12.12.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities L311/9 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2699/2000 of 4 December 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 on the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables, Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 on the common organisation of the market in processed fruit and vegetables and Regulation (EC) No 2202/96 introducing a Community aid scheme for producers of certain citrus fruits THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNON, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 36 and 37 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (%), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Whereas: (1)  The third subparagraph of Article 15(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 (*) caps the amount of Community financial assistance granted to any individual producer organisation, and also sets a limit on the total granted to all producer organisations. The application of that limit introduces a variable factor into the scheme, thus complicating the task of producer organisations in developing and implementing operational programmes, and creating some uncertainty as to their financing. Experience has shown that this limit may be dispensed with while continuing to ensure proper financial management. In view of the results of past programmes, the limit for individual organisations can be set at 4,1 % of the value of the marketed production of each producer organisation. () For citrus fruit, the divergence, due in particular to overrunning of the processing threshold, between Community withdrawal compensation and Community processing aid may in the future lead to unjustified diversion into withdrawal of products that should prop- erly have been processed. To avoid this risk, the ceiling fixed in Articles 23 and 24 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/ 96 as a percentage of marketed quantity on eligibility for the Community withdrawal compensation should be reduced to 10 % for the 2001/02 marketing year and to 5% from the 2002/03 marketing year onwards. This amendment makes it possible to simplify the wording of Articles 23 and 26 of that Regulation. (3)  Experience has shown that the administration of export refunds on fresh fruit and vegetables could be improved and simplified, at least in some cases, by using a tender () O] C 337 E, 28.11.2000, p. 207. (¥ Opinion delivered on 26 October 2000 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (*) Opinion delivered on 19 October 2000 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (*) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regula- tion (EC) No 1257/1999 (O] L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80). procedure. Provision should therefore be made for the possibility of holding such invitations to tender. (4)  Experience of applying the Community aid scheme for tomato processing governed by Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 (°) has shown that the quota mechanism intro- duces rigidity in the sector, preventing the processing industries concerned from adapting rapidly to market demand. To correct this rigidity, the quota system should be replaced by a system of processing thresholds, with aid for the following marketing year being reduced if the thresholds are overrun. To ensure that these arrangements are sufficiently flexible, a single Community threshold should be fixed, expressed in tonnes of fresh tomatoes intended for processing. To allow for expanding demand for these products, the threshold should be fixed above the level corresponding to the present quota scheme. (5)  The quantities of tomatoes, peaches and pears going for processing under the aid scheme governed by Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 have developed differently from one Member State to another. As a result, and to ensure that operators in each Member State assume greater responsi- bility, Community processing thresholds should be split between the Member States on an equitable basis, and any reduction in Community aid resulting from an overrun of the Community threshold should apply only in those Member States in which the threshold is exceeded. In this case, account must be taken of quant- ities that have not been processed in the Member States where the threshold was not overrun. To take into account the characteristics of the peeled tomato sector, the possibility must be given to the Member States to subdivide their national threshold into two sub-thresh- olds. In this case, reductions in aid subsequent to an overrun of this national threshold should be applied separately for each of the two sub-thresholds. (6) At present, processing aid for tomatoes, peaches and pears is granted under Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 to processors who have paid producers for their raw mate- rials a price not less than a certain minimum price. Aid is fixed by unit of weight of the processed product. The management of this scheme should be simplified, intro- ducing more flexibility in trade relations between producer organisations and processors and contributing () OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 29. Regulation as last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 2701/1999 (O] L 327, 21.12.1999, p. 5).