Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 45 Permanent grassland

1. Member States shall designate permanent grasslands which are environmentally sensitive in areas covered by Directives 92/43/EEC or 2009/147/EC, including in peat and wetlands situated in these areas, and which need strict protection in order to meet the objectives of those Directives.

Member States may, in order to ensure the protection of environmentally valuable permanent grasslands, decide to designate further sensitive areas situated outside areas covered by Directives 92/43/EEC or 2009/147/EC, including permanent grasslands on carbon-rich soils.

Farmers shall not convert or plough permanent grassland situated in areas designated by Member States under the first subparagraph and, where applicable, the second subparagraph.

2. Member States shall ensure that the ratio of areas of permanent grassland to the total agricultural area declared by the farmers in accordance with point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 72(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 does not decrease by more than 5 % compared to a reference ratio to be established by Member States in 2015 by dividing areas of permanent grassland referred to in point (a) of the second subparagraph of this paragraph by the total agricultural area referred to in point (b) of that subparagraph.

For the purposes of establishing the reference ratio referred to in the first subparagraph:

(a) "areas of permanent grassland" means the land under permanent pasture declared in 2012, or 2013 in the case of Croatia, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 by the farmers subject to the obligations under this Chapter, as well as the areas of permanent grassland declared in 2015 in accordance with point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 72(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 by the farmers subject to the obligations under this Chapter that have not been declared as land under permanent pasture in 2012 or, in the case of Croatia, 2013;

(b) "total agricultural area" means the agricultural area declared in 2015 in accordance with point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 72(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 by farmers subject to the obligations under this Chapter.

The reference ratio of permanent grassland shall be recalculated in cases where farmers subject to the obligations under this Chapter have an obligation to reconvert an area into permanent grassland in 2015 or in 2016 in accordance with Article 93 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013. In such cases, these areas shall be added to the areas of permanent grassland referred to in point (a) of the second subparagraph of this paragraph.

The ratio of permanent grassland shall be established each year on the basis of the areas declared by the farmers subject to the obligations under this Chapter for that year in accordance with point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 72(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013.

The obligation under this paragraph shall apply at national, regional or the appropriate sub-regional level. Member States may decide to apply an obligation to maintain permanent grassland at holding level in order to ensure that the ratio of permanent grassland does not decrease by more than 5 %. Member States shall notify the Commission of any such decision by 1 August 2014.

Member States shall notify the reference ratio and the ratio referred to in this paragraph to the Commission.

3. Where it is established that the ratio referred to in paragraph 2 has decreased by more than 5 % at regional or sub-regional level or, where applicable, at national level, the Member State concerned shall impose obligations at holding level to reconvert land into permanent grassland for those farmers who have land at their disposal which was converted from land under permanent pasture or from permanent grassland into land for other uses during a period in the past.

However, where the amount of areas of permanent grassland in absolute terms established in accordance with point (a) of the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 is maintained within certain limits, the obligation set out in the first subparagraph of paragraph 2 shall be considered to have been complied with.

4. Paragraph 3 shall not apply where the decrease below the threshold is the result of afforestation that is compatible with the environment and does not include plantations of short rotation coppice, Christmas trees or fast growing trees for energy production.

5. In order to ensure that the ratio of permanent grassland is maintained, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 70 laying down detailed rules on maintenance of permanent grassland, including rules on reconversion in the case of non-respect of the obligation in paragraph 1 of this Article, rules applying to Member States for setting up obligations at holding level for maintaining permanent grassland as referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 and any adjustment of the reference ratio referred to in paragraph 2 that may become necessary.

6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 70:

(a) laying down the framework for the designation of further sensitive areas referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article;

(b) establishing detailed methods for the determination of the ratio of permanent grassland and of the total agricultural area that has to be maintained pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article;

(c) defining the period in the past referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 of this Article.

7. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts fixing the limits referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 3 of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 71(2).