20.11.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 345/85

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 of 21 April 2004, laying down detailed rules for the implementation of the single payment scheme provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers (2), introduces the implementing rules for the single payment scheme that will apply starting from 2005. The administrative and operational implementation of the scheme, which has started at national level on the basis of that Regulation, has shown the need for further detailed rules on some aspects of the scheme and to clarify certain aspects of the existing rules.Further to the publication of Regulation (EC) No 795/2004, it appears that some references to Commission Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 have been wrongly published (3). It is therefore appropriate to correct them.The purpose of Article 46(2), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 is to allow the transfer of payment entitlement without land under specific conditions. Article 46(2), first subparagraph, of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 clearly provides that only sale of payment entitlements is possible without land. In order to avoid that the second subparagraph may be misunderstood and result in making without object the provision of the first subparagraph of that Article, therefore it is appropriate for the sake of clarification to indicate that the transfer mentioned in the second subparagraph only refers to the sale of payment entitlements without land and not to the lease of payment entitlements which is not possible without land.For administrative reasons, in order to limit the creation of fractions of payment entitlements to the extent that is necessary, it is appropriate to provide for a rule providing that, once all entire entitlements have been used, partially used entitlements should be considered as fully used whilst giving right to a payment proportionate to the land declared and, in case of transfer, before splitting an existing entitlement, all existing fractions should be used.Article 2(e) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 provides that the payments in the reference period are those granted or to be granted in that period. Annex VII adds that reductions resulting from the application of base areas, ceilings or other quantitative limitations should be taken into account. It is therefore appropriate, for the sake of clarification, to specify that the reductions and exclusions applied under Commission Regulation (EC) No 2419/2001 (4) should not be taken into consideration for all the direct payments referred to in Annex VI of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 in order not to perpetuate the reductions and exclusions applied in that period. Therefore the number of animals and hectares determined at the time of the establishment of the payment entitlements should be taken into consideration without prejudice to further controls and the application of Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 (5).Farmers who leased or sold hectares should not benefit from the mechanism provided for in Article 7. Therefore it is necessary that land sold or transferred shall be included in the number of hectares which the farmer declares in order that those hectares do not benefit from the mechanism.Article 40 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 provides for the application of a different reference period in hardship cases affecting production. It is therefore appropriate to specify that the application of that Article should be done on the basis of each direct payment referred to in Annex VI of that Regulation which corresponds to the different productions.Concerning the application of Article 42(9) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, it is appropriate to specify its application in the case of transfer of premium rights and the consequences for the calculation of the remaining reference amount on the remaining hectares. Moreover, following the change of date from 29 September 2003 to 15 May 2004 introduced by Regulation (EC) No 864/2004, in order to avoid that that Article, where applied, could have an effect on the legitimate expectation of farmers who have already concluded contracts between 30 September 2003 and 15 May 2004 being aware of the application of that clause, it is appropriate to provide for the non application of that Article in such cases.In order to take into account the possibility for Member States to provide for a further allocation of reference amounts in the first year of application of the single payment scheme according to Article 34(3), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, it is appropriate to fix the final date for the definitive establishment of payment entitlements at 15 August whilst at the same time taking into account the possibility for Member States to set up a later date where administrative reasons so warrant. It is appropriate to indicate the area to which the minimum size refers and when parcels should be declared.Following the change of date from 29 September 2003 to 15 May 2004 introduced by Regulation (EC) No 864/2004, for consistency reasons, the same date should be introduced in the provisions relating to farmers in special situations.Consideration should be taken of any eventual administrative act or court's ruling putting an end to a conflict between the administration and the farmer in case this results in the allocation or increase of payment entitlements. This situation should be considered a special situation in accordance with Article 42(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and treated consequently.Without prejudice to the application of Article 43(2)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 which provides that all forage area in the reference period should be included in the calculation of the payment entitlements, in order to facilitate the task of the national administrations in establishing the provisional payment entitlements, it is appropriate to give them the possibility to take into account the number of forage areas declared in the area aid application before the introduction of the single payment scheme or in case of preliminary establishment of payment entitlements, whilst allowing the farmer the possibility to prove that his or her forage area in the reference period was lower.The current implementing rules on the payment entitlements subject to special conditions need to be completed or specified as far as they concern certain aspects of the establishment and management of those entitlements.Extensification payments and additional payments in the beef and veal and sheep and goat sectors referred to in Annex VI of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 were granted in the reference period according to eligibility conditions and amounts set up by Member States and may vary from one year to the other. Due to those changing elements, it is therefore appropriate to allow Member States concerned to take into account, according to objective criteria, those different eligibility conditions and amounts when calculating the reference amount relating to those payments whilst respecting the relative budgetary ceilings. Concerning the slaughter premium, in order to facilitate inclusion of the current regime of premiums into the single payment scheme, the current ceiling referred to in Article 11(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1254/12999 should be taken into account in the calculation of the reference amount.In order to take into account any eventual hardship case in the application of the regional model, it is appropriate to provide for the application of the existing rules on hardship cases set up in Article 40 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.Farmers producing fruit and vegetables and table potatoes should be taken into account when applying the provisions on special situations.According to Chapter 6 of Title III of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, new Member States shall apply the single payment scheme only in a regionalised way based on the provisions existing for the regionalised model provided for in Articles 58 to 63 of that Regulation. For the implementation of the single payment scheme in those Member States, it is therefore appropriate to provide for the same detailed rules, which are applicable, established in Regulation (EC) No 795/2004.Where the Member State decides to make use of the option provided for in Article 71(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, a deadline for the notification of the decisions it has taken in accordance with Articles 58, 59, 61 to 64 and 70 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 should be fixed in order to allow the Commission to establish the ceilings referred to in those Articles.According to Article 60(2), Annex VII (B) and (D), last subparagraph, of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, the Commission shall fix a maximum area for fruit and vegetables, dried fodder and starch potatoes on the basis of data communicated by Member States. It is therefore appropriate to provide for a deadline for those communications.The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Direct Payments,

1.

Article 2 shall be amended as follows:

2.

Article 3(2) shall be replaced by the following paragraphs:

‘2.   Where a farmer, after having declared in accordance with Article 44(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 all possible entire payment entitlements, needs to declare a payment entitlement accompanying a parcel which amounts to a fraction of a hectare, this last payment entitlement shall give right to a payment calculated pro rata to the size of the parcel and it shall be deemed as fully used for the purpose of Article 45 of that Regulation.

3.   Where the size of a parcel which is transferred with an entitlement in accordance with Article 46(2) of that Regulation amounts to a fraction of a hectare, the farmer may transfer the part of the entitlement concerned with the land at a value calculated to the extent of the same fraction. The remaining part of the entitlement shall remain at the disposal of the farmer at a value calculated correspondingly.

4.   Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall apply only if the farmer still needs to declare or transfer a payment entitlement or a fraction of a payment entitlement with a fraction of a hectare after having declared or transferred existing payment entitlements or fractions of payment entitlements’;

3.

the following Article 3a shall be added:

‘Article 3a

Determined hectares and animals

Without prejudice to the application of Annex VII of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, the number of hectares or animals for which a direct payment has been or should have been granted in the reference period to be taken into consideration for the purpose of establishing the reference amount referred to in Article 37(1) of that Regulation shall be the number of hectares or animals determined within the meaning of Article 2 points (r) and (s) of Regulation (EC) No 2419/2001 for each of the direct payments referred to in Annex VI of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003’;

4.

Article 7 shall be modified as follows:

5.

in Article 8(1), second subparagraph, the reference to Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 shall be replaced by a reference to Regulation (EC) No 796/2004;

6.

Article 10 shall be amended as follows:

7.

Article 12 shall be amended as follows:

8.

in Article 16, the following paragraph shall be added:

‘3.   Article 40 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 shall apply on the basis of each direct payment referred to in Annex VI of that Regulation’;

9.

in Article 18(1) and (2), ‘23’ shall be replaced by ‘23a’;

10.

Article 20 shall be amended as follows:

11.

in Articles 21, 22 and 23, the date of 29 September 2003 shall be replaced by the date of 15 May 2004;

12.

The following Article 23a shall be added:

‘Article 23a

Administrative acts and court's rulings

Where a farmer should be entitled to receive payment entitlements or increase the value of the existing ones by virtue of a definitive court's ruling or by virtue of a definitive administrative act of the competent authority of a Member State, the farmer shall receive the number and value of payment entitlements established in that ruling or act at a date to be fixed by the Member State but not later than the latest date for lodging an application under the single payment scheme following the date of the ruling or the act and taking into account the application of Article 44(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003’;

13.

Article 28 shall be replaced by the following:

‘1.   For the purposes of Article 34(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, a Member State may decide, where the case may be, to use:

2.   For the purpose of the establishment of the definitive payment entitlements the farmer may prove, at the satisfaction of the competent authority, that his forage area in the reference period was lower or, in case the area used by Member States is lower, he shall, in accordance with Article 43(2)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, declare all the forage area he held in the reference period’;

14.

in Article 29, the reference to Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 shall be replaced by the reference to Regulation (EC) No 796/2004;

15.

Article 30 shall be modified as follows:

16.

the following Article 31a shall be added:

‘Article 31a

Beef and veal and sheep and goat payments

1.   In order to calculate the reference amount relating to extensification payments and additional payments in the beef and veal and sheep and goat sectors referred to in Annex VI of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, Member States shall take into account, according to objective criteria and in such a way as to ensure equal treatment between farmers and to avoid market and competition distortion, the eligibility conditions and amounts set up by the Member State concerned when granting such payments in the reference period provided that the component of such payments in the ceiling referred to in Annex VIII of that Regulation is not exceeded.

2.   In order to calculate the reference amount relating to the slaughter premium in the beef and veal sector referred to in Annex VI of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, Member State shall take into account the application of Article 11(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999’;

17.

in Article 32, the following paragraph shall be added:

‘4.   For the purposes of Articles 54(2) and 61 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, land under permanent pasture in 2003 shall be:

However, Member States may provide that land under permanent pasture in 2003 shall be land declared in the aid application for 2003 and in the aid applications for at least the five consecutive years prior to 2003 as land used to grow grasses or other herbaceous forage’;

18.

Article 38 shall be modified as follows:

19.

the following paragraph 4 shall be added in Article 41:

‘4.   For the purpose of Article 60(3)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, Article 20 to 23a of this Regulation shall apply mutatis mutandis to the farmers producing the products referred to in Article 60(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003’;

20.

The following Chapter is inserted after Chapter 6:

‘CHAPTER 6a

NEW MEMBER STATES

Article 48a

Implementation in the new Member States

21.

the following Article 48b shall be added:

‘Article 48b

Notification of decisions

Where the Member State decides to make use of the option provided for in Article 71(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, it shall notify by 1 August of the year preceding the first year of application of the single payment scheme the decisions it has taken in accordance with Articles 58, 59, 61 to 64 and 70 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003’;

22.

the following Article 50a shall be added:

‘Article 50a

Dried fodder, starch potatoes and fruit and vegetables

For the purpose of Article 60(2), Annex VII (B) and (D) last subparagraph of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, Member States shall communicate to the Commission by at the latest 31 October of the year preceding the first year of application of the single payment scheme the number of hectares referred to in those provisions’.