slightly from the initial description of ‘virtually no pungency or bitterness’ owing to the development of new plantations and the modernisation of the groves. The use of mechanical harvesting techniques results in slightly less ripe olives and in oil whose bitterness and pungency are slightly less weak. Oils bearing the indication ‘récolte à l'ancienne’ are obtained from olives harvested after they have fallen naturally and are therefore riper. The oil obtained is rather mild, and its pungency and bitterness do not exceed 1 on the scale of the International Olive Council.

—	In order to preserve the quality of the product, a peroxide value has been determined and added to the specification. On the basis of analyses carried out on the products, this value has been restricted to 16 milliequivalents of oxygen peroxide for each kilogramme of olive oil when first marketed.

5.2. ‘Proof of origin’ section

Owing to developments in national legislation and regulations, the text of the section ‘Evidence that the product originates from the defined geographical area’ has been consolidated to bring together, in particular, provisions on declaration requirements and the keeping of registers for tracing the product and monitoring the production conditions.

In this context, provisions on the authorisation of operators by the inspection body have been included in order to acknowledge that they are able to meet the requirements of the specification.

This section has also been supplemented with information on registers and declaration documents, enabling traceability to be guaranteed and ensuring that compliance of the products with the requirements of the specification is verified.

5.3. ‘Method of production’ section

The following amendments have been made concerning the method of obtaining the oil:

The olive varieties

The timetable for the conversion of olive varieties qualifying for the right to use the designation (the list of varieties remains the same) has been removed, since most of the producers comply with the minimum percentage of varieties, with the deadline for this being 2025.

Therefore the original wording:

‘However, olive groves planted before the date of publication of the national rules defining the designation that fail to comply with the provisions on varieties will continue to qualify for the right to use the designation “Huile d'olive de Corse” or “Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica” for their harvest provided that the holdings in question submit an individual timetable for the conversion of the holding in question to the National Institute of origin and quality (Institut national des appellations d'origine). The timetable must allow for olive trees of the varieties listed above to account for at least 30 % of the olive groves on the holding in 2010, 40 % in 2015, 50 % in 2020 and 70 % in 2025.

With effect from the 2010 harvest, olives obtained from these groves may be used in the preparation of olive oil bearing the designation on condition that these olives are mixed with at least one of the varieties listed above.’

has been replaced by:

‘However, olive groves planted before the date of publication of the national rules defining the designation on 26 November 2004 that fail to comply with the provisions on varieties will continue to qualify for the right to use the designation “Huile d'olive de Corse”/“Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica” for their harvest provided that the olive trees of the varieties listed above account for at least 70 % of the olive groves on the holding in question.

Olives obtained from these groves may be used in the preparation of olive oil bearing the designation on condition that these olives are mixed with at least one of the varieties listed above’.

However, during the period for objections at national level, some operators lodged an objection to the removal of this timetable. Operators who meet the conditions of Article 15(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 have been allowed a transitional period until 31 December 2025.

The pollinator varieties allowed (groves and oil)

The original wording provided for a maximum percentage of 5 % of pollinator varieties in the groves and in the oil.

In view of the difficulties in verifying compliance with the provision on the maximum quantity of olives of pollinator varieties in the oil (mainly documentary checks) and the fact that these quantities are minimal, it is proposed that this provision be removed from the specification. However, the provision on the presence of pollinator varieties in the groves has been kept.

Irrigation

In order to limit late irrigation and enable the fruit to ripen under good conditions, it is proposed that the sentence be amended as follows ‘While the olive trees are in leaf, the grove may be irrigated until the olives start ripening’ to make it more precise.

Planting density

The provisions on planting density remain the same: the area available for each plant must be at least 24 m2. The method of calculating this area have been specified (multiplying the two inter-row distances and the space between trees) in order to clarify and monitor compliance with the provision. The minimum distance of 4 metres between trees remains the same.

Date of harvest/Yield

Initially, the harvest start date and yield increases or decreases in exceptional weather conditions were set, respectively, by order of the prefect and of the minister on the basis of proposals by the National Institute of origin and quality after obtaining the group's opinion.

With a view to simplifying administrative procedures, it is suggested that the Director of the INAO set the harvest start date on the basis of a reasoned proposal by the group.

Furthermore, the arrangements for exceptional weather conditions have been removed in accordance with the provisions laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.

Harvesting

In order to specify the conditions for using the indication ‘récolte à l'ancienne’, the following has been added: ‘Only oils obtained from olives harvested after they have fallen naturally and the fruit have gathered onto nets or into other receptacles under the tree may bear the indication “Huile d'olive de Corse”’.

