1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No1251/1999
of17May1999
establishingasupportsystemforproducersofcertain arable crops
(OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Council Regulation (EC) No 2704/1999 of 14 December 1999 L 327 12 21.12.1999
►M2Council Regulation (EC) No 1672/2000 of 27 July 2000 L 193 13 29.7.2000
►M3Council Regulation (EC) No 1038/2001 of 22 May 2001 L 145 16 31.5.2001
Amended by:
►A1Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the
Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia,the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic ofMalta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak
Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European
Union is foundedL 236 33 23.9.2003
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COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No1251/1999
of17May1999
establishingasupportsystemforproducersofcertainarablecrops
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and
in particular Articles 36 and 37 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (4),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Court of Auditors (5),
(1)Whereas the common agricultural policy aims to attain the
objectives referred to in Article 33 of the Treaty, taking accountof the market situation;
(2)Whereas, in order to ensure better market balance, a new schemeof support was introduced by Council Regulation (EEC)No 1765/92 of 30 June 1992 establishing a support system for
producers of certain arable crops (
6);
(3)Whereas, after the 1992 reform of the common agriculturalpolicy, there has been a particular improvement of market
balances;
(4)Whereas set-aside under the support system for producers ofcertain arable crops, introduced in 1992 in addition to a loweringof the intervention price, has helped to keep production undercontrol, while increased price competitiveness has allowedsignificant additional cereals quantities to be used on the
domestic market, mainly for animal feed;
(5)Whereas the support on the basis of the scheme introduced in1992 should be continued, taking into account, however, market
developments and experience acquired in applying the currentscheme;
(6)Whereas Member States may, under certain conditions, makegrass silage eligible for area payments under this regime;
(7)Whereas the reform of the support scheme has to take intoaccount the international obligations of the Community;
(8)Whereas the best way to achieve market balance is to approxi-mate the Community prices of cereals to the prices on theworld market and to provide for non-crop specific areapayments;
(9)Whereas area payments should be revised if the market condi-tions differ from those currently foreseen;
(10)Whereas the area eligible should be restricted to the area downto arable crops or publicly funded set aside in the past;
(11)Whereas, when the sum of the areas for which payment isclaimed under the scheme is in excess of the base area, a reduc-tion of the eligible area per farm should be provided for in orderto ensure market balance;1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 2
(1) OJ C 170, 4.6.1998, p. 4.
(2) Opinion delivered on 6 May 1999 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
(3) OJ C 284, 14.9.1998, p. 55.
(4) OJ C 93, 6.4.1999, p. 1.
(5) OJ C 401, 22.12.1998, p. 3.
(6) OJ L 181, 1.7.1992, p. 12. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC)
No 1624/98 (OJ L 210, 28.7.1998, p. 3).
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(12)Whereas Member States may apply one or more national base
areas; whereas it is considered appropriate that the Member
States which choose this option should be able to divide eachnational base area into sub-base areas; whereas, when a nationalbase area has been exceeded, the Member State concernedshould be allowed to concentrate the application of the measurestotally or partially on those areas for which the overshoot has
been noted;
(13)Whereas area payments should reflect the specific structural
characteristics that influence yield; whereas the drawing up of aregionalisation plan based on objective criteria should be left tothe Member States; whereas uniform average yields should be
established by the regionalisation plans; whereas these plans
should be consistent with the average yields of each regionachieved in a given period, taking into account any structuraldifferences between production regions; whereas a specificprocedure should be provided in order to examine these plansat Community level;
(14)Whereas differentiation of yields may be permitted for irrigatedand non-irrigated areas provided that a separate base area forirrigated crops is established and there is no extension of thetotal base area;
(15)Whereas maize has a different yield which distinguishes it from
other cereals and therefore may justify a separate treatment;
(16)Whereas, in order to calculate the area payment, a basic amount
per tonne should be multiplied by the ‘average cereals yield’determined for the region concerned; whereas when differentyields for maize and for other cereals are fixed, separate base
areas for maize should be established;
(17)Whereas a single basic amount should be fixed for arable crops;
whereas the basic amounts per tonne should be increased takinginto account the reduction in several steps in the cereals inter-vention price; whereas a specific aid should be established forprotein crops in order to preserve their competitiveness with
cereals;
(18)Whereas in the case of a final reduction in intervention price the
basic amount shall be increased applying the same compensationrate as that used in the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 marketingyears;
(19)Whereas a special scheme for durum wheat should be estab-lished to ensure a durum wheat production level which issufficient to supply user industries while keeping budgetaryexpenditure in check; whereas that objective should be achievedby introducing a supplement limited, for eachMember Stateconcerned, to a maximum area of durum wheat; whereas any
