L 25/18 Official Journal of the European Communities 29.1.2002 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 154/2002 of 21 January 2002 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2358/71 on the common organisation of the market in seeds and fixing the aid granted in the seeds sector for the 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 marketing years THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 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) Atrticle 3(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2358/71 (%) provides that the amount of aid must be fixed taking into account inter alia the need to ensure a balance between the volume of production required in the Community and the amount that can be marketed. Since the 1994/1995 harvest, the production and export of seeds has increased constantly; moreover, stocks of seeds in the Community have reached a level likely to affect the balance of the market in seeds. It is therefore justified to introduce a mechanism to stabilise the production of seeds other than rice seeds, for which such a mechanism is already in place. The stabiliser mechanism for seeds other than rice seeds should set a maximum quantity eligible for aid deter- mined on the basis of a representative average quantity harvested during a recent reference period and also a margin to take account of the cyclic fluctuations that are characteristic of seed production. It is also necessary to create the conditions that will allow the development or preservation of viable small production sectors by guar- anteeing a minimum quantity for Member States where there is little or no seed production. The Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 235871 refers to the varieties of Lolium perenne L. of high persistence, late or medium late, new and other varieties and varieties of low persistence, medium late, medium early or early. Since the prices for those varieties on the external markets no longer justify that distinction, the distinction between three different groups of varieties of Lolium () O] C 213 E 31.7.2001, p. 249. (%) Opinion delivered on 11 December 2001 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () O] C 311, 7.11.2001, p. 30. (*) OJ L 246, 5.11.1971, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regula- tion (EC) No 2371/2000 (O] L 275, 23.10.2000, p. 1). perenne L. should therefore be abolished and a single rate of aid fixed. (4 Given the situation on and the outlook for the Community market, producers are not assured of a fair return from seeds listed in the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 2358/71 which will be marketed in the 2002/ 2003 and 2003/2004 marketing years. Production aid should be granted for those seeds. (5)  Article 3(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2358/71 provides that when the aid is fixed, account should be taken, on the one hand, of the need to ensure balance between production in the Community and the outlets for such production and, on the other hand, of the prices for such products on the external markets. (6)  The application of these criteria results in fixing the aid applicable for the 2002/2003 and 2003/2004 marketing years at the levels set out in the Annex. (7)  The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (%), HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EEC) No 2358/71 is hereby amended as follows: 1. Article 3(4a) shall be replaced by the following: ‘4a.  The maximum quantity of seed on which the aid is payable in the Community shall be fixed in accordance with the procedure referred to in paragraph 5. That quantity shall be apportioned among the producer Member States. The maximum quantity of seed other than rice seed on which the aid is payable shall be equal to the sum of the quantities relating to each Member State which are estab- lished on the basis of the capped average of the harvested quantities taken into account for the 1996/1997 to 2000/ 2001 marketing years, plus 5 %. () O] L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.