Improvement of the Community production of apples, pears, peaches and nectarines

OBJECTIVE: To improve the Community production of apples, pears, peaches and nectarines and to extend these measures to pear orchards. SUBSTANCE: The proposal for a Regulation is in response to a request made by the Council at its July 1996 meeting when reforming the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables. Its provisions are based, taking account of the experience gained, on the provisions decided in 1990 for the grubbing-up of apples and in 1995 for the grubbing-up of peaches and nectarines. The main modifications proposed are as follows: - the operation has been extended to include pear orchards, - the area covered by the operation is limited to 10 000 hectares per product group, apples and pears on the one hand and peaches and nectarines on the other hand; a breakdown is made by Member State on the basis of the surface area planted, production and withdrawals; - the proposal provides for a premium to be paid once only to producers who grub up all or part of their apple, pear, peach or nectarine orchards, before a date set by the Commission after consulting the management committee; - in order to exclude the least productive orchards from this measure, it is proposed to insist that at least 0.5 hectares is grubbed up, and to limit it to orchards with a density equal to or greater than 300 trees per hectare. �