The Agriculture (Removal of Cross-Compliance and Miscellaneous Revocations and Amendments, etc.) (England) Regulations 2023

Statutory Instruments

2023 No. 816

Agriculture, England

The Agriculture (Removal of Cross-Compliance and Miscellaneous Revocations and Amendments, etc.) (England) Regulations 2023

Made

17th July 2023

Laid before Parliament

18th July 2023

Coming into force

1st January 2024

The Secretary of State in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 14(1)(a) and (b), (2)(a) to (d), 16(3)(d) and 50(3) of the Agriculture Act 2020(1) makes the following Regulations.

PART 1 Introduction

Citation, commencement, extent and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Agriculture (Removal of Cross-Compliance and Miscellaneous Revocations and Amendments, etc.) (England) Regulations 2023 and come into force on 1st January 2024.

(2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales and apply to England only.

PART 2 Cross-Compliance

Revocations and savings

2.  The Schedule to these Regulations has effect.

PART 3 Publication of beneficiaries

Amendment of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013

3.—(1) Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy(2) is amended as follows.

(2) In Article 112 (threshold), in the second paragraph, for “shall”, in each place it occurs, substitute “may”.

(3) In Article 113 (information of the beneficiaries), in the first paragraph, for “will” substitute “may”.

PART 4 Late claims

Amendment of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014

4.—(1) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system and conditions for refusal or withdrawal of payments and administrative penalties applicable to direct payments, rural development support and cross compliance(3) is amended insofar as it relates to rural development support measures, as follows.

(2) In Article 13(1) (late submission)—

(a) in the second subparagraph, for “shall”, in the second place it occurs, substitute “may”;

(b) in the third subparagraph—

(i) for “shall”, in the first place it occurs, substitute “may”;

(ii) after “considered inadmissible and” insert “in that case”.

(3) In this regulation, “rural development support measures” means measures under support schemes under—

(a) Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)(4);

(b) Regulation (EU) No 1698/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)(5); or

(c) Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)(6).

PART 5 Amending single applications or payment claims

Amendment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014

5.—(1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system, rural development measures and cross compliance(7) is amended as follows.

(2) In Article 15(2) (amendments to the single application or payment claim), in the first subparagraph, omit “by 31 May of the year concerned”.

PART 6 Scrutiny of transactions

Amendment of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013

6.—(1) Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 352/78, (EC) No 165/94, (EC) No 2799/98, (EC) No 814/2000, (EC) No 1290/2005 and (EC) No 485/2008 is amended as follows.

(2) In Article 80 (scrutiny by the relevant authority)—

(a) in paragraph 1—

(i) for “shall”, in each place it occurs, substitute “may”;

(ii) omit the second and third sentences;

(b) in paragraph 2, for “shall” substitute “may”.

(3) In Article 81 (objectives of the scrutiny)—

(a) in paragraph 1—

(i) after “The accuracy of” insert “any”;

(ii) for “shall” substitute “may”;

(b) in paragraph 2—

(i) before “scrutiny” insert “any”;

(ii) for “shall” substitute “may”;

(c) omit paragraph 3.

(4) In Article 82 (access to commercial documents)—

(a) in paragraph 1, for “shall”, in the second place it occurs, substitute “may”;

(b) in paragraph 3, in the first subparagraph—

(i) for “shall” substitute “may”;

(ii) for “such records as are required” substitute “such records as may be required”.

(5) In Article 84 (programming)—

(a) in paragraph 1, for “shall” substitute “may”;

(b) in paragraph 2, for “shall”, in both places it occurs, substitute “may”;

(c) in paragraph 3, for “shall” substitute “may”.

(6) In Article 85(1) (special departments), for “shall”, in the first place it occurs, substitute “may”.

(7) In Article 86(1) (reports), for “shall” substitute “may”.

Amendment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 908/2014

7.—(1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 908/2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to paying agencies and other bodies, financial management, clearance of accounts, rules on checks, securities and transparency(8) is amended as follows.

(2) In Article 42 (scrutiny by the relevant authorities)—

(a) in paragraph 1, for “shall” substitute “may”;

(b) in paragraph 2—

(i) for “shall”, in the first, second, fourth and fifth places it occurs, substitute “may”;

(ii) omit “, without prejudice to their obligations laid down in Article 80(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013,”;

(c) in paragraph 3—

(i) for “it shall be compulsory for” substitute “the relevant authority may scrutinise”;

(ii) omit “, to be scrutinised”;

(d) in paragraph 4, omit the second sentence.

(3) In Article 47(1) (special departments)—

(a) for “shall be responsible” substitute “may”;

(b) omit “, for”;

(c) in point (a), for “training” substitute “train”;

(d) in point (b), for “administering” substitute “administer”;

(e) in point (c), for “the preparation and communication of” substitute “prepare and communicate”.

Mark Spencer

Minister of State

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

17th July 2023

Regulation 2

SCHEDULE Revocations and saving

PART 1 Revocations

1.  Subject to the saving specified in Part 2, the instruments listed in column 1 of the tables below are revoked, in relation to England only, to the extent specified in the corresponding entry in column 2 of those tables.

Table 1

Revocation of legislation governing the cross-compliance framework in England

Column 1	Column 2
Instrument	Extent of revocation
1. Commission Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system provided for in Council Regulations (EC) No 1782/2003 and (EC) No 73/2009, as well as for the implementation of cross compliance provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 (9).	Articles 9 and 10 Chapter 3 of Title 3 of Part 2 (Articles 41 to 48) Chapter 2 of Title 4 of Part 2 (Articles 65 to 67) Article 71 Article 71b(2)
2. Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).	Subsection 4 of Section 2 of Chapter 1 of Title 4 (Articles 50a and 51)
3. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1975/2006 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, as regards the implementation of control procedures as well as cross-compliance in respect of rural development support measures(10).	Article 9(2) Article 10(5) Section 2 of Chapter 2 of Title 1 of Part 2 (Articles 19 to 24)
4. Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 establishing common rules for direct support schemes for farmers under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers (11).	Chapter 1 of Title 2 (Articles 4 to 6) Articles 22 to 25 Article 124(5) Article 142(o) Annexes 2 and 3
5. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1122/2009 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 as regards cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system, under the direct support schemes for farmers provided for that Regulation, as well as for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards cross-compliance under the support scheme provided for the wine sector (12).	Chapter 2 of Title 1 of Part 2 (Articles 8 and 9) Chapter 3 of Title 3 of Part 2 (Articles 47 to 54) Chapter 3 of Title 4 of Part 2 (Articles 70 to 72) Article 77 Article 79(2)
6. Commission Regulation (EU) No 65/2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, as regards the implementation of control procedures as well as cross-compliance in respect of rural development support measures (13).	Article 9(2) Article 10(3) Section 2 of Chapter 2 of Title 1 of Part 2 (Articles 19 to 21)
7. Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy.	Title 6 (Articles 91 to 101) Annex 2
8. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system and conditions for refusal or withdrawal of payments and administrative penalties applicable to direct payments, rural development support and cross compliance.	Chapter 2 of Title 4 (Articles 38 to 41) Article 42
9. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system, rural development measures and cross compliance.	Article 5 Title 5 (Articles 64 to 75)
10. The Common Agricultural Policy (Control and Enforcement, Cross-Compliance, Scrutiny of Transactions and Appeals) Regulations 2014 (14).	Regulation 18 Schedules 2 and 3

Table 2

Consequential and incidental revocations

Column 1	Column 2
Instrument	Extent of revocation
1. Commission Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system provided for in Council Regulations (EC) No 1782/2003 and (EC) No 73/2009, as well as for the implementation of cross-compliance provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008.	Article 1, “cross-compliance,” Article 1, the words from “, and for the implementation of cross-compliance” to “479/2008” Article 2, first paragraph, subparagraphs (30), (31), (34), (35) and (36) Article 2, second paragraph Article 11(1), third subparagraph Article 14(1a), second subparagraph Article 23(1), “and of the requirements and standards relevant for cross-compliance” Article 23a(1), second subparagraph, final sentence Article 76(1)(a), the words from “, including in particular” to “requirements and conditions” Article 76(1)(e)
2. Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).	Article 39(3), first subparagraph, the words from “relevant mandatory standards” to “as well as” Article 40(2), first subparagraph, the words from “relevant mandatory standards” to “and other”
3. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1974/2006 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (15).	Article 46, first paragraph, the words from “of the relevant mandatory standards” to “as well as” Annex 2, Part A, point 5.2, third indent
4. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1975/2006 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, as regards the implementation of control procedures as well as cross-compliance in respect of rural development support measures.	Article 1, “as well as cross-compliance”
5. Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 establishing common rules for direct support schemes for farmers under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers.	Article 12(2)
6. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1122/2009 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 as regards cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system, under the direct support schemes for farmers provided for that Regulation, as well as for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards cross-compliance under the support scheme provided for the wine sector.	Article 1, “cross-compliance,” Article 1, the words from “, and for the implementation” to “1234/2007” Article 2(31), (32), (35), (36) and (38) Article 11(1), third subparagraph Article 26(1), “and of the requirements and standards relevant for cross-compliance” Article 27(1), final sentence Article 55(2) Article 75(1), final sentence Article 84(1)(a), the words from “including in particular the options chosen” to “and conditions” Article 84(1)(e)
7. Commission Regulation (EU) No 65/2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, as regards the implementation of control procedures as well as cross-compliance in respect of rural development support measures.	Article 1, “as well as cross-compliance”
8. Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).	Article 15(4)(a) Article 28(3), the words from “the relevant mandatory standards” to “1306/2013,” Article 29(2), the words from “the relevant mandatory standards” to “1306/2013,” Article 30(4)(b), the words from “the statutory management requirements” to “1306/2013 and” Article 33(2), the words from “relevant mandatory standards” to “1306/2013 and other” Annex 5, second row of table (for which the first column refers to RD priority 4)
9. Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy.	Article 1(d) Article 12(2)(a) Article 63(2), second sentence Article 64(1), “and in Articles 91 to 101 of Title VI” Article 67(3)
10. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system and conditions for refusal or withdrawal of payments and administrative penalties applicable to direct payments, rural development support and cross compliance.	Article 2(1)(1), the words from “, the beneficiary subject” to “1306/2013 and/or” Article 2(1)(2)(b) Article 2(2) Article 4(1), final subparagraph Article 9(2) Article 10(2) Article 13(2) Article 16(2)
11. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 808/2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (16).	Annex 1, Part 1, paragraph 8(1), “cross-compliance,” Annex 1, Part 1, paragraph 8(2)(e)— point 9, first indent, the words from “the relevant mandatory standards” to “1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council,” point 9, third indent, the words from “good agricultural” to “management requirements,” point 10, first indent, the words from “the relevant mandatory standards” to “1306/2013,” point 11, fourth indent, the words from “for Natura 2000” to “to Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 and”, and the words from “mandatory standards” to “of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 and” point 13, first indent
12. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system, rural development measures and cross compliance.	Article 1(r) and (s) Article 6(4) Article 24(1)(c) Article 25, second paragraph, second sentence Article 27, second paragraph, the words from “commitments and” to “cross-compliance,” Article 41(1)(h), “and/or cross-compliance”
13. The Common Agricultural Policy (Control and Enforcement, Cross-Compliance, Scrutiny of Transactions and Appeals) Regulations 2014.	Regulation 14(5), the definition of “Regulation 65/2011”
14. The Common Agricultural Policy (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2015(17).	Regulation 14
15. The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016(18).	Paragraph 76 of Part 2 of Schedule 29
16. The Agriculture (Legislative Functions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019(19).	Regulations 23 and 24
17. The Common Agricultural Policy (Financing, Management and Monitoring) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019(20).	Regulation 8
18. The Rural Development (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019(21).	Regulation 14(3)(b) Regulation 14(4)(c)
19. The Common Agricultural Policy (Financing, Management and Monitoring Supplementary Provisions) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019(22).	Regulation 5(5) Regulation 5(6)(d) Regulation 5(24)(b) Regulation 5(51) to (58) Regulation 6(2)(a)(ai) Regulation 6(2)(a)(i) Regulation 6(25) and (26)
20. The Rural Development (Rules and Decisions) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019(23).	Regulation 3(16)(g)(vi)
21. The Direct Payments to Farmers and Cross-Compliance (Simplifications) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020(24).	Regulation 4(6) and (7) Regulation 7(8)
22. The Agriculture (Payments) (Amendment, etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020(25).	Regulation 8(7) and (8) Regulation 8(31) to (36) Regulation 9(4)(b)
23. The Rural Development (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2022(26).	Regulation 11(11) and (12)
24. The Common Agricultural Policy (Cross-Compliance Exemptions and Transitional Regulation) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2022(27).	Regulation 2

PART 2 Saving

2.  Notwithstanding the revocations in Part 1 of each of the provisions listed in the tables, those provisions continue to have effect, in relation to England, so far as is necessary for the purposes of determining any outstanding rights and liabilities arising in respect of the cross-compliance framework.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations remove cross-compliance requirements for recipients of the farm payments to which they still apply. They also add some flexibility into the requirements for administering financial assistance schemes formerly under the Common Agricultural Policy. They extend to England and Wales but apply in relation to England only.

Part 2 revokes the legislation governing cross-compliance and makes consequential revocations of legislative provisions referring to cross-compliance (regulation 2 and Part 1 of the Schedule). Part 2 of the Schedule contains a general saving of the effect of the legislation that is being revoked for the purposes of dealing with outstanding rights and liabilities arising out of the cross-compliance framework prior to its removal.

Part 3 amends the provisions in Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 which require data to be published on beneficiaries of rural payments below EUR 1250, to give the Rural Payments Agency discretion over whether or not to publish that data.

Part 4 amends the provisions in Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 which require a percentage reduction to be imposed against rural payments for late submission of payment claims or single applications. It gives the Rural Payments Agency discretion over whether or not to impose that reduction.

Part 5 amends the provision in Regulation (EU) No 809/2014 setting the date in the claim year by which beneficiaries of rural payments must inform the Rural Payments Agency of their intention to amend their payment claim or single application. It removes the 31st May as the set legislative date, and leaves open the time within which notification of an amendment must be given under legislation.

Part 6 amends the provisions in Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 908/2014 which govern the scrutiny of commercial documents of undertakings that are receiving payments from, or making payments to, the system of financing of Common Market Organisation support. It changes several of the obligations on the Rural Payments Agency to make them discretionary.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.

(1)

2020 c. 21.

(2)

EUR 2013/1306, amended by S.I. 2019/763 (to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations); there are other amending instruments but none is relevant. EUR 2013/1306 was incorporated into domestic law by section 1 of the Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Act 2020 (c. 2) insofar as it relates to direct payments, and by section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16) in relation to the rest of the Common Agricultural Policy. From 1st January 2024 EUR 2013/1306 is intended to be revoked in England insofar as it relates to direct payments, so the amendments made by this instrument have effect only in respect of the remaining applications of the Common Market Organisation and rural development support measures in England.

(3)

EUR 2014/640, amended by S.I. 2019/765 (amended by S.I. 2020/1445; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant), S.I. 2022/765; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant. EUR 2014/640 was incorporated into domestic law by section 1 of the Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Act 2020 insofar as it relates to direct payments, and by section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 in relation to the rest of the Common Agricultural Policy.

(4)

EUR 1999/1257, as saved in respect of actions approved by the European Commission under that Regulation before 1st January 2007 by Article 93(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, and amended by S.I. 2019/764 (to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations).

(5)

EUR 2005/1698, as saved in respect of operations implemented pursuant to programmes approved by the European Commission under that Regulation before 1st January 2014 by Article 88 of EUR 2013/1305, and amended by S.I. 2019/764 (to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations), S.I. 2022/765.

(6)

EUR 2013/1305, amended by S.I. 2019/764 (amended by S.I. 2020/1445; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant), S.I. 2019/748, S.I. 2019/1422, S.I. 2022/765, S.I. 2022/861, S.I. 2022/1225.

(7)

EUR 2014/809, amended by S.I. 2019/765 (amended by S.I. 2020/1445; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant); there are other amending instruments but none is relevant. EUR 2014/809 was incorporated into domestic law by section 1 of the Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Act 2020 insofar as it relates to direct payments, and by section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 in relation to the rest of the Common Agricultural Policy. From 1st January 2024 EUR 2014/809 is intended to be revoked in England insofar as it relates to direct payments, so the amendments made by this instrument have effect only in respect of the remaining applications of the Common Market Organisation and rural development support measures in England.

(8)

EUR 2014/908, amended by S.I. 2019/765 (amended by S.I. 2020/1445; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant); there are other amending instruments but none is relevant. EUR 2014/908 was incorporated into domestic law by section 1 of the Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Act 2020 insofar as it relates to direct payments, and by section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 in relation to the rest of the Common Agricultural Policy. From 1st January 2024 EUR 2014/908 is intended to be revoked in England insofar as it relates to direct payments, so the amendments made by this instrument have effect only in respect of the remaining applications of the Common Market Organisation and rural development support measures in England.

(9)

EUR 2004/796, as saved in respect of aid applications relating to marketing years or premium periods starting before 1st January 2010 by Article 86 of EUR 2009/1122.

(10)

EUR 2006/1975, as saved in respect of payment claims submitted before 1st January 2011 by Article 34 of EUR 2011/65, and to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(11)

EUR 2009/73, as saved in respect of aid applications relating to claim years starting before 1st January 2015 by Article 72 of EUR 2013/1307.

(12)

EUR 2009/1122, as saved in respect of payment claims made and applications for support relating to the year 2014 and earlier years by Article 43(b) of EUR 2014/640, and to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(13)

EUR 2011/65, as saved in respect of payments claims made and applications for support relating to the year 2014 and earlier years by Article 43(b) of EUR 2014/640, and to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(14)

S.I. 2014/3263, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(15)

EUR 2006/1974, as saved in respect of operations implemented pursuant to programmes approved by the European Commission under Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 before 1st January 2014 by Article 19 of EUR 2014/807, and to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(16)

EUR 2014/808, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(17)

S.I. 2015/1997.

(18)

S.I. 2016/1154, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(19)

S.I. 2019/748, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(20)

S.I. 2019/763, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(21)

S.I. 2019/764, amended by S.I. 2020/1445; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant.

(22)

S.I. 2019/765, amended by S.I. 2020/1445; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant.

(23)

S.I. 2019/770, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(24)

S.I. 2020/1387.

(25)

S.I. 2020/1445, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(26)

S.I. 2022/765.

(27)

S.I. 2022/861.