In order to take account of the principle that the operative event for the exchange rate is fixed as the first day of the period for which certain aid is granted, the operative event for 2004 for the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, hereinafter called "the new Member States", should be fixed as the date of their accession to the European Union for the purposes of the support schemes for which the operative event for the exchange rate falls on 1 January.

whereas, to that end, the best solution appears to be an average of the exchange rates applicable during the month preceeding the operative event, calculated pro rata temporis;

whereas, in accordance with Article 5 (1) (a) of that Regulation, 'operative event' means, as regards the amounts charged or granted in trade, the completion of customs import or export formalities;

Whereas, in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 1676/85, if an agricultural conversion rate is altered, the alteration is to apply to the amounts in respect of which the operative event occurs after the alteration has taken effect;

In accordance with Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2808/98, the operative event for the exchange rate for amounts of a structural or environmental character is 1 January of the year in which the decision to grant the aid is taken.

whereas, as a consequence, the operative event should be defined as the date of acceptance of the application for the advance fixing of levies or refunds for the purposes of applying the conversion rate for calculating those amounts in national currency;

For the fisheries sector, the operative event for the exchange rate for the withdrawal price and for the amounts linked to that price, which are listed in Annex I, shall be the 22nd day of the month before the operation took place.

'Where the total amount of the transaction in question is paid in instalments, the operative event for the first instalment shall continue to apply to the total amount payable on condition that the first instalment represents 20 % or more of the said total amount`.

The operative event for the agricultural conversion rate applicable to the flat-rate aid per hectare for the maintenance of olive groves provded for in Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) No 2019/93 shall be deemed to occur on 1 January of the year in question.

In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2808/98, the operative event for the exchange rate for aid for energy crops referred to in Title IV, Chapter 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003(6) is 1 January of the year in respect of which the aid is granted.

In accordance with Article 42 of Regulation (EC) No 2342/1999, the date of submission of the application is the operative event for determining the year in respect of which the special premium, the suckler cow payment, the deseasonalisation premium and the extensification payment are to be allocated.

'Where the taking-over operation referred to in the first indent of point (b) concerns more than one batch, the operative event applicable to the first batch shall continue to apply to the total quantity of the transaction in question on condition that the first batch represents 20 % or more of the said total quantity`.

In accordance with Article 18a of Regulation (EC) No 2550/2001, the operative event for the exchange rate to be applied to the premiums and payments in the sheepmeat and goatmeat sector is established at the start of the calendar year in respect of which the premium or payment is granted.

Whereas the operative event should be fixed as the first day of the month in which the first check is carried out guaranteeing the planned use of products for which specific aid is granted for their use or processing pursuant to Article 10 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 1068/93;

whereas Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1363/95, with effect from 1 January 1996, the first operative event after 1 February 1995, the date of abolition of the correction factor for agricultural conversion rates, changes these amounts to ECU 72,45, 84,53 and 90,56 per tonne respectively;

The operative event for the agricultural conversion rate applicable to the production refund for olive oil used in the manufacture of certain preserved foods shall be deemed to occur on the day upon which the request for verification referred to in Article 2 of Commission 1963/79 (1) is lodged.

whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1793/93 of 30 June 1993 regarding the operative event for the agricultural conversion rates used in the hops sector(8), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2404/97(9), defines the operative event for the exchange rate applicable to the hops sector;

The operative event for the agricultural conversion rate applicable to the production aid referred to in Article 5 of Regulation 136/66/EEC and granted to olive oil producers whose average production is below 500 kg of olive oil shall be deemed to occur on 1 January following the beginning of the marketing year for which the aid is granted.

whereas an addition must accordingly be made to the said Regulation specifying the operative event for the amounts referred to in Article 1 (3) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 3582/93 of 21 December 1993 on detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2073/92 on promoting consumption in the Community and expanding the markets for milk and milk products (4);

whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3889/87 of 22 December 1987 laying down detailed rules for the application of the special measures for certain regions of hops production(4), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 718/93(5), defines the operative event for the exchange rate applicable to the payment of special aid;

Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1546/75 of 18 June 1975 defining the event in which the aid in respect of seeds becomes due and payable (4), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2811/86 (5), defines the operative event for the agricultural conversion rate on the basis of legal criteria and provisions which have been fundamentally modified by the new agrimonetary arrangements introduced in Regulation (EEC) No 3813/92;

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1925/2000 of 11 September 2000 establishing the operative events for the exchange rates to be applied when calculating certain amounts provided for by the mechanisms of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 on the common organisation of the market in fishery and aquaculture products(8) fixes the operative event for the exchange rate to be applied to the calculation of financial compensation.

Article 1 As an exception to Article 4(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 2808/98, Article 43 of Regulation (EC) No 2342/1999 and Article 18a of Regulation (EC) No 2550/2001, the operative event of the exchange rate in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia for 2004 shall be the date of entry into force of the 2003 Treaty of Accession for the purposes of converting the following amounts into national currency:

Whereas the operative event for the agricultural conversion rate to be used for the conversion into national currency of the sum referred to in Article 4 (1) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2742/90 of 26 September 1990 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2204/90 (9), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2146/92 (10), referred to in item 5 of Part D of the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 1756/93 is the date of payment of the amount in question;

The operative event for the agricultural conversion rate applicable to the production aid referred to in Article 5 of Regulation 136/66/EEC and granted to olive oil producers whose average production is at least 500 kg of olive oil shall be deemed to occur on the first day of the month in which, for a given batch, the olives enter an approved mill as laid down in Article 98 (2) (a) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3061/84 (9), relating to the keeping of standardized daily stock records.

Whereas, in order to prevent distortion of competition between operators in different Member States on the conversion into national currency of the amount of the subsidy fixed in ecus, the rates used should be those laid down by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3294/86 of 29 October 1986 fixing the conversion rates to be applied in respect of levies and refunds in the rice sector (7), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2654/89 (8), and the operative event for application of the rate should be specified, account being taken of the exceptional arrangement applicable to the island of Réunion;

whereas Article 12 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 293/98 of 4 February 1998 determing the operative events applicable to products in the fruit and vegetables sector, to processed fruit and vegetable products and partly to live plants and floricultural products and to certain products listed in Annex II to the EC Treaty, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1445/93(12) as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 999/1999(13), defines the operative event for the exchange rate for aid to improve the quality and marketing of nuts and locust beans;

In order to bring the time when the fibre is obtained sufficiently close to the operative event for the exchange rate for advance payments and processing aid, that event must take place on the last day of each period for the notification of the quantities of fibre obtained.