Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

TITLE II PROGRAMMING

CHAPTER I Programming content

Article 6 Rural development programmes

1. The EAFRD shall act in the Member States through rural development programmes. Those programmes shall implement a strategy to meet the Union priorities for rural development through a set of measures as defined in Title III. Support from the EAFRD shall be sought for the achievement of the objectives of rural development pursued through Union priorities.

2. A Member State may submit either a single programme for its entire territory or a set of regional programmes. Alternatively, in duly justified cases, it may submit a national programme and a set of regional programmes. If a Member State submits a national programme and a set of regional programmes, measures and/or types of operations shall be programmed either at national level or at regional level, and coherence between the strategies of the national and regional programmes shall be ensured.

3. Member States with regional programmes may also submit, for approval in accordance with Article 10(2), a national framework containing common elements for these programmes without a separate budgetary allocation.

National frameworks of Member States with regional programmes may also contain a table summarising, by region and by year, the total EAFRD contribution to the Member State concerned for the whole programming period.

Article 7 Thematic sub-programmes

1. With the aim of contributing to the achievement of the Union priorities for rural development, Member States may include within their rural development programmes thematic sub-programmes that address specific needs. Such thematic sub-programmes may, inter alia, relate to:

(a) young farmers;

(b) small farms as referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 19(2);

(c) mountain areas as referred to in Article 32(2);

(d) short supply chains;

(e) women in rural areas;

(f) climate change mitigation and adaptation and biodiversity.

An indicative list of measures and types of operations of particular relevance to each thematic sub-programme is set out in Annex IV.

2. Thematic sub-programmes may also address specific needs relating to the restructuring of agricultural sectors with a significant impact on the development of a specific rural area.

3. The support rates laid down in Annex II may be increased by 10 additional percentage points for operations supported in the framework of thematic sub-programmes concerning small farms and short supply chains, climate change mitigation and adaptation and biodiversity. In the case of young farmers and mountain areas, the maximum support rates may be increased in accordance with Annex II. However, the maximum combined support rate shall not exceed 90 %.

Article 8 Content of rural development programmes

1. In addition to the elements referred to in Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, each rural development programme shall include:

(a) the ex ante evaluation referred to in Article 55 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013;

(b) a SWOT analysis of the situation and an identification of the needs that have to be addressed in the geographical area covered by the programme.

The analysis shall be structured around the Union priorities for rural development. Specific needs concerning the environment, climate change mitigation and adaptation and innovation shall be assessed across Union priorities for rural development, in order to identify relevant responses in these three areas at the level of each priority;

(c) a description of the strategy which demonstrates that:

(i)

appropriate targets are set for each of the focus areas of the Union priorities for rural development included in the programme, based on the common indicators referred to in Article 69 and, where necessary, on programme specific indicators;

(ii)

relevant combinations of measures are selected in relation to each of the focus areas of the Union priorities for rural development included in the programme, based on a sound intervention logic supported by the ex ante evaluation referred to in point (a) and the analysis referred to in point (b);

(iii)

the allocation of financial resources to the measures of the programme is justified and adequate to achieve the targets set;

(iv)

specific needs linked with specific conditions at regional or sub-regional level are taken into account and concretely addressed through adequately designed combinations of measures or thematic sub-programmes;

(v)

an appropriate approach towards innovation with a view to achieving the Union priorities for rural development, including the EIP for agricultural productivity and sustainability, towards the environment, including the specific needs of Natura 2000 areas, and towards climate change mitigation and adaptation is integrated into the programme;

(vi)

measures have been taken to ensure the availability of sufficient advisory capacity on the regulatory requirements and on actions related to innovation;

(d) for each ex ante conditionality, established in accordance with Article 19, and part II of Annex XI to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 for the general ex ante conditionalities, and in accordance with Annex V to this Regulation, an assessment of which of the ex ante conditionalities are applicable to the programme and which of them are fulfilled at the date of submission of the Partnership Agreement and the programme. Where the applicable ex ante conditionalities are not fulfilled, the programme shall contain a description of the actions to be taken, the bodies responsible and a timetable for such actions in accordance with the summary submitted in the Partnership Agreement.

(e) a description of the performance framework established for the purpose of Article 21 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013;

(f) a description of each of the measures selected;

(g) the evaluation plan referred to in Article 56 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. The Member States shall provide sufficient resources to address the needs which have been identified and to ensure proper monitoring and evaluation;

(h) a financing plan comprising:

(i)

a table setting out, in accordance with Article 58(4), the total EAFRD contribution planned for each year. When applicable this table shall indicate separately within the total EAFRD contribution the appropriations provided for the less developed regions and the funds transferred to the EAFRD in application of Article 7(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013. The planned annual EAFRD contribution shall be compatible with the Multi-annual Financial Framework;

(ii)

a table setting out, for each measure, for each type of operation with a specific EAFRD contribution rate and for technical assistance, the total Union contribution planned and the applicable EAFRD contribution rate. Where applicable, this table shall indicate separately the EAFRD contribution rate for less developed regions and for other regions;

(i) an indicator plan, broken down into focus areas, comprising the targets referred to in point (i) of Article 8(1)(c) and the planned outputs and planned expenditure of each rural development measure selected in relation to a corresponding focus area;

(j) where applicable, a table on additional national financing per measure in accordance with Article 82;

(k) where applicable, the list of aid schemes falling under Article 81(1) to be used for the implementation of the programmes;

(l) information on the complementarity with measures financed by the other common agricultural policy instruments, and by the European Structural and Investment Funds ("ESI");

(m) programme implementing arrangements including:

(i)

the designation by the Member State of all authorities referred to in Article 65(2) and, for information, a summary description of the management and control structure;

(ii)

a description of the monitoring and evaluation procedures, as well as the composition of the Monitoring Committee;

(iii)

the provisions to ensure that the programme is publicised, including through the national rural network referred to in Article 54;

(iv)

a description of the approach laying down principles with regard to the establishment of selection criteria for operations and local development strategies that takes into account relevant targets; in this context Member States may provide for priority to be given to SMEs linked to the agriculture and forestry sector.

(v)

in relation to local development, where applicable, a description of the mechanisms to ensure coherence between activities envisaged under the local development strategies, the "Cooperation" measure referred to in Article 35, and the "Basic services and village renewal in rural areas" measure referred to in Article 20 including urban-rural links;

(n) the actions taken to involve the partners referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and a summary of the results of the consultation of the partners;

(o) where applicable, the structure of the national rural network as referred to in Article 54(3), and provisions for its management, which would constitute the basis for its annual actions plans.

2. Where thematic sub-programmes are included in a rural development programme, each sub-programme shall include:

(a) a specific analysis of the situation based on SWOT methodology and an identification of the needs that are to be addressed by the sub-programme;

(b) specific targets at sub-programme level and a selection of measures, based on a thorough definition of the intervention logic of the sub-programme, including an assessment of the expected contribution of the measures chosen to achieve the targets;

(c) a separate specific indicator plan, with planned outputs and planned expenditure for each rural development measure selected in relation to a corresponding focus area.

3. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down rules for the presentation of the elements described in paragraphs 1 and 2 in rural development programmes and rules for the content of national frameworks referred to in Article 6(3). Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 84.

CHAPTER II Preparation, approval and modification of rural development programmes

Article 9 Ex ante conditionalities

In addition to the general ex ante conditionalities, referred to in part II of Annex XI to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the ex ante conditionalities referred to in Annex V to this Regulation shall apply to the EAFRD programming, if relevant and applicable to the specific objectives pursued within the priorities of the programme.

Article 10 Approval of rural development programmes

1. Member States shall submit to the Commission a proposal for each rural development programme, containing the information referred to in Article 8.

2. Each rural development programme shall be approved by the Commission by means of an implementing act

Article 11 Amendment of rural development programmes

Requests by Member States to amend programmes shall be approved in accordance with the following procedures:

(a)

The Commission shall decide, by means of implementing acts, on requests to amend programmes that concern one or more of the following:

(i)

a change in the programme strategy through a change of more than 50 % in the quantified target linked to a focus area;

(ii)

a change in the EAFRD contribution rate of one or more measures;

(iii)

a change of the entire Union contribution or its annual distribution at programme level;

(b)

The Commission shall approve, by means of implementing acts, requests to amend the programme in all other cases. These shall include, in particular:

(i)

the introduction or withdrawal of measures or types of operations;

(ii)

changes in the description of measures, including changes of eligibility conditions;

(iii)

a transfer of funds between measures implemented under different EAFRD contribution rates;

However, for the purposes of points (b)(i) and (ii), and point (b)(iii)where the transfer of funds concerns less than 20 % of the allocation to a measure and less than 5 % of the total EAFRD contribution to the programme, the approval shall be deemed to be given, if the Commission has not taken a decision on the request after a period of 42 working days from the receipt of the request. That period shall not include the period starting on the day following the date on which the Commission has sent its observations to the Member State and ending on the day that the Member State responded to the observations.

(c)

The approval of the Commission shall not be required for corrections of a purely clerical or editorial nature that do not affect the implementation of the policy and the measures. Member States shall inform the Commission of such amendments.

Article 12 Rules on procedures and timetables

The Commission shall adopt implementing acts, laying down rules on procedures and timetables for:

(a)

the approval of rural development programmes and national frameworks;

(b)

the submission and approval of proposals for amendments to rural development programmes and proposals for amendments to national frameworks, including their entry into force and the frequency with which they are to be submitted during the programming period.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 84.