The Common Agricultural Policy Basic Payment and Support Schemes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

Made: 27th March 2015

Coming into operation: 30th April 2015

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is a Department designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in relation to the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union and in relation to matters relating to the promotion of rural development.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred on it by section 2(2) of that Act.

Title, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Common Agricultural Policy Basic Payment and Support Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 and shall come into operation on 30th April 2015.

• (2) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to this Order as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

Interpretation

2

• (1) In these Regulations—

• “the 2025 scheme year” means the scheme year beginning on 1st January and ending on 31st December 2025,

• “the Direct Payments Delegated Regulation” means Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No.639/2014 supplementing the Direct Payments Regulation ;

• “the Direct Payments Implementing Regulation” means Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No.641/2014 laying down rules for the application of the Direct Payments Regulation ;

• “the Direct Payments Regulation” means Regulation (EU) No. 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy ;

• “the European Regulations” means—the Direct Payments Regulation;the Direct Payments Delegated Regulation;the Direct Payments Implementing Regulation; andthe Horizontal Implementing Regulation;

• “the Horizontal Implementing Regulation” means Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 809/2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No. 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system, rural development measures and cross compliance ;

• “active farmer” means a person who holds decision making power, derives the benefits and assumes the financial risks in relation to the agricultural activity on the land;

• “Bank Holiday” means a day specified in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 ;

• “working day” means a day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, Bank Holiday or other public holiday.

• (2) Terms used in these Regulations that are also used in any of the European Regulations have the meaning they bear in those Regulations.

• (3) In these Regulations, any reference to “the European Regulations” is a reference to those Regulations as amended from time to time.

PART 1 — Basic Payment Scheme

Regions

3

• (1) For the purposes of Article 23(1) of the Direct Payments Regulation, Northern Ireland will be a single region.

Payment entitlements

4

• (1) For the purposes of Article 8(1) of the Direct Payments Implementing Regulation, the period within which the transferor of payment entitlements must notify the Department of the transfer is—

• (a) on or before 2nd May 2016, if 2016 is the first calendar year in which the transferee may include those entitlements in the transferee's application for direct payments; or

• (aa) on or before 15th May in relation to the 2025 scheme year and subsequent scheme years,

• (b) otherwise from 3rd May of the preceding calendar year to 2nd May (both those dates included) of the first calendar year where the first calendar year is 2017 or a subsequent year in which the transferee may include those entitlements in the transferee's application for direct payments , or

• (c) otherwise from 16th May of the preceding calendar year to 15th May (both those dates included) of the first calendar year where the first calendar year is 2026 or a subsequent year in which the transferee may include those entitlements in the transferee’s application for direct payments.

• (2) If, for the purposes of paragraph (1), 2nd May or 15th May is not a working day, the deadline for notification is the next working day.

• (3) For the purposes of Article 22(1) of the Horizontal Implementing Regulation, to the extent that Article relates to direct payments ..., applications for the allocation of payment entitlements must be submitted on or before 15th May of the relevant calendar year.

Allocation of Payment Entitlements

5

Article 21 (3) of the Direct Payments Regulation shall not be applied.

6

Article 24 (1)(c) of the Direct Payments Regulation shall be applied with the exception of the last sentence of that paragraph.

7

The limitations referred to in Article 24(3) of the Direct Payments Regulation shall not be applied.

8

In accordance with Article 25(4) of the Direct Payments Regulation payment entitlements with an initial unit value lower than 100% of the regional unit value in 2019 shall for claim year 2019 have their unit value increased by 71.4% of the difference between their initial unit value and 100% of the regional unit value in 2019.

9

The decrease referred to in Article 25(7) of the Direct Payments Regulation shall be applied in a linear fashion each year.

10

The initial unit value of payment entitlements as referred to in Article 26 of the Direct Payments Regulation shall be calculated in accordance with paragraph 3 of that Article.

Active farmers

11

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Minimum eligible area of holding

12

For the purposes of Article 10(1) ... of the Direct Payments Regulation, no direct payments may be granted to a farmer where the eligible area of the holding for which the payments are claimed or due to be granted in accordance with Article 10(1)... is less than three hectares.

13

For the purposes of Article 24(9) of the Direct Payments Regulation, the minimum size per holding in respect of which a farmer may apply for an allocation of payment entitlements shall be 3 hectares.

Date on which eligible land must be at farmer’s disposal

14

In relation to any year in which the farmer makes a declaration in respect of parcels pursuant to Article 33(1) of the Direct Payments Regulation, the date on which those parcels must be at the farmer's disposal is 15th May.

Reductions

15

For the purposes of Article 11(1) of the Direct Payments Regulation, where the direct payments to be granted to a farmer pursuant to Chapter 1 of Title III of that Regulation for a given calendar year exceed £190 000, the sum in excess of that amount must be reduced by 100%.

Short rotation coppice

16

For the purposes of Article 4(1)(k) ... of the Direct Payments Regulation—

• (a) the list of planted tree species is—

• (i) Alder (Alnus spp);

• (ii) Birch (Betula spp);

• (iii) Hazel (Corylus avellana);

• (iv) Ash (Fraxinus excelsior);

• (v) Lime (Tilia cordata);

• (vi) Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa);

• (vii) Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus);

• (viii) Willow (Salix spp); and

• (ix) Poplar (Populus spp);

• (b) the maximum harvest cycle is 5 years.

PART 2 — Young farmer scheme

Young farmer

17

• (1) The payment for young farmers as referred to in Annex I of the Direct Payments Regulation shall be calculated in accordance with Article 50(8) of that Regulation.

• (2) For the purposes of Article 50(9) of the Direct Payments Regulation, a single maximum limit of 90 hectares is applicable to the number of payment entitlements activated by the farmer.

PART 3 — Greening

Calculation of greening payment

18

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Crop diversification

19

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Environmentally sensitive permanent grassland

20

• (1) Permanent grasslands in areas to which the Conservation Directives apply are designated as permanent grasslands which are environmentally sensitive for the purposes of and in the areas referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 45(1) of the Direct Payments Regulation as it had effect immediately before exit day.

• (2) In paragraph (1)—

Ecological focus areas

21

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Revocations and savings

22

• (1) The Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 are revoked.

• (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 as in force immediately before 2015 continue to apply in respect of aid applications relating to 2014 and earlier claim years.

SCHEDULE 1 — Ecological focus areas: Nitrogen-fixing crops for the purposes of Article 45(10) of the Direct Payments Delegated Regulation

• Beans (Vicia faba)

• Cowpeas (Vigna)

• Green beans (Phaseolus)

• Blue Lupin (Lupinus augustifolis)

• Yellow Lupin (Lupinus luteus)

• White Lupin (Lupinus albus)

• Peas (Pisum)

Signed

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on 27th March 2015.

David Small — A senior officer of the

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Footnotes

[^f00001]: S.I.2000/2812 to which there are amendments not relevant to the subject matter of these Regulations and S.I.2000/3238.

[^f00002]: 1972 c.68.

[^f00003]: 1954 c.33 (NI).

[^f00004]: O.J. No. L 181, 20.6.2014, p.1.

[^f00005]: O.J. No. L 181, 20.6.2014, p. 74.

[^f00006]: O.J. No. L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 608, as amended by Regulation (EU) No. 1310/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No. L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 865).

[^f00007]: O.J. No. L 227, 31.7.2014, p.69.

[^f00008]: 1971, c.80.

[^f00009]: O.J. No. L 206, 22.7.1992 p.7

[^f00010]: O.J. No. L 20, 26.1.2010, p.7. This instrument codifies, with minor amendments, Council Directive 1979/409/EEC as amended.

[^f00011]: S.R. 2010 No. 161

Active farmers

Minimum eligible area of holding

Date on which eligible land must be at farmer's disposal

Reductions

Short rotation coppice

.................................

Cowpeas (Vigna)

Green beans (Phaseolus)

Blue Lupin (Lupinus augustifolis)

Yellow Lupin (Lupinus luteus)

White Lupin (Lupinus albus)

Peas (Pisum)

Editorial notes

[^c22503121]: S.I.2000/2812 to which there are amendments not relevant to the subject matter of these Regulations and S.I.2000/3238.

[^c22503131]: 1972 c.68.

[^c22503141]: 1954 c.33 (NI).

[^c22503151]: O.J. No. L 181, 20.6.2014, p.1.

[^c22503161]: O.J. No. L 181, 20.6.2014, p. 74.

[^c22503171]: O.J. No. L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 608, as amended by Regulation (EU) No. 1310/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No. L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 865).

[^c22503181]: O.J. No. L 227, 31.7.2014, p.69.

[^c22503191]: 1971, c.80.

[^c22503201]: O.J. No. L 206, 22.7.1992 p.7

[^c22503211]: O.J. No. L 20, 26.1.2010, p.7. This instrument codifies, with minor amendments, Council Directive 1979/409/EEC as amended.