The health status of the olives

To ensure the olives' health, it has been specified that the olives are to be delivered to the mills in good condition. The concept of ‘healthy’ olives in the registered specification has been clarified by limiting to 10 % the percentage of olives that are affected by pests, frost or hail.

Therefore the original wording: ‘The olives used must be healthy’ has been supplemented as follows:

‘They are to be delivered to the mills in good condition. The olives used are healthy. The maximum total percentage of olives affected by pests, frost or hail has been limited to 10 %.’

The ripeness of the olives

In order to reinforce the provision and make it easier to verify compliance therewith, the requirements concerning the level of ripeness of the olives apply to the stage where the olives are being processed and no longer to the olives delivered to the mill.

This provision has also been amended in light of the development of new plantations where mechanical harvesting techniques are used and the olives are less ripe.

Consequently the paragraph ‘Oil is produced from olives harvested when ripe. Total deliveries to a mill in an oil year must comprise for each holding — not more than 20 % of green olives, — at least 50 % of black olives’ has been replaced by:

‘Each batch of olives used must comprise at least 50 % of olives turning colour.

For “Huile d'olive de Corse”/“Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica” followed by the indication “récolte à l'ancienne”, each batch of olives used comprises more than 50 % of black olives’.

Processing and extraction processes

While retaining the provisions of the current specification with regard to extraction methods (extraction involves solely mechanical processes and no other reagent than water), the list of authorised processes has been supplemented to make it comprehensive and to take account of all production stages. Therefore the following information has been added: leaf stripping, crushing, kneading, extraction by centrifuging or by pressing. These are the currently used techniques.

In addition, the provision on the free acidity content, expressed as oleic acid, has been moved to the ‘Description of product’ section. The indication of the ‘virgin’ nature of the oil has been removed, since that quality relates solely to the analytical characteristics of the oil and ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ may belong either to the ‘virgin’ or ‘extra virgin’ category.

5.4. ‘Link’ section

The ‘Link’ section has been updated, consolidated and supplemented in order to better illustrate the link between the characteristics of ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’, the geographical area and local know-how. Elements related to the ‘specificity of the product’ and the ‘causal link’ have been added in line with the amendments made to the text of the ‘Description of product’ section. They relate, in particular, to the characteristic aromas of the product, such as almond, hay, complex aromas from the Corsican scrub, and moderate fieriness and pungency in line with the levels of bitterness and fieriness introduced in the ‘Description of product’ section.

5.5. ‘Labelling’ section

The wording of labels specific to the designation has been brought into line with the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 (use of the European Union's PDO logo). Furthermore, the words ‘appellation d'origine protégée’ (‘protected designation of origin’) also form part of the specific labelling requirements for products with the designation.

For the oils obtained from olives harvested after they have fallen naturally, the obligation to include the indication ‘récolte à l'ancienne’ immediately after the name of the designation has been added. The labelling of these oils must also include information specifying that the oils have been obtained from olives harvested after they have fallen naturally.

5.6. Other

In the light of changes to national legislation and rules, the ‘National requirements’ section contains a table indicating the main items to be checked, their reference values and the evaluation methods to be used.

The contact details of the group have been updated.

In the ‘Definition of the geographical area’ section, the steps that must take place within the geographical area of the designation have been clarified: ‘The olives are harvested and processed in the geographical area, which covers the territory of the following municipalities’.

Furthermore, some errors identified in the names of municipalities belonging to the geographical area of the designation of origin have been corrected; however, these corrections do not alter the boundaries of the geographical area of production, which remain the same. It is stipulated that the boundaries of the geographical area are entered in the register of the partly covered municipalities and that any graphic material is deposited with the town halls concerned. Moreover, the methods for identifying land parcels have been clarified.

Finally, the section on ‘References to the inspection body’ has been updated.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘HUILE D'OLIVE DE CORSE’/‘HUILE D'OLIVE DE CORSE — OLIU DI CORSICA’

EU No: PDO-FR-02123 — 24.2.2016

PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

1. Name(s)

‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’

2. Member State or Third Country

France

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 1.5. Oils and fats (butter, margarine, oil, etc.)

3.2. Description of the product to which the name in (1) applies

‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ is characterised by aromas reminiscent of almond, artichoke, hay, dried fruit or apple. The colour is straw to light yellow and may contain flashes of green.

The sharpness (referred to as ‘pungency’ within the meaning of this Single Document) and bitterness at first marketing are 3 or less on the organoleptic scale of the International Olive Council (IOC).

The free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, must not exceed 1,5 grams per 100 grams of oil.

