1.The grubbing-up premium may be granted only if proofs are available that the vineyard area concerned is properly tended. Without prejudice to the control provided for in Article 81(3) of this Regulation, the harvest declaration according to Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1282/2001(1) is required for this purpose for at least the two wine years preceding the entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 and the three wine years preceding the grubbing up.
2.Notwithstanding paragraph 1, Member States may foresee that producers who are exempted from the obligation to submit harvest declaration according to Article 2(2)(c) or Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1282/2001, may prove their grape production on the basis of the declaration specified under Article 2(2)(c) or the production declaration as referred to in Article 4(1) of that Regulation.
In case neither the harvest declaration nor the declaration specified under Article 2(2)(c) or in Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1282/2001 is available due to well justifiable reasons, Member States may foresee alternative means to ensure that the vineyard was properly tended. Member States shall be responsible for the thorough verification of the trustworthiness of these alternative means.
3.Before accepting an application for payment, Member States shall ensure that the eligibility criteria under Article 100, points (a), (b), (d), (e) and (f) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 have been met.
1.Mountain and steep slope areas that may be declared ineligible for the grubbing-up scheme in accordance with Article 104(4) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 shall be the following:
(a)mountain areas which are above at least 500 m altitude, excluding high plains;
(b)areas with a slope exceeding at least 25 %;
(c)areas with terraces.
2.The communication referred to in Article 104(8) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 shall contain indicative information on the size of such areas and shall be made in the format set out in Annex XIV to this Regulation.
1.Without prejudice to national aids that may be given according to Article 106 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008, the scales of the premium provided for in Article 101 of that Regulation shall be as set out in Annex XV to this Regulation.
2.The historical yield referred to in Article 101(2) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 shall be established on the basis of the average yield of the holding, or, if available, the average yield of the parcel or the average yield for a certain wine category within the given holding for which the grubbing-up premium is requested. The average yield shall be calculated on the basis of the average yield in the five years between 2003/2004 and 2007/2008, excluding the years with the lowest and the highest yield.
By way of derogation from the first subparagraph:
(a)Member States which joined the Community in 2004 or 2007 and did not have a system of harvest declarations in the entire period between 2003/2004 and 2007/2008 shall calculate the historical yield on the basis of the average yield in the years between 2005/2006 and 2007/2008;
(b)a producer whose production was adversely affected during the reference period for more than a year by a case of force majeure or exceptional circumstances occurring during that reference period shall be entitled to request that the historical yield be established on the basis of the average yields of the wine years in the period referred to in the first or, when applicable, in point (a) of this subparagraph which were not affected by the case of force majeure or exceptional circumstances.
3.The average yield shall be determined on the basis of the harvest declarations.
Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, Member States may foresee that producers who are exempted from the obligation to submit a harvest declaration according to Article 2(2)(c) or Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1282/2001, may prove their grape production on the basis of the declaration specified under Article 2(2)(c) or the production declaration as referred to in Article 4(1) of that Regulation.
Member States may foresee that in case of members of cooperatives or other groups to which they belong or with which they are associated who do not have the declaration specified under Article 2(2)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 1282/2001, the average yield of the cooperative or the group may be taken into account, provided that the cooperative or group certifies that the given producer actually delivered grapes to them in the years concerned. In this case, if available, the average yield for a certain wine category within the given cooperative or group for which the grubbing-up premium is requested shall be taken into account.
Member States may foresee that in case neither the harvest declaration nor the declaration specified under Article 2(2)(c) or in Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1282/2001 is available due to well justifiable reasons, to be verified by the Member States, apart from those mentioned under the second and third subparagraphs, the historical yield shall be the average yield of the region concerned.
Member States shall be responsible for the thorough verification of the trustworthiness of the declarations and the alternative sources used to establish the historical yield presented in accordance with this Article.
4.The premium is paid for the area planted, defined in conformity with Article 75.
1.Member States shall lay down the application procedure, which shall in particular provide for:
(a)the information required to accompany the application;
(b)subsequent communication of the applicable premium to the producer concerned;
(c)the date before which the grubbing up has to take place.
2.Member States shall verify whether the applications are well founded. For this purpose, they may foresee a written undertaking to be made by the producer concerned upon application. In case the application is withdrawn without duly justified reason they may provide for the producer concerned to bear the costs incurred concerning the treatment of its request.
[F13. If, in a given financial year, a producer withdrew his application for the grubbing-up premium or grubbed up only partially or not at all the area indicated in the application, a Member State may decide not to give him priority according to Article 85s(5)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 in any subsequent financial year.]
Textual Amendments
F1 Inserted by Commission Regulation (EC) No 702/2009 of 3 August 2009 amending and correcting Regulation (EC) No 555/2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 on the common organisation of the market in wine as regards support programmes, trade with third countries, production potential and on controls in the wine sector.
1.When applying the percentage for acceptance as referred to in Article 102(4) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008, Member States shall proceed in each year concerned as follows:
(a)as far as the available budget resources allocated to a Member State allow, all the applications for the grubbing-up of the entire vineyard of a producer shall be accepted, without applying any reduction to their applications; if the available budget resources allocated to a Member State are not sufficient for accepting all of these applications, Member States shall distribute the available budget on the basis of the objective and non-discriminatory criteria laid down in their national rules;
(b)after having deducted from the available budget resources allocated to a Member State the amounts referred to under point (a) of this paragraph, as far as the rest of the available budget resources allow, all the applications of applicants who are not less than 55 years old or older where Member States so provided under Article 102(5)(b)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 shall be accepted, without applying any reduction to their applications; if the available budget resources allocated to a Member State are not sufficient for accepting all of these applications, Member States shall distribute the available budget on the basis of the objective and non-discriminatory criteria laid down in their national rules;
(c)after having deducted from the available budget resources allocated to a Member State the amounts concerned by points (a) and (b), Member States shall distribute the rest of the available budget on the basis of the objective and non-discriminatory criteria laid down in their national rules.
2.The objective and non-discriminatory criteria referred to in Article 102(5)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 shall be determined by the Member States so as to allow that no reduction is applied to the applications that can be accepted. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the criteria referred to in paragraph 1 by 15 October each year, within Table 10 of Annex XIII to this Regulation.
[F13. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, the single percentage for acceptance does not apply to Member States which communicated, according to Article 85s(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, eligible applications for an area smaller than 50 hectares.]
Textual Amendments
F1 Inserted by Commission Regulation (EC) No 702/2009 of 3 August 2009 amending and correcting Regulation (EC) No 555/2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 on the common organisation of the market in wine as regards support programmes, trade with third countries, production potential and on controls in the wine sector.
Payment of the grubbing-up premium shall be made after verification that grubbing-up has taken place and at the latest by 15 October of the year in which the application was accepted by the Member States according to Article 102(5) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008.
1.The communications referred to in paragraphs 2, 5 and 6 of Article 102 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 shall be made in the format given in Tables 10 to 12 of Annex XIII to this Regulation. Member States may decide whether or not to include details related to regions in these tables.
2.Where Member States grant national aid for grubbing-up, they shall include this information in the tables referred to in paragraph 1.
3.When a Member State decides, according to Article 104(1) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008, to reject further applications, it shall communicate its decision to the Commission.
4.Member States shall communicate to the Commission the measures taken to comply with the provision foreseen in Article 104(9) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008. The communication shall be made in the format given in Table 12 of Annex XIII to this Regulation.
5.Member States shall communicate to the Commission not later than 1 December each year an annual report on results of controls conducted in the previous financial year on the grubbing-up scheme. The communication shall be made in the format given in Table 13 of Annex XIII.