25.2.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 51/1

(1)

The Council authorised the Commission on 5 June 2003 to open negotiations with third countries on the replacement of certain provisions in existing bilateral Agreements with a Community Agreement.

(2)

On behalf of the European Community, the Commission has negotiated an Agreement with the West African Economic and Monetary Union on certain aspects of air services in accordance with the mechanisms and directives in the Annex to the Council Decision authorising the Commission to open negotiations with third countries on the replacement of certain provisions in existing bilateral agreements with a Community Agreement.

(3)

The Agreement was signed on behalf of the Community on 30 November 2009 subject to its possible conclusion at a later date, in accordance with Council Decision 2010/144/EC (1).

(4)

As a consequence of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, the European Union has replaced and succeeded the European Community.

(5)

The Agreement should be approved,

25.2.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 51/2

(1)

The functional airspace blocks are key enablers for enhancing cooperation between Member States in order to improve performance and create synergies. For that purpose and in order to optimise the interface of functional airspace blocks in the single European sky, the Member States concerned should cooperate with each other and where appropriate they may also cooperate with third countries.

(2)

Member States have to comply with the requirements of Article 9a of Regulation (EC) No 550/2004 when establishing a functional airspace block.

(3)

Member States that establish a functional airspace block have to provide information to the Commission, the European Aviation Safety Agency, other Member States and other interested parties, giving them an opportunity to submit their observations with the aim of facilitating an exchange of views. However, the Member States should not provide classified information, business secrets or otherwise confidential information.

(4)

The information to be provided under this Regulation should reflect compliance with the objectives for the functional airspace blocks and assist Member States in ensuring consistency with other measures of the single European sky.

(5)

In order to facilitate such exchange of information and submission of observations, the information which is considered as ‘adequate’ to be provided to Member States, the Commission, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and other interested parties should be clearly laid out as well as the procedures for this exchange of information.

(6)

In particular, the Member States concerned should jointly provide the information and accordingly provide one set of information and documentary evidence per functional airspace block.

(7)

The establishment of a functional airspace block should be considered as the legal process through which Member States must enhance cooperation between their respective airspace blocks. Member States should take the necessary measures to comply with this requirement at the latest by 4 December 2012, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 550/2004.

(8)

The determination whether a functional airspace block has been modified should be made on the basis of the same criteria for all Member States and should be limited to those changes which have a considerable impact on the functional airspace block and/or the neighbouring functional airspace blocks or Member States.

(9)

According to Article 13a of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), Member States and the Commission should coordinate with the EASA to ensure that all safety aspects are properly addressed when implementing the single European sky.

(10)

This Regulation does not affect the security or defence policy interests of Member States and related confidentiality needs according to Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 549/2004.

(11)

Pursuant to Article 83 of the Chicago Convention, Member States that establish a functional airspace block will have to register agreements or arrangements for functional airspace blocks and any subsequent amendment thereto with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

(12)

The establishment of functional airspace blocks which would result in changes to the ICAO flight information region (FIR) boundaries or to the facilities and services provided within those boundaries should continue to be the subject of the ICAO air navigation planning process and the procedure for amendment of the ICAO air navigation plans.

(13)

Member States should ensure that they fulfil their safety responsibilities effectively when establishing a functional airspace block. They should demonstrate and provide the necessary assurance that the functional airspace block will be established and managed safely and address the Member States and the air navigation service providers safety management elements associated with the functional airspace block establishment, with a focus on their respective safety roles and responsibilities.

(14)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Single Sky Committee,

(1)

the information to be provided by the Member States concerned to the Commission, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), other Member States and interested parties before the establishment and modification of a functional airspace block;

(2)

the procedures for the provision of the information to and submission of observations from the parties referred to in point (1), before notification of the functional airspace block is made to the Commission.

(1)

‘Member States concerned’ means the Member States having mutually agreed to establish a functional airspace block under Regulation (EC) No 550/2004.

(2)

‘Interested parties’ means the neighbouring third countries to a functional airspace block, relevant airspace users or groups of airspace users and staff representative bodies as well as adjacent air navigation service providers to those in a functional airspace block.

25.2.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 51/8

(1)

World cereal prices have increased extremely rapidly since the start of the 2010/11 marketing year, more than during the previous price increase in the 2007/8 marketing year. For example, world common wheat prices have increased by 65 % since July 2010. Since then cereal prices on the EU market have followed the same trend. The price of common wheat on the EU market has increased by over 90 % to stabilise at around EUR 280 per tonne. The price of other cereals on the EU market has followed the same trend, ‘Rouen delivered’ barley and ‘Bordeaux delivered’ maize being above EUR 215 per tonne. The trend in prices on the world cereal market is largely due to the failing ability of production to meet demand.

