(1)

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

(2)

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

(1)

In accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 2377/90, maximum residue limits must be established progressively for all pharmacologically active substances which are used within the Community in veterinary medicinal products intended for administration to food-producing animals.

(2)

Maximum residue limits should be established only after the examination within the Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products of all the relevant information concerning the safety of residues of the substance concerned for the consumer of foodstuffs of animal origin and the impact of residues on the industrial processing of foodstuffs.

(3)

In establishing maximum residue limits for residues of veterinary medicinal products in foodstuffs of animal origin, it is necessary to specify the animal species in which residues may be present, the levels which may be present in each of the relevant meat tissues obtained from the treated animal (target tissue) and the nature of the residue which is relevant for the monitoring of residues (marker residue).

(4)

For the control of residues, as provided for in appropriate Community legislation, maximum residue limits should usually be established for the target tissues of liver or kidney. However, the liver and kidney are frequently removed from carcasses moving in international trade, and maximum residue limits should therefore also always be established for muscle or fat tissues.

(5)

In the case of veterinary medicinal products intended for use in laying birds, lactating animals or honey bees, maximum residue limits must also be established for eggs, milk or honey.

(6)

Tulathromycin should be inserted into Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2377/90.

(7)

Diclazuril should be inserted into Annex II to Regulation (EEC) No 2377/90.

(8)

An adequate period should be allowed before the entry into force of this Regulation in order to allow Member States to make any adjustment which may be necessary to the authorisations to place the veterinary medicinal products concerned on the market which have been granted in accordance with Directive 2001/82/EC (3), as last amended by Directive 2004/28/EC (4) of the European Parliament and of the Council to take account of the provisions of this Regulation.

(9)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Veterinary Medicinal Products,

(1)

The intervention agencies are, pursuant to Commission Regulation (EC) No 2571/97 of 15 December 1997 on the sale of butter at reduced prices and the granting of aid for cream, butter and concentrated butter for use in the manufacture of pastry products, ice-cream and other foodstuffs (2), to sell by invitation to tender certain quantities of butter from intervention stocks that they hold and to grant aid for cream, butter and concentrated butter. Article 18 of that Regulation stipulates that in the light of the tenders received in response to each individual invitation to tender a minimum selling price shall be fixed for butter and maximum aid shall be fixed for cream, butter and concentrated butter. It is further stipulated that the price or aid may vary according to the intended use of the butter, its fat content and the incorporation procedure, and that a decision may also be taken to make no award in response to the tenders submitted. The amount(s) of the processing securities must be fixed accordingly.

(2)

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

(1)

The intervention agencies are, pursuant to Commission Regulation (EC) No 2571/97 of 15 December 1997 on the sale of butter at reduced prices and the granting of aid for cream, butter and concentrated butter for use in the manufacture of pastry products, ice cream and other foodstuffs (2), to sell by invitation to tender certain quantities of butter of intervention stocks that they hold and to grant aid for cream, butter and concentrated butter. Article 18 of that Regulation stipulates that in the light of the tenders received in response to each individual invitation to tender a minimum selling price shall be fixed for butter and maximum aid shall be fixed for cream, butter and concentrated butter. It is further stipulated that the price or aid may vary according to the intended use of the butter, its fat content and the incorporation procedure, and that a decision may also be taken to make no award in response to the tenders submitted. The amount(s) of the processing securities must be fixed accordingly.

(2)

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

(1)

Pursuant to Article 26 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2799/1999 of 17 December 1999 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards the grant of aid for skimmed milk and skimmed-milk powder intended for animal feed and the sale of such skimmed-milk powder (2), intervention agencies have put up for sale by standing invitation to tender certain quantities of skimmed-milk powder held by them.

(2)

According to Article 30 of the said Regulation, in the light of the tenders received in response to each individual invitation to tender a minimum selling price shall be fixed or a decision shall be taken to make no award. The amount of the processing security shall also be fixed taking account of the difference between the market price of skimmed-milk powder and the minimum selling price.

(3)

In the light of the tenders received, the minimum selling price should be fixed at the level specified below and the processing security determined accordingly.

(4)

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

(1)

In accordance with Commission Regulation (EEC) No 429/90 of 20 February 1990 on the granting by invitation to tender of an aid for concentrated butter intended for direct consumption in the Community (2), the intervention agencies are opening a standing invitation to tender for the granting of aid for concentrated butter. Article 6 of that Regulation provides that in the light of the tenders received in response to each special invitation to tender, a maximum amount of aid is to be fixed for concentrated butter with a minimum fat content of 96 % or a decision is to be taken to make no award; the end-use security must be fixed accordingly.

