LegalizeRegulation (EU) No 1310/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down certain transitional provisions on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), amending Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards resources and their distribution in respect of the year 2014 and amending Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 and Regulations (EU) No 1307/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013 and (EU) No 1308/2013of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards their application in the year 2014
REGULATION (EU) No 1310/2013 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 17 December 2013
laying down certain transitional provisions on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), amending Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards resources and their distribution in respect of the year 2014 and amending Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 and Regulations (EU) No 1307/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013 and (EU) No 1308/2013of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards their application in the year 2014
CHAPTER I
TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS ON SUPPORT FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Article 1
Legal commitments under Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 in 2014
Without prejudice to Article 88 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, Member States may continue to undertake new legal commitments in relation to beneficiaries in 2014, in relation to the measures referred to in Article 20, with the exception of points (a)(iii), (c)(i) and (d) thereof, and in Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, pursuant to the rural development programmes adopted on the basis of that Regulation even after the financial resources of the 2007-2013 programming period have been used up, provided that the application for support is submitted before the adoption of the respective rural development programme for the 2014-2020 programming period.
Without prejudice to Point E of Annex VI to the 2012 Act of Accession and the provisions adopted on the basis thereof, Croatia may continue to undertake new legal commitments in respect of beneficiaries in 2014 in relation to the measures referred to in points (a) and (c) of Article 171(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 (16), pursuant to the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance on Rural Development (IPARD) programme adopted on the basis of that Regulation even after the relevant financial resources of that programme have been used up, provided that the application for support is submitted before the adoption of its rural development programme for the 2014-2020 programming period.
The expenditure incurred on the basis of those commitments shall be eligible in accordance with Article 3 of this Regulation.
The condition set out in the second indent of Article 14(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 shall not apply to new legal commitments undertaken by Member States under points (a)(i) and (ii) of Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 in 2014.
Article 2
Continued application of Articles 50a and 51 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005
Without prejudice to Article 88 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, Articles 50a and 51 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall continue to apply, until 31 December 2014, to operations selected under the rural development programmes of the 2014-2020 programming period pursuant to points (a) and (b) of Article 21(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, as regards the annual premium, and to Articles 28 to 31, 33 and 34 of that Regulation.
Article 3
Eligibility of certain types of expenditure
Without prejudice to Article 6(1) and Article 88 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, expenditure relating to legal commitments to beneficiaries incurred under the measures referred to in Articles 20 and 36 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 and, without prejudice to Point E of Annex VI to the 2012 Act of Accession and the provisions adopted on the basis thereof in the case of Croatia, measures referred to in points (a) and (c) of Article 171(2) of Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 shall be eligible for an EAFRD contribution in the 2014-2020 programming period in the following cases:
(a)for payments to be made between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2015, and, in the case of Croatia, between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2016, where the financial allocation for the relevant measure of the respective programme adopted pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 or Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 has already been used up; and
(b)for payments to be made after 31 December 2015, and, in the case of Croatia, after 31 December 2016.
This paragraph shall also apply to legal commitments to beneficiaries undertaken under corresponding measures provided for in Regulations (EC) No 1257/1999, (EEC) No 2078/1992 and (EEC) No 2080/1992 which are receiving support under Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005.
The expenditure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be eligible for an EAFRD contribution in the 2014-2020 programming period, subject to the following conditions:
(a)that such expenditure is provided for in the respective rural development programme for the 2014-2020 programming period;
(b)that the EAFRD contribution rate of the corresponding measure under Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, as set out in Annex I to this Regulation, applies; and
(c)that Member States ensure that the relevant transitional operations are clearly identified through their management and control systems.
Article 4
Application of certain provisions of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 in 2014
By way of derogation from Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, for the year 2014:
(a)the reference to Chapter I of Title VI of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 in Articles 28, 29, 30 and 33 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 shall be read as a reference to Articles 5 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 and to Annexes II and III thereto.
(b)the reference in Article 40(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 to Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 shall be read as a reference to Article 132 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009;
(c)the reference in point (a) of Article 40(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 to Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 shall be read as a reference to Article 121 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.