(2)

The outlook for the global cereal market for the end of the 2010/11 marketing year suggests that these high prices will persist, global stocks being estimated at 342 million tonnes at the end of the 2010/11 marketing year, i.e. 62 million tonnes less than at the end of the 2009/10 marketing year.

(3)

The reduced-duty import quota opened by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1067/2008 (2) for common wheat of low and medium quality and the reduced-duty import quota for feed barley opened by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2305/2003 (3) were much under-used in 2010, with a percentage of 13 % and 5 % respectively. This under-use is set to continue in 2011, all the more so since the EU’s traditional suppliers — Russia and the Ukraine — have imposed restrictions on exports.

(4)

The persistence of high world prices until the end of the 2010/11 marketing year and the expected under-use in 2011 of reduced-duty import quotas threatens to disrupt the availability of supply on the Union market in the last few months of the 2010/11 marketing year. In this context, in order to make it easier to maintain a flow of imports which will help maintain EU market equilibrium, it is therefore considered appropriate to temporarily suspend customs duties for the import tariff quotas for common wheat of low and medium quality and feed barley opened by Regulations (EC) No 1067/2008 and (EC) No 2305/2003 respectively, until 30 June 2011, end of the 2010/11 marketing year.

(5)

However, traders should not be penalised in cases where cereals are en route for importation into the Union. Therefore, the time required for transport should be taken into account and traders allowed to release cereals for free circulation under the customs-duty suspension regime provided for in this Regulation, for all products whose direct transport to the Union has started at the latest on 30 June 2011. The evidence to be provided showing direct transport to the Union and the date on which the transport commenced should also be established.

(6)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,

25.2.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 51/10

(1)

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 lists the persons, groups and entities covered by the freezing of funds and economic resources under that Regulation.

(2)

On 8 February 2011 the Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council decided to add two natural persons to its list of persons, groups and entities to whom the freezing of funds and economic resources should apply.

(3)

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 should therefore be updated accordingly.

(4)

In order to ensure that the measures provided for in this Regulation are effective, this Regulation should enter into force immediately,

25.2.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 51/12

25.2.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 51/14

(1)

The representative prices and additional duties applicable to imports of white sugar, raw sugar and certain syrups for the 2010/11 marketing year are fixed by Commission Regulation (EU) No 867/2010 (3). These prices and duties have been last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 164/2011 (4).

(2)

The data currently available to the Commission indicate that those amounts should be amended in accordance with the rules and procedures laid down in Regulation (EC) No 951/2006,

25.2.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 51/16

(1)

In accordance with Article 6(2) of Directive 91/414/EEC Spain received on 2 April 1998 an application from BASF SE for the inclusion of the active substance profoxydim in Annex I to Directive 91/414/EEC. Commission Decision 1999/43/EC (2) confirmed that the dossier was ‘complete’ in the sense that it could be considered as satisfying, in principle, the data and information requirements of Annexes II and III to Directive 91/414/EEC.

(2)

For that active substance, the effects on human and animal health and the environment have been assessed, in accordance with the provisions of Article 6(2) and (4) of Directive 91/414/EEC, for the uses proposed by the applicant. The designated rapporteur Member State submitted a draft assessment report on 28 March 2001.

(3)

For profoxydim the draft assessment report was reviewed by the Member States and the Commission within the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health. The review was finalised on 23 November 2010 in the format of the Commission review report for profoxydim.

(4)

It has appeared from the various examinations made that plant protection products containing profoxydim may be expected to satisfy, in general, the requirements laid down in Article 5(1)(a) and (b) and Article 5(3) of Directive 91/414/EEC, in particular with regard to the uses which were examined and detailed in the Commission review report. It is therefore appropriate to include profoxydim in Annex I to that Directive, in order to ensure that in all Member States the authorisations of plant protection products containing this active substance may be granted in accordance with the provisions of that Directive.

(5)

Without prejudice to the obligations defined by Directive 91/414/EEC as a consequence of including an active substance in Annex I, Member States should be allowed a period of 6 months after inclusion to review existing provisional authorisations of plant protection products containing profoxydim to ensure that the requirements laid down by Directive 91/414/EEC, in particular in its Article 13 and the relevant conditions set out in Annex I, are satisfied. Member States should transform existing provisional authorisations into full authorisations, amend them or withdraw them in accordance with the provisions of Directive 91/414/EEC. By derogation from the above deadline, a longer period should be provided for the submission and assessment of the complete Annex III dossier of each plant protection product for each intended use in accordance with the uniform principles laid down in Directive 91/414/EEC.

(6)

It is therefore appropriate to amend Directive 91/414/EEC accordingly.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Directive are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

(a)

in the case of a product containing profoxydim as the only active substance, where necessary, amend or withdraw the authorisation by 31 January 2013 at the latest; or

(b)

in the case of a product containing profoxydim as one of several active substances, where necessary, amend or withdraw the authorisation by 31 January 2013 or by the date fixed for such an amendment or withdrawal in the respective directive or directives which added the relevant substance or substances to Annex I to Directive 91/414/EEC, whichever is the latest.

25.2.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 51/19

(1)

If the amount of manure that a Member State intends to apply per hectare each year is different from those specified in the first sentence of the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC and in point (a) of that subparagraph, that amount is to be fixed so as not to prejudice the achievement of the objectives specified in Article 1 of that Directive and it has to be justified on the basis of objective criteria, such as long growing seasons and crops with high nitrogen uptake.

(2)

On 22 October 2007, the Commission adopted Decision 2007/697/EC granting a derogation requested by Ireland pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (2), allowing Ireland the application of 250 kg nitrogen per hectare per year from livestock manure on farms with at least 80 % grassland.

(3)

The derogation granted by Decision 2007/697/EC concerned approximately 5 000 farms in Ireland corresponding to approximately 2,7 % of total number of holdings with cattle or sheep, 10 % of total grazing livestock numbers and 4,2 % of the total net agricultural area. Decision 2007/697/EC expires on 17 July 2010.

(4)

On 12 May 2010 Ireland submitted to the Commission a request for an extension of the derogation. The request contained a justification on the basis of the objective criteria specified in the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC.

(5)

Ireland has adopted a new action programme for the period July 2010 to December 2013, which mainly maintains the measures of the action programme for the period until 30 June 2010 and applies to the whole territory of Ireland.

(6)

The fourth report on implementation of Directive 91/676/EEC in Ireland for the period 2004-2007 shows in general stable or improving water quality. For groundwater, 2 % of sites showed average nitrate values above 50 mg/l and 74 % of sites values below 25 mg/l. For surface river waters, 97 % of monitoring sites showed average nitrate values below 25 mg/l, and no sites showed average values above 50 mg/l. 93 % of lakes were classified as either oligotrophic or mesotrophic and 7 % of lakes were classified as eutrophic or hypertrophic.

(7)

Livestock numbers decreased further during the period 2004-2007, by about 4 % for cattle, 19 % for sheep, 4 % for pigs and 7 % for poultry (3). The annual use of organic nitrogen from livestock manure and of mineral nitrogen decreased by 5 % and 17 % respectively. The total farmed area decreased by 3 % to 4,28 million hectares and grassland still accounts for over 90 % of the agricultural area.

(8)

In the light of the scientific information referred to in the request for extension of the derogation and the measures which Ireland has committed itself to in the action programme for the period July 2010 to December 2013, it can be concluded that the conditions for obtaining the derogation as specified in Directive 91/676/EEC, such as long growing seasons and crops with high nitrogen uptake, are still fulfilled, and that the derogation does not prejudice the achievement of the objectives of that Directive.

(9)

For the purpose of ensuring that the grassland farms concerned may continue to benefit from a derogation, it is appropriate to extend the period of application of Decision 2007/697/EC to 31 December 2013.

(10)

The deadlines for reporting to the Commission set out in Decision 2007/697/EC should however be adapted in order to simplify the administrative burden by allowing Ireland to establish only one deadline for all reporting obligations.

(11)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Nitrates Committee set up pursuant to Article 9 of Directive 91/676/EEC,

1.

Article 1 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 1

The derogation requested by Ireland by letter of 18 October 2006 and the extension requested by letter of 12 May 2010, for the purpose of allowing a higher amount of livestock manure than that provided for in the first sentence of the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC and in point (a) of that subparagraph, is granted, subject to conditions laid down in this Decision.’.

2.

The second subparagraph of Article 8(1) is replaced by the following:

‘Those maps shall be submitted to the Commission annually by June.’.

3.

Article 11 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 11

Application

This Decision shall apply in the context of the Irish Action Programme as implemented by the European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2010 (Statutory Instrument No 610 of 2010).

It shall expire on 31 December 2013.’.

25.2.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 51/21

(1)

If the amount of manure that a Member State intends to apply per hectare each year is different from those specified in the first sentence of the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC and in point (a) of that subparagraph, that amount is to be fixed so as not to prejudice the achievement of the objectives specified in Article 1 of that Directive and it has to be justified on the basis of objective criteria, such as long growing seasons and crops with high nitrogen uptake.

(2)

On 14 December 2007, the Commission adopted Decision 2007/863/EC granting a derogation requested by the United Kingdom with regard to Northern Ireland pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (2), allowing Northern Ireland the application of 250 kg nitrogen per hectare per year from livestock manure on farms with at least 80 % grassland.

(3)

The derogation granted by Decision 2007/863/EC concerned in 2009 approximately 150 farms in Northern Ireland corresponding to approximately 0,6 % of total number of holdings and 1 % of the total net agricultural area. Decision 2007/863/EC expires on 31 December 2010.

(4)

On 23 September 2010 the United Kingdom for the region of Northern Ireland submitted to the Commission a request for an extension of the derogation. The request contained a justification on the basis of the objective criteria specified in the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC.

(5)

The United Kingdom for the region of Northern Ireland has adopted a new action programme for the period January 2011 to December 2014, which mainly maintains the measures of the action programme for the period until 31 December 2010 and applies to the whole territory of Northern Ireland.

(6)

Nitrate concentrations in Northern Ireland surface freshwaters remain relatively low, with average nitrate concentrations below 25 mg NO3/l in 2008 for 99,7 % of monitoring stations. Between 2005 and 2008, surface freshwater monitoring sites showed in general stable or decreasing average nitrate concentrations, including in catchments with the highest proportion of derogation farms. For groundwater average nitrate concentrations are below 25 mg NO3/l in 2008 for 91,9 % of the monitoring stations and show similar stable or downwards trends as for surface waters.

(7)

Livestock numbers decreased in Northern Ireland during the period 2006-2010 by about 12,5 % for sheep, 11,5 % for poultry and 4,7 % for cattle and increased by 9,8 % for pigs. Northern Ireland farming continues to be a predominantly grass-based system.

(8)

The amount of manure N produced on farms in Northern Ireland during the period 2006-2010 decreased by 6,4 % while the rate of application of livestock manure per ha of land decreased by 4,7 %. The agricultural area available for manure application decreased by 1,7 %. Cattle dominate as the main source of manure N in Northern Ireland, followed by sheep, poultry and pigs. The decrease in overall manure N is largely due to the decline in the cattle sector and within that sector, the main driver of change is reduced numbers of beef cows and their offspring.

(9)

In the light of the scientific information referred to in the request for extension of the derogation and the measures which the United Kingdom for the region of Northern Ireland has committed itself to in the action programme for the period January 2011 to December 2014, it can be concluded that the conditions for obtaining the derogation as specified in Directive 91/676/EEC, such as long growing seasons and crops with high nitrogen uptake, are still fulfilled, and that the derogation does not prejudice the achievement of the objectives of that Directive.

(10)

For the purpose of ensuring that the grassland farms concerned may continue to benefit from a derogation, it is appropriate to extend the period of application of Decision 2007/863/EC to 31 December 2014.

(11)

The deadlines for reporting to the Commission set out in Decision 2007/863/EC should however be adapted in order to simplify the administrative burden by allowing United Kingdom for the region of Northern Ireland to establish only one deadline for all reporting obligations.

(12)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Nitrates Committee set up pursuant to Article 9 of Directive 91/676/EEC,

1.

Article 1 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 1

The derogation requested by the United Kingdom with regard to Northern Ireland by letter of 10 August 2007 and the extension requested by letter of 23 September 2010, for the purpose of allowing a higher amount of livestock manure than that provided for in the first sentence of the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC and in point (a) of that subparagraph, is granted, subject to conditions laid down in this Decision.’;

2.

the last sentence of Article 8(1) is replaced by the following:

‘Those maps shall be submitted to the Commission annually by June.’;

3.

Article 11 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 11

Application

This Decision shall apply in the context of the Nitrates Action Programme Regulation (Northern Ireland) 2010.

It shall expire on 31 December 2014.’.

25.2.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 51/23

25.2.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 51/23