overshoot of those areas should lead to an adjustment to the
applications submitted;
(20)Whereas, moreover, in some Member States, the production ofdurum wheat is well established in regions outside traditionalzones; whereas it is desirable to safeguard a certain level of
production in those regions by the grant of special aid;
(21)Whereas, in order to benefit from the area payments, producers
should set aside a predetermined percentage of their arable area;whereas the land set aside should be cared for so as to meetcertain minimum environmental standards; whereas the areas set
aside should also be eligible for use for non-food purposes,
provided effective control systems can be applied;
(22)Whereas in the current market situation, the set-aside require-ment should be reduced to 10 % for the period 2000-2006;whereas this percentage should be re-examined to take accountof production and market developments;1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 3
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(23)Whereas the set-aside obligation should be subject to due
compensation; whereas the compensation should be equivalent
to the area payments for cereals;
(24)Whereas no set-aside requirement should be imposed for small
producers whose claim for area payments is below a certain
level, whereas this level should be fixed;
(25)Whereas for voluntary set-aside, producers may be granted set-aside payment for land additionally set-aside; whereas amaximum area limit should be fixed by Member States;
(26)Whereas area payments should be paid once a year for a givenarea; whereas areas not cultivated immediately before the entryinto force of the scheme established by Regulation (EEC)No 1765/92 should not be eligible for payment; whereas to takeaccount of certain specific situations, where this provision is
unduly restrictive, certain derogations should be permitted to be
managed by the Member States;
(27)Whereas it is necessary to determine certain conditions for
applying for area payments and to specificy when producers
should be paid;
(28)Whereas payment dates should be fixed in order to ensure aneven distribution of arable crops sales during the marketing year;
(29)Whereas sowing dates should be adapted to natural conditions inthe different production areas;
(30)Whereas it is necessary to provide for transitional rules in order
to abolishcrop specific payments for oilseeds from th e 2002/
2003 marketing year onwards; whereas some of the existingprovisions in this sector have to be maintained taking intoaccount the international obligations of the Community;
(31)Whereas expenditure incurred by the Member States as a resultof the obligations arising out of the application of this Regula-tion should be financed by the Community in accordance withArticles 1 and 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/99 of
17 May 1999 on the financing of the common agricultural
policy (
1);
(32)Whereas it is necessary to provide for transitional measures andto enable the Commission to adopt, if necessary, additional tran-sitional measures;
(33)Whereas the adaptations to the arable crops support systemshould be introduced as from the marketing year 2000/2001;
(34)Whereas, in view of the present adaptations to the currentsupport scheme and to previous modifications, it is appropriate,for reasons of clarity, to replace Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92by a new Regulation,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. This Regulation hereby establishes a system of area payments for
producers of arable crops.
2. For the purposes of this Regulation:
— the marketing year shall run from 1 July to 30 June,
— ‘arable crops’ are taken to mean those listed in Annex I.
3. Member States where maize is not a traditional crop may make
grass silage eligible for the arable crops area payments, under thesame conditions as those applicable for arable crops.1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 4
(1) See page 103 of this Official Journal.
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CHAPTER I
Article 2
1. Community producers of arable crops may apply for an area
payment under the conditions set out in this Regulation.
2. The area payment shall be fixed on a per hectare basis and
regionally differentiated.
The area payment shall be granted for the area which is down to arable
crops or subject to set-aside in accordance withArticle 6 and wh ichdoes not exceed a regional base area. This is established as the averagenumber of hectares within a region down to arable crops or, where
appropriate, fallow in conformity witha publicly funded sch eme during
1989, 1990 and 1991. A region in this sense shall be understood tomean a Member State or a region within the Member State, at theoption of the Member State concerned.
For the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary,
Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, the regional base areas shall be
established as the average number of hectares within a region down toarable crops during a consecutive three-year period within the period1997-2001. The total of the regional base areas for each of theseMember States shall not exceed the base areas mentioned in Annex VI.
3. Producers applying for the area payment shall be subject to an
obligation to set aside part of the land of their holding from productionand shall receive compensation for this obligation.
4. When the sum of the areas for which payment is claimed under
the arable crops' scheme, including the set-aside provided for underthat scheme, is in excess of the base area, the eligible area per farmershall be reduced proportionately for all the payments granted under thisRegulation in the region in question, during the same marketing year.
Areas which are not the subject of an application for payment under
this Regulation but are used to support an application for aid underCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the
common organisation of the market in beef and veal (
1) shall also be
taken into account for the calculation of areas for which payment isclaimed.
5. If a Member State makes grass silage eligible for the arable crops
area payments, a separate base area shall be defined. If the base area
for arable crops or grass silage is not reached in a given marketingyear, the balance of hectares shall be allocated for the same marketingyear to the corresponding base area.
6. Where a Member State has chosen to establish one or more
national base areas, it may subdivide eachnational base area into sub-base areas according to objective criteria to be defined by the MemberState.
For the purposes of applying this paragraph, the ‘Secano’ and
‘Regadío’ base areas shall be considered as national base areas.
Where there is an overshoot of a national base area, the Member State
concerned may, in accordance withobjective criteria, concentrate th emeasure applicable under paragraph4 totally or partially on th e sub-base areas for which the overshoot has been noted.
Member States which have decided to apply the possibilities provided
for in this paragraph, shall notify producers and the Commission by15 September of their choices and the detailed rules for their applica-tion.1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 5
(1) See page 21 of this Official Journal.▼A1
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Article 3
1. For the purpose of setting average yields to be used for calcula-
tion of the area payment, each Member State shall establish aregionalisation plan setting out the relevant objective criteria for deter-
mination of the separate production regions in order to arrive at distinct
homogeneous areas.
With this in mind, Member States shall take due account of specific
situations in drawing up their regionalisation plans. They may in parti-cular adjust average yields in line withany structural differencesbetween production regions.
2. Member States may also apply a different yield figure for maize
than for other cereals in their regionalisation plans.
(a) Where the yield for maize is higher than for other cereals, a base
area, as referred to in Article 2(2), shall be established separatelyfor maize, covering one or more maize production regions, at the
choice of the Member State.
Member States may also, in the regions in question, establish sepa-
rate base areas for arable crops other than maize. In such cases, ifthe base area for maize is not reached in a given marketing year,the balance of hectares shall be allocated for the same marketing
year to the corresponding base area for arable crops other than
maize.
(b) Where the yield for maize is equal to or less than that for other
cereals, a base area may also be established separately for maizein accordance withpoint (a). In suchcases and if th e Member
States chooses to establish a base area for ‘arable crops other than
maize’:
— if the base area for ‘maize’ is not reached in a given marketing
year, the balance of hectares shall be allocated for the samemarketing year to the corresponding base areas for other crops,
— if the base area for ‘arable crops other than maize’ is not
reached in a given marketing year, the balance of hectares shallbe allocated for the same marketing year to the base area for
‘maize’ concerned.
Should these base areas be exceeded, Article 2(4) shall apply.
3. Member States may in their regionalisation plans set different
yields for irrigated and non-irrigated land. In that case, Member States
shall establish a separate base area for areas bearing irrigated crops.
The irrigated base area shall be equal to the average area irrigated from
1989 to 1991 with a view to harvesting arable crops including theincreases made pursuant to Article 3(1), fourthsubparagraph , lastsentence of Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92. However, the irrigatedbase area in Portugal shall be progressively increased by up to
60 000 ha, for those areas where it has been established that investment
in irrigation began after 1 August 1992. This increase may be addedpartially or totally to the irrigated maize base area as referred to inArticle 3(2).
The establishment of the irrigated base area must not lead to any
increase in the total base area of the Member State concerned. Shouldthe irrigated base area be exceeded, Article 2(4) shall apply.
If the irrigated base area is not reached in a given marketing year, the
balance of hectares shall be allocated for the same marketing year to
the corresponding non-irrigated base area.
4. The regionalisation plan shall in all cases ensure that the average
yield of the Member State concerned established for the period and in
accordance withth e criteria referred to in paragraph5 is respected.
5. For each production region, the Member State shall give details
of the areas and yields of arable crops produced in that region duringthe five-year period 1986/1987 to 1990/1991. Average cereals yieldsshall be separately calculated for each region by excluding the yearwith the highest and the year with the lowest yield during that period.1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 6
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However, this obligation may be fulfilled in the case of:
— Portuguese cereals by providing data having been supplied pursuant
to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3653/90 of 11 December 1990introducing transitional measures governing the common organisa-tion of the market in cereals and rice in Portugal (
1),
— the five new German Länderby providing the average crop yield
applicable in the other German Länder,
— Italy and Spain by fixing the reference yield at 3,9 tonnes/hectare
and 2,9 tonnes/hectare respectively,
— the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary,
Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia by fixing the reference yields
at the levels mentioned in Annex VI.
If a Member State decides to treat:
— maize separately from other cereals, the average cereals yield,
which shall not be altered, shall be broken down between maizeand other cereals,
— irrigated land separately from non-irrigated land, the corresponding
average yield, which shall not be altered, shall be broken down
between the two types.
6. Member States shall submit their regionalisation plan to the
Commission by 1 August 1999 together with all necessary supportinginformation. In order to fulfil this obligation, they may refer to theirregionalisation plan submitted to the Commission in accordance withRegulation (EEC) No 1765/92.
The Commission shall examine the regionalisation plans submitted by
the Member States and shall ensure that each plan is based on appro-
priate, objective criteria and is consistent withavailable h istoricalinformation. The Commission may object to plans that are not compa-tible withth e aforementioned relevant criteria in particular withth eaverage yield of the Member State. In this case the plans shall be
subject to adjustment by the Member State concerned after consultation
withth e Commission.
The regionalisation plan may be revised by the Member State
concerned at the request of the Commission or at the initiative of thatMember State in accordance withth e same procedure as outlined inthis Article.
7. Should a Member State, pursuant to paragraph 1, choose to estab-
lish production regions the demarcation of which does not correspond
to that of regional base areas, it shall send the Commission a summarystatement of payment applications and the yields pertaining to these. Ifit emerges from this information that, in a Member State, the averageyield resulting from the regionalisation plan applied in 1993 or, in the
case of Austria, Finland and Sweden, the average yield resulting from
the plan applied in 1995 ►
A1or, in the case of Cyprus, the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain the yield as fixed in Article 3(5) isexceeded ◄, all payments to be made in that Member State for the
following marketing year shall be reduced in proportion to the overrun
which has been recorded. However, this provision shall not apply
where the quantity for which applications were made, expressed intonnes of cereals, does not exceed that resulting from the product ofthe total base areas of the Member State by the aforementioned averageyield.
Member States may decide to ascertain whether there has been any
exceeding of the average yield for each base area. In such cases, the
provisions of this paragraph shall be applied to the payments to bepaid in eachbase area concerned.1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 7
(1) OJ L 362, 27.12.1990, p. 28. Regulation as amended by Commission Regu-
lation (EC) No 1664/95 (OJ L 158, 8.7.1995, p. 13).▼A1
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Article 4
1. Without prejudice to Article 10, the area payment shall be calcu-
lated by multiplying the basic amount per tonne by the average cerealyield determined in the regionalisation plan for the region concerned.
2. The calculation mentioned in paragraph 1 shall be made using the
average cereals yield. However, where maize is treated separately, the‘maize’ yield shall be used for maize and the ‘cereals other than maize’yield shall be used for cereals, oilseeds, linseed and flax and hempgrown for fibre.
3. The basic amount shall be fixed as follows:
for protein crops:
— EUR 72,50/t from the 2000/2001 marketing year onwards;
for cereals, grass silage and set-aside:
— EUR 58,67/t for the 2000/2001 marketing year,
— EUR 63,00/t from the 2001/2002 marketing year onwards;
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M2for linseed and flax and hemp grown for fibre ◄:
— EUR 88,26/t for the 2000/2001 marketing year,
— EUR 75,63/t for the 2001/2002 marketing year,
— EUR 63,00/t from the 2002/2003 marketing year onwards;
for oilseeds:
— EUR 63,00/t from the 2002/2003 marketing year onwards.
The amount of EUR 63/t may be increased from the 2002/2003
marketing year onwards in the light of a final reduction in the interven-tion price for cereals provided for in Article 3(4) of Regulation (EEC)No 1766/92.
This increase in area payments will bear the same proportion to the
intervention price reduction as that applicable in 2000/2001 and 2001/2002.
4. In Finland, and in Sweden northof th e 62nd Parallel and some
adjacent areas affected by comparable climatic conditions renderingagricultural activity particularly difficult, a supplementary amount tothe area payment of EUR 19 per tonne, multiplied by the yield utilisedfor the area payments, shall be applied for cereals, oilseeds, linseed andflax and hemp grown for fibre.
Article 5
A supplement to the area payment of EUR 344,50 per hectare shall be
paid for the area down to durum wheat in the traditional production
zones listed in Annex II, subject to the limits fixed in Annex III.
Should the total of the areas for which a supplement to the area
payment is claimed be greater than the limit referred to above during
the course of a marketing year, the area per producer for which thesupplement may be paid shall be reduced proportionately.
However, subject to the limits per Member State laid down in
Annex III, Member States may distribute the areas indicated in thatAnnex among the production zones as defined in Annex II, or, if neces-sary, the production regions referred to in Article 3, according to theextent of the production of durum wheat during the period 1993 to
1997. Where this is done, should the total of the areas within a region
for which a supplement to the area payment is requested be greaterthan the corresponding regional limit during the course of a marketingyear, the area per producer in that production region for which thesupplement may be paid shall be reduced proportionately. The reduc-tion shall be made when, within a Member State, the areas in regions,1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 8
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which have not reached their regional limits, have been distributed to
regions in which those limits have been exceeded.
In regions where the production of durum wheat is well established,
other than those referred to in Annex II, special aid amounting toEUR 138,90 per hectare shall be granted up to a limit of the numberof hectares laid down in Annex IV.
Article 5a
1. For flax and hemp grown for fibre, the area payment shall be
made only, depending on circumstances, when the contract isconcluded or commitment made as referred to in Article 2(1) of Regu-lation (EC) No 1673/2000.
For hemp grown for fibre, the area payment shall also be made only
where the varieties used have a tetrahydrocannabinol content notexceeding 0,2 %.
2. Member States shall establish a system for verifying the tetrahy-
drocannabinol content of the crops grown on at least 30 % of the areas
of hemp grown for fibre for which area payment applications havebeen made. However, if a Member State introduces a system of priorapproval for such cultivation, the minimum shall be 20 %.
Article 6
1. The set-aside obligation for each producer applying for area
payments shall be fixed as a proportion of his area down to arablecrops and for which a claim is made and left in set-aside pursuant tothis Regulation.
The basic rate of compulsory set-aside is fixed at 10 % from the 2000/
2001 marketing year up to the 2006/2007 marketing year.
2. Member States shall apply appropriate environmental measures
which correspond to the specific situation of the land set-aside.
3. The land set aside may be used for:
— producing materials for the manufacture within the Community of
products not directly intended for human or animal consumption,
provided that effective controls are applied;
— growing legume crops on a agricultural holding, managed for the
totality of its production, in compliance withth e obligations laiddown in Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91.
Member States shall be authorised to pay national aid up to 50 % of
the costs associated with establishing multiannual crops intended for
bio-mass production on set-aside land.
If the quantity of by-products for feed or food uses likely to be made
available as a result of the cultivation of oilseeds on land set-asideunder the first subparagraph will, on the basis of the forecast quantitiescovered by contracts made withproducers, exceed 1 million metrictonnes annually expressed in soya bean meal equivalents, in order to
limit such quantity to 1 million metric tonnes, the amount of the fore-
cast quantity under eachcontract, wh ichmay be used for feed or fooduses, shall be reduced.
4. Where different yields are set for irrigated and non-irrigated land,
the payment for set-aside for non-irrigated land apply. In the case ofPortugal, payment shall take account of the aid granted under Regula-
tion (EEC) No 3653/90.
5. Producers may be granted the set-aside payment on land volunta-
rily set aside in excess of their obligation. Member States shall allowfarmers to set-aside up to at least 10 % of the area down to arable1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 9
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crops and for which a payment application is made, and left in set-
aside pursuant to this Regulation. Higher percentages may be set by aMember State taking into account specific situations and ensuring
sufficient occupation of farmland.
6. The set-aside payment may be granted on a multiannual basis for
a period up to five years.
7. Producers who make a payment application for an area no bigger
than the area which would be needed to produce 92 tonnes of cereals,on the basis of the yields determined for their region, are not bound bythe set-aside obligation. Paragraphs 5 and 6 shall apply to these produ-
cers.
8. Without prejudice to Article 7, areas:
— set aside pursuant to agri-environment (Articles 22 to 24 of Council
Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for ruraldevelopment from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guar-antee Fund (EAGGF) and amending certain Regulations (
1), which
are neither put to any agricultural use nor used for any lucrative
purposes other than those accepted for other land set aside underthis Regulation, or
— afforested pursuant to afforestation (Article 31 of Regulation (EC)
No 1257/1999,
as a result of an application made after 28 June 1995, may, up to any
limit per holding which may be set by the Member State concerned, becounted as being set aside for the purposes of the set-aside requirementindicated in paragraph 1. Such limit shall be set only to the extent
necessary to avoid a disproportionate amount of the available budget
relating to the scheme in question being concentrated on a smallnumber of farms.
However, on these areas, the area payment specified in Article 4 shall
not be granted and the support granted under Article 24(1), or
Article 31(1), second indent of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 (ruraldevelopment regulation) shall be limited to an amount equal at mostto the area payment for set aside specified in Article 4(3).
Member States may decide not to apply the scheme provided for in this
paragraph to a new applicant in any region in which there is a conti-nuing risk of a significant overshoot of the regional base area.
