Commission Regulation (EC) No 1120/2009
of 29 October 2009
laying down detailed rules for the implementation of the single payment scheme provided for in Title III of 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support schemes for farmers under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers (repealed)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 of 19 January 2009 establishing common rules for direct support schemes for farmers under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1290/2005, (EC) No 247/2006, (EC) No 378/2007 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003(1) and in particular Articles 36, 39(2), 41(4), 43(3), 57(2), 68(7), 69(6), first subparagraph, point (a) and (7), fourth subparagraph, 71(6), second subparagraph, and (10), 142(c), (d), (f), (g), (h) and (q), 147 and 148 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 of 21 April 2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of the single payment scheme provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers(2) has been substantially amended. Subsequently, Commission Regulation (EC) No 639/2009 of 22 July 2009 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 as regards specific support(3) was adopted. Since further amendments to Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 are to be made, it is appropriate, in the interests of clarity, to incorporate Regulations (EC) No 795/2004 and (EC) No 639/2009 into a single Regulation containing all detailed rules for the implementation of Title III of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.
(2) For reasons of legal certainty and clarity it is appropriate to provide for certain definitions. As regards short rotation coppice, it is appropriate to allow Member States to define suitable varieties in the light of their climatic and agronomic suitability for the territory.
(3) Article 28 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 provides for minimum requirements to be respected, but the application of point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 28(1) is not appropriate for farmers who are still receiving direct payments under certain coupled schemes but do not hold any hectares. By their nature the premiums for sheep and goat referred to in Title IV, Chapter 1, Section 10 of that Regulation or the beef and veal payment referred to in Title IV, Chapter 1, Section 11 of that Regulation are such coupled schemes. Those farmers are in the same situation as farmers holding special entitlements and in order to ensure the full effectiveness of those schemes they should therefore be treated in the same way for the purposes of Article 28(1) of that Regulation as farmers holding special entitlements.
(4) In order to facilitate the calculation of the unit value of the payment entitlements, clear rules should be laid down on the rounding-up of figures and for the possibility to split existing payment entitlements where the size of the parcel which is declared or transferred with the entitlement only amounts to a fraction of hectares and for rules to cover the merger of entitlements and fractions.
(5) Article 51(1) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 allows for the deferred integration of fruit and vegetables into the single payment scheme. Appropriate rules to enable that deferral should be provided for. In particular, the third subparagraph of that provision allows Member States to revise the decision taken under Article 68b of Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003(4) in order to provide for more rapid integration into the single payment scheme. However, in the light of Article 38 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, in order for the third subparagraph of Article 51(1) of that Regulation to have effect, it is necessary for the areas concerned to be made eligible for the single payment scheme. Member States should therefore be able to revise the decision made pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 51 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.
(6) Specific provisions for the management of the national reserve should be laid down.
(7) Article 41(2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 provide for optional cases of allocation of payment entitlements from the national reserve. It is appropriate to lay down rules for the calculation of the number and value of the payment entitlements to be allocated in such a way. In order to allow a certain flexibility for the Member States, which are in the best position to evaluate the situation of each farmer applying for such measures, the maximum number of entitlements to be allocated should not be higher than the number of hectares declared and its value should not be higher than an amount to be fixed by the Member State according to objective criteria.
(8) Under certain circumstances farmers could hold more entitlements than land to activate them because of the expiry of a lease, including in the case of common use of forage area. Therefore it seems appropriate to provide for a mechanism that should ensure that support may continue to be granted to the farmer by concentrating it on the remaining available hectares. However, in order to avoid abuse of the mechanism, conditions for access to it should be laid down.
(9) Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 the national reserve shall be replenished by unused entitlements or, on an optional basis, by retention on the sale of payment entitlements or on sales that have taken place before a certain date to be fixed by Member States when further decoupling takes place. It is therefore necessary to provide for a date after which the unused entitlements revert to the national reserve.
(10) Where retention on the sale of payment entitlements is applied, maximum percentages and criteria for its application should be laid down and differentiated to take into account the type of transfer and the type of payment entitlement to be transferred. Such retentions should not however result in a substantial obstacle or prohibition of transfer of payment entitlements. In the case of regional application in the hybrid model however, the retention should not affect the basic regional value of payment entitlements but only the amounts linked to the historical references.
(11) In order to facilitate the administration of the national reserve, it is appropriate to provide for its management at regional level except in the cases referred to in Article 41(2), or where applicable, Article 41(4) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, where Member States are obliged to allocate payment entitlements.
(12) Article 33(2) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 provides that support under the single payment scheme shall be available to farmers by allocation or transfer of payment entitlements. In order to avoid changes of the legal status of the holding being used to evade the application of the rules on normal transfers of a holding with the attached reference amounts, conditions should be applied for anticipated inheritance or inheritance, merges and scissions.
(13) Article 62(3) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 provides that a farmer in a new Member State which has introduced the single payment scheme may transfer his payment entitlements without land only after he has used, within the meaning of Article 34 of that Regulation, at least 80 % of his payment entitlements during at least one calendar year. In order to take into account of transfers of land that took place in the period before the application of the single payment scheme, it is justified to consider the transfer of holding or part of it together with the future payment entitlements as a valid transfer of the payment entitlements with land within the meaning of Article 43 of that Regulation, subject to conditions, in particular that the seller should apply for the establishment of the payment entitlements as far as that Regulation provides that only those who received the direct payment in the reference period should have access to the scheme.
(14) Article 41(4) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 allows the Commission to define special situations giving right to the establishment of reference amounts for certain farmers finding themselves in situations which prevented them, in full or in part, from receiving direct payments in the reference period. It is therefore appropriate to list those special situations by providing for rules in order to avoid cumulation of the benefit from different allocations of payment entitlements for the same farmer, without prejudice to the possibility for the Commission to add further cases if necessary. Moreover, Member States should be given the flexibility to establish the reference amount to be allocated.
(15) Where a Member State, according to national law or well established usual practice, includes in the definition of long term lease also leases of 5 years, it is appropriate to allow them to apply this shorter term.
(16) Where a farmer retires or dies and provides for the transfer of his holding or part of it to a member of the family or other heir who intends to continue the agricultural activity on this holding, it is appropriate to ensure that the transfer of the holding or part of it may easily take place, in particular, where the transferred land was leased to a third person during the reference period, without prejudging the possibility for the heir to continue the agricultural activity.
(17) Farmers who made investments resulting in a potential increase of the amount in direct payments that they would have been granted if the single payment scheme had not been introduced or if the relevant sector had not been decoupled should also benefit from the allocation of entitlements. Specific rules should be provided for the calculation of the payment entitlements where a farmer already owns payment entitlements or has no hectares. In the same circumstances, farmers who bought or leased land or participated in national programmes of reconversion of production for which a direct payment under the single payment scheme could have been granted in the reference period would find themselves without payment entitlements whilst they acquired land or participated in such programmes in order to exercise an agricultural activity that could in the future still benefit from certain direct payments. Therefore it is also appropriate to provide for the allocation of payment entitlements in such cases.
(18) For the good administration of the scheme, it is appropriate to provide for rules to cover transfers and to allow for modification of entitlements, in particular to allow for the merging of fractions.
(19) Article 43(1) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 provides that a Member State may decide that payment entitlements may only be transferred or used within one and the same region. In order to avoid practical problems, specific rules should be provided for holdings situated in two or more regions.
(20) Article 39 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 allows for the production of hemp under certain conditions. It is necessary to establish the list of eligible varieties as well as to provide for the certification of those varieties.
(21) Specific rules should be provided for the calculation of the livestock unit in case of establishment of special entitlements by referring to the existing conversion table provided for in the beef, veal, sheep and goat sectors.
(22) Where a Member State decides to make use of the option to regionalise the single payment scheme, specific provisions should be established in order to facilitate the calculation of the regional reference amount for holdings situated in between two or more regions, as well as in order to guarantee a full allocation of the regional amount in the first year of application of the scheme. Some of the provisions provided for by this Regulation, notably on the establishment of the national reserve, initial allocation of payment entitlements and transfer of payment entitlements should be adjusted in order to make them applicable in the regional model.
(23) A common framework for specific solutions for certain situations occurring upon further decoupling should be created.
(24) Chapter 5 of Title III of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 provides for specific support to be granted to farmers. Detailed rules for the implementation of that Chapter should be laid down.
(25) In accordance with Article 68(6) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, consistency between specific support granted under that Article and other Community support measures or measures financed by State aids is required. For orderly management of the schemes, similar measures should not be financed twice under both specific support and other Community support schemes. Due to the diversity of choices offered for implementing the specific support, the responsibility of ensuring the consistency should otherwise be left to the Member States according to the decision they take to implement specific support measures, within the framework laid down by Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 and in conformity with the conditions laid down in this Regulation.
(26) Since farmers should always respect legal requirements, specific support should not compensate for complying with them.
(27) Pursuant to Article 68(1)(a)(i) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, specific support may be granted for specific types of farming which are important for the protection or enhancement of the environment. In order to maintain discretion for Member States whilst ensuring that measures are well-managed, the responsibility of defining the specific types of farming should be assigned to the Member States, whilst the measures should nevertheless provide for non-negligible and measurable environmental benefits.
