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

TITLE V SMALL FARMERS SCHEME

Article 61 General rules

1. Member States may establish a scheme for small farmers in accordance with the conditions laid down in this Title ("small farmers scheme").

Farmers who, in 2015, hold owned or leased-in payment entitlements or, in Member States applying Article 36, claim for the single area payment scheme, and fulfil the minimum requirements provided for in Article 10(1) may opt to participate in the small farmers scheme.

2. Payments under the small farmers scheme shall replace the payments to be granted pursuant to Titles III and IV.

The first subparagraph shall not apply where a Member State opts for the payment method laid down in point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 63(2). In that case, the payment shall be subject to the respective conditions laid down in Titles III and IV, without prejudice to paragraph 3 of this Article.

3. Farmers participating in the small farmers scheme shall be exempted from the agricultural practices provided for in Chapter 3 of Title III.

4. No advantage provided for under this Title shall be granted in favour of farmers in respect of whom it is established that they artificially created, after 18 October 2011, the conditions to benefit from the small farmers scheme.

Article 62 Participation

1. Farmers wishing to participate in the small farmers scheme shall submit an application by a date to be fixed by Member States which shall not be later than 15 October 2015. The date fixed by Member States cannot, however, be earlier than the last day for submitting an application under the basic payment scheme or the single area payment scheme.

Farmers who have not applied to participate in the small farmers scheme on the date fixed by the Member State, who decide to withdraw from it after that date or who have been selected for support under point (c) of Article 19(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 shall no longer be entitled to participate in that scheme.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States may provide that farmers whose amount of direct payments under Titles III and IV is lower than the maximum amount fixed by the Member State in accordance with Article 63 are to be included in the small farmers scheme automatically, unless they expressly withdraw from it by the date fixed by the Member State in accordance with paragraph 1 or in any subsequent year. Member States making use of this possibility shall inform the relevant farmers in due time about their right to withdraw from the scheme.

3. Each Member State shall ensure that an estimate of the amount of the payment referred to in Article 63 is made known to farmers in due time before the date for submitting applications or for withdrawal fixed by that Member State.

Article 63 Amount of the payment

1. Member States shall set the amount of the annual payment for each farmer participating in the small farmers scheme at one of the following levels:

(a) an amount not exceeding 25 % of the national average payment per beneficiary, which shall be established by the Member States on the basis of the national ceiling set out in Annex II for calendar year 2019 and the number of farmers who have declared eligible hectares, pursuant to Article 33(1) or Article 36(2), in 2015;

(b) an amount corresponding to the national average payment per hectare multiplied by a figure corresponding to a number of hectares not exceeding five, to be set by the Member States. The national average payment per hectare shall be established by the Member States on the basis of the national ceiling set out in Annex II for calendar year 2019 and the number of eligible hectares declared in accordance with Article 33(1) or Article 36(2) in 2015.

The amount referred to in points (a) or (b) of the first subparagraph shall not be lower than EUR 500 and shall not be higher than EUR 1 250.

Where the application of points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph results in an amount lower than EUR 500 or higher than EUR 1 250, the amount shall be rounded up or down, respectively, to that minimum or maximum amount.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, a Member State may decide to grant participating farmers:

(a) an amount equal to the total value of the payments to be allocated to the farmer each year under Titles III and IV; or

(b) an amount equal to the total value of the payments to be allocated to the farmer in 2015 under Titles III and IV, that the Member State may adjust in subsequent years to proportionately take into account the changes in the national ceiling set out in Annex II.

The amount referred to in point (a) or (b) of the first subparagraph shall not be higher than an amount fixed by that Member State which shall be between EUR 500 and EUR 1 250.

Where the application of point (a) or (b) of the first subparagraph results in an amount lower than EUR 500, the Member State concerned may decide to round up this amount to EUR 500.

3. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, in Cyprus, Croatia, Malta and Slovenia, the amount referred to in those paragraphs may be set at a value lower than EUR 500, but not less than EUR 200 or, in the case of Malta, not less than EUR 50.

Article 64 Special conditions

1. During the participation in the small farmers scheme, farmers shall:

(a) keep at least a number of eligible hectares corresponding to the number of owned or leased-in payment entitlements held, or to the number of eligible hectares declared in 2015 in accordance with Article 36(2);

(b) fulfil the minimum requirement provided for in point (b) of Article 10(1).

2. Payment entitlements activated in 2015 pursuant to Articles 32 and 33 by a farmer participating in the small farmers scheme shall be considered to be activated entitlements for the duration of the farmer's participation in that scheme.

The owned or leased-in payment entitlements held by the farmer during the participation in that scheme shall not be considered to be unused payment entitlements which are to revert to the national reserve or regional reserves in accordance with point (b) of Article 31(1).

In Member States applying Article 36, the eligible hectares declared in 2015 in accordance with Article 36(2) by a farmer participating in the small farmers scheme shall be considered to be declared for the duration of the participation of the farmer in that scheme.

3. By way of derogation from Article 34, payment entitlements held by farmers participating in the small farmers scheme shall not be transferable, except in the case of inheritance or anticipated inheritance.

Farmers who, by way of inheritance or anticipated inheritance, receive payment entitlements from a farmer participating in the small farmers scheme shall be eligible to participate in that scheme provided that they meet the requirements to benefit from the basic payment scheme and that they inherit all the payment entitlements held by the farmer from whom they receive the payment entitlements.

4. Where a Member State opts for the payment method laid down in point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 63(2) without applying the third subparagraph of Article 63(2), paragraphs 1 and 2 as well as the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 of this Article shall not apply.

5. In order to ensure legal certainty, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 70 setting out the conditions for participation in the scheme where the situation of the participating farmer has changed.

Article 65 Financial provisions

1. In order to finance the payment referred to in this Title, Member States shall deduct from the total amounts available for the respective payments the amounts to which the small farmers would be entitled:

(a) under the basic payment scheme or the single area payment scheme referred to in Chapter 1 of Title III;

(b) as a redistributive payment referred to in Chapter 2 of Title III;

(c) as a payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment referred to in Chapter 3 of Title III;

(d) as a payment for areas with natural constraints referred to in Chapter 4 of Title III;

(e) as a payment for young farmers referred to in Chapter 5 of Title III; and

(f) as coupled support referred to in Title IV.

In the case of Member States having opted to calculate the amount of the payment pursuant to point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 63(2), where the sum of those amounts for an individual farmer exceeds the maximum amount that they have fixed, each amount shall be proportionately reduced.

2. The difference between the sum of all payments due under the small farmers scheme and the total amount financed in accordance with paragraph 1 shall be financed in one or more of the following ways:

(a) by applying Article 30(7) in the relevant year;

(b) by using the funds for financing the payment for young farmers laid down in Chapter 5 of Title III which are left unused in the relevant year;

(c) by applying a linear reduction to all payments to be granted in accordance with Articles 32 or 36.

3. Except where a Member State has opted to set the amount of the annual payment pursuant to point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 63(2), the elements on the basis of which the amounts referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article are established shall remain the same for the entire duration of the participation of the farmer in the small farmers scheme.

4. If the total amount of payments due under the small farmers scheme exceeds 10 % of the annual national ceiling set out in Annex II, Member States shall apply a linear reduction to the amounts to be paid in accordance with this Title in order to respect that percentage, unless they have set the amount of the payment in accordance with point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 63(2) without applying the third subparagraph of Article 63(2).

The same exception applies for Member States which have set the amount of the payment in accordance with point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 63(2) without applying the third subparagraph of Article 63(2), whose national ceiling set out in Annex II for year 2019 is higher than for year 2015 and which apply the calculation method set out in Article 25(1) or in Article 36(2).