Brussels, 15/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 14 November, the EU Council of Ministers reached a qualified majority agreement on a regulation relating to arrangements for the partial reimbursement to sugar beet producers, amounting to up to €295.5 million, for levies paid out in 2001/2002 to 2005/2006 by the sector, the calculation of which was considered not to be valid by the Court of Justice of the EU.
The Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council suggested changes should be brought to the time allowed for implementing the measure. That proposed by the European Commission (around four months) might not be consistent with times taken nationally, which may be longer, some countries said (France, Portugal, Italy and Austria to name but a few). The timeframe envisaged now extends until 30 September 2014, an extension considered acceptable by most member states (France, Belgium, etc.), although some had hoped for an extension of up to 12 months (Finland, Italy, Austria, Denmark, etc.). The payment of interest to producers will be added to the overall envelope, who should, moreover, reimburse sugar beet farmers a proportionate amount. Member states may recover amounts effectively reimbursed from the Community budget. (LC/transl.jl)