Commission Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 (repealed)Dangos y teitl llawn

CHAPTER 4 SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Section 1 Declaration and transfer of payment entitlements

Article 24 Declaration and use of payment entitlements

1. Payment entitlements may only be declared for payment, once per year, by the farmer who holds them at the latest date for lodging an application under the single payment scheme

2. Member States shall fix the beginning of the 10 month period referred to in Article 44(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 for each individual farmer at a single date within a period to be fixed between 1^st September of the calendar year preceding the year of lodging an application under the single payment scheme and 30 April of the following calendar year or leave it at the farmer’s choice within the fixed period.

Article 25 Transfers of payment entitlements

1. Payment entitlements may be transferred at any time of the year.

2. The transferor shall inform the competent authority of the Member State of the transfer within a period to be established by the Member State

3. A Member State may require that the transferor shall communicate the transfer to the competent authority of the Member State where the transfer will operate, within a time period to be established by that Member State but not earlier than six weeks before the transfer shall take place and taking into account the last date for lodging an application under the single payment scheme. The transfer shall take place six weeks after the day of communication unless the competent authority objects to the transfer and notifies the transferor thereof within that period. The competent authority may only object to a transfer where the latter is not in accordance with provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and of this Regulation.

Article 26 Regional limitation

1. Where a Member State makes use of the option provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 46 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, Member States shall define the region at the appropriate territorial level in accordance with objective criteria and in such a way as to ensure equal treatment between farmers and to avoid market and competition distortion.

2. The Member State shall define the region referred to in paragraph 1 at the latest one month before the date of beginning of the 10 month period referred to in Article 44(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.

A farmer, whose holding is situated in the region concerned, may not transfer or use outside that region his payment entitlements corresponding to the number of hectares which he declares in the first year of application of the option provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 46(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.

A farmer, whose holding is partly situated in the region concerned, may not transfer or use outside that region his payment entitlements corresponding to the number of hectares, situated in that region, which he declares in the first year of application of the option.

3. The limitation to the transfer of payment entitlements referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 46 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 shall not apply in case of actual or anticipated inheritance of payment entitlements without an equivalent number of eligible hectares.

4. A Member State may decide to apply the limitation to the transfer of payment entitlements referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 46 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 only to set-aside payment entitlements.

Article 27 Private contract clause in case of lease

1. Subject to paragraphs 2 and 3, a clause in a lease contract providing for the transfer of a number of entitlements not higher than the number of hectares leased shall be considered as a lease of the payment entitlements with land within the meaning of Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, in cases where:

(a) a farmer has leased to another farmer his holding or part of it no later than the date for lodging an application under the single payment scheme in its first year of application,

(b) the lease contract expires later than the last date for lodging an application under the single payment scheme,

and

(c) he decides to lease his payment entitlements to the farmer to whom he leased the holding or part of it.

2. The lessor shall apply for the establishment of the payment entitlements in accordance with Article 12, adding to the application a copy of the lease contract and indicating the number of hectares for which he intends to lease the payment entitlements. Where the case may be, Article 42(9) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 shall apply.

3. The lessee shall apply for payment under the single payment scheme in accordance with Article 12, adding to the application a copy of the lease contract.

4. A Member State may require that the applications of the lessee and of the lessor are lodged together or that the second application contains a reference to the first one.

Section 2 Other specific provisions

Article 28 Forage area

For the purposes of Article 43(2) (b) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, a Member State may decide to use the forage area declared by the farmer in the area aid application for 2004 or in the year preceding the first year of application of the single payment scheme unless the farmer proves, at the satisfaction of the competent authority, that his forage area in the reference period was lower.

Article 29 Production of hemp

For the purposes of Article 52 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, the payment of the entitlements for areas on hemp shall be subject to the use of seed of the varieties listed in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 in the version applicable for the year in respect of which the payment is granted. In the case of hemp grown for fibre, the seed shall be certified in accordance with Council Directive 2002/57/EC(1) and in particular Article 12 thereof.

Article 30 Entitlements subject to special conditions

1. For the purposes of calculating the agricultural activity expressed in livestock units (LU) referred to in Article 49(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, the conversion table provided for in Article 131(2) (a) of that Regulation shall apply to the number of animals for which a direct payment referred to in Annex VI of that Regulation was granted in the reference period.

2. Male and female bovine animals of less than six months shall be converted in LU by using the coefficient 0,2.

3. In order to check that the minimum agricultural activity expressed in livestock units in accordance with paragraph 1 is respected, Member States shall determine the number of animals in accordance with one of the following methods:

(a) Member States shall ask each producer to declare, on the basis of his farm register, prior to a date to be determined by the Member State but not later than the date of payment, the number of LUs;

and/or

(b) Member States shall use the computerised database set up in accordance with Council Directive 92/102/EEC(2) and Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council(3) to determine the number of LUs on condition that the database offers, to the satisfaction of the Member State, adequate assurances as to the accuracy of the data it contains for the purposes of the single payment scheme.

4. The minimum agricultural activity requirement shall be deemed to be respected when the number of LUs reaches 50 % during a period or at certain dates to be determined by the Member States. All the animals sold or slaughtered during the calendar year concerned shall be taken into account.

5. Member States shall take the measures necessary to apply Article 29 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 in the case of producers who, by means of abnormally low numbers of LUs during part of the year, artificially create the conditions required to respect the minimum agricultural activity.

Article 31 Dairy premium and additional payments

1. Where a Member State makes use of the option provided for in the first paragraph of Article 62 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 in 2005 or, in case of application of Article 71 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, in the first year of application of the single payment scheme:

(a) in the case where a dairy farmer received other direct payments in the reference period:

• (a) if he had hectares in the reference period, the payment entitlements shall be calculated, in accordance with Article 43 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, on the basis of all the hectares which in the reference period gave right to those direct payments including the forage area;

• if he had no hectares in the reference period, he shall receive payment entitlements subject to special conditions calculated in accordance with Article 48 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003;

(b) in the case where a dairy farmer did not receive other direct payments in the reference period:

• (b) if he has hectares, the payment entitlements shall be calculated by dividing the amount to be granted under Articles 95 and 96 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 by the hectares he owns in 2005 or, in case of application of Article 71 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, in the first year of application of the single payment scheme;

• If he has no hectares, he shall receive payment entitlements subject to special conditions calculated in accordance with Article 48 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.

2. Where a Member State makes use of the option provided for in the first subparagraph of Article 62 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 in 2006, Article 50 of that Regulation shall apply.

(1)

OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 74.

(2)

OJ L 355, 5.12.1992, p. 32.

(3)

OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1.