(28) Pursuant to Article 68(1)(a)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, specific support may be granted for improving the quality of agricultural products. In order to assist Member States, an indicative list of conditions to be met should be laid down.
(29) Pursuant to Article 68(1)(a)(iii) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, specific support may be granted for improving the marketing of agricultural products subject to Article 68(2)(c) of that Regulation which requires the support to satisfy the criteria laid down in Articles 2 to 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 3/2008 of 17 December 2007 on information provision and promotion measures for agricultural products on the internal market and in third countries(5). Provision should be made to specify the content of the eligible measures as well as the applicable provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 501/2008 of5 June 2008 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 3/2008 on information provision and promotion measures for agricultural products on the internal market and in third countries(6).
(30) Pursuant to Article 68(1)(a)(iv) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, specific support may be granted for practising enhanced animal welfare standards. In order to achieve enhanced animal welfare standards, provision should be made to assign Member States the responsibility for establishing a system allowing for an assessment of the plans of the applicant aiming at addressing various animal welfare aspects.
(31) Pursuant to Article 68(1)(a)(v) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, specific support may be granted for specific agricultural activities entailing additional agri-environment benefits. Pursuant to Article 68(2)(a), the support may be granted in particular if it has been approved by the Commission. Therefore, provision should be made to specify the detailed framework to be complied with by Member States in establishing the eligibility criteria for the support. Provision should also be made for establishing the procedure of notification, assessment and approval of the measure by the Commission.
(32) Pursuant to Article 68(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, specific support may be granted to address specific disadvantages affecting farmers in specific sectors in economically vulnerable or environmentally sensitive areas or for economically vulnerable types of farming in those sectors. In order to maintain scope for Member States whilst ensuring that measures are well-managed, provision should be made to assign Member States the responsibility of defining the areas and/or types of farming eligible for support and fixing the appropriate level. In order to avoid market distortions, the payments should not however be based on fluctuations of market prices or be equivalent to a deficiency payments system whereby agricultural domestic support is paid by Member States to farmers based on the difference between a target price and a domestic market price.
(33) Pursuant to Article 68(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, specific support may be granted in areas subject to restructuring and/or development programs in order to ensure against land abandonment and/or to address specific disadvantages for farmers in those areas. Provision should be made in particular as regards the establishment of reference amounts per eligible farmer, the allocation of payment entitlements and the calculation of the increase of their value as well as regarding the control of the programmes by the Member States which should follow those laid down for the allocation of amounts from the national reserve in the interests of coherence.
(34) Pursuant to Article 68(1)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, specific support may be granted in the form of contributions to crop, animal and plant insurance premiums. A minimum framework should be established within which the Member States shall lay down rules in accordance with their national laws defining the way financial contribution to the premiums for crop, animal and plant insurance is allocated in order to ensure that contributions are maintained at an appropriate level whilst the interests of the farming community are safeguarded.
(35) Article 68(1)(e) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 provides a significant level of detail on the provision of specific support aimed at compensating farmers for certain economic losses in the event of animal or plant diseases and environmental incidents by way of financial contributions to mutual funds. A minimum framework should be established within which the Member States shall lay down rules in accordance with their national laws defining the way financial contribution to mutual funds is organised in order to ensure that contributions are maintained at an appropriate level whilst the interests of the farming community are safeguarded.
(36) Amounts referred to in Article 69(6)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 are to be calculated by the Commission in accordance with paragraph 7 of that Article. Therefore, provision should be made to fix for each Member State the amounts concerned as well as the conditions applicable for the revision of those amounts by the Commission.
(37) Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 provides that Member States shall define the regions in accordance with objective criteria and Article 47 of that Regulation provides that Member States may proceed to a regionalisation of the single payment scheme in duly justified cases and in accordance with objective criteria. It is therefore appropriate to provide for the communication of all the necessary data and information before the applicable deadlines.
(38) Dates for the notification to Commission should be fixed for cases where a Member State decides to apply any of the options provided for in Articles 28(1) and (2), 38, 41(2) to (5), 45(1) and (3), 46(1) and (3), 47(1) to (4), 49, 51(1), 67(1), 68 to 72 and 136 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.
(39) In order to assess the application of the single payment scheme, it is appropriate to establish the detailed rules and deadlines for the exchange of information between the Commission and the Member States and to inform the Commission of the areas for which the aid has been paid, at national, and, where the case may be, at regional level.
(40) Regulations (EC) No 795/2004 and (EC) No 639/2009 should therefore be repealed.
(41) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Direct Payments,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: