2116 as regards good agricultural and environmental condition standards, schemes for climate, environment and animal welfare, amendments to CAP Strategic Plans, review of CAP Strategic Plans and exemptions from controls and penalties - Main contents

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dossier	COM(2024)139 - Amendment of Regulations (EU) 2021/2115 and (EU) 2021/2116 as regards good agricultural and environmental condition ...
document	COM(2024)139
date	May 14, 2024

Article 1

Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2021/2115

Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 is amended as follows:

(1) Article 4 is amended as follows:

(a) in paragraph 3, point (a) is replaced by the following:

‘(a) ‘arable land’ shall be land cultivated for crop production or areas available for crop production but lying fallow; in addition, it shall, for the duration of the commitment, be land cultivated for crop production or areas available for crop production but lying fallow that have been set aside in accordance with Article 31 or Article 70 of this Regulation, or with Articles 22, 23 or 24 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999(^*), or with Article 39 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005(^**), or with Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (^***).

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(^*) Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations (OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/1999/1257/oj).

(**) Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 of 20 September 2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (OJ L 277, 21.10.2005, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2005/1698/oj).

(***) Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 487, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/1305/oj).’;

(b) in paragraph 4, first subparagraph, point (b) is replaced by the following:

‘(b) any area of the holding which is:

(i) covered by landscape features subject to the retention obligation under GAEC standard 8 listed in Annex III; or

(ii) for the duration of the relevant commitment by the farmer, established or maintained as a result of an eco-scheme referred to in Article 31.

If Member States so decide, ‘eligible hectare’ may contain other landscape features, provided they are not predominant and do not significantly hamper the performance of the agricultural activity due to the area they occupy on the agricultural parcel. In implementing that principle, Member States may set a maximum share of the agricultural parcel covered by those other landscape features.

As regards permanent grassland with scattered ineligible features, Member States may decide to apply fixed reduction coefficients to determine the area considered eligible.’;

(2) Article 13 is amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. Member States shall ensure that all agricultural areas, including land which is no longer used for production purposes, are maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition. Member States shall set, at national or regional level, minimum standards for farmers and other beneficiaries for each GAEC standard listed in Annex III in line with the main objective of those standards as referred to in that Annex. In setting their standards, Member States shall take into account, where relevant, the specific characteristics of the areas concerned including soil and climatic condition, existing farming systems, farming practices, farm size and farm structures, land use, and the specificities of outermost regions.

In setting the GAEC standards 5, 6, 7 or 9 listed in Annex III, Member States may establish specific exemptions from the requirements of those standards. The specific exemptions from GAEC standards 5, 6, 7 or 9 shall be based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria, such as crops, soil types and farming systems or damage to permanent grasslands, among others due to predators or invasive species, and shall be limited in terms of their area coverage. The specific exemptions shall be established only where and to the extent that they are necessary to address specific problems in the application of those standards and shall not significantly hamper the contribution of each of those standards to their main objectives, listed in Annex III.’;

(b) the following paragraph 2a is inserted:

‘2a. When implementing the minimum standards set in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 Member States may allow temporary derogations from requirements such as time limits and periods set in those standards in the case of weather conditions preventing farmers and other beneficiaries from complying with those requirements in a given year. These temporary derogations shall be limited in their scope to farmers and other beneficiaries or areas affected by the weather conditions and be applied only for as long as they are strictly necessary.’;

(3) in Article 31, the following paragraph 1a is inserted:

‘1a. As a part of the eco-schemes referred to in paragraph 1, Member States shall establish and provide support for schemes covering practices for the maintenance of non-productive areas, such as land lying fallow, and for the establishment of new landscape features, on arable land. These schemes shall be voluntary for active farmers and groups of active farmers.’;

(4) in Article 119, paragraph 7 is replaced by the following:

‘7. A request for amendment of the CAP Strategic Plan may be submitted twice per calendar year, subject to possible exceptions provided for in this Regulation or to be determined by the Commission in accordance with Article 122. In addition, three further requests for amendment of the CAP Strategic Plan may be submitted during the duration of the CAP Strategic Plan period. This paragraph shall not apply to requests for amendments to submit the missing elements in accordance with Article 118(5).’;

(5) in Article 120 the following paragraph is added:

‘Paragraph 1 shall not apply to amendments of legislative acts listed in Annex XIII, that enter into force after 31 December 2025.’

(6) Annex III is amended as follows:

(a) in the table, the entry for ‘GAEC 6’ is replaced by the following:

‘

GAEC 6

Minimum soil cover to avoid bare soil in periods that are most sensitive, as determined by Member States^(****).

