Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to the Treaty of Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 41 thereof,

Whereas:

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2199/2003^f1 lays down transitional measures for the application in respect of the year 2004 of the single area payment scheme in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia (hereinafter the new Member States). In particular, Article 8(1) provides that payments shall be made once a year within the period from 1 December 2004 to 30 April 2005.

In order to avoid possible cash flow difficulties during the 2004 sowing period, due to the transition from the pre-accession support regimes which provided various kinds of support, the date from which the new Member States using the single area payment scheme may start the payments to the farmers in respect of the year 2004 should be 16 October 2004.

Regulation (EC) No 2199/2003 should therefore be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Direct Payments,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: