Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 (repealed)Show full title

CHAPTER 1 U.K. CROSS COMPLIANCE

Article 3 U.K. Main requirements

1. A farmer receiving direct payments shall respect the statutory management requirements referred to in Annex III, according to the timetable fixed in that Annex, and the good agricultural and environmental condition established under Article 5.

2. The competent national authority shall provide the farmer with the list of statutory management requirements and good agricultural and environmental condition to be respected.

Article 4 U.K. Statutory management requirements

1. The statutory management requirements referred to in Annex III shall be established by Community legislation in the following areas:

• public, animal and plant health,

• environment,

• animal welfare.

2. The acts referred to in Annex III shall apply within the framework of this Regulation in the version as amended from time to time and, in case of Directives, as implemented by the Member States.

Article 5 U.K. Good agricultural and environmental condition

1. Member States shall ensure that all agricultural land, especially land which is no longer used for production purposes, is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition. Member States shall define, at national or regional level, minimum requirements for good agricultural and environmental condition on the basis of the framework set up in Annex IV, taking into account the specific characteristics of the areas concerned, including soil and climatic condition, existing farming systems, land use, crop rotation, farming practices, and farm structures. This is without prejudice to the standards governing good agricultural practices as applied in the context of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 and to agri-environment measures applied above the reference level of good agricultural practices.

2. Member States shall ensure that land which was under permanent pasture at the date provided for the area aid applications for 2003 is maintained under permanent pasture.[F1 The new Member States shall ensure that land which was under permanent pasture on 1 May 2004 is maintained under permanent pasture.] [F2 However, Bulgaria and Romania shall ensure that land which was under permanent pasture on 1 January 2007 is maintained under permanent pasture.]

However a Member State may, in duly justified circumstances, derogate from the first subparagraph, provided that it takes action to prevent any significant decrease in its total permanent pasture area.

The first subparagraph shall not apply to land under permanent pasture to be afforested, if such afforestation is compatible with the environment and with the exclusion of plantations of Christmas trees and fast growing species cultivated in the short term.

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Council Regulation (EC) No 583/2004 of 22 March 2004 amending Regulations (EC) No 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers, (EC) No 1786/2003 on the common organisation of the market in dried fodder and (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union.

F2 Inserted by Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania and the adjustments to the treaties on which the European Union is founded.

Article 6 U.K. Reduction or exclusion from payments

1. Where the statutory management requirements or good agricultural and environmental condition are not complied with, as a result of an action or omission directly attributable to the individual farmer, the total amount of direct payments to be granted in the calendar year in which the non-compliance occurs, and after application of Articles 10 and 11, shall be reduced or cancelled in accordance with the detailed rules laid down under Article 7.

2. The reductions or exclusions referred to in paragraph 1 shall only apply if the non-compliance relates to:

(a) an agricultural activity, or

(b) an agricultural land of the holding, including the parcels on set aside.

Article 7 U.K. Detailed rules for reduction or exclusion

1. Detailed rules for the reductions and exclusions referred to in Article 6 shall be laid down in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2). In this context, account shall be taken of the severity, extent, permanence and repetition of the non-compliance found as well as of the criteria set out in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

2. In case of negligence, the percentage of reduction shall not exceed 5 % and, in case of repeated non-compliance, 15 %.

3. In case of intentional non-compliance, the percentage of reduction shall not in principle be less than 20 % and may go as far as total exclusion from one or several aid schemes and apply for one or more calendar years.

4. In any case, the total amount of reductions and exclusions for one calendar year shall not be more than the total amount referred to in Article 6(1).

Article 8 U.K. Review

By 31 December 2007 at the latest, the Commission shall submit a report on the application of the system of cross compliance accompanied, if necessary, by appropriate proposals notably with the view of amending the list of statutory management requirements set out in Annex III.

Article 9 U.K. Amounts resulting from cross compliance

The amount resulting from the application of this Chapter shall be credited to the EAGGF ‘Guarantee’ Section. Member State may retain 25 % of those amounts.