TITLE IIIBASIC PAYMENT SCHEME, SINGLE AREA PAYMENT SCHEME AND RELATED PAYMENTS

CHAPTER 1Basic payment scheme and single area payment scheme

Section 3Implementation of the basic payment scheme

Article 32Activation of payment entitlements

1

Support under the basic payment scheme shall be granted to farmers, by means of declaration in accordance with Article 33(1), upon activation of a payment entitlement per eligible hectare in the F1constituent nation where it has been allocated. Activated payment entitlements shall give a right to the annual payment of the amounts fixed therein, without prejudice to the application F26of financial discipline, of reduction of payments in accordance with Article 11 and of linear reductions in accordance with F25F27Article 7 and Article 51(2) F2... of this Regulation, and to the application of Article 63 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013.

2

For the purposes of this Title, 'eligible hectare' means:

a

any agricultural area of the holdingF3... that is used for an agricultural activity or, where the area is also used for non-agricultural activities, is predominantly used for agricultural activities; or

b

F4any area which gave a right to payments in 2008 under the single payment scheme laid down in Title III of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, and which:

  1. (i)

    no longer complies with the definition of 'eligible hectare' under point (a) as a result of the implementation of Directive 92/43/EEC, Directive 2000/60/EC and Directive 2009/147/EC;

  2. (ii)

    for the duration of the relevant commitment by the individual farmer, is afforested pursuant to Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 or to Article 43 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 or to Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 or under a national scheme the conditions of which comply with Article 43(1), (2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 or Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013; or

  3. (iii)

    for the duration of the relevant commitment of the individual farmer, is set aside pursuant to Articles 22, 23 and 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, to Article 39 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 or to Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013.

3

For the purposes of point (a) of paragraph 2:

a

where an agricultural area of a holding is also used for non-agricultural activities, that area shall be considered to be used predominantly for agricultural activities provided that those agricultural activities can be exercised without being significantly hampered by the intensity, nature, duration and timing of the non-agricultural activities;

b

F5the relevant authority may draw up a list of areas which are predominantly used for non-agricultural activities.

F7The relevant authority must apply the criteria it has established for the implementation of this paragraph in the constituent nation.

4

Areas shall be considered to be eligible hectares only if they comply with the definition of eligible hectare throughout the calendar year, except in the case of force majeure or exceptional circumstances.

F285

For the purposes of determining 'eligible hectare', F6the relevant authority having taken the decision referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 4(2) may apply a reduction coefficient to convert the hectares concerned into 'eligible hectares'.

6

Areas used for the production of hemp shall only be eligible hectares if the varieties used have a tetrahydrocannabinol content not exceeding 0,2 %.

Article 33Declaration of eligible hectares

1

For the purposes of the activation of payment entitlements provided for in Article 32(1), the farmer shall declare the parcels corresponding to the eligible hectares accompanying any payment entitlement. Except in the case of force majeure or exceptional circumstances, the parcels declared shall be at the farmer's disposal on a date fixed by the F8relevant authority, which shall be no later than the date fixed in that F9constituent nation for amending the aid application as referred to in Article 72(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013.

2

F10The relevant authority may, in duly justified circumstances, authorise the farmer to modify his declaration provided that he maintains at least the number of hectares corresponding to his payment entitlements and respects the conditions for granting the payment under the basic payment scheme for the area concerned.

Article 34Transfer of payment entitlements

1

Payment entitlements may be transferred only to a farmer entitled to be granted direct payments in accordance with Article 9 established in the same F11constituent nation, except in the case of transfer by actual or anticipated inheritance.

Payment entitlements, including in the case of actual or anticipated inheritance, may be activated only in the F11constituent nation where they were allocated.

2

Where F12the relevant authority exercises the option in Article 23(1), payment entitlements may be transferred or activated only within the same region, except in the case of actual or anticipated inheritance.

Payment entitlements, including in the case of actual or anticipated inheritance, may be activated only in the region where they were allocated.

3

F13A relevant authority not exercising the option in Article 23(1) may decide that payment entitlements may be transferred or activated only within the same region, except in the case of actual or anticipated inheritance.

Such regions shall be defined at the appropriate territorial level in accordance with objective criteria and in a way that ensures the equal treatment of farmers and avoids distortions of the market and of competition.

F294

Where payment entitlements are transferred without land, F14the relevant authority may, acting in compliance with F15retained EU law relating to the common agricultural policy and the objectives of the common agricultural policy set out in Article 39 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, decide that a part of the payment entitlements transferred are to revert to the national reserve or regional reserves or that their unit value is to be reduced in favour of the national reserve or regional reserves. Such reduction may be applied to one or more types of transfer.

5

The F16appropriate authority may make regulations laying down detailed rules governing the notification by farmers of transfer of payment entitlements to the F17relevant authority and the deadlines within which such notification is to take place. F18...

Article 35Delegated powers

1

In order to ensure legal certainty and to clarify the specific situations that may arise in the application of the basic payment scheme, the F19appropriate authority may make regulations concerning:

a

rules on eligibility and access in respect of the basic payment scheme of farmers in the case of inheritance and anticipated inheritance, inheritance under a lease, change of legal status or denomination, transfer of payment entitlements, F23and merger or scission of the holdingF24... ;

b

rules on the calculation of the value and number or on the increase or reduction in the value of payment entitlements in relation to the allocation of payment entitlements under any provision of this Title, including rules:

  1. (i)

    on the possibility of a provisional value and number or of a provisional increase of payment entitlements allocated on the basis of the application from the farmer,

  2. (ii)

    on the conditions for establishing the provisional and definitive value and number of the payment entitlements,

  3. (iii)

    on the cases where a sale or lease contract may affect the allocation of payment entitlements;

c

rules on the establishment and calculation of the value and number of payment entitlements received from the national reserve or regional reserves;

d

rules on the modification of the unit value of payment entitlements in the case of fractions of payment entitlements and in the case of transfer of payment entitlements referred to in Article 34(4);

F20e

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F20f

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g

criteria for the allocation of payment entitlements pursuant to Article 30(6) F31and (7);

F30h

criteria for setting the reduction coefficient referred to in Article 32(5).

2

In order to ensure the proper management of payment entitlements, the F21appropriate authority may make regulations laying down rules on the content of the declaration and the requirements for the activation of payment entitlements.

3

In order to preserve public health, the F22appropriate authority may make regulations laying down rules making the granting of payments conditional upon the use of certified seeds of certain hemp varieties and the procedure for the determination of hemp varieties and the verification of their tetrahydrocannabinol content referred to in Article 32(6).