Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2013)226 - Transitional provisions on support through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and amendments on the application of related regulations for 2014 - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2013)226 - Transitional provisions on support through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and amendments on ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2013)226  |
| date | 18-04-2013 |
The European Commission is working intensively to reach an agreement between EU institutions on the reform of the CAP which will permit the reformed CAP to enter into force on 1st of January 2014.
With the pursued objective of reaching an agreement between the Institutions on the MFF and a political agreement on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform before the summer 2013, the legal bases for the reformed CAP are foreseen to enter into force on 1st of January 2014.
However, transitional rules are needed to define technical arrangements which will permit a smooth adaptation to the new conditions, while at the same time ensuring continuity of the different forms of support under the CAP.
As regards direct payments, sufficient time must be available to allow Member States, and especially their paying agencies, to be well prepared and to inform in details farmers on new rules enough in advance. Therefore, the claims for 2014 will be treated under transitional rules.
As for the second pillar, the definition of transitional rules between the two programming periods represents standard practice. Transitional rules are generally needed to bridge the two consecutive programming periods, as already experienced at the beginning of the current programming period. However, for rural development, there is this time also a need for some specific transitional arrangements, notably to deal with the implications which the delay of the new direct payment regime has for certain rural development measures especially as regards the baseline for agri-environment and climate measures and the application of the cross-compliance rules. Transitional arrangements are also needed to ensure that MS can keep on undertaking new commitments for area and animal-related measures in 2014 even if the resources for the current period have been exhausted. These new commitments, as well as corresponding on-going commitments shall be eligible from the new financial envelopes of the rural development programmes of the next programming period.
For the horizontal regulation, the need for transitional measures is limited to the FAS, IACS and cross-compliance, due to their link to the direct payments.
In light of the above, specific transitional rules need to be adopted by the Council and the European Parliament before the end of the year, amending the current CAP basic acts where necessary.
Contents
In relation to the transitional rules, there was no need for consultation of interested parties or an impact assessment since these adjustments follow from the state of play of the discussions between the Institutions regarding the MFF and the CAP reform.
For direct payments, the transitional measures first provide for the prolongation of the main elements of the existing schemes – SPS, SAPS, coupled regimes, also those granted as specific support under Article 68 – for claim year 2014. Secondly, they incorporate, subject to agreement of the European Parliament the financial impacts of the European Council conclusions of 8 February; including the start of the external convergence process. The introduction of transitional measures implies that certain of the dates included in the Commission proposal for direct support after 2013 will have to be adapted accordingly in order to ensure consistency with this draft Regulation.
For rural development, transitional rules will have to be established to define how the current measures would be carried over to the next programming period, including their financing from the new financial envelope. In addition, these rules define which baseline and cross-compliance rules should apply in 2014. Finally, these rules establish transitional provisions for Croatia.
The transitional measures also include provisions regarding the possibility for Member States to transfer funds between pillars. Such flexibility mechanism is an element of the CAP reform to be decided by ordinary legislative procedure. Both the European Parliament on 13 March 2013 and the Agriculture Council on 19 March 2013 took position on this issue. Whilst the Council took over the European Council conclusions on the MFF, the EP increased the percentages proposed by the Commission to 15% for transfer to the second pillar and 10% for transfers to the first pillar, the latter being allowed only to those MS with an average payment below 90% of the EU average. To indicate that the present proposal is without prejudice to the final decision that will be taken by the legislator on this specific element, the parts of the Article included in the transitional measures that differ from Article 14 of the Commission proposal for direct support after 2013 have been put within square brackets.
This draft Regulation only implements the Commission proposals on the MFF and the CAP reform for financial year 2015 taking into account the European Council conclusions of 8 February 2013. It incorporates the external convergence of the direct payments, the flexibility between the CAP pillars and the co-financing rate for rural development. The new elements arising from the European Council conclusions are put within square brackets pending the final agreement on the MFF.
For direct payments, the European Council conclusions of 8 February 2013 correspond, compared to the Commission proposal, to a reduction of EUR 830 million (in current prices) in financial year 2015 (corresponding to claim year 2014 for direct payments). The distribution of direct payments ceilings among Member States takes account of the external convergence as it should start from financial year 2015. Compared to the Commission proposal, the European Council conclusions modify the timeframe of the convergence (6 years) and add a minimum of 196 EUR/ha to be reached by financial year 2020.
Compared to the Commission proposal, the flexibility between pillars is increased according to the European Council conclusions. It will be budgetary neutral as exactly the same amounts reduced from one Fund (EAGF or EAFRD) will be made available to the other Fund (EAGF or EAFRD).
As regards rural development, this draft Regulation aims to ensure the continuity of a number of measures involving multiannual commitments. Those provisions have no financial impact as the rural development allocation remains unchanged. However, the distribution over time of the payments might be slightly different than otherwise but it cannot be quantified at this stage.
Details on the financial impact of this proposal are set out in the financial statement accompanying the proposals.