Legal provisions of COM(2008)306-3 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)

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dossier COM(2008)306-3 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural ...
document COM(2008)306 EN
date February  3, 2009

Contents

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 is hereby amended as follows:

(1)In Article 11(3), point (d) shall be replaced by the following:

‘(d)a list of the rural development programmes implementing the national strategy plan, an indicative EAFRD allocation for each programme, including the amounts provided for in Article 12(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005, and a separate indication of the amounts provided for in Article 69(5a) of this Regulation.’;

(2)The following Article shall be inserted in Chapter II:

‘Article 12a

Revision

1. Each Member State receiving, as of 2010, the additional funds resulting from the application of the compulsory modulation under Articles 9(4) and 10(3) together with, as from 2011, the amounts generated under Article 136 of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 of 19 January 2009 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers (10) shall revise, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 12(1) of this Regulation, its national strategy plan following the review of the Community strategic guidelines as referred to in Article 10 of this Regulation.

2. The revised national strategy plan referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be sent to the Commission no later than 30 June 2009.

(3)The following Article shall be inserted:

‘Article 16a

Specific operations related to certain priorities

1. From 1 January 2010, Member States shall provide in their rural development programmes, in accordance with their specific needs, for types of operations having the following priorities as described in the Community strategic guidelines and specified further in the national strategy plans:

(a)climate change,

(b)renewable energies,

(c)water management,

(d)biodiversity,

(e)measures accompanying restructuring of the dairy sector,

(f)innovation linked to the priorities mentioned in points (a), (b), (c) and (d).

The types of operations to be linked to the priorities referred to in the first subparagraph shall be aimed at achieving effects such as the potential effects specified in Annex II. An indicative list of such types of operations and their potential effects is set out in that Annex.

The revised rural development programmes related to the operations referred to in this paragraph shall be submitted to the Commission no later than 30 June 2009.

2. From 1 January 2010, for types of operations referred to in paragraph 1, the aid intensity rates fixed in Annex I may be increased by 10 percentage points.

3. From 1 January 2010, each rural development programme shall also include:

(a)the list of types of operations and the information referred to in Article 16(c) on the specific types of operations referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article;

(b)a table setting out, for the period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2013, the total Community contribution for types of operations referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

4. For new Member States, as defined in Article 2(g) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, the starting dates referred to in the introductory phrases of paragraphs 1 and 3 shall be 1 January 2013, the date for the submission of the revised rural development programmes referred to in paragraph 1 shall be 30 June 2012 and the period referred to in point (b) of paragraph 3 shall be 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2013.

5. Paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 shall not apply to Bulgaria and Romania.’;

(4)The following paragraph shall be added to Article 17:

‘3.   The amounts equal to those resulting from the application of the compulsory modulation under Article 69(5a) shall not be taken into account in the EAFRD total contribution from which the minimum Community financial contribution per axis is calculated as provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article.’;

(5)In Article 20(1), point (d) shall be replaced by the following:

‘(d)transitional measures concerning:

(i)supporting semi-subsistence agricultural holdings undergoing restructuring (for Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia);

(ii)supporting the setting up of producer groups (for Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia);

(iii)supporting agricultural holdings undergoing restructuring, including diversification to activities outside agriculture, due to a reform of a common market organisation.’;

(6)The following sentence shall be added to Article 29(1):

‘The cooperation shall involve at least two actors of which at least one is either a primary producer or belongs to the processing industry.’;

(7)The following Article shall be inserted in Subsection 4 ‘Conditions for transitional measures’:

‘Article 35a

Holdings undergoing restructuring due to a reform of a common market organisation

1. Support provided for in Article 20(d)(iii) for agricultural holdings which undergo restructuring, including diversification outside agricultural activities, due to a reform of a common market organisation shall be granted to farmers whose direct payments are reduced as of 2010 by more than 25 % compared to 2009 in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and who submit a business plan.

2. Progress in respect of the business plan referred to in paragraph 1 shall be assessed after twelve months.

3. The support shall be paid in the form of a degressive flat-rate aid and only in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013. The support shall be limited to the maximum amount laid down in Annex I and, in any event, shall not exceed 50 % of the reduction of direct payments compared to 2009 in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.’;

(8)The following subparagraph shall be added to Article 39(3):

‘Member States may put an end to such commitments, without obligation for the beneficiary concerned to reimburse support already received, provided that:

(a)support under Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 is newly made available in the framework of which rules are applied which produce global agri-environmental effects equivalent to those of the agri-environmental measure which is closed;

(b)such support is not financially less favourable for the beneficiary concerned;

(c)the beneficiary concerned is informed of this possibility at the time he undertakes his commitments.’;

(9)The following Article shall be inserted in Subsection 4 ‘Respect of Standards’:

‘Article 50a

Main requirements

1. A beneficiary receiving payments under Article 36(a)(i) to (v) and Article 36(b)(i), (iv) and (v) shall respect, on the whole holding, the statutory management requirements and the good agricultural and environmental condition provided for in Articles 5 and 6 of, and in Annexes II and III to, Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.

The obligation to comply with the statutory management requirements and the good agricultural and environmental condition referred to in the first subparagraph shall not apply to non-agricultural activities on a holding and non-agricultural areas for which no support in accordance with Articles 36(b)(i), (iv) and (v) of this Regulation is claimed.

2. The competent national authority shall provide the beneficiary, inter alia by the use of electronic means, with the list of statutory management requirements and the good agricultural and environmental condition to be respected.’;

(10)Article 51(1) shall be replaced by the following:

‘1.   Where the statutory management requirements or good agricultural and environmental condition are not complied with at any time in a given calendar year (hereinafter referred to as “the calendar year concerned”), and the non-compliance in question is the result of an act or omission directly attributable to the beneficiary who submitted the payment claim under Article 36(a)(i) to (v) and Article 36(b)(i), (iv) and (v) in the calendar year concerned, the total amount of these payments granted or to be granted to that beneficiary related to the calendar year concerned shall be reduced or excluded in accordance with detailed rules referred to in paragraph 4.

The reduction or exclusion referred to in the first subparagraph shall also apply where the minimum requirements for fertiliser and plant protection product use referred to in Article 39(3) are not complied with at any time of the calendar year concerned and the non-compliance in question is the result of an act or omission directly attributable to the beneficiary who submitted the payment claim under Article 36(a)(iv).

The first and second subparagraphs shall also apply where the non-compliance in question is the result of an act or omission directly attributable to the person to whom or from whom the land was transferred.

For the purpose of this paragraph, “transfer” shall mean any type of transaction whereby the land ceases to be at the disposal of the transferor.

By way of derogation from the third subparagraph, where the person to whom the act or omission is directly attributable has submitted a payment claim in the calendar year concerned, the reduction or exclusion shall be applied to the total amounts of payments granted or to be granted to that person.’;

(11)Article 51(2) shall be replaced by the following:

‘2.   The reduction or exclusion of payments referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to standards for which a period of grace has been granted in accordance with Article 26(1) during the period of grace.

Notwithstanding paragraph 1 and in accordance with the conditions laid down in the detailed rules referred to in paragraph 4, Member States may decide not to apply a reduction or exclusion amounting to EUR 100 or less per beneficiary and per calendar year.

Where a Member State decides to make use of the option provided for in the second subparagraph, in the following year the competent authority shall take the actions required to ensure that the beneficiary remedies the finding of non-compliance concerned. The finding and the obligation to take remedial action shall be notified to the beneficiary.’;

(12)Article 51(3) shall be amended as follows:

(a)in the second subparagraph, point (c), the date ‘1 January 2011’ shall be replaced by ‘1 January 2013’;

(b)in the third subparagraph, point (c), the date ‘1 January 2014’ shall be replaced by ‘1 January 2016’;

(13)Article 51(4) shall be replaced by the following:

‘4.   Detailed rules for the reductions and exclusions shall be laid down in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 90(2). In this context account shall be taken of the severity, extent, permanence and repetition of non-compliance found as well as of the following criteria:

(a)In the case of negligence, the percentage of reduction shall not exceed 5 % and, in the case of repeated non-compliance, 15 %.

In duly justified cases, Member States may decide that no reduction shall be applied where, given its severity, extent and permanence, a case of non-compliance is to be considered as minor. However, cases of non-compliance which constitute a direct risk to public or animal health shall not be considered as minor.

