Brussels, 31/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 6 November, the European Commission adopted a proposal aiming to remedy problems in the recent reform of the cotton sector. The 2004 reform, which entered into force on 1 January 2006, was annulled just over a year ago by the Court of Justice, by request of Spain (EUROPE 9424).
The new regulation, which is due to enter into force on 1 January 2008, keeps the majority of the decisions taken by the Council in 2004. The details for the decoupling of aid will remain identical: the majority (65%) of the aid will be integrated into a single payment regime and 35% of the aid will remain linked to production levels, in the form of payments per hectare. The maximum eligible surface will also remain 450,597 ha: 370,000 ha in Greece, 70,000 ha in Spain, 630 ha in Portugal and 10,237 ha in Bulgaria, although the regime does not yet apply to this last country, which benefits from the single area payment regime. The level of payment per hectare will stay the same (€1039 /hectare in Spain, €594 /ha for the majority of planted services in Greece, €556 /ha in Portugal) and will be reduced if the maximum authorised area is exceeded.
Changes to current regime. Measures have been planned to encourage the creation of inter-branch associations and thus facilitate the conclusion of quality contracts between planters and processors. The Commission is also planning to create an origin label, and is looking into the possibility of including cotton in the scope of application for the 2006 regulation on the protection of geographical indications and denominations for agricultural products. Lastly, €3 million has been earmarked to promote cotton produced in Europe. (L.C.)