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Whereas, in accordance with Article 150 of the Act of Accession, the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, may make provision, under certain conditions, for national aid, corresponding at most to the difference between the price recorded in a new Member State prior to accession and that resulting from the application of the Treaty of Accession, to be granted to private operators holding, on 1 January 1995, stocks of basic agricultural products or products processed therefrom; Whereas the abovementioned difference in prices may be observed in Austria and Finland only, prices in Sweden showing no difference with the common prices; Whereas it emerges from Article 150 of the Act of Accession that, apart from specifying the maximum aid which may be granted and certain conditions covering the granting thereof, the Community measures contemplated should simply lay down a general framework within which the two new Member States in question, which are to bear the financial liability thereof, will have full latitude to make their decisions;

Whereas, within the meaning of that Article, the product group concerned cover basic products and products processed therefrom; whereas, while live animals should be included, this Regulation should permit aid to be granted on any product which may be in storage in the two new Member States referred to above on 1 January 1995; Whereas the maximum aid on live animals and basic products must be equal to the fall in prices recorded in the Member States as a result of the application of the Treaty of Accession; whereas, however, those Member States should be permitted to determine the period during which that fall has occurred and to make provision, with a view to simplification, for the maximum aid to be calculated on the basis of the institutional prices where such prices exist or have existed;

Whereas, in accordance with the general practice of the common agricultural policy, the maximum aid on processed products must be based as far as possible on the level laid down for the basic products; whereas, however, the difficulty in applying this method in certain cases (and in particular where the basic product cannot be stocked or has no substantial impact on the prices of the processed products) means that the aid is to be calculated in those cases on the basis of the fall in prices for the processed products themselves and therefore makes it appropriate to draw up a list specifying, for the most important agricultural sectors, the products on which the maximum aid is to be calculated for products derived therefrom; whereas, however, provision should be made for the aid to be granted on other products too; Whereas the new Member States should be free to consider as part of the compensation provided for by this Regulation payment of interest at a rate equal at most to the normal rate on the market in the new Member States in question for the period between 1 January 1995 and the date of payment of the aid;

Whereas the other conditions to be laid down must prevent any risk of overcompensation and of receipt in combination with other aid provided for in the Act of Accession and should rule out the granting of the aid on speculative stocks and products imported into the new Member States prior to 1 January 1995 where the applicable import charges have not been paid; Whereas, subject to the abovementioned limits and conditions, the new Member States should be allowed to lay down the detailed rules for the application of the arrangements, providing that the latter are submitted to the Commission under a procedure reconciling the interests of suitable monitoring at Community level with the need for swift action in this area by the new Member States, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: