1. The Union financial assistance shall be equal to the amount of the financial contributions referred to in point (a) of Article 32(1) actually paid and limited to 50 % of the actual expenditure incurred.
2. The Union financial assistance shall be limited to 4,1 % of the value of the marketed production of each producer organisation or of their association.
However, in the case of producer organisations, that percentage may be increased to 4,6 % of the value of the marketed production, provided that the amount in excess of 4,1 % of the value of the marketed production is used solely for crisis prevention and management measures.
In the case of associations of producer organisations, that percentage may be increased to 4,7 % of the value of the marketed production, provided that the amount in excess of 4,1 % of the value of the marketed production is used solely for crisis prevention and management measures implemented by the association of producer organisations on behalf of its members.
3. At the request of a producer organisation, the 50 % limit provided for in paragraph 1 shall be increased to 60 % for an operational programme or part of an operational programme satisfying at least one of the following conditions:
(a)
it is submitted by several Union producer organisations operating in different Member States on transnational schemes;
(b)
it is submitted by one or more producer organisations engaged in schemes operated on an interbranch basis;
(c)
it covers solely specific support for the production of organic products covered by Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (23);
(d)
it is the first to be submitted by a recognised producer organisation which is the result of a merger between two recognised producer organisations;
(e)
it is the first to be submitted by a recognised association of producer organisations;
(f)
it is submitted by producer organisations in Member States where producer organisations market less than 20 % of fruit and vegetables production;
(g)
it is submitted by a producer organisation in one of the outermost regions referred to in Article 349 TFEU.
4. The 50 % limit provided for in paragraph 1 shall be increased to 100 % in the case of market withdrawals of fruit and vegetables which shall not exceed 5 % of the volume of marketed production of each producer organisation and which are disposed of by way of:
(a)
free distribution to charitable organisations and foundations, approved for that purpose by the Member States, for use in their activities to assist persons whose right to public assistance is recognised in national law, in particular because they lack the necessary means of subsistence; or
(b)
free distribution to any of the following: penal institutions, schools, establishments referred to in Article 22, children's holiday camps, hospitals and old people's homes designated by the Member States, which shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the quantities thus distributed are additional to the quantities normally bought in by such establishments.