Commission Regulation (EC) No 1974/2004 of 29 October 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 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
Date: 2004-10-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agricultural product, aid system, common agricultural policy, farmers' income, farming system, production aid

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1974/2004

of 29 October 2004

amending Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 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

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to 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 and amending
Regulations (EEC) No 2019/93,
(EC)
No 1453/2001,
(EC) N 1868/94,
(EC) No 1454/2001,
(EC) No 1251/1999, (EC) No 1254/1999, (EC) No 1673/2000,
(EEC) No 2358/71 and (EC) No 2529/2001 (1), and in particu-
lar Articles 42(4) and (9), 145(c) and (d) and 155 thereof,

(EC) No 1452/2001,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

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 Regu-

(4)

(5)

land.

lation (EC) No 1782/2003 clearly provides that only sale
of payment entitlements is possible without
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, there-
fore it is appropriate for the sake of clarification to indi-
cate that
the transfer mentioned in the second sub-
paragraph only refers to the sale of payment entitle-
ments without land and not to the lease of payment
entitlements which is not possible without land.

it

For administrative reasons, in order to limit the creation
of fractions of payment entitlements to the extent that is
necessary,
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 split-
ting 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 considera-
tion for all the direct payments referred to in Annex VI
of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 in order not to perpe-
tuate the reductions and exclusions applied in that
period. Therefore the number of animals and hectares
the
determined at
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).

the establishment of

the time of

(1) OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 864/2004 (OJ L 161, 30.4.2004, p. 48).

(2) OJ L 141, 30.4.2004, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 141, 30.4.2004, p. 18.

(4) OJ L 337, 20.12.2001, p. 9. Regulation as last modified by Regu-

lation (EC) No 118/2004 (OF L 17, 24.1.2004, p. 7).

(5) OJ L 312, 23.12.1995, p. 1.

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(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

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.
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 corre-
sponds to the different productions.

is

It

Concerning the application of Article 42(9) of Regu-
lation (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
is appropriate to
that clause,
the application of
provide for the non application of that Article in such
cases.

it

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 sub-
paragraph, of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003,
is
appropriate to fix the final date for the definitive estab-
lishment 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 administra-
tive reasons so warrant. It is appropriate to indicate the
area to which the minimum size refers and when parcels
should be declared.

it

(12) 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
the single
aid application before the introduction of
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.

(13)

The current implementing rules on the payment entitle-
ments 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.

(14)

it

is

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 chan-
therefore appropriate to allow
ging elements,
into account,
concerned to take
States
Member
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 Regu-
lation (EC) No 1254/12999 should be taken into
account in the calculation of the reference amount.

(15)

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.

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.

(16)

Farmers producing fruit and vegetables and table pota-
toes should be taken into account when applying the
provisions on special situations.

Consideration should be taken of any eventual adminis-
trative 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 entitle-
ments. This situation should be considered a special
situation in accordance with Article 42(2) of Regulation
(EC) No 1782/2003 and treated consequently.

(17) 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,
is therefore appropriate to
provide for the same detailed rules, which are applicable,
established in Regulation (EC) No 795/2004.

it

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(18) 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.

(19) 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 commu-
nications.

(20)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Direct Payments,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

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
fractions of payment entitle-
payment entitlements or
ments’;

3. the following Article 3a shall be added:

‘Article 3a

Determined hectares and animals

Without prejudice to the application of Annex VII of Regu-
lation (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
the direct payments
(EC) No 2419/2001 for each of
referred to in Annex VI of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003’;

Article 1

4. Article 7 shall be modified as follows:

Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 is hereby amended as follows:

(a) in paragraph 1 the following subparagraph shall be

added:

1. Article 2 shall be amended as follows:

(a) in points (b) and (e), the reference to Regulation (EC)
No 795/2004 shall be replaced by the reference to
Regulation (EC) No 796/2004;

(b) in point (I) the following subparagraph shall be added:

‘The case of transfer of payment entitlements without
land referred to in Article 46(2), second subparagraph,
of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 shall be considered
as a case of sale of payment entitlements without land’;

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
a parcel which
amounts to a fraction of a hectare, this last payment enti-
tlement 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.

accompanying

entitlement

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
the entitlement shall
fraction. The remaining part of

‘For the purpose of this Article, “payment entitlements”
shall mean only the payment entitlements allocated by
the Member State in the first year of application of the
single payment scheme’;

(b) paragraph 6 shall be replaced by the following:

‘For the purpose of paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4, hectares
transferred by sale or lease shall be included in the
number of hectares which the farmer declares’;

5.

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

6. Article 10 shall be amended as follows:

(a) in paragraph 1(a), (b) and (c), the following words are

added at the end of each indent:

‘or premium rights transferred;’

(b) in paragraph 2, the word ‘hectares’ shall be replaced by

the following words:

‘hectares of the reference period corresponding to that
remaining reference amount.’

(c) in paragraph 3, the date of 30 April 2004 shall be

replaced by the date of 15 May 2004.

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(d) the following paragraph shall be added:

10. Article 20 shall be amended as follows:

‘5. Without prejudice to the application of para-
graph 4, paragraph 1 shall not apply in cases where
the contractual clause referred to in Article 17 and,
where the case may be, Article 27 has been introduced
in a contract before 15 May 2004.’

7. Article 12 shall be amended as follows:

(a) in paragraph 1, the words ‘by transfer free of charge or
by lease for six or more years’ shall be replaced by the
following:

‘by transfer, either by sale or by lease for six or more
years, free of charge or at a symbolic price’;

(b) in Article 20(1), after ‘retired’ the following words shall

be added:

(a) in paragraph 4 the second subparagraph shall be

replaced by the following:

‘from agricultural activity’;

‘No definitive transfer of payment entitlements shall be
possible before the definitive establishment of payment
entitlements.

11.

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

administrative

In any case, definitive payment entitlements shall be
established by at the latest 15 August of the first year
of application of the single payment scheme. Where
specific
a
Member State may decide that date for the definitive
establishment may be at the same time as the date for
the notification of the payment for the first year of
application of the single payment scheme but in any
case not later than 31 December of the first year of
application.

so warrant,

conditions

Farmers may introduce, under reserve of the definitive
establishment, applications under the single payment
on the basis of provisional payment entitlements estab-
lished by the Member States or acquired via the
contractual clause referred to in Articles 17 or 27’;

(b) in paragraph 6, after ‘per holding’, the following words

shall be added:

‘in terms of agricultural area’;

(c) the following paragraph 8 shall be added:

‘8.
Except for the purpose of establishing payment
entitlements from the national reserve referred to in
Articles 6, 7 and 18 to 23a, and without prejudice to
paragraph 5 and 6 of this Article, no parcel needs to
be declared for the purpose of the establishment of the
payment
entitlements. The declaration of parcels
referred to in Article 44(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/
2003 shall apply for the purpose of the application for
payment of the payment entitlements under the single
payment scheme’;

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’;

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 enti-
tlements or increase the value of the existing ones by
virtue of a definitive court's ruling or by virtue of a defini-
tive 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:

(a) the forage area declared by the farmer in the area aid
application for 2004 or in the year preceding the first
year of application of the single payment scheme, or

(b) the forage area declared in application of Article 12(1)

or (2) of this Regulation.

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

9.

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

14.

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

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15. Article 30 shall be modified as follows:

(a) paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following:

‘1.
For the purposes of calculating the agricultural
activity expressed in livestock units (LU) referred to in
Article 49(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, the
conversion table provided for in Article 131(2)(a) of
that Regulation shall apply to the three-year average
number of animals for which a direct payment referred
to in Article 47 of that Regulation was granted in the
reference period’;

In these cases, the number of LU shall be recalculated
pro rata to the remaining payment entitlements for
which the farmer
the
special conditions.

requests the application of

No request to re-establish the special condition may be
introduced for those payment entitlements once they
have been declared with an equivalent number of
hectares or they have been transferred, without preju-
dice to Article 49(2) second subparagraph of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1782/2003’;

(b) in paragraph 2, the following subparagraph shall be

added:

‘Article 31a

16. the following Article 31a shall be added:

‘In case of dairy premium and additional payments, the
LU shall be calculated by dividing the reference quan-
tity used for the calculation of the amount of dairy
premium and additional payment when included in the
single payment scheme by the average milk yield
provided for in Annex XVI of Regulation (EC) No
1973/2004 (*) applicable at that time or by the indivi-
dual milk yield, in case the individual yield was higher
than the average. Where a Member State makes use of
the option provided for in Article 62 of Regulation
(EC) No 1782/2003, the number of LU shall be modi-
fied accordingly.

