Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 (repealed)Show full title

Article 107 U.K. Set-aside

1. In case of application of Article 71, farmers applying for the area payment shall be subject to an obligation to set aside part of the land of their holding from production and shall receive compensation for this obligation.

2. The set-aside obligation for each farmer applying for area payments shall be fixed as a proportion of his area down to arable crops and for which a claim is made and left in set-aside pursuant to this Chapter.

The basic rate of compulsory set-aside is fixed at 10 % for the marketing years 2005/2006 and 2006/2007.

3. The land set aside may be used for:

• producing materials for the manufacture within the Community of products not directly intended for human or animal consumption, provided that effective control systems are applied;

• growing legume crops on a agricultural holding, managed for the totality of its production, in compliance with the obligations laid down in Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91.

Member States shall be authorised to pay national aid up to 50 % of the costs associated with establishing multiannual crops intended for bio-mass production on set-aside land.

4. The quantity of by-products for feed or food uses likely to be made available as a result of the cultivation of oilseeds on land set-aside under paragraph 3 first indent shall be taken into account for the respect of the limit of 1 million tonnes referred to in Article 56(3).

5. Where different yields are set for irrigated and non-irrigated land, the payment for set-aside for non-irrigated land apply.

6. Farmers may be granted the set-aside payment on land voluntarily set aside in excess of their obligation. Member States shall allow farmers to set-aside up to at least 10 % of the area down to arable crops and for which a payment application is made, and left in set-aside pursuant to this Article. Higher percentages may be set by a Member State taking into account specific situations and ensuring sufficient occupation of farmland.

In case of application of Article 66, this paragraph shall apply according to detailed rules to be adopted by the Commission, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2).

7. Farmers who make a payment application for an area no bigger than the area which would be needed to produce 92 tonnes of cereals, on the basis of the yields determined for their region, are not bound by the set-aside obligation. Paragraph 6 shall apply to these farmers.

8. Without prejudice to Article 108, areas:

• set aside pursuant to agri-environment (Articles 22 to 24 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999), which are neither put to any agricultural use nor used for any lucrative purposes other than those accepted for other land set aside under this Regulation, or

• afforested pursuant to afforestation (Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999),

as a result of an application made after 28 June 1995, may, up to any limit per holding which may be set by the Member State concerned, be counted as being set aside for the purposes of the set-aside requirement indicated in paragraph 1. Such limit shall be set only to the extent necessary to avoid a disproportionate amount of the available budget relating to the scheme in question being concentrated on a small number of farms.

However, on these areas, the area payment specified in Article 104 of this Regulation shall not be granted and the support granted under Article 24(1) or Article 31(1), second indent of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 shall be limited to an amount equal at most to the area payment for set aside specified in Article 104 of this Regulation.

Member States may decide not to apply the scheme provided for in this paragraph to a new applicant in any region in which there is a continuing risk of a significant overshoot of the regional base area.

9. Set aside areas shall not be less than 0,1 ha in size and 10 metres wide. For duly justified environmental reasons, Member States may accept areas at least 5 metres wide and 0,05 ha in size.