Legalize / United Kingdom / Statutory-Instrument

The Rules for Direct Payments to Farmers (Amendment) Regulations 2020

Type Statutory-Instrument

Publication 2020-01-30

State In force

Department King's Printer of Acts of Parliament

Source legislation.gov.uk

The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 3(1), (7) and (9) of the Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Act 2020[^f00001], and in accordance with paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 5 to the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020[^f00002].

PART 1 — Introductory

Citation, commencement, application and extent

1

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Rules for Direct Payments to Farmers (Amendment) Regulations 2020.

(2) These Regulations come into force on exit day and paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 5 to the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 does not apply.

(3) Subject to paragraph 4, these Regulations extend to the United Kingdom.

(4) Regulation 25 extends to England and Wales and applies in England only.

PART 2 — Amendment of Regulation (EU) 1307/2013

Amendment of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013

2

Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy is amended in accordance with Regulations 3 to 8.

Amendment of Title 1 (Scope and definitions)

3

(1) In Article 1, in point (b)—

(a) in point (i), omit “and a transitional” to the end;

(b) omit points (ii), (v), (viii), (ix) and (x).

(2) In Article 2, for the words from “Commission” to “Article 70” substitute “appropriate authority may make regulations”.

(3) Omit Article 3.

(4) In the first subparagraph of Article 4(1)—

(a) in point (a)—

(i) omit “by national law”;

(ii) for the words from “territorial” to “TFEU” substitute “United Kingdom”;

(b) in point (b), for “territory of the same Member State” substitute “United Kingdom”;

(i) in point (ii), for the words from “Member States” to “Commission” substitute “the relevant authority on the basis of the framework set out in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 639/2014”;

(ii) in point (iii) for “Member States” substitute “the relevant authority”;

(d) in point (d), omit “as well as cotton”;

(e) in point (h)—

(i) for “as well as, where Member States so decide”, substitute “and, where the relevant authority so decides”;

(ii) for “Member States so decide”, in the second place it occurs, substitute “the relevant authority so decides”;

(iii) for “Member States”, in the last place it occurs, substitute “The relevant authority”;

(f) in point (i), for “Member State” substitute “United Kingdom”;

(g) in point (k)—

(i) omit “of CN code 0602 90 41”;

(ii) omit “to be” in both places it occurs;

(iii) for “Member States”, in the first place it occurs, substitute “the relevant authority;

(iv) for “Member States”, in the second place it occurs, substitute “relevant authority”;

(h) after point (n) insert—

(o) “constituent nation” means England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, as the case may be; (p) “national reserve” means a reserve established by the relevant authority at the level of the constituent nation; (q) “regional reserves” means reserves established by the relevant authority at regional level; (r) “relevant authority” means— (i) in relation to England, the Secretary of State; (ii) in relation to Wales, the Welsh Ministers; (iii) in relation to Scotland, the Scottish Ministers; (iv) in relation to Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs; (s) “appropriate authority” means— (i) the relevant authority for the constituent nation in which the regulations apply, or (ii) the Secretary of State: (aa) in relation to regulations applying in Scotland, if consent is given by the Scottish Ministers; (bb) in relation to regulations applying in Northern Ireland, if consent is given by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.

(5) In the second subparagraph of Article 4(1)—

(a) for “Member States” substitute “a relevant authority”;

(b) for “have”, in the first place it occurs, substitute “has”.

(6) In Article 4(2)—

(a) for the first subparagraph substitute—

For the purposes of point (c) of paragraph 1: (a) the criteria to be met by farmers in order to fulfil the obligation to maintain an agricultural area in a state suitable for grazing or cultivation, as referred to in point (c)(ii) are the criteria set by the relevant authority prior to exit day; (b) where applicable in a constituent nation, the minimum activity to be carried out on agricultural areas naturally kept in a state suitable for grazing or cultivation, as referred to in point (c)(iii) is as defined by the relevant authority prior to exit day.

(b) in the second, third and fourth subparagraphs, for “Member States”, in each place it occurs, substitute “The relevant authority”;

(d) for the fifth subparagraph substitute—

This paragraph only applies where the decisions to which it refers were made and notified to the Commission by: (a) 31st January 2015, in the case of a decision taken under the second subparagraph; (b) 31st March 2018, in the case of a decision taken under the third or fourth subparagraph.

(7) Omit paragraph 3.

Amendment of Title 2 (General provisions on direct payments)

4

(1) For Article 6(1) substitute—

(1) For each year, the national ceiling for the United Kingdom comprising the total value of all allocated payment entitlements, of all national reserves and regional reserves and of all the ceilings calculated in accordance with Articles 42, 47, 51 and 53 is as set out in Annex II. Where a relevant authority makes a decision under Article 22(2) to increase the amount which represents its share of the basic payment scheme ceiling, the national ceiling set out in Annex II for the United Kingdom for the respective year may be exceeded by the sum of the increases decided pursuant to that Article in respect of that year.

(2) Omit Article 6(2).

(3) In Article 6(3)[^f00003]—

(a) omit “by Member States”;

(b) omit “Article 136a of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 and”;

(c) for the words from “and those resulting” to “Article 70 of this Regulation” substitute “, the Secretary of State may make regulations”.

(4) After Article 6(3) insert—

(4) The Secretary of State may not make regulations under paragraph 3 without the consent of each of the relevant authorities for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. (5) Where the relevant authority for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland requests that the Secretary of State makes regulations under paragraph 3, the Secretary of State must have regard to that request.

(5) In Article 7(1)—

(a) For “Without prejudice to Article 8, the” substitute “The” ;

(b) for “a Member State”—

(i) in the first place it occurs, substitute “the United Kingdom”;

(ii) in the second place it occurs, substitute “a constituent nation”;

(d) for “that Member State” substitute “the relevant authority”;

(e) omit the words from “with the exception” to the end.

(6) For Article 7(2) substitute—

(2) For calendar year 2020, the estimated product of the reduction of payments referred to in Article 11 (which is reflected by the difference between the national ceiling set out in Annex II and the net ceiling set out in Annex III) shall be made available as support for measures under rural development. (2A) References to “rural development” in this Article and in Article 14 include measures which are conducive to: (a) the conservation or enhancement of the natural beauty or amenity of the countryside (including its flora and fauna and geological and physiographical features) or of any features of archaeological interest there; or (b) the promotion of the enjoyment of the countryside by the public; or (c) starting, or improving the productivity of, an agricultural, horticultural or forestry activity or a rural business; or (d) starting, promoting or improving rural services.

(7) In Article 7(3)[^f00004]—

(a) Omit “”by Member States”;

(b) For the words from “the Commission” to “Article 70” substitute “the Secretary of State may make regulations”.

(8) After Article 7(3) insert—

(4) The Secretary of State may not make regulations under paragraph 3 without the consent of each of the relevant authorities for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. (5) Where the relevant authority for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland requests that the Secretary of State makes regulations under paragraph 3, the Secretary of State must have regard to that request.

(9) Omit Article 8.

(10) In Article 9—

(a) in paragraph 1, for “Member States” substitute “the relevant authority”;

(b) in paragraph 2—

(i) for the second subparagraph substitute—

Nothing in this Regulation prevents the relevant authority from adding to the list in the first subparagraph any other similar non-agricultural businesses or activities or from removing any such additions, provided that any such additions and removals are appropriate and made on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory criteria.

(ii) in the third subparagraph, for “Member States” substitute “the relevant authority”;

(c) in paragraphs 3 and 3a, for the words from the beginning to “decide” substitute “Nothing in this Regulation prevents the relevant authority from deciding”;

(d) for paragraph 4 substitute—

(4) Paragraphs 2, 3 and 3a do not apply to farmers who received direct payments for the previous year, if the amount of those direct payments was no more than the amount set by the relevant authority in accordance with this Regulation prior to exit day.

(e) in paragraph 5—

(i) for the words from “Commission” to “Article 70” substitute “appropriate authority may make regulations”;

(ii) in point (c), omit the words from “direct”, in the second place it occurs, to “concerning”, in the second place it occurs;

(f) omit paragraph 6;

(g) for paragraph 7 substitute—

(7) Nothing in this Regulation prevents the relevant authority from deciding that only one or two of the criteria listed in the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 applies.

(h) for paragraph 8 substitute—

(8) The relevant authority may decide to stop applying paragraph 2.

(11) For Article 10 substitute—

(1) Subject to paragraph 2, the relevant authority shall not grant direct payments to a farmer where the eligible holding for which direct payments are claimed or due to be granted before the application of Article 63 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 is smaller than the area set in legislation applying to the constituent nation. (2) In the case of farmers receiving the animal-related coupled support referred to in Title IV, the area threshold determined in accordance with paragraph 1 does not apply, but the relevant authority shall not grant direct payments where the total amount of direct payments claimed or due to be granted before the application of Article 63 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 in a given calendar year is less than EUR 100.

(12) In Article 11—

(a) in paragraph 1, for “Member States” substitute “The relevant authority”;

(b) in paragraph 2, for “Member States” substitute “the relevant authority”;

(i) for “a Member State”, in both places it occurs, substitute “the relevant authority”;

(ii) after “5%”, in both places it occurs, insert “of its share”;

(iii) omit “set out in Annex II”, in both places it occurs;

(iv) for “that Member State” substitute “the relevant authority”;

(d) omit paragraphs 5 and 6.

(13) For Article 14 substitute—

The relevant authority may make available, as additional support for measures under rural development, up to 15% of its share of the national ceiling for calendar year 2020 provided that such a decision was taken and notified to the Commission by 31 December 2019. The amount made available for rural development under this paragraph shall no longer be available for granting direct payments.

(14) Omit Articles 15, 17, 19 and 20.

Amendment of Title 3 (Basic payment scheme, single area payment scheme and related payments)

5

(1) For Article 21 substitute—

Support under the basic payment scheme shall be available to farmers who: (a) obtain payment entitlements under this Regulation through first allocation pursuant to Article 24 as it had effect immediately before exit day, through allocation from the national reserve or regional reserves pursuant to Article 30 or through transfer pursuant to Article 34, or (b) comply with Article 9 and hold unexpired owned or leased-in payment entitlements established under the single payment scheme in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and with Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.

(2) In Article 22—

(a) for paragraphs 1 to 4 substitute—

(1) The basic payment scheme ceiling for any given year is calculated by deducting from the annual national ceiling set out in Annex II all the ceilings calculated in respect of that year in accordance with Articles 42, 47, 51 and 53. (2) The relevant authority’s share of the basic payment ceiling is the amount which remains for the basic payment scheme in the constituent nation after deducting from the relevant authority’s share of the national ceiling the ceilings set under Articles 42, 47 and 51 and the amount allocated in the constituent nation under Article 53. The relevant authority may increase the amount which represents its share of the basic payment scheme ceiling. That increase may not exceed 3% of the amount which represents its share of the annual national ceiling after deduction of the amount resulting from the application of Article 47(1) for the relevant year. (3) The relevant authority may review the decision under paragraph 2 on an annual basis. (4) The total value of all payment entitlements and the national reserve or regional reserves in the constituent nation must equal its share of the basic payment scheme ceiling. The total value of payment entitlements and national reserves and regional reserves in the United Kingdom must equal the basic payment scheme ceiling calculated in accordance with paragraph 1.

(b) in paragraph 5[^f00005]—

(i) for the words “for a Member State by the Commission” substitute “calculated”;

(ii) for the words “that Member State”, in both places it occurs, substitute “the relevant authority”;

(iii) for “Article 14(1) or (2)” substitute “Article 14”;

(iv) omit “the second subparagraph of Article 49(1),”.

(3) In Article 23—

(a) in paragraph 1—

(i) for the first sentence substitute “The relevant authority may apply the basic payment scheme at regional level, provided that it took a decision to do so by 1 August 2014.”;

(ii) for “they” substitute “the relevant authority”;

(iii) omit the second subparagraph;

(b) in paragraph 2—

(i) for “Member States”, in the first place it occurs, substitute “The relevant authority”;

(ii) after “divide” insert “its share of”;

(iii) omit the second subparagraph;

(d) in paragraph 4, for “Member States” substitute “the relevant authority”;

(e) in paragraph 5—

(i) for “Member States applying paragraph 1” substitute “The relevant authority”;

(ii) for “them” substitute “the relevant authority”;

(f) omit paragraph 6.

(4) In Article 25—

(a) for paragraphs 1 to 7 substitute—

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