COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2022/129

of 21 December 2021

laying down rules for types of intervention concerning oilseeds, cotton and by-products of wine making under Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council and for the information, publicity and visibility requirements relating to Union support and the CAP Strategic Plans

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the common agricultural policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013 (1), and in particular Articles 11(2), 37(6), 59(8) and 123(5) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 lays down a new legal framework for the common agricultural policy (CAP) to improve its delivery on the Union objectives set out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. That Regulation further specifies these Union objectives to be achieved by the CAP and defines the types of intervention as well as the common Union requirements applicable to Member States, while leaving flexibility for Member States in the design of the interventions to be provided in their CAP Strategic Plans. Member States have to draw up those CAP Strategic Plans and to submit their proposals for those plans to the Commission. For that purpose, certain implementing rules have to be laid down.

(2) Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 states that where Member States provide for area-based interventions, other than those which comply with the provisions of Annex 2 to the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, including coupled income support under that Regulation, and where those interventions concern some or all of the oilseeds referred to in the Annex to the Memorandum of Understanding between the European Economic Community and the United States of America on oil seeds under GATT (2), the total of the support area based upon the planned outputs included in the CAP Strategic Plans of the Member States concerned is not to exceed the maximum support area for the whole Union for the purpose of ensuring compliance with its international commitments. Therefore, the Commission has to fix an indicative reference support area for each Member State as a share of the maximum support area for the whole Union, which corresponds to 7 854 446 hectares, calculated on the basis of the average cultivation area in the Union during the years 2016 to 2020.

(3) Title III, Chapter II, Section 3, Subsection 2, of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 provides for a crop-specific payment for cotton, for which four Member States have to authorise the land and varieties concerned. It should be for those Member States to lay down detailed rules in this regard. However, the procedure for those authorisations should be organised in such a way that it allows the farmers concerned to receive notifications related to the authorisation in due time before the next sowing season. In addition, it is appropriate to lay down the minimum information that those notifications should contain.

(4) In accordance with Article 58(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, certain Member States are to choose in their CAP Strategic Plans one or more types of intervention in the wine sector, including distillation of by-products of wine making. The Commission has to fix the Union financial assistance for that intervention.

(5) In accordance with Article 123(2), point (j), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, the managing authority is to ensure through appropriate visibility actions that beneficiaries of support financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), with the exception of support under area- and animal-related interventions, acknowledge that support, including by the appropriate use of the Union emblem. In accordance with Article 123(2), point (k), of that Regulation, the managing authority is to ensure that publicity is made for the CAP Strategic Plans by carrying out communication and visibility actions for the general public, potential beneficiaries and relevant target groups. Finally, in accordance with Article 124(3), point (f), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, the managing authority is to make available to the monitoring committee the information necessary for the task of examining the implementation of communication and visibility actions. It is appropriate to lay down uniform conditions for the application of the information, publicity and visibility requirements referred to in those provisions.

(6) Since Member States need to take the rules laid down in this Regulation into account when developing their CAP Strategic Plans, this Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(7) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Common Agricultural Policy Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 Subject matter This Regulation lays down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, for the purpose of drawing up and implementing the CAP Strategic Plans of the Member States in accordance with that Regulation, in relation to: (a) the indicative reference support area for each Member State for the purposes of area-related interventions concerning oilseeds; (b) the authorisation of land and varieties for the purposes of the crop-specific payment for cotton and the notification related thereto; (c) the amount of the support for distillation of by-products of wine making; (d) the use of the Union emblem in the framework of certain interventions financed by the EAFRD and the information, publicity and visibility requirements as regards the CAP Strategic Plans and the Union support received on their basis.

Article 2 Indicative reference support area The indicative reference support area for each Member State for the purposes of area-related interventions concerning oilseeds referred to in Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 is set out in Annex I to this Regulation.

Article 3 Procedure for the authorisation of land and varieties for the crop-specific payment for cotton and notifications related thereto 1. The procedure for the authorisation of land and varieties for the purposes of the crop-specific payment for cotton pursuant to Title III, Chapter II, Section 3, Subsection 2, of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 shall be organised in such a way that it allows the farmers concerned to receive notifications related to the authorisation in due time before the sowing season. That notification shall include at least the following information: (a) the authorised varieties for sowing; (b) the criteria for authorising land for cotton production as established by the Member States in accordance with Article 6 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/126 (3); (c) the minimum cotton plant density referred to in Article 8 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/126. 2. Where a Member State withdraws an existing authorisation for a variety, the farmers concerned shall be notified in due time before the sowing season of the following year.

Article 4 Union financial assistance for the distillation of by-products of wine making 1. The Union financial assistance for the distillation of by-products of wine making referred to in Article 58(1), first subparagraph, point (g), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 to be paid to distillers, including a lump sum amount to compensate for the collection costs referred to in Article 60(3), third subparagraph, of that Regulation, shall not exceed: (a) for raw alcohol obtained from marcs: EUR 1,1/% volume/hl; (b) for raw alcohol obtained from wine and lees: EUR 0,5/% volume/hl. 2. Member States shall fix the actual amounts to be paid as Union financial assistance based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria and by taking into account the different production typologies.

Article 5 Union emblem The Member State and the managing authority shall use the Union emblem in accordance with the requirements laid down in Annex II when carrying out visibility, transparency and communication activities referred to in Article 123(2), point (k), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115. The managing authority shall also ensure that beneficiaries use the emblem accordingly.

Article 6 Information, publicity and visibility requirements Detailed rules for the application of the information, publicity and visibility requirements referred to in Article 123(2), points (j) and (k), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 are laid down in Annex III to this Regulation.

Article 7 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 21 December 2021. For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 435, 6.12.2021, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 147, 18.6.1993, p. 25.

(3) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/126 of 7 December 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council with additional requirements for certain types of intervention specified by Member States in their CAP Strategic Plans for the period 2023 to 2027 under that Regulation as well as rules on the ratio for the good agricultural and environmental condition (GAEC) standard 1 (see page 197 of this Official Journal).