Article 7
Applications for payments may not be made in respect of land which,
on 31 December 1991, was under permanent pasture, permanent crops
or trees or was used for non-agricultural purposes. However, applica-tions for payments for areas used for growing flax or hemp for fibreand, if appropriate, for obligatory set-aside relating to it may bepresented for land which benefited from aid granted under Council
Regulation (EEC) No 1308/70 of 29 June 1970 on the common organi-
sation of the market in flax and hemp (
2) during at least one of the
marketing years from 1998/1999 to 2000/2001.
For Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, and Slovenia, applica-
tions for payments may not be made in respect of land which, on 31December 2000, was under permanent pasture, permanent crops or
trees or was used for non-agricultural purposes. For Slovakia applica-
tions for payments may not be made in respect of land which, on 31December 2001 was under permanent pasture, permanent crops or treesor was used for non-agricultural purposes. For Estonia applications forpayments may not be made in respect of land which, on 1 October2002 was under permanent pasture, permanent crops or trees or was1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 10
(1) Sea page 80 of this Official Journal.
(2) OJ L 146, 4.7.1970, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC)
No 2702/1999 (OJ L 327, 14.12.1999, p. 7).▼M2
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used for non-agricultural purposes. For the Czech Republic applications
for payments may not be made in respect of land which, on 30November 2002 was under permanent pasture, permanent crops or trees
or was used for non-agricultural purposes. For Cyprus applications for
payments may not be made in respect of land which on 1 December2002, was under permanent pasture, permanent crops or trees or wasused for non-agricultural purposes.
Member States may, on terms to be determined, depart from these
provisions under certain specific circumstances, in particular for areas
subject to restructuring programmes or for areas subject to standardrotations of multiannual arable crops withth ose crops listed inAnnex I. In such cases, they shall take action to prevent any significantincrease in the total eligible agricultural area. This may in particularinvolve deeming previously eligible areas ineligible as an offsetting
measure.
Member States may also depart from the provisions of the first and
second sub-paragraphs under certain specific circumstances relating toone or other form of public intervention where such intervention resultsin a farmer growing crops on land previously regarded as ineligible inorder to continue his normal agricultural activity and the intervention
in question means that land originally eligible ceases to be so with the
result that the total amount of eligible land is not increased signifi-cantly.
Moreover, Member States may, in certain cases not covered by the
previous two subparagraphs, depart from the first and second subpara-
graphs if they provide proof in a plan submitted to the Commissionthat the total amount of eligible land remains unchanged.
Article 8
1. Payments shall be made between 16 November and 31 January
following the harvest. However, where Article 6(3) applies, area
payments for the land set aside shall be paid between 16 Novemberand 31 March.
2. In order to qualify for the area payment, a producer shall by
31 May at the latest preceding the relevant harvest have sown theseed and by 15 May at the latest have lodged an application.
3. Member States shall take the necessary measures to remind appli-
cants of the need to respect environmental legislation.
Article 9
Detailed rules for the application of this Chapter shall be adopted in
accordance withth e procedure laid down in Article 23 of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 of 30 June 1992 on the common organi-sation of the market in cereals (
1) and in particular:
— those relating to the establishment and management of base areas,
— those relating to the establishment of production regionalisation
plans,
— those relating to grass silage,
— those relating to the granting of the area payment,
— those relating to the minimum area eligible for payment; such rules
shall take particular account of the monitoring requirements and ofthe desired effectiveness of the scheme in question,
— those determining, for durum wheat, the eligibility for the supple-
ment to the area payment referred to in Article 5 and theeligibility requirements for the special aid referred to in that Article,1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 11
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and in particular determination of the regions to be taken into
consideration,
— with regard to flax and hemp grown for fibre, those relating to the
arrangements for contracts and to the commitment referred to in
Article 5a(1),
— with regard to hemp grown for fibre, those relating to the specific
control measures and methods for determining tetrahydrocannabinollevels,
— those relating to set-aside, and in particular those relating to Article
6(3); these conditions shall define the fodder legumes that may begrown on land set aside and, with regard to the first indent of thefirst subparagraph of that paragraph, may include the growing of
crops without compensation,
— those relating to the conditions for applying Article 7; these condi-
tions shall specify under what circumstances the provisions ofArticle 7 may be waived and Member States' obligation to referenvisaged action to the Commission for approval,
— those relating to compliance with the Memorandum of Under-
standing on certain oil seeds between the European EconomicCommunity and the United States of America within the framework
of the GATT approved by Decision 93/355/EEC (
1).