CHAPTER II
AMENDMENTS
Article 5
Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005
Article 70 (4c) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 is hereby amended as follows:
(a)in the first subparagraph, the introductory phrase is replaced by the following: "(4c) By way of derogation from the ceilings set out in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5, the EAFRD contribution may be increased up to a maximum of 95 % of eligible public expenditure in the regions eligible under the Convergence Objective and the outermost regions and the smaller Aegean Islands, and 85 % of eligible public expenditure in other regions. These rates shall apply to the eligible expenditure newly declared in each certified declaration of expenditure until the final date of eligibility of expenditure for the 2007-2013 programming period on 31 December 2015, where on 20 December 2013 or thereafter a Member State complies with one of the following conditions:";
(b)the second subparagraph is replaced by the following: "A Member State wishing to make use of the derogation provided in the first subparagraph shall submit a request to the Commission to modify its rural development programme accordingly. The derogation shall apply from the approval, by the Commission, of the modification of the programme.".
Article 6
Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 73/2009
Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 is hereby amended as follows:
(1)In Article 29, the following paragraph is added: "5. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, Member States may, from 16 October 2014, pay advances to farmers of up to 50 % of the direct payments under the support schemes listed in Annex I in respect of applications made in 2014. In the case of beef and veal payments provided for in Section 11 of Chapter 1 of Title IV, Member States may increase that percentage to up to 80 %.".
(2)Article 40 is replaced by the following: "Article 40 National ceilings
For each Member State and for each year, the total value of all allocated payment entitlements, of the national reserve referred to in Article 41 and of the ceilings fixed in accordance with Article 51(2), Article 69(3) and Article 72b shall be equal to its national ceiling determined in Annex VIII.
Where necessary, a Member State shall make a linear reduction or increase in the value of all payment entitlements, or in the amount of the national reserve referred to in Article 41 or in both in order to ensure compliance with its national ceiling determined in Annex VIII.
Member States that decide not to implement Chapter 5a of Title III of this Regulation and not to use the possibility provided for in Article 136a(1) may decide, for the purpose of obtaining the necessary reduction in the value of payment entitlements referred to in the first subparagraph, not to reduce payment entitlements activated in 2013 by farmers who, in 2013, claimed less than an amount of direct payments to be determined by the Member State concerned; that amount shall not be higher than EUR 5 000 .
Without prejudice to Article 26 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (17), the amounts of direct payments which may be granted in a Member State in respect of calendar year 2014 under Articles 34, 52, 53, 68 and 72a of this Regulation and for the aid to silkworm rearers under Article 111 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 shall not be higher than the ceilings set out in Annex VIII to this Regulation for that year, reduced by the amounts resulting from the application of Article 136b of this Regulation for the calendar year 2014 as set out in Annex VIIIa to this Regulation.
Where necessary, and in order to comply with the ceilings set out in Annex VIII to this Regulation reduced by the amounts resulting from the application of Article 136b of this Regulation for the calendar year 2014 as set out in Annex VIIIa to this Regulation, Member States shall make a linear reduction in the amounts of direct payments in respect of calendar year 2014.
(3)In Article 41(1), point (b) is replaced by the following: "(b)the total value of all allocated payment entitlements and the ceilings fixed in accordance with Article 51(2), Article 69(3) and Article 72b of this Regulation.".
(4)In Article 51(2), the following subparagraph is added: "For 2014, the ceilings for the direct payments referred to in Articles 52 and 53 shall be identical to the ceilings determined for 2013, multiplied by a coefficient to be calculated for each Member State concerned by dividing the national ceiling for 2014 set out in Annex VIII by the national ceiling for 2013. This multiplication shall only apply to Member States for which the national ceiling set out in Annex VIII for 2014 is lower than the national ceiling for 2013.".
(5)In Article 68(8), the introductory phrase is replaced by the following: "8. By 1 February 2014, those Member States that took the decision referred to in Article 69(1) may review that decision and decide, with effect from 2014, to:".
(6)Article 69 is amended as follows: (a)paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: "1. Member States may decide, by 1 August 2009, by 1 August 2010, by 1 August 2011, by 1 September 2012, by the date of its accession in the case of Croatia, or by 1 February 2014, to use, from the year following such decision, from the first year of implementation of the single payment scheme in the case of Croatia, or in the case of a decision taken by 1 February 2014, from the year 2014, up to 10 % of their national ceiling referred to in Article 40, or, in the case of Malta, the amount of EUR 2 000 000 for the specific support provided for in Article 68(1)."; (b)in paragraph 3, the second subparagraph is replaced by the following: "For the sole purposes of ensuring compliance with the national ceilings as provided for in Article 40(2) and making the calculation referred to in Article 41(1), the amounts used to grant the support referred to in point (c) of Article 68(1) shall be deducted from the national ceiling referred to in Article 40(1). They shall be counted as allocated payment entitlements."; (c)in paragraph 4, the percentage "3,5 %" is replaced by "6,5 %"; (d)in the first sentence of paragraph 5, the year "2013" is replaced by "2014"; (e)in paragraph 6, the second subparagraph is replaced by the following: "For the sole purposes of ensuring compliance with the national ceilings provided for in Article 40(2) and making the calculation referred to in Article 41(1), where a Member State makes use of the option provided for in point (a) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph, the amount concerned shall not be counted as part of the ceilings fixed under paragraph 3 of this Article.".
