Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 (repealed)Show full title

CHAPTER III U.K. Grubbing-up scheme

Article 98 U.K. Scope and definition

This Chapter lays down the conditions under which vine-growers shall receive a premium in exchange for grubbing up vines (hereinafter referred to as the grubbing-up premium).

Article 99 U.K. Duration of the scheme

The grubbing-up scheme shall apply until the end of the wine year 2010/2011.

Article 100 U.K. Conditions of eligibility

The grubbing-up premium may be granted only if the area concerned complies with the following conditions:

(a)

it did not receive Community or national support for restructuring and conversion-type measures within the 10 wine years preceding the grubbing-up request;

(b)

it did not receive Community support under any other common market organisation within the five wine years preceding the grubbing-up request;

(c)

it is tended;

(d)

it is not smaller than 0,1 hectare. However, that minimum size may be 0,3 hectare, if a Member State so decides, for certain administrative regions of that Member State in which the average of the area planted with vines of a wine holding exceeds one hectare;

(e)

it has not been planted in violation of any applicable Community or national provision;

(f)

it is planted with a wine grape variety classifiable according to Article 24(1).

Notwithstanding point (e), areas regularised in accordance with Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 and Article 86(1) of this Regulation shall be eligible for the grubbing-up premium.

Article 101 U.K. Amount of the grubbing-up premium

1. Scales for the grubbing-up premiums to be granted shall be fixed in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 113(1).

2. The specific amount of the grubbing-up premium shall be established by Member States within the scales referred to in paragraph 1 and on the basis of the historical yields of the holding concerned.

Article 102 U.K. Procedure and budget

1. Interested producers shall submit applications for the grubbing-up premium to the respective authorities in Member States not later than 15 September of each year. Member States may fix an earlier date than 15 September provided that it is later than 30 June and provided that they take into due account, where applicable, their application of the exemptions provided for in Article 104.

2. Member States shall carry out administrative controls concerning the applications received, process eligible applications and notify to the Commission by 15 October each year the total area and amounts covered by those applications split by regions and by yield ranges.

3. The maximum annual budget for the grubbing-up scheme is set out in Annex VII.

4. By 15 November each year, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 113(1), a single percentage for acceptance of the amounts notified shall be set if the total amount notified to the Commission by Member States exceeds the available budget resources, regard being had, where applicable, to the application of Articles 104(2) and (3).

5. By 1 February each year, Member States shall accept the applications:

(a) for the areas applied for in their entirety if the Commission has not set a percentage as referred to in paragraph 4; or

(b) for the areas resulting from the application of the percentage referred to in paragraph 4 based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria and in accordance with the following priorities:

(i)

Member States shall give priority to applicants whose application for the grubbing-up premium covers their entire vineyard;

(ii)

Member States shall give second priority to applicants who are not less than 55 years old, or older where Member States so provide.

By 1 March each year, Member States shall notify the Commission of the applications accepted split by regions and by yield ranges and the total amount of grubbing-up premiums paid by region.

6. For the preceding wine year, Member States shall notify the Commission, by 1 December each year, of:

(a) the areas grubbed-up split by regions and by yield ranges;

(b) the total amount of grubbing-up premiums paid by region.

Article 103 U.K. Cross-compliance

Where farmers are found not to have complied on their holding, at any time during three years from payment of the grubbing-up premium, with the statutory management requirements and the good agricultural and environmental condition referred to in Articles 3 to 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, the amount of the payment shall, where non-compliance is the result of an action or omission directly imputable to the farmer, be reduced or cancelled, partially or wholly depending on the severity, extent, permanence and repetition of the non-compliance, and the farmer shall, where applicable, be ordered to reimburse it in accordance with the conditions set out in those provisions.

Article 104 U.K. Exemptions

1. A Member State may decide to reject any further applications referred to in Article 102(1) once the accumulated grubbed-up area on its territory reaches 8 % of its area planted with vines as referred to in Annex VIII.

A Member State may decide to reject any further applications referred to in Article 102(1) for a region once the accumulated grubbed-up area in that region reaches 10 % of the region's area planted with vines.

2. It may be decided, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 113(1), to stop the application of the grubbing-up scheme in a Member State if, taking into account the pending applications, continued grubbing-up would lead to a cumulated area grubbed-up of more than 15 % of the Member State's total area planted with vines as referred to in Annex VIII.

3. It may be decided, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 113(1), to stop the application of the grubbing-up scheme in a Member State for a given year if, taking into account the pending applications, continued grubbing-up would lead to an area grubbed-up of more than 6 % of the Member State's total area planted with vines as referred to in Annex VIII in that particular year of the scheme's operation.

4. Member States may declare vines in mountain and steep-slope areas ineligible for the grubbing-up scheme in accordance with conditions to be determined in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 113(1).

5. Member States may declare areas ineligible for the grubbing-up scheme where application of the scheme would be incompatible with environmental concerns. Areas thus declared ineligible shall not exceed 3 % of the total area planted with vines as referred to in Annex VIII.

6. Greece may declare areas planted with vines on the Aegean islands and the Greek Ionian islands, with the exception of Crete and Eubia, ineligible under the grubbing-up scheme.

7. The grubbing-up scheme set out in this Chapter shall not apply in the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands.

8. Member States deciding to make use of the possibility provided for in paragraphs 4 to 6 shall communicate, by 1 August each year and for the first time on 1 August 2008, to the Commission, concerning the grubbing-up measure to be implemented:

(a) the areas declared ineligible;

(b) the justification for ineligibility in accordance with paragraphs 4 and 5.

9. Member States shall grant producers in the areas ineligible or declared ineligible under paragraphs 4 to 7 priority under other support measures laid down in this Regulation, in particular, where applicable, the restructuring and conversion measure under the support programmes and rural development measures.

Article 105 U.K. De minimis

This Chapter shall not apply in Member States where wine production does not exceed 50 000 hectolitres per wine year. This production shall be calculated on the basis of the average production during the previous five wine years.

Article 106 U.K. Complementary national aid

Member States may grant complementary national aid not exceeding 75 % of the applicable grubbing-up premium in addition to the grubbing-up premium granted.

Article 107 U.K. Implementing measures

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Chapter shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 113(1).

Those measures may in particular include:

(a)

details on the conditions of eligibility referred to in Article 100, in particular as regards proof that areas were properly tended in 2006 and 2007;

(b)

the premium scales and levels referred to in Article 101;

(c)

the criteria for exemption as referred to in Article 104;

(d)

the reporting requirements of Member States concerning the implementation of the grubbing-up scheme, including penalties in case of delays in reporting and the information which Member States give to producers concerning the availability of the scheme;

(e)

the reporting requirements as regards complementary national aid;

(f)

deadlines for payments.