EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations partially implement Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 (OJ No L 277, 21.10.05, p1) on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 (OJ No L 160, 26.6.99, p80) on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), in so far as those Council Regulations relate to less favoured areas.
Regulation 4 defines the conditions of eligibility for an uplands transitional payment. Such payment is payable only in relation to severely disadvantaged land (and for not more than 700 hectares), at the rates set out in regulations 5, 6 and 7. “Severely disadvantaged land” is defined in regulation 2.
Copies of the Rural Development Programme for England 2007-2013 are available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/rdpe/progdoc.htm and from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Information Resource Centre, Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL.
An impact assessment has not been prepared, because the changes to the hill farm allowance scheme replaced by these Regulations will have a negligible additional impact on business and the voluntary sector.