The peroxide value is restricted to 16 milliequivalents or less of oxygen peroxide for each kilogramme of olive oil when first marketed.

‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ followed by the words ‘récolte à l'ancienne’ has the following additional characteristics: the oil is full-bodied and rich in the mouth, with the following characteristic and dominant aromas: black olive, dry hay, dried fruit (almond, nut, hazelnut), floral fragrances from the scrub, mushroom and undergrowth.

The pungency and bitterness at first marketing are 1 or less on the organoleptic scale of the IOC.

3.3. Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

The olive oils come mainly from the following varieties:

Sabine (also called Aliva Bianca, Biancaghja), Ghjermana, Capanace, Raspulada, Zinzala, Aliva Néra (otherwise known as Ghjermana du Sud), Curtinese.

3.4. Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area

Every part of the production process of the raw material and the preparation of the olive oil take place within the defined geographical area.

3.5. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

—

3.6. Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

In addition to the compulsory information provided for by legislation on labelling and the presentation of foodstuffs, the designation of origin ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ labels must include the following:

—	the name of the designation ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’,

—	the indication ‘récolte à l'ancienne’ immediately after the name of the designation, in the case of oils from olives harvested after they have fallen naturally.

—	the indication: ‘appellation d'origine protégée’ (‘protected designation of origin’).

—	the European Union PDO logo.

These details must all be in the same field of vision.

They must be indicated in conspicuous, clearly legible and indelible characters of a sufficient size to stand out from the label on which they are printed so as to be clearly distinguishable from all other written or graphic information.

The labelling of oils bearing the indication ‘récolte à l'ancienne’ include information specifying that the oils have been obtained from olives harvested after they have fallen naturally.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area of the designation of origin ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ corresponds to the entire territory of Corsica, except for the following municipalities: Aiti, Albertacce, Alzi, Asco, Aullène, Bastelica, Bocognano, Bustanico, Calacuccia, Cambia, Campana, Carcheto-Brustico, Carpineto, Carticasi, Casamaccioli, Casanova, Ciamanacce, Corscia, Cozzano, Cristinacce, Erone, Evisa, Felce, Ghisoni, Guagno, Guitera-les-Bains, Lano, Lozzi, Mausoléo, Mazzola, Muracciole, Novale, Olmi-Cappella, Ortale, Orto, Palneca, Pastricciola, Perelli, Pianello, Piazzali, Piedipartino, Pie-d'Orezza, Pietricaggio, Piobetta, Pioggiola, Poggiolo, Quasquara, Quenza, Renno, Rezza, Rusio, Saliceto, Sampolo, San-Lorenzo, Soccia, Tarrano, Tasso, Tavera, Tolla, Valle-d'Alesani, Vallica, Vivario and Zicavo.

5. Link with the geographical area

Specificity of the geographical area

Situated between 41 and 43° N and lying 160 km from the Provence coast, Corsica is a north/south-facing elongated mountainous island with an average altitude of 568 m and a very uneven terrain.

Geologically, the soils on which the olive trees are planted are derived mainly from the on-site breakdown of two of the main rocks (granite and shale, limestone in pockets, only in the extreme south). The types of soils obtained in this way are poor owing to their limited depth and low clay content, but they are also arid soils with low water reserves. The water supply for the trees therefore depends entirely on the rainfall, which, while highly variable in different years and micro-regions, is nonetheless typically Mediterranean, with a long period of summer drought lasting for about five months.

Furthermore, the characteristics of these soils are affected by erosion, which is more accentuated on steeper slopes.

In addition to the summer drought, the climate is characterised by temperatures favourable to the olive tree, with mild winters, hot summers, strong sunshine but also maritime influences providing significant moisture.

The development of the olive tree is also affected by the temperature: the elevated terrain means that specific frost conditions prevail above a certain average altitude, the limit of which varies according to the exposure of the hillsides.

Olive-growing has not developed in areas where there was a risk of frost.

The primary olive-growing area is located at 0 to 400 metres on the northern slope and at up to 600 metres on the southern slope of the vegetation belt, which is characterised by a series of cork oak and holm oak trees, together with stone pine trees, heather, arbutus trees, myrtle, mastic trees, calicotome trees and narrow-leaved mock privet.

The history of the olive tree in Corsica dates back a very long time and represents the basis for the cultivation of olives on the island. It also explains to a large extent the origin of the varieties planted: the sabine, which is the most widespread olive in Corsica, though principally grown in the Balagne region, is a variety selected locally from wild olive trees only. Similarly, the capannace, which is the dominant variety in the Cap Corse region, has been selected locally. It seems that this variety has adapted to rather hostile conditions. The ‘Capannace’ trees growing in Cap Corse are regularly exposed to violent winds and to mists.