According to the same procedure, the Commission may:
— either make the granting of payments subject to the use of:
(i) specific seeds;
(ii) certified seed in the case of durum wheat and flax and hemp
grown for fibre;
(iii) certain varieties in the cases of oilseeds, durum wheat, linseed
and flax and hemp grown for fibre,
— or provide for the possibility for Member States to make the grant
of payments subject to suchconditions,
— allow the dates in Article 8(2) to be varied in certain zones where
exceptional climatic conditions render the normal dates inapplic-able,
— allow Member States, subject to the budgetary situation, to
authorise, by way of derogation from Article 8(1), payments priorto 16 November in certain regions, of up to 50 % of the areapayments and of the payment for set-aside in years in which excep-
tional climatic conditions have so reduced yields that producers
face severe financial difficulties.
CHAPTER II
Article 10
1. For the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 marketing years the area
payments for oilseeds are calculated by multiplying the followingamounts by the average cereals yield determined in the regionalisationplan in the region concerned:
— EUR 81,74/t for the 2000/2001 marketing year,
— EUR 72,37/t for the 2001/2002 marketing year.
However, Member States shall have the possibility of continuing to fix
the oilseeds payments on the basis of historical regional oilseeds yield.In that case the yield shall be multiplied by 1,95.
2. For the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 marketing years, a maximum
guaranteed area (MGA) shall be established for the crop-specificoilseeds area payments of 5 482000 hectares, reduced by the rate of1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 12
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compulsory set-aside applicable for that marketing year, or by 10 % if
that rate is less than 10 %. If after the application of Article 2 themaximum guaranteed area is exceeded, the Commission shall reduce
the amounts referred to in paragraph 1, in accordance with the provi-
sions of paragraphs 3 and 4.
3. If the area of oilseeds already determined as eligible for crop
specific oilseeds area payments in any year exceeds the MGAs, the
Commission shall reduce, by 1 % for each percentage point by whichthe MGA is exceeded, the basic amount for that year. If the MGA isexceeded by more than a threshold percentage, special rules shallapply. Up to the threshold percentage, the reduction of the amount
shall be uniform in all Member States. Beyond the threshold percen-
tage, appropriate additional reductions shall apply in those MemberStates that have exceeded the national reference areas set out inAnnex V, reduced by the rate referred to in paragraph 4. However, inthe case of Germany the appropriate additional reduction may beadjusted at its request, in whole or in part, according to the regional
base area; where this option is exercised, Germany shall immediately
send the Commission the data used to calculate the reductions to beapplied.
The Commission shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 23 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92, establishth e size anddistribution of the appropriate reductions to be applied and shall, inparticular, ensure that the weighted average reduction for the Commu-nity as a whole is equal to the percentage by which the MGA has beenexceeded.
4. The threshold percentage provided for in paragraph 3 should be
0% .
5. If the oilseeds area payment is reduced in accordance with the
provisions in paragraphs 3 and 4, the Commission shall reduce the rele-vant basic amounts for the following marketing year by the samepercentage unless the MGA is not exceeded in that year, in which
case the commission may determine that such a reduction shall not
apply.
6. If the MGA for the Community is exceeded in 2000/2001
marketing year, the percentage of reduction of the regional reference
amounts applied for the 1999/2000 marketing year shall be applied bythe Commission to the relevant basic amount for the 2000/2001marketing year by the same percentage.
7. Notwithstanding the provisions in this Article, Member States in
which there is a significant risk of the National Reference Area set outin Annex V being substantially exceeded in the following marketingyear may limit the area for which an individual producer may receivethe oilseed area payments referred to in this article. Such limit shall be
calculated as a percentage of the arable land area, of either the Member
State or the regional base area, that is eligible for the area paymentsprovided for in this Regulation and shall be applied to the eligiblearable area of the producer. This limit may be differentiated betweenregional base areas or sub-base areas on the basis of objective criteria.Member States shall announce such limit, at the latest, by 1 August of
the marketing year prior to that in respect of which the area payment is
requested, or by an earlier date in the case of a Member State, orregions within a Member State, where plantings for the marketingyear concerned take place prior to 1 August.
8. The reduction resulting from the overshoot of the MGA, applied
in accordance with the provisions of this Article, cannot lead to anamount less than:
— EUR 58,67/t for the 2000/2001 marketing year,
— EUR 63,00/t for the 2001/2002 marketing year.
9. Producers of confectionery sunflower seed, sown for harvest,
shall be excluded from the benefit of the support provided for underthe terms of this article.1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 13
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10. Within two years from the application of the present article the
Commission will submit a report to the Council on the development onthe oilseeds market. If necessary this report will be accompanied by
appropriate proposals should the production potential deteriorate
seriously.
