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 established in Annex III, 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. Member States shall not define minimum requirements which are not foreseen in that framework.
The standards listed in the third column of Annex III shall be optional except where:
(a)a Member State had defined, for such a standard, a minimum requirement for the good agricultural and environmental condition before 1 January 2009; and/or
(b)national rules addressing the standard are applied in the Member State.
[F12. The Member States other than the new 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. The new Member States other than Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania shall ensure that land which was under permanent pasture on 1 May 2004 is maintained under permanent pasture. Bulgaria and Romania shall ensure that land which was under permanent pasture on 1 January 2007 is maintained under permanent pasture. Croatia shall ensure that land which was under permanent pasture on 1 July 2013 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 Substituted by Treatybetween the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Estonia, Ireland, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Poland, the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Member States of the European Union) and the Republic of Croatia concerning the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union.