L 311/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 14.11.2002 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 13 November 2002 on a Community financial contribution to cover expenditure incurred by Greece, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland for the purpose of combating organisms harmful to plants or plant products (notified under document number C(2002) 4372) (Only the Spanish, German, Greek, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Finnish and Swedish texts are authentic) (2002/889/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000 () on protective measures against the introduction into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products and against their spread within the Community (the Directive), as amended by Commission Directive 2002/36/ EC (%), and in particular Article 23 thereof, Whereas: 1 ) 0 Pursuant to the Directive, a financial contribution from the Community may be granted to Member States to cover expenditure relating directly to the necessary measures which have been taken or are planned to be taken for the purpose of combating harmful organisms introduced from third countries or from other areas in the Community, in order to eradicate or, if that is not possible, to contain them. Greece, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland have each established a programme of actions to eradicate organisms harmful to plants intro- duced in their territories. These programmes specify the objectives to be achieved, the measures carried out, their duration and their cost. They have applied for the alloca- tion of a Community financial contribution to these programmes within the time limit set out in the Directive. The technical information provided for by Greece, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland has enabled the Commission to analyse the situation L 169, 10.7.2000, p. 1. L 116, 3.5.2002, p. 16. accurately and comprehensively. The information has also been considered by the Standing Committee on Plant Health. The Commission has concluded that the conditions for the grant of a financial contribution have been met. Accordingly, it is appropriate to provide a Community financial contribution to cover the expenditure on these programmes. The Community financial contribution may cover up to 50% of eligible expenditure. Excluding those programmes for which degression has to be applied in accordance with the third paragraph of Article 23(5) of the Directive, the Community financial contribution for the purposes of this Decision should be set in general to 50 %, noting that the programmes received have been treated in equal way. An extension of the period in which -eradication measures have to take place, as foreseen in the third paragraph of Article 23(5) of the Directive, have been granted to certain existing programmes in Austria and Portugal, as the examination of the situation has lead to the conclusion that the objective of these eradication measures is likely to be achieved within a reasonable period. The Community financial contribution for these programmes, have been progressively reduced in accor- dance with the third paragraph of Article 23(5). The expenditure which Greece, Spain, France, the Neth- erlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland have incurred, and taken into account in this Decision, relates directly to the matters specified in Article 23(2)(a) and Article 23(2)(b) of the Directive.