Key Benefits:
The Prime Minister,
On the report of the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries,
Considering the rural code, including its article L. 528-1;
Having regard to Act No. 2000-321 of 12 April 2000 on the rights of citizens in their relations with the administrations, including article 22 of the Act;
In view of Decree No. 55-733 of 26 May 1955 concerning the economic and financial control of the State, in particular its article 1;
The State Council (section of public works) heard,
Decrete:
Title II of Book V of the Rural Code (regulatory part) is amended as follows:
I. - Chapter V is amended as follows:
1° Section 1 is replaced by the following:
“Section 1
“Agreement
"Art. R. 525-1. - The approval of agricultural cooperative societies and their unions provided for in Article L. 525-1 is given after the completion of the registration process, under the conditions set out in Articles R. 525-2 to R. 525-6.
"Art. R. 525-2. - Agricultural cooperative societies and their unions are approved by the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation.
"The High Council shall rule on applications for registration filed by cooperative agricultural companies and their unions within four months of the date of filing of the record with all the documents provided for in section R. 525-3. In the absence of an express decision notified within this period by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, the approval is considered to be acquired.
"A registration number is assigned to each registered organization.
"Art. R. 525-3. - Any application for approval must be accompanied by the following documents:
« 1° A copy of the statutes of the cooperative or of the union and their annexes;
« 2° A copy of the internal regulation, if it exists;
« 3° An extract from the registration in the trade and corporate register;
« 4° The list of associates, with indication of their profession;
« 5° A statement on the honour of the Director that he meets the requirements of section R. 524-9;
« 6° A note presenting the economic, social and territorial interest of the project;
« 7° A certificate issued by an approved federation for the review, covering the conformity of the statutes to the texts, rules and principles of cooperation.
"The contents and modalities of the above-mentioned certification are defined by the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation.
"Art. R. 525-4. - Within one month of the day on which the express or implied decision of approval has become final, the cooperative or union in fact makes the declaration to the Registry of the Commercial Court of Commerce or of the Court of Grand Instance in the jurisdiction of which it is registered so that the registration is entered in the register of trade and corporations.
"Art. R. 525-5. - In the course of social life, when the cooperative or the union wishes to extend its territorial district or its social object, it submits an application to the High Council. This allows or refuses the extension.
"Art. R. 525-5-1. - At the time of application for approval under section R. 525-2 or in the cases provided for in section R. 525-5, the High Council may request the cooperative or union to file its application for a report on the operation, prepared by any qualified person on a list established by the High Council in the manner prescribed by its statutes. »
2° Section 2 is amended to read:
R. 525-13 becomes R. 525-6. The first paragraph of this article shall be replaced by the following:
"Agricultural cooperative societies and their unions are subject to the control of the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation, which may, for this purpose and after collecting the observations of the cooperative or the interested union, carry out a review mission. When this control results in observations, they are communicated to the president of the cooperative or union who has a two-month period to respond. The final observations of the review mission, together with the response of the cooperative or the union, may be forwarded by the High Board to the auditors who will then be required to report to the General Assembly. »
Article R. 525-14 becomes Article R. 525-7 as follows:
"Art. R. 525-7. - When the control established in the previous article reveals either the failure of directors or the violation of the legislative, regulatory or statutory provisions, or the lack of knowledge of the interests of the group, an extraordinary general assembly shall be convened at the request of the High Council.
"When the normal functioning of the cooperative corporation or union has not been restored within six months of the meeting of the extraordinary general assembly, renewable once, the high council that may decide to withdraw its approval.
"The decision to withdraw approval is made by the High Council, on the proposal of its legal section and on the basis of a review report dating less than a year.
"If the withdrawal decision does not intervene within two months of the expiration of the six-month period or one-year period referred to above, the procedure is null and void. »
R. 525-15 becomes R. 525-8. In this article, the words: "to the authority that has approved them" are replaced by the words: "to the high council of agricultural cooperation"; the words: "if any consolidated accounts" are replaced by the words: "consolidated accounts and if applicable, combined accounts"; and the reference to section R. 525-13 is replaced by the reference to section R. 525-6.
Article R. 525-16 becomes article R. 525-9 as follows:
"Art. R. 525-9. - Each year the list of cooperative companies and their unions that have been approved or withdrawn in the previous year is published in the Official Journal of the French Republic. »
Section D. 525-17 is repealed.
II. - Chapter VIII is replaced by the following:
“Chapter VIII
“High Council for Agricultural Cooperation
“Section 1
“Organization
"Art. R. 528-1. - The High Council for Agricultural Cooperation is administered by a twelve-member steering committee:
" - seven elected representatives of agricultural cooperative societies and their unions;
"- five qualified personalities designated because of their competence by the Minister for Agriculture.
"Art. R. 528-2. - Representatives of agricultural cooperative societies and their unions in the steering committee are elected by a college of large electors forming the general assembly of the high council.
"A large electorate and eligible natural persons who meet the conditions set out in sections R. 524-1 and R. 524-9 and whose cooperative or union they represent is up to date from its annual contribution to the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation.
"The major electors are designated by regional federations, unions and national specialized federations of cooperatives and their unions.
"A Minister of Agriculture Order sets out the conditions for the application of this section.
"Art. R. 528-3. - The members of the steering committee shall be elected by secret ballot or designated for a period of four years, renewable once.
"Resigning, deceased or losing the quality under which they were elected or designated are replaced. When it comes to elected members, this replacement occurs at the next general meeting of the High Council. The term of office of the new members expires on the date on which the members they replace would normally have ended.
"A member of the steering committee may, in the event of an incapacity, give power to represent him to another member of the committee. No member can hold more than one power.
"The order in section R. 528-2 sets out the terms and conditions for the election of members of the steering committee.
"Art. R. 528-4. - The steering committee elects its president from among its members. This election is held by secret ballot.
"In the event of equal sharing of votes in the election of the President, the Minister for Agriculture shall, within one month, appoint the Chair of the Steering Committee.
"Art. R. 528-5. - Two Government Commissioners to the High Council are appointed, one by the Minister for Agriculture, the other by the Minister for Social Economy. They sit with an advisory voice on the steering committee.
"They provide information from ministers on the permanent activity of the High Council.
"They watch:
" - the observance of the texts, rules and principles of agricultural cooperation by the high council and the regular functioning of its bodies;
" - respecting the standards and principles of revision.
"They can make comments to the steering committee.
"Art. R. 528-6. - There are three sections within the High Council, the Legal Section, the Revision Section and the Economic and Financial Section, to formulate proposals and advice to the Steering Committee in their area of competence.
"The steering committee shall designate for each section a section council, chaired by a member of the steering committee and composed of members of the steering committee and members designated by the steering committee.
"The statutes of the High Council provide for the responsibilities of each section and the terms and conditions of designation of their members.
“Section 2
“Operation
"Art. R. 528-7. - The steering committee shall adopt the decisions and notices set out in this title.
"Art. R. 528-8. - The steering committee meets as often as necessary and at least four times a year, on the convocation of its president or at the request of one of the government commissioners.
"Art. R. 528-9. - To deliberate, the steering committee must meet at least half of its members in office. The decisions of the steering committee shall be taken by a two-thirds majority of the members present or represented.
"Art. R. 528-10. - The Steering Committee shall determine each year the rate of contributions set out in the seventh paragraph of section L. 528-1 and the time limits for payment. It may delegate the recovery to the National Review Association in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the statutes.
"It sets out the accounts within three months of the year's closing and sets the budget. The accounts are approved annually by the General Assembly and subject to approval by the Minister for Agriculture.
"Art. R. 528-11. - The statutes of the High Council are adopted and amended by the General Assembly by a two-thirds majority of the members present or represented and are approved by the Minister responsible for agriculture.
"Art. R. 528-12. - Decisions of a regulatory nature of the High Council shall be published in the manner defined by its statutes.