Article 11
The amounts of the area payments and the payment for set-aside as
well as the percentage area to be set aside fixed in this Regulationmay be changed in the light of developments in production, produc-tivity and the markets, according to the procedure laid down inArticle 37(2) of the Treaty.
Article 12
Should specific measures be necessary to facilitate the transition from
the system in force to that established by this Regulation, such
measures shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 23 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92.
Article 13
The measures defined in this Regulation shall be deemed to be inter-
vention intended to stabilise agricultural markets within the meaningof Article 1(2)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999.
Article 14
Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 and Regulation (EEC) No 1872/94 are
hereby repealed.
Article 15
1. This Regulation shall enter into force seven days after its publica-
tion in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
2. This Regulation shall apply from the 2000/2001 marketing year
onwards.
3. Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 and Regulation (EEC) No 1872/94
shall continue to be applied in relation to the 1998/1999 and 1999/2000
marketing years.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 14
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ANNEX I
DEFINITIONOFPRODUCTS
CN code Description
I. CEREALS
10011000 Durum wheat
100190 Other wheat and meslin other than
durum wheat
10020000 Rye
100300 Barley
10040000 Oats
1005 Maize
100700 Grain sorghum
1008 Buckwheat, millet and canary seed;
other cereals
07099060 Sweet corn
II. OILSEEDS
120100 Soya beans
ex 120500 Rape seed
ex 12060010 Sunflower seed
III. PROTEIN CROPS
071310 Peas071350 Field beans
ex 12092950 Sweet lupins
IV.FLAX
ex 120400 Linseed
(Linum usitatissimum L.)
ex 53011000 Flax, raw or retted, grown for fibre
(Linum usitatissimum L.)
V. HEMP
ex 53021000 Hemp, raw or retted, grown for fibre
(Cannabis sativa L.)1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 15
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ANNEX II
TRADITIONALPRODUCTIONZONESFORDURUMWHEAT
GREECE
Nomoi (prefectures) of the following regions
Central Greece
PeloponneseIonian IslandsThessalyMacedonia
Aegean Islands
Thrace
SPAIN
Provinces
Almería
Badajoz
BurgosCádizCórdobaGranadaHuelvaJaénMálagaNavarraSalamancaSeville
Toledo
ZamoraZaragoza
AUSTRIA
Pannonia
FRANCE
Regions
Midi-Pyrénées
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'AzurLanguedoc-Roussillon
Departments (*)
Ardèche
Drôme
ITALY
Regions
Abruzzo
BasilicataCalabria1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 16
(*) Each of these departments may be linked to one of the abovementioned regions.
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Campania
LatiumMarchesMolise
Umbria
ApuliaSardinia
Sicily
Tuscany
PORTUGALDistricts
Santarém
Lisbon
SetúbalPortalegreÉvora
Beja
Faro
CYPRUS
HUNGARY1999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 17
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ANNEX III
MAXIMUM GUARANTEED AREAS IN RECEIPT OF THE SUPPLE-
MENTTOTHEAREAPAYMENTFORDURUMWHEAT
(hectares)
Greece 617 000
Spain 594 000
France 208 000
Italy 1646 000
Cyprus 6 183
Austria 7 000
Portugal 118 000
Hungary 2 5001999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 18
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ANNEX IV
MAXIMUM GUARANTEED AREAS IN RECEIPT OF THE SPECIAL
AIDFORDURUMWHEAT
(hectares)
Germany 10000
Spain 4 000
France 50000
Italy 4 000
Hungary 4 305
Slovakia 4 717
United Kingdom 5 0001999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 19
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ANNEX V
NATIONALREFERENCEAREA
(in 1 000 hectares)
CountryFor the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002
marketing years
Belgium 6
Denmark 236
Germany 929
Greece 26
Spain 1 168
France 1 730
Ireland 5
Italy 542
Luxembourg 2
Netherlands 7
Austria 147
Portugal 93
Finland 70
Sweden 137
United Kingdom 3851999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 20
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ANNEX VI
NATIONALBASEAREASANDREFERENCEYIELDSINTHECZECH
REPUBLIC, ESTONIA, CYPRUS, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, HUNGARY,
MALTA,POLAND,SLOVENIAANDSLOVAKIA
base area
(hectares)Reference yield
(tonnes per hectare)
CzechRepublic 2 253598 4,20
Estonia 362827 2,40Cyprus 79004 2,30Latvia 443580 2,50
Lithuania 1 146633 2,70
Hungary 3 487792 4,73Malta 4 565 2,02Poland 9 454671 3,00
Slovenia 125171 5,27
Slovakia 1 003453 4,061999R1251 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 21