Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilDangos y teitl llawn

Article 169 U.K. Contractual negotiations in the olive oil sector

1. A producer organisation in the olive oil sector which is recognised under Article 152(1) and which pursues one or more of the objectives of concentrating supply, the placing on the market of the products produced by its members and optimising production costs, may negotiate on behalf of its members, in respect of part or all of the aggregate production of their members, contracts for the supply of olive oil.

A producer organisation fulfils the objectives mentioned in this paragraph provided that the pursuit of those objectives leads to the integration of activities and such integration is likely to generate significant efficiencies so that the activities of the producer organisation overall contribute to the fulfilment of the objectives of Article 39 TFEU.

This could be realised provided that:

(a) the producer organisation carries out at least one of the following activities:

(i)

joint distribution, including joint selling platform or joint transportation;

(ii)

joint packaging, labelling or promotion;

(iii)

joint organising of quality control;

(iv)

joint use of equipment or storage facilities;

(v)

joint processing;

(vi)

joint management of waste directly related to the production of olive oil;

(vii)

joint procurement of inputs;

(b) these activities are significant in terms of volume of olive oil concerned and in terms of cost of the production and placing of the product on the market.

2. The negotiations by the recognised producer organisation may take place:

(a) whether or not there is a transfer of ownership of the olive oil in question by the producers to the producer organisation;

(b) whether or not the price negotiated is the same as regards the aggregate production of some or all of the members;

(c) provided that, for a particular producer organisation, the volume of olive oil production covered by such negotiations which is produced in any particular Member State does not exceed 20 % of the relevant market; for the purpose of calculating that volume, a distinction shall be made between olive oil for human consumption and olive oil for other uses;

(d) provided that, for the volume of olive oil covered by such negotiations, the producer organisation concentrates supply and places the product of its members on the market;

(e) provided that the producers concerned are not members of any other producer organisation which also negotiates such contracts on their behalf;

(f) provided that the olive oil in question is not covered by an obligation to supply arising from the producer's membership of a cooperative, which is not itself a member of the concerned producer organisation, in accordance with the conditions set out in the cooperative's statutes or the rules and decisions provided for in or derived from these statutes; and

(g) provided that the producer organisation notifies the competent authorities of the Member State in which it operates of the volume of olive oil production covered by such negotiations.

3. For the purposes of this Article, references to producer organisations shall also include associations of such producer organisations recognised under Article 156(1).

4. For the purposes of applying point (c) of paragraph 2, the Commission shall publish, by such means as it considers appropriate, the volume of olive oil production in Member States.

5. By way of derogation from point (c) of paragraph 2, even where the threshold set out therein is not exceeded, the competition authority referred to in the second subparagraph of this paragraph may decide in an individual case that a particular negotiation by the producer organisation should either be reopened or should not take place at all if it considers that this is necessary in order to prevent competition being excluded or if it finds that the objectives of Article 39 TFEU are jeopardised.

For negotiations covering more than one Member State, the decision referred to in the first subparagraph shall be taken by the Commission without applying the procedure referred to in Article 229(2) or (3). In other cases, that decision shall be taken by the national competition authority of the Member State to which the negotiations relate.

The decisions referred to in this paragraph shall not apply earlier than the date of their notification to the undertakings concerned.

For the purposes of this Article, the definition of "national competition authority" in point (a) of Article 149(7) shall apply.

6. The Member States in which negotiations take place in accordance with this Article shall notify the Commission of the application of point (g) of paragraph 2 and paragraph 5.