Article 27Setting -up of producer groups and organisations
1.Support under this measure shall be granted in order to facilitate the setting up of producer groups and organisations in the agriculture and forestry sectors for the purpose of:
(a)adapting the production and output of producers who are members of such groups or organisations to market requirements;
(b)jointly placing goods on the market, including preparation for sale, centralisation of sales and supply to bulk buyers;
(c)establishing common rules on production information, with particular regard to harvesting and availability; and
(d)other activities that may be carried out by producer groups and organisations, such as the development of business and marketing skills and the organisation and facilitation of the innovation processes.
2.Support shall be granted to producer groups and organisations which are officially recognised by a Member State's competent authority on the basis of a business plan. It shall be limited to producer groups and organisations that are SMEs.
Member States shall verify that the objectives of the business plan have been reached within five years after recognition of the producer group or organisation.
3.The support shall be paid on the basis of a business plan as a flat rate aid in annual instalments for no more than five years following the date on which the producer group or organisation was recognised, and shall be degressive. It shall be calculated on the basis of the annual marketed production of the group or organisation. Member States shall pay the last instalment only after having verified the correct implementation of the business plan.
In the first year Member States may pay support to the producer group or organisation calculated on the basis of the average annual value of the marketed production of its members over the three years before they entered the group or organisation. In the case of producer groups and organisations in the forestry sector, support shall be calculated on the basis of the average marketed production of the members of the group or organisation over the last five years before the recognition, excluding the highest and the lowest value.
4.Support shall be limited to the maximum rates and amounts laid down in Annex II.
5.Member States may continue support for setting up of producer groups even after they have been recognised as producer organisations under the conditions of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013(1).
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 (see page 671 of the Official Journal).