Commission Regulation (EC) No 480/2004

of 15 March 2004

amending Regulation (EC) No 2182/2002 as regards a derogation for 2004 from both the deadline for the notification of the projected financing plans for measures financed by the Community Tobacco Fund and the deadline for the definitive allocation of resources from the Fund among Member States

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 of 30 June 1992 on the common organisation of the market in raw tobacco(1), and in particular Article 14a thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2182/2002 of 6 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 with regard to the Community Tobacco Fund(2) specifies, in Article 17(3) and (4), the deadline for notifying to the Commission the projected financing plans for measures for which assistance has been requested and the deadline for the definitive allocation, among Member States, of resources from the Fund.

(2) To allow Member States sufficient time to draw up their projected financing plans for 2004 for measures to promote a switch of production, the deadline for 2004 for notification of the plans to the Commission and, consequently, that for the definitive allocation of resources among Member States, should be postponed on the same terms as in 2003.

(3) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Tobacco,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The following paragraph is added to Article 26 of Regulation (EC) No 2182/2002:"By way of derogation from Article 17(3), the 31 March 2004 deadline for the notification of projected plans for the financing of measures for which assistance has been requested under the buy-back programme for the 2003 harvest shall be postponed to 31 May 2004 and, consequently, by way of derogation from Article 17(4), the 31 May 2004 deadline shall be postponed to 30 June 2004."

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 15 March 2004.

For the Commission

Franz Fischler

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 215, 30.7.1992, p. 70. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2319/2003 (OJ L 345, 31.12.2003, p. 17).

(2) OJ L 331, 7.12.2002, p. 16.