Protection of soils in periods that are most sensitive

(****) Member States may in particular take into account the short vegetation period resulting from the length and severity of the winter period in regions concerned.’

(b) in the table, the entry for GAEC 7 is replaced by the following:

‘

GAEC 7

Crop rotation in arable land, except for crops growing under water. Member States may in addition decide to allow farmers and other beneficiaries to fulfil this standard with crop diversification ^(*****).

Preserving the soil potential

^(*****) Rotation shall consist in a change of crop at land parcel level (except in case of multiannual crops, grasses and other herbaceous forage, and land lying fallow), including the appropriately managed secondary crops.

On the basis of diversity of farming methods and agro-climatic conditions, Member States may authorise in the regions concerned other practices of enhanced crop rotation with leguminous crops or crop diversification which aim at improving and preserving the soil potential in line with the objectives of this GAEC standard.

When defining crop diversification requirements, Member States shall respect the following minimum requirements:

- where the size of arable land of a holding is between 10 and 30 hectares, crop diversification shall consist in cultivation of arable land of a holding with at least two different crops. The main crop shall not cover more than 75 % of that arable land.

- where the size of arable land of a holding is more than 30 hectares, crop diversification shall consist in cultivation of arable land of a holding with at least three different crops on that arable land. The main crop shall not cover more than 75 % of that arable land and the two main crops together shall not cover more than 95 % of that arable land.

Member States may exempt from the obligations under this standard holdings:

(a) where more than 75 % of the arable land is used for the production of grasses or other herbaceous forage, is land lying fallow, is used for cultivation of leguminous crops, or is subject to a combination of those uses;

(b) where more than 75 % of the eligible agricultural area is permanent grassland, is used for the production of grasses or other herbaceous forage or for the cultivation of crops under water either for a significant part of the year or for a significant part of the crop cycle, or is subject to a combination of those uses; or

(c) with a size of arable land up to 10 hectares.

Member States may introduce a maximum limit of area covered with a single crop to prevent large monocultures.

Farmers certified in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/848(******) shall be deemed to comply with this GAEC standard.

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(******) Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/848/oj).’;

(c) in the table, the entry for ‘GAEC 8’ is replaced by the following:

‘

GAEC 8

— Retention of landscape features

— Ban on cutting hedges and trees during the bird breeding and rearing season

— As an option, measures for avoiding invasive plant species

Maintenance of non-productive features to improve on-farm biodiversity

’

Article 2

Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2021/2116

Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 is amended as follows:

(1) in Article 83, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, farmers with a maximum size of holdings not exceeding 10 hectares of agricultural area declared in accordance with Article 69(1) shall be exempted from controls under the system set up in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article.’

(2) in Article 84, the following paragraph is added:

‘4. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 to 3 and from Article 85, farmers with a maximum size of holdings not exceeding 10 hectares of agricultural area declared in accordance with Article 69(1) shall be exempted from the penalties referred to in paragraphs 1 to 3 and in Article 85;’

(3) in Article 104, (1), second subparagraph, point (a), point (iv) is replaced by the following:

‘(iv) as regards the EAFRD, in relation to expenditure incurred by the beneficiaries and payments made by the paying agency in the framework of the implementation of rural development programmes pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, with the exception of Article 96 and 97 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 as regards beneficiaries who are submitted to the system of control referred to in Article 83 of this Regulation;’

[Article 3

Transitional provisions

(1) By way of derogation from Article 119(8), third subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, the date of effect of amendments of CAP Strategic Plans related to the EAGF submitted by Member States to Commission approval pursuant to Article 119(2) of that Regulation in respect to claim year 2024 in relation to elements laid down in Article 1(6), point (a), (b) and (c) of this Regulation shall not be subject to Commission approval.

(2) By way of derogation from Article 119(11) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, Member States may decide for claim year 2024 that amendments to CAP Strategic Plans related to elements laid down in Article 1(6), point (a), (b) and (c) of this Regulation, may have legal effects before their approval by the Commission. For the element laid down in Article 1(6), point (c) of this Regulation, the Member States may take that decision only if they apply for the claim year 2024 a scheme covering practices for the maintenance of non-productive areas, such as land lying fallow, or for the establishment of new landscape features, on arable land, referred to in Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115.

In taking this decision, Member States shall ensure that the general principles of Union law, in particular the principle of legal certainty, the principle of non-discrimination and the protection of legitimate expectations of farmers and other beneficiaries are respected and the need of farmers and other beneficiaries to have sufficient time to comply with the amendments is taken into account.]

Article 4

Entry into force and application

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

[Article 1(6), points (a), (b) and (c) and Article 2 points (2) and (3) shall apply for claim year 2024.]

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