Recent work has shown that certain varieties are from Tuscany (‘ghjermana’ and ‘ghjermana di Balagna’), while others, such as the zinzala, originate from crosses between local oleasters and introduced varieties.

These main varieties became established and were multiplied, most often in combination with other varieties, in areas with suitable climatic and soil characteristics. The age of the trees today is proof of the compatibility of these varieties with the geographical environment where they became established and of an undeniable link to region.

The production of ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse – Oliu di Corsica’ is based on ancient practices particularly well suited to the environment:

—	The cultivation method has been and remains closely connected to the environment: low density in the groves and late picking of the olives. Keeping the olives on the trees for a long time further reinforces the phenomenon of biennial bearing.

—

Traditionally, the olives were harvested by shaking them down using a long pole, picking them from the tree or collecting them from the ground, depending on the area, the volume of the harvest, the olive varieties and seasonal conditions. The most common harvesting method was to collect the olives from the ground. Nowadays producers no longer use this method; instead, the olives are collected using suspended nets or receptacles placed under the trees.

The olives are harvested over a longer period of time in accordance with the flowering dates of the different varieties.

—

Crushing takes place much sooner than previously. The waiting times, which used to be the main reason for the excessive acidity of the oils, are much shorter nowadays, thanks to more modern mills with a better capacity. Nonetheless, the waiting times still sometimes exceed those on the continent, owing to the distant location of the olive groves and the habits of the producers.

This overall improvement in the efficiency of harvesting and of the mills has made it possible to increase the quality of olive oil.

Specificity of the product

‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ is characterised by moderate pungency and sharpness. The aromas are thus delicately revealed and display good complexity.

The presence of varied spontaneous vegetation around the olive groves is reflected as almond and hay aromas in the finished product and complex aromas reminiscent of the Corsican shrub in ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ followed by the words ‘récolte à l'ancienne’.

Used as a food and care product and in a number of religious and secular rites, it is an integral part of the islanders' life and is recognised for its quality.

The originality of Corsican olive growing also stems from the diversity of the ancient endemic varieties.

The use of olive varieties of small size and therefore not well suited to consumption as table olives, and the tradition of producing olive oil rather than table olives, are the reasons why all the groves in all the micro-regions of the geographical area are used exclusively for olive-oil production.

Causal link

The typical characteristics of olive oil bearing the designation ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ are the result of maintaining a certain tradition and using modern production methods combined with a specific natural environment.

The olive tree has grown spontaneously in various areas, and, through selection and hybridisation, this has led to the presence of a large number of varieties on a fairly restricted territory. This is unique compared to other Mediterranean olive-growing areas, which tend to be monovarietal or then multivarietal with one dominant variety.

Irrespective of their own characteristics, the trees are subject to a common management system and share the same climatic conditions, which result in the slow development of the raw material in a special environment.

Keeping the olives on the trees for a long time due to the absence of frost in the growing areas is a key factor in the typical features of ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ in that it allows the olive to capture the odours of the surrounding plant species and, in particular, those of the scrub, which odours are then found in the particular aromas of ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ followed by the indication ‘récolte à l'ancienne’.

In other words, the interdependence between natural and human, local and specific factors mitigate for their part the variability caused by the variety, soil or exposure and give ‘Huile d'olive de Corse’/‘Huile d'olive de Corse — Oliu di Corsica’ original features that are common to olive production throughout the island.

Reference to publication of the specification

(the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of this Regulation)

https://www.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/CdCHuiledeCorsemodifie.doc

(1) OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.

		ISSN 1977-091X
Official Journal of the European Union		C 9

English edition	Information and Notices	Volume 60 12 January 2017

Notice No	Contents	page
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	INFORMATION FROM EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS, BODIES, OFFICES AND AGENCIES
	European Commission
2017/C 9/01	Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.8132 — FMC Technologies/Technip) ( 1 )	1
2017/C 9/02	Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.8211 — Marubeni/Toho Gas/Galp Energia/GGND) ( 1 )	1

	V Announcements
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2017/C 9/05	Notice of open competitions	6
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2017/C 9/06	2017 Call for proposals — Simple programmes — Grants to information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council	7
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2017/C 9/09	Action brought on 17 November 2016 by the EFTA Surveillance Authority against Iceland (Case E-17/16)	39
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2017/C 9/11	Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.8207 — Emerson Electric/Pentair valves and controls business) ( 1 )	41
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	(1) Text with EEA relevance.