1.For the purposes of Article 35(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, the degree of organisation of producers in a region of a Member State shall be calculated on the basis of the value of fruit and vegetables produced in the region concerned and marketed by:
(a)recognised producer organisations and associations of producer organisations; and
(b)producer groups formed pursuant to Article 125e of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 and producer organisations and producer groups referred to in Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013.
The value of the fruit and vegetables produced shall be divided by the total value of the fruit and vegetable production that was produced in that region.
The value of fruit and vegetables produced in the region concerned and marketed by the organisations, associations and groups referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph shall only include those products for which those producer organisations, associations and groups are recognised. Article 22 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Only the fruit and vegetables produced in the region concerned by producer organisations, associations of producer organisations, producer groups and their members obtained and marketed by them shall be included in the calculation of that value.
For the calculation of the total value of the fruit and vegetables produced in that region, the methodology set out in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
2.The degree of organisation of producers in a region of a Member State shall be considered as particularly low where the average of the degrees of organisation, calculated in accordance with paragraph 1, for the last three years for which the data are available, is less than 20 %.
3.Only fruit and vegetables produced in the region referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall benefit from national financial assistance.
4.For the purposes of this Chapter, Member States shall define the regions as a distinct part of their territory in accordance with objective and non-discriminatory criteria, such as their agronomic and economic characteristics and their regional agricultural/fruit and vegetable potential, or their institutional or administrative structure and for which data are available in order to calculate the degree of organisation in accordance with paragraph 1.
The regions defined by a Member State for the purposes of this Chapter shall not be amended for at least five years unless such amendment is objectively justified by substantive reasons unconnected with the calculation of the degree of organisation of producers in the region or regions concerned.
Where a Member State requests a partial reimbursement of the national financial assistance in accordance with Article 20 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/892, such a request shall concern the same definition of the regions as specified in the request for authorisation.
A producer organisation wishing to apply for national financial assistance shall, if necessary, amend its operational programme pursuant to Article 34.
Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 December 2003 on the economic accounts for agriculture in the Community (OJ L 33, 5.2.2004, p. 1).