(2)

In the light of the tenders received, the maximum aid should be fixed at the level specified below and the end-use security determined accordingly.

(3)

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

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2316/1999 of 22 October 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999 establishing a support system for producers of certain arable crops (2) sets the terms on which area payments are granted for certain arable crops. Under Article 19(2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 2316/1999 areas set aside must remain so for a period commencing on 15 January at the latest and ending on 31 August at the earliest and, except as otherwise provided for, may not be used for agricultural production or a lucrative purpose.

(2)

In 2003, certain regions of the Community have experienced extreme drought that has seriously affected fodder supplies, entailing extreme low farm stocks of fodder at the end of the winter 2003.

(3)

A derogation from Regulation (EC) No 2316/1999 whereby the Member States affected may allow arable crop set-aside land to be used for animal feed purposes could reduce supply risks for the next campaign. However, any lucrative utilisation of such land should be effectively disallowed.

(4)

Moreover, due to the drought, a higher forest stand than usually has been affected by bark beetle and therefore more storage capacity for the chopped down wood is temporarily necessary. The use of land set aside under the arable crop scheme for the marketing year 2004/05 could alleviate the situation by permitting the temporary storage of the timber concerned. A derogation should therefore be made from Regulation (EC) No 2316/1999. Measures should, however, be adopted to ensure that the land is made available on a non-lucrative basis.

(5)

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

(1)

The conditions governing the taking over of paddy rice by the intervention agencies are laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 708/98 of 30 March 1998 on the taking over of paddy rice by the intervention agencies and fixing the corrective amounts and the price increases and reductions to be applied (3).

(2)

Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 limited the quantities that may be bought in by the intervention agencies in the period from 1 April 2004 to 31 July 2004 to 100 000 tonnes.

(3)

In several Member States the quantities being offered for intervention are far greater than the quantities specified in Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 708/98. In the light of the market situation resulting from the above-mentioned supply balance, those quantities should be increased by 45 000 tonnes and the maximum quantities for the third tranche of intervention for the 2003/04 marketing year amended.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 708/98 should be amended accordingly.

(5)

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

(1)

Article 3(3) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1535/2003 of 29 August 2003 laying down detailed rules for applying Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 as regards the aid scheme for products processed from fruit and vegetables (2) stipulates that the Commission is to publish the amount of the aid for pears after verifying compliance with the thresholds fixed in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 2201/96.

(2)

The average quantity of pears processed under the aid scheme over the previous three marketing years is above the Community threshold. The aid to be applied for the 2004/05 marketing year in Member States that have not overrun their national threshold must therefore be the amount set in Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2201/96. In each of the other Member States that rate must be reduced according to the individual threshold overrun as adjusted by allocation of the unprocessed quantities as specified in the third subparagraph of Article 5(2) of that Regulation.

(3)

Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 416/2004 of 5 March 2004 laying down transitional measures for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 and Regulation (EC) No 1535/2003 by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union (3) set the aid applicable in the new Member States for pears for processing during marketing year 2004/05.

(4)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Processed Fruit and Vegetables,

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159,33 per tonne in Greece,

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130,09 per tonne in Spain,

—

161,70 per tonne in France,

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119,71 per tonne in Italy,

—

161,70 per tonne in the Netherlands,

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161,70 per tonne in Austria,

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161,70 per tonne in Portugal.

(1)

Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 provides that the difference between prices on the world market for the products listed in Article 1 of that Regulation and prices for those products within the Community may be covered by an export refund.

(2)

Commission Regulations (EEC) No 32/82 (2), (EEC) No 1964/82 (3), (EEC) No 2388/84 (4), (EEC) No 2973/79 (5) and (EC) No 2051/96 (6) lay down the conditions for granting special export refunds on certain cuts of beef and veal and certain preserved beef and veal products, and for certain destinations.

(3)

It follows from applying those rules and criteria to the foreseeable situation on the market in beef and veal that the refund should be as set out below.

(4)

With regard to live animals, for reasons of simplification export refunds should no longer be granted for categories with insignificant trade with third countries. Moreover, in the light of the general concern of animal welfare, export refunds for live animals for slaughter should be limited as much as possible. Consequently, export refunds for such animals should only be granted for third countries which for cultural and/or religious reasons traditionally import substantial numbers of animals for domestic slaughter. As to live animals for reproduction, in order to prevent any abuse, export refunds for pure-bred breeding animals should be limited to heifers and cows of no more than 30 months of age.