In case of slaughter premium, where the necessary data
regarding the age of the animals are not available, a
Member State may convert bulls, steers, cows and
heifers in LU by using the coefficient 0,7 and calves by
using the coefficient 0,25.

same animal benefitted from several
Where
the
the coefficient applicable shall be the
premiums,
average of the coefficient applicable to the different
premiums

(*) See page 1 of this Official Journal.’;

(c) the following paragraph 3a shall be added:

The number of LU shall be calculated pro rata
‘3a.
to the payment entitlements for which he did not have
hectares in the reference period and for which the
farmer requests the application of the special condi-
tions. It shall apply starting from the payment entitle-
ments at the lowest value.

The request shall be made only in the first year of
application of the single payment scheme. Member
States shall fix the date for the request.
It may be
renewed in the following years for the same number of
payment entitlements subject to special conditions in
the previous year or, in case of transfer of some of
those payment entitlements, or in case of declaration
of some of those payment entitlements with a corre-
sponding number of hectares,
for the remaining of
those payment entitlements.

Beef and veal and sheep and goat payments

In order to calculate the reference amount relating to
1.
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 Regu-
lation (EC) No 1782/2003, land under permanent pasture
in 2003 shall be:

(a) land declared by a farmer in his aid application for

2003 as being under permanent pasture, and

(b) land not declared by a farmer in his aid application for
2003, unless it can be shown that that land was not
under permanent pasture in 2003.

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:

(a) in paragraph 3,

the reference to Regulation (EC)
No 795/2004 shall be replaced by the reference to
Regulation (EC) No 796/2004.

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(b) the following paragraphs shall be added:

shall be construed as a reference to Article 71f of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1782/2003.

Article 40 of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and
this Regulation shall apply mutatis

‘4.
Article 16 of
mutandis.

5.
For the purpose of this Article, the reference to
“agricultural area” in Article 12(6) shall be construed as
a reference to “eligible area within the meaning of
Article 44(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003”’;

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:

6. Any reference

to Article 60 of Regulation (EC)
No 1782/2003 in Article 8(2), Article 9(1) (e), Article
41 and Article 50a of this Regulation shall be construed
as a reference to Article 71g of Regulation (EC)
No 1782/2003.

7. Any reference to Article 63(2), third subparagraph, of
Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 in Articles 39, 43 and
48b of this Regulation shall be construed as a reference
to Article 71j(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.

8. Articles 3a, 7, 10, 12 to 17, 27, 28, 30, 31, 31a, 40,

42, 45 to 46 and 49 shall not apply.

9. Article 5, 19, 23, 31 and 42 shall not apply in case of
application of the single area payment scheme referred
to in Article 143b of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003’;

‘CHAPTER 6a

NEW MEMBER STATES

Article 48a

21. the following Article 48b shall be added:

‘Article 48b

Notification of decisions

Implementation in the new Member States

1. Save as otherwise provided for in this Chapter, the
provisions of this Regulation shall apply to the new
Member States.

2. Any reference

to Article 42 of Regulation (EC)
No 1782/2003 in this Regulation shall be construed as
a reference to Article 71d of Regulation (EC) No 1782/
2003.

Where the Member State decides to make use of
the
option provided for in Article 71(1) of Regulation (EC)
it shall notify by 1 August of the year
No 1782/2003,
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:

3. Any reference to the regional average in Articles 6(3)
and (4) of this Regulation shall be construed as a refer-
ence to the limit of EUR 5 000 referred to in Article
71d(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.

‘Article 50a

4. Any reference to Articles 58 and 59 or 58(1) and 59(1)
of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 in Chapters 6 and 7
of this Regulation shall be construed as a reference to
Article 71e of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.

5. Any reference to Article 59(2) and (3) of Regulation
(EC) No 1782/2003 in Article 38 of this Regulation

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’.

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

It shall apply from 1 January 2005 except Article 1(21) which shall apply from 31 October 2004.

Article 2

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 29 October 2004.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission