Commission Regulation (EC) No 1120/2009 (repealed)Show full title

CHAPTER 1 General provisions

Section 1 Activation of entitlements and eligibility of land

Article 3 Inheritance and anticipated inheritance

1. Where inheritance or anticipated inheritance would affect the allocation of payment entitlements, the farmer who has received the holding or part of the holding shall claim, in his name, the payment entitlements to be calculated for the holding or part of the holding received.

The reference amount shall be established on the basis of the production units inherited.

2. In cases of revocable anticipated inheritance, the access to the single payment scheme shall be given only once to the designated inheritant by the date for lodging an application for the payment under the single payment scheme.

Succession under a contract lease or inheritance or anticipated inheritance from a farmer who is a natural person and who was a lessee of a holding or part of it, in the relevant reference period, which would give right to payment entitlements or increase of the value of payment entitlements, shall be treated as the inheritance of a holding.

3. In cases where a farmer referred to in paragraph 1 is already entitled to payment entitlements or an increase of the value of payment entitlements, the reference amount shall be established on the basis of, respectively, the sum of the reference amounts relating to his original holding and the inherited production units.

4. For the purposes of this Regulation, the definition in the national legislation for ‘inheritance’ and ‘anticipated inheritance’ shall be used.

Article 4 Changes in legal status or denomination

In the case of changes of legal status or denomination, the farmer shall have access to the single payment scheme under the same conditions as the farmer originally managing the holding within the limit of the payment entitlements held by the original holding, or in the case of allocation of entitlements or increase of the value of payment entitlements within the limits applicable for allocations to the original holding.

In the case of changes of the legal status of a legal person or from a natural person to a legal person or from a legal person to a natural person, the farmer managing the new holding shall be the farmer who was in control of the original holding in terms of management, benefits and financial risks.

Article 5 Mergers and scissions

Where a case of merger or scission would affect the allocation of payment entitlements or increase of the value of payment entitlements, the farmer or farmers managing the new holding or holdings shall have access to the single payment scheme under the same condition as the farmer or farmers managing the original holding or holdings.

The reference amount shall be established on the basis of the production units relating to the original holding or holdings.

Article 6 Minimum requirements

For the purposes of Article 28(1) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, farmers receiving 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, who hold fewer hectares than the threshold selected by a Member State shall be treated in the same way as farmers holding special entitlements referred to in Article 44(1) of that Regulation.

Article 7 Calculation of the unit value of payment entitlements

1. Payment entitlements shall be calculated up to three decimals and rounded up or down to the nearest second decimal. If the calculation gives a result which is exactly half-way, the sum shall be rounded up to the nearest second decimal.

2. Where the size of a parcel which is transferred with an entitlement in accordance with Article 43 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 amounts to a fraction of a hectare, the farmer may transfer the part of the entitlement concerned with the land at a value calculated to the extent of the same fraction. The remaining part of the entitlement shall remain at the disposal of the farmer at a value calculated correspondingly.

Without prejudice to Article 43(2) of that Regulation, if a farmer transfers a fraction of an entitlement without land the value of the two fractions shall be calculated proportionally.

3. Member States may modify payment entitlements by merging fractions of entitlements of the same type owned by a farmer. Paragraph 1 shall apply to the result of such a merger.

Article 8 Declaration and use of payment entitlements

1. Payment entitlements may only be declared for payment once per year by the farmer who holds them at the latest date for lodging the single application in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1122/2009(1).

However, where a farmer makes use of the possibility to amend the single application in accordance with Article 14 of that Regulation, he may also declare payment entitlements which he holds at the date of his notification of the amendments to the competent authority provided that the payment entitlements concerned are not declared by another farmer in respect of the same year.

Where the farmer acquires the payment entitlements concerned by way of a transfer from another farmer and where that other farmer had already declared those payment entitlements, the additional declaration of those payment entitlements shall only be admissible if the transferor has already informed the competent authority of the transfer in accordance with Article 12 of this Regulation and withdraws those payment entitlements from his own single application, within the applicable time-limits set out in Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1122/2009.

2. Where a farmer, after having declared parcels corresponding to all his available whole payment entitlements under Article 35(1) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, still disposes of a parcel which amounts to a fraction of a hectare, he may declare a further whole payment entitlement which shall give right to a payment calculated pro rata to the size of the parcel. However, the payment entitlement shall be deemed as fully used for the purposes of Article 42 of that Regulation.

Article 9 Predominantly agricultural use

For the purposes of Article 34(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, where an agricultural area of a holding is used as well for non-agricultural activities that area shall be considered as being used predominantly for agricultural activities, if the agricultural activity can be exercised without being significantly hampered by the intensity, nature, duration and timing of the non-agricultural activity.

Member States shall establish criteria for the implementation of the first subparagraph on their territory.

Section 2 Specific eligibility criteria

Article 10 Production of hemp

For the purposes of Article 39 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, the payment of the entitlements for areas on hemp shall be subject to the use of seed of the varieties listed in ‘Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species’ on 15 March of the year in respect of which the payment is granted and published in accordance with Article 17 of Council Directive 2002/53/EC(2), with exception of the varieties Finola and Tiborszallasi. The seed shall be certified in accordance with Council Directive 2002/57/EC(3).

Article 11 Deferred integration of fruit and vegetables into the single payment scheme

1. Until 31 December 2010 Member States having made use of one of the options as set out in the third subparagraph of Article 51(1) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 may allow secondary crops to be cultivated on the eligible hectares during a period of maximum three months starting each year on 15 August or on the date laid down in Annex II for the Member State and region concerned.

2. Where a Member State has made use of one of the options as set out in the third subparagraph of Article 51(1) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, it may, where necessary, revise the decision taken pursuant to Article 51, second subparagraph of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 within two weeks of the entry into force of this Regulation.

Section 3 Transfer of entitlements

Article 12 Transfer of payment entitlements

1. Payment entitlements may be transferred at any time of the year.

2. The transferor shall inform the competent authority of the Member State where the transfer will operate within a period to be established by that Member State.

3. A Member State may require that the transferor shall communicate the transfer to the competent authority of the Member State where the transfer will operate, within a time period to be established by that Member State but not earlier than six weeks before the transfer takes place and taking into account the last date for lodging an application under the single payment scheme. The transfer shall take place as foreseen in the communication unless the competent authority objects to the transfer and notifies the transferor thereof within that time period.

The competent authority may only object to a transfer where the latter is not in accordance with provisions of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 and of this Regulation.

4. For the purposes of Article 62(3) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, the percentage of the payment entitlements the farmer has used shall be calculated on the number of payment entitlements allocated to him in the first year of application of the single payment scheme, with the exception of payment entitlements sold with land, and must be used during one calendar year.

Article 13 Regional limitation

1. Without prejudice to Articles 50(1) and 62(1) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, where a Member State makes use of the option provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 43(1) of that Regulation, Member States shall define the region at the appropriate territorial level in accordance with objective criteria and in such a way as to ensure equal treatment between farmers and to avoid market and competition distortion.

2. The Member State shall define the region referred to in paragraph 1 at the latest one month before the date fixed by the Member State pursuant to Article 35 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 in the first year of application of the option provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 43(1) of that Regulation.

A farmer, whose holding is situated in the region concerned, may not transfer or use outside that region his payment entitlements corresponding to the number of hectares which he declared in the first year of application of the option provided for in the third subparagraph of Article 46(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 or which he declares in the first year of application of the option provided for in Article 43(1) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.

A farmer, whose holding is partly situated in the region concerned, may not transfer or use outside that region his payment entitlements corresponding to the number of hectares, situated in that region, which he declares in the first year of application of the option.

3. The limitation to the transfer of payment entitlements referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 43(1) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 shall not apply in case of actual or anticipated inheritance of payment entitlements without an equivalent number of eligible hectares.

Section 4 Special entitlements

Article 14 Calculation of livestock units for special entitlements

1. For the purposes of Article 44(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, the agricultural activity carried out in the reference period expressed in livestock units (LU) shall be the one which was calculated in accordance with Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 795/2004.

2. For the purposes of Article 65 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 and of calculating the agricultural activity carried out during the application of Articles 67 and 68 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 expressed in LU referred to in Article 44(2)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, the following conversion table shall apply to the average number of animals determined for the granting of a direct payment referred to in Articles 67 and 68 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 in the relevant reference period:

Male bovine animals and heifers older than 24 months, suckler cows, dairy cows	1,0 LU
Male bovine animals and heifers from six months to 24 months	0,6 LU
Male, female bovine animals of less than six months	0,2 LU
Sheep	0,15 LU
Goat	0,15 LU

In case of slaughter premium, where the necessary data regarding the age of the animals are not available, a Member State may convert bulls, steers, cows and heifers in LU by using the coefficient 0,7 and calves by using the coefficient 0,25.

Where the same animal benefited from several premiums, the coefficient applicable shall be the average of the coefficient applicable to the different premiums.

3. The number of LU referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be calculated pro rata to the payment entitlements for which the farmer does not have hectares in the year of integration of the coupled support scheme into the single payment scheme or of implementation of the single payment scheme and for which the farmer requests the allocation of entitlements subject to special conditions. It shall apply starting from the payment entitlements at the lowest value.

This request shall be made only in the first year of integration of the coupled support scheme into the single payment scheme or of implementation of the single payment scheme. Member States shall fix the date for the request. It may be renewed in the following years for the same number of special entitlements referred to in Article 44 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 in the previous year or, in case of transfer of some of those payment entitlements, or in case of declaration of some of those payment entitlements with a corresponding number of hectares, for the remaining of those payment entitlements.

In these cases, the number of LU shall be recalculated pro rata to the remaining payment entitlements for which the farmer requests the special conditions.

No request to re-establish the conditions referred to in Article 44 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 may be introduced for those payment entitlements once they have been declared with an equivalent number of hectares or they have been transferred, without prejudice to Article 44(3) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.

4. In order to check that the minimum agricultural activity expressed in LUs is respected, Member States shall use the conversion table provided for in paragraph 2 and determine the number of animals in accordance with one of the following methods:

(a) Member States shall ask each producer to declare, on the basis of his farm register, prior to a date to be determined by the Member State but not later than the date of payment, the number of LUs; and/or

(b) Member States shall use the computerised database set up in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council(4) to determine the number of LUs on condition that the database offers, to the satisfaction of the Member State, adequate assurances as to the accuracy of the data it contains for the purposes of the single payment scheme.

5. The minimum agricultural activity requirement shall be deemed to be respected when the number of LUs reaches 50 % during a period or at certain dates to be determined by the Member States. All the animals sold or slaughtered during the calendar year concerned shall be taken into account.

6. Member States shall take the measures necessary to apply Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 in the case of producers who, by means of abnormally high numbers of LUs during part of the year, artificially create the conditions required to respect the minimum agricultural activity.

(1)

See page 65 of this Official Journal.

(2)

OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 1.

(3)

OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 74.

(4)

OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1.