Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 66/401/EEC of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of fodder plant seed^f1, and in particular Article 23a thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 66/402/EEC of 14 June 1966 on the marketing of cereal seed^f2, and in particular Article 23a thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 68/193/EEC of 9 April 1968 on the marketing of material for the vegetative propagation of the vine^f3, and in particular Article 18a thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 1999/105/EC of 22 December 1999 on the marketing of forest reproductive material^f4, and in particular Article 20 thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 2002/57/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of seed of oil and fibre plants^f5, and in particular Article 28 thereof,

Having regard to the requests submitted by the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Poland,

Whereas:

Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 68/193/EEC, 1999/105/EC and 2002/57/EC set out certain provisions for the marketing of fodder plant seed, cereal seed, material for the propagation of the vine, forest reproductive material and seed of oil and fibre plants. Those Directives also provide that, subject to certain conditions, Member States may be wholly or partly released from the obligation to apply those Directives in respect of certain species or material.

Seed of the species set out in Parts I, II and V of the Annex is not normally reproduced or marketed in certain Member States. In addition, the growing of vines and the marketing of propagating material set out in the Part III of the Annex are of the minimal economic importance in certain Member States. The tree species set out in Part IV of the Annex are also not important for forestry purposes in certain Member States.

As long as those conditions remain, the relevant Member States should be released from the obligation to apply the provisions of Directives 66/401/EEC, 66/402/EEC, 68/193/EEC, 1999/105/EC and 2002/57/EC to the species and material in question.

The measures provided for in this Decision should be without prejudice to the provisions provided for in the Commission Regulation (EC) No 2199/2003 of 16 December 2003 laying down transitional measures for the application in respect of the year 2004 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1259/1999 as regards the single area payment scheme the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia^f6.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Seeds and Propagating Material for Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: