The Direct Payments to Farmers (Simplifications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021

Amendment of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014

6.—(1) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system and conditions for refusal or withdrawal of payments and administrative penalties applicable to direct payments, rural development support and cross compliance(1), is amended as follows.

(2) In Article 2, in paragraph 1, in sub-paragraph (22) omit “use of area in terms of the type of crop as referred to in Article 44(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013,”.

(3) In Article 5, in paragraph 2—

(a) omit point (c);

(b) for point (d) substitute—

“(d) determine whether areas covered with permanent grassland which are environmentally sensitive as referred to in Article 32A of Regulation No 1307/2013 apply.”.

(4) In Article 16, in paragraph 1, in the second subparagraph for “Article 28(2)” substitute “Article 18a(2)”.

(5) Insert Article 18a—

“1.   If a non-compliance with Article 32a(1) of Regulation No 1307/2014 has been determined, the area calculated in relation to the basic payment in accordance with Article 18 of this Regulation shall be reduced by the area determined as non-compliant with the requirements of Article 32a(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013.

2.   If a beneficiary does not declare all his permanent grassland which is environmentally sensitive in accordance with Article 32a(1) of Regulation No 1307/2013 and the non-declared area is more than 0,1 ha, the area to be used for the calculation of the basic payment after application of paragraph (1) shall be further reduced by 10 %.”

(6) In Title II, in Chapter IV—

(a) in the title to Section 2, omit “, except the payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment”;

(b) omit Section 3.

(1)

EUR 2014/640 as amended in relation to direct payment schemes by S.I. 2020/90. EUR 2014/640 is also amended by S.I. 2019/765. However, by virtue of the amendments in The Agriculture (Payments) (Amendment, etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, these amendments do not have effect in relation to direct payment schemes.