Cotton: System of aid introduced by Protocol 4 annexed to the Act of Accession of Greece, fifth adjustment

The proposal for a regulation seeks to ensure an equitable management of the cotton sector, considering the divergent trends in cotton production in Greece and Spain. The measures proposed sought: - to increase the maximum guaranteed quantity: the MGQ is fixed at 947,000 tonnes of unginned cotton (Spain: 249,000 tonnes and Greece: 698,000 tonnes); - to reduce the guide price in proportion to the increase in the MGQ and to remove any limit on the reduction of aid in the event of the MGQ being exceeded; - to remove any carryover of the reduction in aid; - to ensure that when the MGQ is exceeded by up to 10% the reduction in aid would apply equally in all producer Member States and that, where the excess is greater than 10%, the Member States responsible would be liable for an additional reduction; - to dispense with the annual fixing of the target price and the minimum price to be paid to producers, in order to guarantee them the benefit of aid; - to provide for a procedure which would allow the Council to make adjustments to these arrangements. �