1.   Union aid shall be available to eligible applicants reducing cow milk deliveries for a three month period, hereinafter referred to as ‘the reduction period’, compared with the same period in the previous year, hereinafter referred to as ‘the reference period’, under the conditions laid down in this Regulation.

Union aid shall be fixed at EUR 14/100 kg of cow milk for the volume corresponding to the difference between the cow milk delivered during the reference period and the cow milk delivered during the reduction period. Union aid shall not cover more than a total volume of cow milk delivery reduction corresponding to EUR 150 000 000.

Per eligible applicant, Union aid shall cover a quantity of cow milk delivery reduction that is no more than 50 % of the total quantity of cow milk delivered to first purchasers in the reference period.

2.   For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘eligible applicants’ means milk producers who delivered cow milk to first purchasers in July 2016.

3.   In respect of eligible applicants established in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the operative event for the exchange rate as regards the amounts paid under this Regulation shall be the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

4.   The aid provided for in this Regulation may be cumulated with other support financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

1.   The aid shall be granted on the basis of applications.

The minimum quantity of cow milk delivery reduction covered by an aid application shall be 1 500 kg.

Where the quantity of cow milk delivery reduction is expressed in litres, it shall be multiplied by the coefficient 1,03 to be expressed in kg.

2.   Aid applications shall be submitted by eligible applicants with the Member State where the applicant is established, using the method established by the Member State concerned. Aid applications shall be submitted in such a way that they are received by the Member State by the time limits for receipt set out in the third subparagraph.

Member States may decide that aid applications may be submitted on behalf of eligible applicants by recognised producer organisations or by cooperatives. In that case, Member States shall ensure that the aid is passed on in full to those eligible applicants who have actually reduced their cow milk deliveries under the conditions laid down in this Regulation.

The time limits for the receipt of complete applications shall be:

Applicants for aid shall not submit more than one aid application under this Regulation. Where an applicant submits more than one application, none of his applications shall be admissible. However, applicants who submitted an application for the first reduction period may also submit an application for the fourth reduction period.

3.   In order to be admissible, an aid application shall include:

4.   Aid applications covering a quantity of cow milk delivery reduction that is less than 1 500 kg shall be rejected.

Aid applications covering a quantity of cow milk delivery reduction that is more than 50 % of the total quantity referred to in point (a)(ii) of paragraph 3 shall be deemed to have been submitted for a quantity of cow milk delivery reduction equal to 50 % of the total quantity referred to in that point.

1.   On the basis of the notifications referred to in Article 3, the Commission shall inform Member States to what extent authorisations for quantities applied for may be granted in view of the maximum total volume referred to in Article 1(1).

Member States shall communicate the authorisations to the applicants within seven working days following the relevant time limit for the receipt of applications as referred to in Article 2(2), subject to paragraph 2 of this Article.

Authorisations shall be issued for all admissible and plausible applications notified to the Commission pursuant to Article 3.

2.   Where the aggregated volume covered by aid applications notified pursuant to Article 3 exceeds the maximum total volume referred to in Article 1(1), the Commission shall, by means of an implementing act to be adopted without applying the procedure referred to in Article 229 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, fix an allocation coefficient, which Member States shall apply to the quantity covered by each aid application.

Where an allocation coefficient is fixed for the reduction period concerned, aid applications submitted for subsequent reduction periods as referred to in Article 2(2) shall be rejected and it shall no longer be possible to submit applications for the next reduction periods.

Authorisations shall be issued for the quantities covered by aid applications, multiplied by the allocation coefficient.

1.   The aid shall be paid on the basis of an application for payment.

2.   Applications for payment shall be submitted by eligible applicants who were granted authorisations referred to in Article 4 with the Member State where the applicant is established, using the method established by the Member State concerned. Applications for payment shall be submitted in such a way that they are received by the Member State within 45 days after the end of the reduction period.

Member States may decide that applications for payment may be submitted on behalf of eligible applicants by recognised producer organisations or by cooperatives. In that case, Member States shall ensure that the payment is passed on in full to those eligible applicants who have actually reduced their cow milk deliveries under the conditions laid down in this Regulation.

3.   In order to be admissible, an application for payment shall include:

4.   Payment of the aid shall be carried out once Member States have checked, in compliance with Articles 58 and 59 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, that the cow milk delivery reduction for which Union aid is paid has actually taken place under the conditions laid down in this Regulation. Payment shall be made no later than the 90th day following the end of the reduction period, unless an administrative inquiry is ongoing.

5.   The aid amount shall cover the actual cow milk delivery reduction referred to in point (a)(iii) of paragraph 3 for each eligible applicant.

Where the actual cow milk delivery reduction is higher than the quantity resulting from the application of Article 4, the aid amount shall correspond to the latter quantity (‘the authorised quantity’). Where the actual cow milk delivery reduction is 80 % or more of the authorised quantity, the aid amount shall correspond to the actual cow milk delivery reduction referred to in point (a)(iii) of paragraph 3, provided that the authorised quantity is not exceeded. Where the actual cow milk delivery reduction is 50 % or more but less than 80 % of the authorised quantity, the aid amount shall be multiplied by a coefficient of 0,8. Where the actual cow milk delivery reduction is 20 % or more but less than 50 % of the authorised quantity, the aid amount shall be multiplied by a coefficient of 0,5. Where the actual cow milk delivery reduction is less than 20 % of the authorised quantity, no aid shall be paid.

6.   Member States' expenditure in relation to the payments under this Regulation shall only be eligible for Union aid if the relevant payments have been made by 30 September 2017 at the latest.