(7)In Title III, the following Chapter is added: "Chapter 5a REDISTRIBUTIVE PAYMENT IN 2014
Article 72a
General rules
Member States may decide, by 1 March 2014, to grant, for 2014, a payment to farmers who are entitled to a payment under the single payment scheme referred to in Chapters 1, 2 and 3 ("the redistributive payment").
Member States shall notify the Commission of their decision by 1 March 2014.
Member States which have decided to apply the single payment scheme at regional level in accordance with Article 46 may apply the redistributive payment at regional level.
Without prejudice to the application of financial discipline, of linear reductions as referred to in Article 40(3), and to the application of Articles 21 and 23, the redistributive payment shall be granted upon activation of payment entitlements by the farmer.
The redistributive payment shall be calculated by Member States by multiplying a figure to be set by the Member State, which shall not be higher than 65 % of the national or regional average payment per hectare, by the number of payment entitlements activated by the farmer in accordance with Article 34. The number of such payment entitlements shall not exceed a maximum to be set by Member States which shall not be higher than 30 hectares or the average size of agricultural holdings set out in Annex VIIIb if that average size exceeds 30 hectares in the Member State concerned.
Provided that the maximum limits set out in paragraph 4 are respected, Member States may, at national level, establish a graduation in the number of hectares set in accordance with that paragraph, which shall apply identically to all farmers.
The national average payment per hectare referred to in paragraph 4 shall be established by the Member States on the basis of the national ceiling set out in Annex VIIIc and the number of eligible hectares declared in accordance with Article 34(2) in 2014.
The regional average payment per hectare referred to in paragraph 4 shall be established by the Member States by using a share of the national ceiling set out in Annex VIIIc and the number of eligible hectares declared in the region concerned in accordance with Article 34(2) in 2014. For each region, this share shall be calculated by dividing the respective regional ceiling set in accordance with Article 46(3) by the national ceiling set in accordance withArticle 40 for the year 2014.
Member States shall ensure that no advantage provided for under this Chapter is granted to farmers in respect of whom it is established that, after 18 October 2011, they divided their holding with the sole purpose of benefiting from the redistributive payment. This shall also apply to farmers whose holdings result from that division.
Article 72b
Financial provisions
In order to finance the redistributive payment, Member States may decide, by 1 March 2014, to use up to 30 % of the annual national ceiling set in accordance with Article 40 for claim year 2014. They shall notify the Commission of any such decision by that date.
On the basis of the percentage of the national ceiling to be used by Member States pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts fixing the corresponding ceiling for the redistributive payment. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 141b(2).".
(8)In Article 90, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: "3. The amount of the aid per eligible hectare shall be established by multiplying the yields established in paragraph 2 by the following reference amounts: Bulgaria : EUR 520,20 Greece : EUR 234,18 Spain : EUR 362,15 Portugal : EUR 228,00.".
(9)In Article 122, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: "3. The single area payment scheme shall be available until 31 December 2014.".
(10)In Article 124, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following: "1. The agricultural area of a new Member State under the single area payment scheme shall be that part of its utilised agricultural area which is maintained in good agricultural condition, whether or not in production, and, where appropriate, adjusted in accordance with the objective and non-discriminatory criteria to be set by that new Member State after approval by the Commission. For the purposes of this Title, 'utilised agricultural area' shall mean the total area taken up by arable land, permanent grassland, permanent crops and kitchen gardens, as established by the Commission for its statistical purposes.
For the purpose of granting payments under the single area payment scheme, all agricultural parcels corresponding to the criteria provided for in paragraph 1, as well as agricultural parcels planted with short rotation coppice (CN code ex 0602 90 41 ), shall be eligible.
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