(5)

Export refunds should be granted for certain destinations on some fresh or chilled meat listed in the Annex under CN code 0201, on some frozen meat listed in the Annex under CN code 0202, on some meat or offal listed in the Annex under CN code 0206 and on some other prepared or preserved meat or offal listed in the Annex under CN code 1602 50 10.

(6)

In the case of meat of bovine animals, boned or boneless, salted and dried, there are traditional trade flows to Switzerland. To allow this trade to continue, the refund should be set to cover the difference between prices on the Swiss market and export prices in the Member States.

(7)

In the case of certain other cuts and preserves of meat or offal shown in the Annex under CN codes 1602 50 31 to 1602 50 80, the Community presence of international trade may be maintained by granting a refund corresponding to that at present available.

(8)

In the case of other beef and veal products, a refund need not be fixed since the Community's share of world trade is not significant.

(9)

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3846/87 (7) establishes the agricultural product nomenclature for the purposes of export refunds. The refunds are set on the basis of the product codes as defined in that nomenclature.

(10)

In order to simplify customs export formalities for operators, the refunds on all frozen cuts should be brought into line with those on fresh or chilled cuts other than those from adult male bovine animals.

(11)

Checks on products covered by CN code 1602 50 should be stepped up by making the granting of refunds on these products conditional on manufacture under the arrangements provided for in Article 4 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 565/80 of 4 March 1980 on the advance payment of export refunds in respect of agricultural products (8).

(12)

Refunds should be granted only on products that are allowed to move freely in the Community. Therefore, to be eligible for a refund, products should be required to bear the health mark laid down in Council Directives 64/433/EEC (9), 94/65/EC (10) and 77/99/EEC (11), respectively.

(13)

Pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 1964/82, the special refund is to be reduced if the quantity of boned meat to be exported amounts to less than 95 %, but not less than 85 %, of the total weight of cuts produced by boning.

(14)

The negotiations on the adoption of additional concessions, held within the framework of the Europe Agreements between the European Community and the associated central and eastern European Countries, aim in particular to liberalise trade in products covered by the common organisation of the market in beef and veal. To this end, it was decided, inter alia, to abolish export refunds on products intended for export to Romania. This country should therefore be excluded from the list of destinations giving rise to the grant of a refund, while ensuring that the abolition of refunds for this country may not lead to the creation of a differentiated refund for exports to other countries.

(15)

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

(1)

The European Council repeatedly underlined its strong preference for accession by a reunited Cyprus. As yet, a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem and the reunification of the island have not been reached.

(2)

According to Article 189 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, the European Parliament consists of representatives of the peoples of the States brought together in the Community. The Members of the European Parliament are elected by direct universal suffrage in accordance with Article 190 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, Article 108 of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community and the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, annexed to Council Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom (1), as amended by Council Decision 2002/772/EC, Euratom (2) (hereafter ‘the 1976 Act’).

(3)

The members of the European Parliament for the next term covering the period 2004-2009 will be elected in the elections to be held on 10-13 June 2004. Pursuant to Article 11 of the 2003 Act of Accession, the number of representatives elected in Cyprus from the start of the 2004-2009 term shall be six. Elections for this 2004-2009 term will, however, not be held in the part of Cyprus in which the Government of the Republic of Cyprus does not exercise effective control.

(4)

In order to guarantee the representation and the electoral rights of all Cypriots, in the event of a comprehensive settlement, it is necessary to provide for an early ending of the mandate of the representatives of the people of Cyprus in the European Parliament elected in June 2004 or in subsequent elections and to hold extraordinary elections in the whole of Cyprus for the remaining term of the European Parliament,

(a)

The term of office of the elected representatives of the people of Cyprus in the European Parliament shall end at the opening of the first session of the European Parliament following the elections referred to in point (b).

(b)

Extraordinary elections of the representatives of the people of Cyprus in the European Parliament shall be held in the whole of Cyprus for the remainder of the 2004-2009 term or any subsequent term of the European Parliament on the Sunday following the end of a period of four months after adoption by the Council, in accordance with Article 1(2) of Protocol No 10 of the 2003 Act of Accession, of the first decision on the withdrawal of the suspension of the application of the acquis.

(c)

The term of office of the members of the European Parliament elected in the elections referred to in (b) shall begin at the opening of the first session of the European Parliament following the elections referred to in point (b) and it shall end at the opening of the first session of the European Parliament following its next election.