(1)

Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 contains in Chapter III of Title I of Part II rules on a scheme of authorisations for vine plantings which repeal and replace the transitional planting rights regime set out in Subsection II of Section IVa of Chapter III of Title I of Part II of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (3) as from 1 January 2016. This Chapter lays down rules concerning duration, management and control of the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings and empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts concerning the management of the scheme. The transitional planting rights regime set out in Subsection II of Section IVa of Chapter III of Title I of Part II of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 remains applicable until 31 December 2015 in accordance with Article 230(1)(b)(ii) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.

(2)

Article 62 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 lays down the general requirement for the Member States to grant an authorisation for vine planting upon submission of an application by producers intending to plant or replant vines. However, paragraph 4 of that Article provides that certain areas are exempted from the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings and therefore from this general requirement. It is necessary to lay down rules concerning the conditions of application of that exemption. The areas intended for experimental purposes or for graft nurseries should only be used for the specified purposes in order to avoid the circumvention of the new scheme, and grapevine products made from such areas should not be marketed unless Member States consider there are no risks of market disturbance. Existing wine-growing experiments and graft nurseries should be allowed to continue, subject to the existing rules in order to ensure a smooth transition between the plantings rights regime and the new scheme of authorisations for vine plantings. The areas whose wine or vine products are intended solely for the consumption by the wine grower's household should benefit from such exemption since, under certain conditions, they do not contribute to market disturbances. For the same reason, such exemption should also be extended to organisations without a commercial activity complying with the same conditions. The areas established by a producer having lost a certain area planted with vines due to compulsory purchases in the public interest under national law should also benefit from the exemption given that the loss of the land planted with vines in such cases is independent from the will of the producer. A condition as regards the maximum surface of the new area should however be laid down, so as to avoid undermining the general objectives of the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings.

(3)

Article 64(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 lays down rules concerning the granting of authorisations for new plantings and sets out eligibility and priority criteria that Member States may apply. Specific conditions associated to some of the eligibility and priority criteria should be established in order to establish a level playing field for their implementation and to avoid the circumvention of the system of authorisations by producers being granted authorisations. In addition, three new criteria should be added: a new eligibility criterion on the misappropriation of reputation of protected geographical indications; a new priority criterion favouring those producers that comply with the rules of the scheme and do not have abandoned vineyards in their holding; and a new priority criterion favouring non-profit organisations with a social purpose having received lands confiscated in case of terrorism and other types of crime. The new eligibility criterion responds to the need of protecting the reputation of specific geographical indications in a similar manner as the reputation of specific designations of origin, ensuring that they are not threatened by new plantings. The first new priority criterion favours certain applicants on the basis of their background that shows their respect for the rules of the authorisations scheme and that they are not applying for authorisations for new plantings while having areas planted with vines out of production which could generate authorisations for replanting. The second new priority criterion aims at favouring non-profit organisations with a social purpose having received lands confiscated in case of terrorism and other types of crime, in order to promote the social use of land that could risk otherwise being out of production.

(4)

Taking into account Article 118 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 and in order to address natural and socioeconomic differences and different growth strategies by the economic actors in those different areas within a particular territory, Member States should be permitted to apply the eligibility criteria and priority criteria referred to in Article 64(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, as well as the new eligibility and priority criteria to be added by this Regulation, differently at regional level, for specific areas eligible for protected designation of origin, for specific areas eligible for protected geographical indication or for areas without a geographical indication. Such differences in the application of those criteria in the different areas of a particular territory should always be based on the differences between those areas.

(5)

In order to respond to cases of circumvention not anticipated by this act, Member States should adopt measures to avoid the circumvention of eligibility or priority criteria by applicants of authorisations where their actions are not already covered by the specific anti-circumvention provisions laid down in this Regulation with regard to the specific eligibility and priority criteria.

(6)

Article 66(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 provides for the possibility of co-existence of vines that the producer has undertaken to grub up with newly planted vines. In order to prevent irregularities, Member States should have the possibility to ensure by the appropriate means that the undertaking to grub up is carried out, including the requirement to lodge a security accompanying the granting of an authorisation for anticipated replanting. In addition it is necessary to specify that in case the grubbing up is not carried out within the 4-year deadline set out by that provision the vines planted in the pledged area should be considered as non-authorised.

(7)

Article 66(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 allows Member States to restrict the replanting in areas eligible for the production of wines with protected designations of origin or protected geographical indications, on the basis of a recommendation from recognised and representative professional organisations. The grounds or reasons for such decisions of restriction should be defined in order to clarify the limits of their scope, while ensuring the coherence of the scheme and avoiding its circumvention. In particular it should be ensured that the automaticity in granting authorisations for replantings established in Article 66(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 does not hinder the possibility of Member States to limit the issuing of authorisations for specific areas in accordance with Article 63(2)(b) and Article 63(3). Nevertheless it should be clarified that certain specific cases may not be considered as a circumvention of the scheme.

(8)

Article 64 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 provides for administrative penalties in cases of non-compliance in relation to eligibility criteria, commitments and other obligations resulting from the application of sectoral agricultural legislation. In order to ensure the deterrent effect, Member States should be able to graduate these penalties according to the commercial value of the wines produced in the vineyards concerned. In accordance with Article 71(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 administrative penalties should be provided for in relation to non-authorised plantings, in order to provide a deterrent effect. The minimum value of those penalties should correspond to the average yearly income per hectare of vine areas at Union level, measured in gross margin per hectare of vine areas. A progressive graduation should be established from this minimum value, depending of the time of non-compliance. Member States should also be given the possibility to apply higher minimum penalties to producers in a certain area, where the minimum value established at Union level represents less than the estimated average yearly income per hectare of the area concerned. Such increase in the minimum value of penalties should be proportional to the estimated average yearly income per hectare for the area where the non-authorised vine area is located,

(a)

the specific area to be replanted is located in the same area of protected designation of origin or geographical indication as the area grubbed up and the replanting of vines complies with the same protected designation of origin or geographical indication specification as the area grubbed up;

(b)

the replanting is aimed at the production of wines without a geographical indication provided that the applicant undertakes the same commitments as those laid down in point (2) of Parts A and B of Annex I to this Regulation in relation to new plantings.

(a)

EUR 6 000 per hectare, if the producer grubs up the totality of the non-authorised planting within the 4 months from the date on which he is notified of the irregularity, as referred to in Article 71(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013;

(b)

EUR 12 000 per hectare, if the producer grubs up the totality of the non-authorised planting during the first year following the expiry of the 4-month period;

(c)

EUR 20 000 per hectare, if the producer grubs up the totality of the non-authorised planting after the first year following the expiry of the 4-month period.