Unless the beneficiary has taken immediate remedial action putting an end to the non-compliance found, the competent authority shall take the actions required that may, where appropriate, be limited to an administrative control, to ensure that the beneficiary remedies the finding of non-compliance concerned. The finding of minor non-compliance and the obligation to take remedial action shall be notified to the beneficiary.

(b)In case of intentional non-compliance, the percentage of reduction shall not in principle be less than 20 % and may go as far as total exclusion from one or several aid schemes and apply for one or more calendar years.

(c)In any case, the total amount of reductions and exclusions for one calendar year shall not be more than the total amount referred to in Article 51(1).’;

(14)The following paragraphs shall be inserted in Article 69:

‘5a.   An amount equal to the amounts resulting from the application of the compulsory modulation under Article 9(4) and Article 10(3) together with, as from 2011, the amounts generated under Article 136 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 shall be exclusively spent by Member States in the period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2015 as Community support under the current rural development programmes for operations of the types referred to in Article 16a of this Regulation.

For new Member States, as defined in Article 2(g) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, the period referred to in the first subparagraph shall be from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2015.

The first two subparagraphs shall not apply to Bulgaria and Romania.

5b.   If, at the closure of the programme, the actual amount of Community contribution spent on the operations referred to in paragraph 5a of this Article is lower than the amount referred to in paragraph 5a of this Article, the difference shall be reimbursed by the Member State to the general budget of the European Communities up to the amount by which the total allocations available for operations other than those referred to in Article 16a have been exceeded.

5c.   Amounts referred to in paragraph 5a of this Article shall not be taken into account for the purpose of Article 25 of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005.’;

(15)The following subparagraph shall be added to Article 70(4):

‘Notwithstanding the ceilings set out in paragraph 3, the EAFRD contribution may be increased to 90 % for convergence and to 75 % for non-convergence regions for the operations of the types referred to in Article 16a of this Regulation, up to the amount resulting from the application of the compulsory modulation under Article 9(4) and Article 10(3) together with, as from 2011, the amounts generated under Article 136 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009’;

(16)In Article 78, point (f) shall be replaced by the following:

‘(f)shall consider and approve any substantial proposal for changes in rural development programmes.’;

(17)In Article 88(1), the second subparagraph shall be replaced by the following:

‘However, and without prejudice to Article 89 of this Regulation, Articles 87, 88 and 89 of the Treaty shall not apply to payments made by Member States pursuant to, and in conformity with, this Regulation within the scope of Article 36 of the Treaty.’;

(18)The word ‘Annex’ shall be replaced by ‘Annex I’ in the title of the Annex and in the following Articles: 22(2), 23(6), 24(2), 26(2), 27(3), 28(2), 31(2), 32(2), 33, 34(3), 35(2), 37(3), 38(2), 39(4), 40(3), 43(4), 44(4), 45(3), 46, 47(2), 88(2), 88(4), 88(6);

(19)The Annex shall be amended as follows:

(a)the amount in EUR for the setting up support under Article 22(2), indicated in the third column of the first row, shall be replaced by the following:

‘70 000’;

(b)the following row shall be inserted after the eleventh row concerning the support for producer groups under Article 35(2):

‘35a(3)Maximum amount of support for restructuring due to a reform of a common market organisationPer holding
4 500

3 000

1 500
in 2011

in 2012

in 2013’;

(c)the endnote ‘*’ shall be replaced by the following:

‘(*)The setting up support may be given in the form of a single premium up to a maximum of EUR 40 000, or in the form of an interest rate subsidy, the capitalised value of which may not exceed EUR 40 000. For both forms of support combined, the maximum may not exceed EUR 70 000.’;

(d)the endnote ‘****’ shall be replaced by the following:

‘(****)These amounts may be increased for the types of operations referred to in Article 16a and in other exceptional cases taking account of specific circumstances to be justified in the rural development programmes.’;

(20)A new Annex, the text of which is set out in the Annex to this Regulation, shall be added.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2009, with the exception of points (10), (11) and (13) of Article 1, which shall apply from 1 January 2010.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.