THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Directive 66/401/EEC of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of fodder plant seed(1), and in particular Article 23a thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 66/402/EEC of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of cereal seed(2), and in particular Article 23a thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 68/193/EEC of 9 April 1968 on the marketing of material for the vegetative propagation of the vine(3), and in particular Article 18a thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 1999/105/EC of 22 December 1999 on the marketing of forest reproductive material(4), and in particular Article 20 thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 2002/54/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of beet seed(5), and in particular Article 30A thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 2002/55/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of vegetable seed(6), and in particular Article 49 thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 2002/57/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of seed of oil and fibre plants(7), and in particular Article 28 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 68/193/EEC, 1999/105/EC, 2002/54/EC, 2002/55/EC and 2002/57/EC set out certain provisions for the marketing of fodder plant seed, cereal seed, material for the vegetative propagation of the vine, forest reproductive material, beet seed, vegetable seed, and seed of oil and fibre plants respectively. Those Directives also provide that, subject to certain conditions, Member States may be wholly or partially released from the obligation to apply those Directives in respect of certain species or material.
(2) Seed of the species set out in Parts I, II, V, VI and VII of the Annex to this Decision is not normally reproduced or marketed in certain Member States. In addition, the growing of vines and the marketing of propagating material set out in Part III of that Annex are of minimal economic importance in certain Member States. The tree species set out in Part IV of that Annex are also not important for forestry purposes in certain Member States.
(3) On the basis of applications made by Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom since 1969 the Commission adopted the following Decisions 69/270/EEC(8), 69/271/EEC(9), 69/272/EEC(10), 70/47/EEC(11), 70/48/EEC(12), 70/49/EEC(13), 70/93/EEC(14), 70/94/EEC(15), 70/481/EEC(16), 72/270/EEC(17), 72/271/EEC(18), 73/122/EEC(19), 73/123/EEC(20), 73/188/EEC(21), 74/5/EEC(22), 74/358/EEC(23), 74/360/EEC(24), 74/361/EEC(25), 74/362/EEC(26), 74/491/EEC(27), 74/532/EEC(28), 75/287/EEC(29), 75/752/EEC(30), 79/355/EEC(31), 86/153/EEC(32), 89/101/EEC(33), 90/209/EEC(34), 2005/325/EC(35), 2005/871/EC(36), 2005/886/EC(37), 2005/931/EC(38), 2008/462/EC(39), 2009/786/EC(40), 2010/198/EU(41) and 2010/377/EU(42) releasing those Member States wholly or partially from the obligation to apply the provisions of Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 68/193/EEC, 1999/105/EC, 2002/54/EC, 2002/55/EC and 2002/57/EC, to the species and material in question.
(4) As part of a survey conducted by the Commission in the first semester of 2010 among the Member States concerned, the Commission has asked these Member States to verify to what extent they consider it appropriate to continue to apply the Decisions referred to in recital 3 and whether the applicable conditions continue to be fulfilled. Based on this verification, certain Member States submitted updated applications to the Commission, whereas Belgium, Greece and Luxemburg requested to withdraw the Decisions relating to them altogether. It is therefore necessary to update and, where requested, withdraw the releases granted. Furthermore, in the interest of transparency and simplification, all Decisions referred to in recital 3 should be repealed and replaced by one single act.
(5) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Seeds and Propagating Material for Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: