# CE2004088EN.01071801.xml

| 8.4.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 88/718 |
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8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 88/718

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(2004/C 88 E/0738)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0956/04

by Brian Crowley (UEN) to the Commission

(23 March 2004)

Subject:   Decoupling, farm retirement and families

Subject:

Will the Commission confirm that it has received an appeal from the West Cork group of retired farmers regarding the damaging consequences of decoupling on the return of leased land, and does it realise that the rights of these farmers – who entered the early retirement scheme in good faith – to hand over this land to their sons and daughters as their rightful inheritance to develop to its full potential has been seriously affected? What action does it intend to take to ensure that their sons and daughters can inherit farms which are capable of providing a proper livelihood?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(21 April 2004)

(21 April 2004)

The Common Agricultural Policy reform is addressed to active farmers. No provisions are established to ensure payment entitlements for landowners who have retired during the reference period and consequently whose land has been leased. The payment entitlements will be given to the tenants who exercised an agricultural activity in the reference period on the land in question. As confirmed by the European Court of Justice in a settled case-law, farmers cannot have a legitimate expectation that an existing situation which is capable of being altered by the Community institutions in the exercise of their discretionary power will be maintained.

Farmers can produce without entitlements or, but they are not obliged to, buy entitlements on the market and, of course, they can continue to lease the land to farmers who have entitlements but not enough land.

Nevertheless, there is no intention to disqualify such farm families from future payment entitlements or to prevent that sons and daughters can inherit farms which are capable of providing a proper livelihood.

The Commission is aware of the fact that farmers that participated in early retirement schemes may have leased their farm temporarily with the idea that eventually a son or daughter would take over the farm.

In order to ensure that the transfer of the holding or part of it within a family can easily take place, the Commission, in close collaboration with the Irish authorities, has developed a solution to avoid a situation in which children would be prevented from taking over a family farm that was leased out during the reference period. Those persons will be considered to be in a special situation within the meaning of Article 42 (4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 of 29 September 2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers (1). As a result, in the Commission's implementing Regulation in process of being adopted, provision is made for the allocation to persons in such a situation of payment entitlements out of the national reserve if they take over the farm.

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(1)  OJ L 270, 21.10.2003.

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