Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilDangos y teitl llawn

Article 50 U.K. General rules

1. Member States shall grant an annual payment to young farmers who are entitled to a payment under the basic payment scheme or the single area payment scheme referred to in Chapter 1 ("payment for young farmers").

2. For the purposes of this Chapter, 'young farmers', means natural persons:

(a) who are setting up for the first time an agricultural holding as head of the holding, or who have already set up such a holding during the five years preceding the first submission of an application under the basic payment scheme or the single area payment scheme referred to in Article 72(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013; and

(b) who are no more than 40 years of age in the year of submission of the application referred to in point (a).

3. Member States may define further objective and non-discriminatory eligibility criteria for young farmers applying for the payment for young farmers as regards appropriate skills and/or training requirements.

4. Without prejudice to the application of financial discipline, of reduction of payments in accordance with Article 11 and of linear reductions in accordance with Article 7 of this Regulation, and to the application of Article 63 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, the payment for young farmers shall be granted annually upon activation of payment entitlements by the farmer or, in Member States applying Article 36 of this Regulation, upon declaration of eligible hectares by the farmer.

5. The payment for young farmers shall be granted per farmer for a maximum period of five years. That period shall be reduced by the number of years elapsed between the setting up referred to in point (a) of paragraph 2 and the first submission of the application for the payment for young farmers.

6. Each year, Member States not applying Article 36 shall calculate the amount of the payment for young farmers by multiplying the number of entitlements the farmer has activated in accordance with Article 32(1) by a figure corresponding to:

(a) 25 % of the average value of the owned or leased-in payment entitlements held by the farmer; or

(b) 25 % of an amount calculated by dividing a fixed percentage of the national ceiling for the calendar year 2019 set out in Annex II by the number of all eligible hectares declared in 2015 in accordance with Article 33(1). That fixed percentage shall be equal to the share of the national ceiling remaining for the basic payment scheme in accordance with Article 22(1) for 2015.

7. Member States applying Article 36 shall each year calculate the amount of the payment for young farmers by multiplying a figure corresponding to 25 % of the single area payment calculated in accordance with Article 36 by the number of eligible hectares that the farmer has declared in accordance with Article 36(2).

8. By way of derogation from the paragraphs 6 and 7, Member States may calculate each year the amount of the payment for young farmers by multiplying a figure corresponding to 25 % of the national average payment per hectare by the number of entitlements that the farmer has activated in accordance with Article 32(1), or by the number of eligible hectares that the farmer has declared in accordance with Article 36(2).

The national average payment per hectare shall be calculated by dividing the national ceiling for the calendar year 2019 set out in Annex II by the number of eligible hectares declared in 2015 in accordance with Article 33(1) or Article 36(2).

9. Member States shall set a single maximum limit applicable to the number of payment entitlements activated by the farmer or to the number of eligible hectares declared by the farmer. That limit shall not be below 25 or above 90. Member States shall respect that limit when applying paragraphs 6, 7 and 8.

10. Instead of applying paragraphs 6 to 9, Member States may allocate an annual lump sum amount per farmer calculated by multiplying a fixed number of hectares by a figure corresponding to 25 % of the national average payment per hectare, as established in accordance with paragraph 8.

The fixed number of hectares referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be calculated by dividing the total number of eligible hectares declared pursuant to Article 33(1) or Article 36(2) by the young farmers applying for the payment for young farmers in 2015 by the total number of young farmers applying for that payment in 2015.

A Member State may recalculate the fixed number of hectares in any year after 2015 in the case of significant changes in the number of young farmers applying for the payment or in the size of the holdings of young farmers, or both.

The annual lump sum amount that a farmer may be granted shall not exceed the total amount of his basic payment before application of Article 63 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 in the given year.

11. In order to guarantee the protection of the rights of beneficiaries and to avoid discrimination among them, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 70 concerning the conditions under which a legal person may be considered to be eligible to receive the payment for young farmers.