[^c22503221]: S.R. 2010 No. 161

[^key-02ad25300ec49e7b2057d7b764ea5b6b]: Reg. 11 revoked (25.6.2018) by The Common Agricultural Policy Basic Payment and Support Schemes (Revocation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2018 (S.R. 2018/122), regs. 1, 3

[^key-de11af28e99a2c5890b1b710f87bba5f]: Reg. 2(3) inserted (6.3.2019) by The Agriculture (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 (S.R. 2019/11), regs. 1(1), 6(2)

[^key-0d4c1f23223c20a68be767275006d156]: Words in reg. 20(2) inserted (6.3.2019) by The Agriculture (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 (S.R. 2019/11), regs. 1(1), 6(3)

[^key-637204249eafb2f7c1a88278a1a5b921]: Reg. 4(3) substituted (24.2.2020) by The Common Agricultural Policy (Direct Payments to Farmers) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (S.R. 2020/22), regs. 1(1), 2(2)(a)

[^key-bce96183db2dfd69e1f877273b9ea993]: Words in reg. 12 omitted (24.2.2020) by virtue of The Common Agricultural Policy (Direct Payments to Farmers) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (S.R. 2020/22), regs. 1(1), 2(3)(a)

[^key-5b7d63bff0bf4251351f7293ed4da4c5]: Word in reg. 12 omitted (24.2.2020) by virtue of The Common Agricultural Policy (Direct Payments to Farmers) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (S.R. 2020/22), regs. 1(1), 2(3)(b)

[^key-9f7e8230715c4384cfe96b4ff0f97436]: Words in reg. 16 omitted (24.2.2020) by virtue of The Common Agricultural Policy (Direct Payments to Farmers) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (S.R. 2020/22), regs. 1(1), 2(4)

[^key-ded0e7a5755c54b135148cfd35584b6c]: Reg. 20(1) substituted (24.2.2020) by The Common Agricultural Policy (Direct Payments to Farmers) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (S.R. 2020/22), regs. 1(1), 2(5)

[^key-2b67fbcfa342924a3d6bd0ea9f1eb0e7]: Words in reg. 4(3) omitted (23.2.2021) by virtue of The Direct Payments to Farmers (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (S.R. 2021/40), regs. 1(1), 4

[^key-575886ed5e6a9a57386bd8c715a71afc]: Sum in reg. 15 substituted (25.2.2021) by The Direct Payments to Farmers (Simplifications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (S.R. 2021/42), regs. 1(1), 16

[^key-cfb1dcfa2043636ed2ded211a06a0422]: Reg. 18 omitted (25.2.2021) by virtue of The Direct Payments to Farmers (Simplifications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (S.R. 2021/42), regs. 1(1), 9(2)

[^key-fa793facfe014c376de568e26738438d]: Reg. 19 omitted (25.2.2021) by virtue of The Direct Payments to Farmers (Simplifications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (S.R. 2021/42), regs. 1(1), 9(3)

[^key-cd2fb07410486c942f56e9afcdb4be6d]: Reg. 21 omitted (25.2.2021) by virtue of The Direct Payments to Farmers (Simplifications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (S.R. 2021/42), regs. 1(1), 9(4)

[^key-0b2d5c5947d811a3f50ae2f3bc0f2d8f]: Sch. omitted (25.2.2021) by virtue of The Direct Payments to Farmers (Simplifications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (S.R. 2021/42), regs. 1(1), 9(5)

[^key-cb681e4ddc58885aac95ca5a7f89f189]: Reg. 10A inserted (24.2.2025) by The Farm Sustainability (Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 (S.R. 2025/33), regs. 1, 8(3)

[^key-5be11dcb3cdfc448ee6173275f839fcf]: Words in reg. 2(1) inserted (24.2.2025) by The Farm Sustainability (Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 (S.R. 2025/33), regs. 1, 8(2)

[^key-e34f4119b1b5f657f05224979ba64359]: Words in reg. 2 inserted (10.3.2025) by The Farm Sustainability Payments to Farmers (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 (S.R. 2025/26), regs. 1(1), 4(2)

[^key-5b1c3850eddd27484548665d18590b06]: Reg. 4(1)(aa) inserted (10.3.2025) by The Farm Sustainability Payments to Farmers (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 (S.R. 2025/26), regs. 1(1), 4(3)(a)(i)

[^key-ba53248d45b5a6a3839724433792b865]: Word in reg. 4(1)(b) substituted (10.3.2025) by The Farm Sustainability Payments to Farmers (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 (S.R. 2025/26), regs. 1(1), 4(3)(a)(ii)

[^key-df2daff1b6de8e97b2f9a5ce19631d96]: Reg. 4(1)(c) added (10.3.2025) by The Farm Sustainability Payments to Farmers (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 (S.R. 2025/26), regs. 1(1), 4(3)(a)(iii)

[^key-e8211de7461baeeb85805f578bd9549f]: Words in reg. 4(2) inserted (10.3.2025) by The Farm Sustainability Payments to Farmers (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 (S.R. 2025/26), regs. 1(1), 4(3)(b)

10A

Only persons who are active farmers on land for which they have claimed payment entitlements shall be eligible to activate payment entitlements in respect of that land

Active farmers

Minimum eligible area of holding

Date on which eligible land must be at farmer's disposal

Reductions

Short rotation coppice