"Art. R. 528-13. - The High Council for Agricultural Cooperation may have before it any matter within its competence by the Minister for Agriculture, the Minister for Economics, the Minister for Social Economy, the professional cooperative organizations, the federations approved for the revision, the Chambers of Agriculture, as well as any agricultural cooperative society or union. He can also seize on his own.
"Art. R. 528-14. - Each year, the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation submits to the Government a report describing its activity and that of its sections, describes the economic and financial situation of the various cooperative sectors and formulates proposals for legislative and regulatory adaptations. »
III. - Chapter I is amended to read:
1° In the first paragraph of article R. 521-2, the words: "or by order of the prefect of the region or the prefect, according to the rules of competence established by article R. 525-2" are replaced by the words: "after the advice of the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation".
2° In R. 521-5, the reference to R. 525-12 is replaced by the reference to R. 525-2.
IV. - Chapter IV is amended to read:
1° In the fourth paragraph of Article R. 524-1, the words: "the competent administrative authority, pursuant to Article R. 525-2, to declare the approval and after notice of the commissions mentioned in the article" are replaced by the words: "the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation, after notice of its legal section";
2° In the eighth paragraph of Article R. 524-1, the words: "the competent authority to issue the approval after notice of the competent approval commission" are replaced by the words: "the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation, after notice of its legal section";
3° In the second paragraph of Article R. 524-16, the words: "the qualified authority to approve the cooperative after notice of the approval commission" are replaced by the words: "the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation, after notice of its legal section";
4° In R. 524-25, the words: "after the advice of the Central Accreditation Commission" are replaced by the words: "after the advice of the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation".
V. Chapter VII is amended to read:
1° In R. 527-6, the words: "after the opinion of the Central Accreditation Commission established by Article D. 528-2" are replaced by the words: "after the advice of the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation";
2° In sections R. 527-7 and R. 527-10, the words "of the Central Accreditation Commission" are replaced by the words "of the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation";
3° Section R. 527-8 is replaced by the following:
"Art. R. 527-8. - The budget of the National Review Association is approved by the Minister for Agriculture and the Minister responsible for the budget, following advice from the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation. »
Title III of Book V of the Rural Code (regulatory part) is amended as follows:
1° The title of Chapter I is replaced by the following title: "Chapter I: Constitution";
2° Sections R. 531-3 to R. 531-3-7 and R. 531-4-1 are repealed.
Transitional and final provisions.
I. - The provisions of this Decree come into force on the date of the approval of the initial statutes of the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation and no later than 1 January 2007, with the exception of the provisions of Article 1 II which come into force on the day after the publication of this Decree in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
II. - For applications for accreditation that have not been decided before the date of the complete installation of the High Council for Agricultural Cooperation, the decision to approve or refuse to approve is made by the High Council within three months of that date.
III. - By derogation from the provisions of the first paragraph of Article R. 528-10 of the Rural Code, the rate of contributions for the year 2007 is set by the National Review Association referred to in Article L. 527-1 of the same Code.
IV. - Until the first election of the representatives of the cooperatives and their unions, which will take place within three months of the entry into force of the provisions of Article 1 II, the steering committee shall sit validly with the members appointed by the Minister of Agriculture.
The elected members shall be elected from their election. Their term of office expires on the same date as that of qualified personalities designated by the Minister.
V. - By derogation from the provisions of the second paragraph of section R. 528-10 of the Rural Code, the Minister responsible for Budget and the Minister responsible for Agriculture approve the initial budget of the High Council for its first fiscal year.
By derogation from the provisions of section R. 528-11 of the Rural Code, the initial status of the High Council is adopted by the Steering Committee.
The Minister of Employment, Social Cohesion and Housing, the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries are responsible, each with respect to him, for the execution of this Order, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done in Paris, December 5, 2006.
Dominique de Villepin
By the Prime Minister:
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries,
Dominic Bussereau
The Minister of Employment,
social cohesion and housing,
Jean-Louis Borloo
Minister of Economy,
finance and industry,
Thierry Breton
