No L 30/2 Official Journal of the European Communities 3.2.94 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 231/94 of 24 January 1994 amending Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 establishing a support system for producers of certain arable crops THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 42 and 43 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Par- liament (%), Having rcgard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), ' Whereas Member States are required, for the operation of the support system for producers of certain arable crops introduced by Regulation. (EEC) No 1765/92 (*), to estab- lish regionalization plans based on objective criteria; whereas these criteria should be modified to give Member States a greater margin of manceuvre without in any way departing from average yields in the past; Whereas, given the risks involved with this greater margin of manceuvre, specific provisions should be adopted covering cases where a Member State chooses to establish production regions separate from those of the base areas, " in order to ensure that past yields are respected in prac- tice ; ' : ' Whereas differentiation of yields may be permitted for irrigated and non-irrigated areas, provided there is no extension of total irrigated area; whereas that " objective may be achieved by introducing a maximum area, fixed by region of products; eligible for compensa- tion based on the yield obtained from irrigated areas; whereas, Member States may also restrict such payments to a single crop of oilseeds ; whereas Member States may instead of the maximum area grant compensation payments under a system of base areas that are separated for irrigated crops; Whereas for the sake of efficiency set-aside should be on a rotational basis ; whereas, for the purposes of applying this Regulation, a specific definition of rotation should be (") OJ No C 265, 30. 9. 1993, p. 6. () OJ No C 315, 22. 11. 1993. (Jg OJ No C 352, 30. 12. 1993, p. 41. () OJ No L 181, 1. 7. 1992, p. 12. Regulation as last amended by Regul)ation (EEC) No 1552/93 (OJ No L 154, 25. 6. 1993, p- 19). adopted ; whereas, however, to. ensure that the system is better adapted to agronomic requirements there should be provision for other forms of set-aside, such as fixed set- aside, the combination of rotational and fixed set-aside (‘mixed’ set-aide), and rotational set-aside based on a frequency other than that laid down for rotational set- aside at the rate of 15 % ; whereas, in order to guarantee the same degree of effectiveness where a type of set-aside other than rotational set-aside at 15 % is applied, a rate higher than 15 % should be laid down for those alterna- tive forms of set-aside; Whereas the compensation for set-aside should be increased ; Whereas in certain cases producers may wish to set aside more of their land than is compulsory ; whereas this can be allowed ; whereas in this connection special provisions must be adopted to enable account to be taken of areas set aside under Council Regulation (EEC) No 2328/91 of 15 July 1991 on improving the efficiency of agricultural structures () ; whereas Member States should be able not to utilize this option where specific circumstances of their agriculture so require ; Whereas there may be situations where transfer of set- aside obligations would allow more rational use of land and better tackling of environmental objectives ; whereas given the real risk of a reduction in the impact of set- aside such transfers must be carefully supervised; Whereas to give greater flexibility they should be facili- tated but restricted to the immediate neighbourhood or to areas in certain regions, in particular for environmental reasons ; whereas to offset possible differences in produc- -tivity between the farmers involved a higher set-aside rate should be imposed ; whereas Member States should be allowed not to permit transfers within their territory; Whereas Article 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 defines what land is eligible for the compensatory payment ; whereas to take account of certain specific situ- . ations where its provisions are unduly restrictive certain derogations from that Article must be permitted that () OJ No L 218, 6. 8. 1991, p. 1.