Commission Regulation (EC) No 2025/2006 of 22 December 2006 amending Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system 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: 2006-12-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid system, aid to agriculture, common agricultural policy, farmers' income, farming system, production aid

29.12.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 384/81

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2025/2006

of 22 December 2006

amending Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross-
compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system 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
Community,

establishing the European

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 1452/2001, (EC) No 1453/2001,
(EC) No 1454/2001, (EC) No 1868/94, (EC) No 1251/1999,
(EC) No 1254/1999, (EC) No 1673/2000, (EEC) No 2358/71
and (EC) No 2529/2001 (1), and in particular Article 145(c) and
(n) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Following the amendments of the rules of eligibility of
hemp under the single payment scheme introduced by
Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 953/2006 (2),
Commission Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 (3) needs to
be amended with regard to the application procedure.
Moreover, experience has shown that certain provisions
of that Regulation need to be simplified or clarified.

From 2007 onwards, hemp produced for other uses than
fibre will, pursuant to Chapter 4 of Title III of Regulation
(EC) No 1782/2003, be allowed as a land use under the
In this respect a contract or
single payment scheme.
commitment
the hemp produced is no longer
required. As a consequence, Article 13 of Regulation
(EC) No 796/2004 should be adapted accordingly.

for

The aid to sugar beet and cane producers provided for in
Chapter 10f of Title
IV of Regulation (EC) No
1782/2003 is, due to its nature, not related to agri-
cultural area. The provisions concerning the single appli-
cation under Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 should
therefore not apply to that aid scheme. Provisions
should subsequently be made for an appropriate appli-

cation procedure. Moreover, since farmers are not bound
anymore to declare separately the areas used for sugar
beet or cane production, the provisions to draw an addi-
tional control sample from the farmers applying for the
aid to sugar and cane producers should be abolished.

listed in Annex III

In order to harmonise the rules under the area-related aid
schemes and to simplify the administration and the
controls of the applications for aid, features referred to
in acts
to Regulation (EC) No
1782/2003, or which may form part of the good agri-
cultural and environmental condition as referred to in
that Regulation and Annex IV thereto,
Article 5 of
shall be eligible not only for
the single payment
scheme but for all area-related aid schemes.

Article 54(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 requires
that set-aside entitlements are to be claimed before any
other entitlements. In order to ensure equal treatment of
farmers who do not have all the required set-aside area
available to claim for all their set-aside entitlements, the
provisions set out in Article 50(4) of Regulation (EC) No
796/2004 should be clarified.

Reductions of payments to be applied by way of off-
setting against payments the following three years, and
recovery of undue payment, are only possible against
payments provided for under Titles III, IV and IVa of
Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003. The off-setting and
recovery payments
should also be possible against
payments of the additional amount of aid provided for
in Article 12 of that Regulation.

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

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

lation (EC) No 1405/2006 (OJ L 265, 26.9.2006, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 175, 29.6.2006, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 141, 30.4.2004, p. 18. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1187/2006 (OJ L 214, 4.8.2006, p. 14).

(8)

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

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Official Journal of the European Union

29.12.2006

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 is amended as follows:

1. In Article 2, point (12) is replaced by the following:

the hops payment

‘(12) “Area-related aid schemes”: shall mean the single
payment scheme,
to recognised
producer groups referred to in the second paragraph
of Article 68a of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and
all aid schemes established under Titles IV and IVa of
established under
that Regulation,
Chapters 7, 10e, 10f, 11 and 12 of that Title IV
and except the separate sugar payment established in
Article 143(b) of that Regulation;’

except

those

2. Article 13 is amended as follows:

(a) Paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1.
In the case where a farmer intends to produce
hemp in accordance with Article 52 of Regulation (EC)
No 1782/2003 or hemp grown for fibre as referred to
in Article 106 of that Regulation, the single application
shall contain:

(a) all information required for the identification of the
indicating the varieties of

parcels sown in hemp,
seed used;

(b) an indication as to the quantities of the seeds used

(kg per hectare);

(c)

labels used on the packaging of the
the official
seeds
accordance with Council Directive
2002/57/EC (*), and in particular Article 12 thereof.

in

By way of derogation from point (c) of the first subpar-
agraph, where sowing takes place after the deadline for
submitting the single application, the labels shall be
submitted by 30 June at the latest. Where the labels
also have to be submitted to other national authorities,
the Member States may provide for those labels to be
returned to the farmer once they have been submitted
in accordance with that point. The labels returned shall
be marked as used for an application.

In the case where an application for aid for arable crops
area payments in accordance with Chapter 10 of Title
IV of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 contains a
declaration of cultivation of flax and hemp grown for
fibre as referred to in Article 106 of that Regulation,
the single application shall contain a copy of
the
contract or commitment referred to in that Article,
unless the Member State has provided that that copy
may be submitted by a later date, which shall not be
later than 15 September.

___________
(*) OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 74.’

(b) Paragraph 13 is deleted.

3. Chapter IIIa is replaced by the following:

‘CHAPTER IIIa

SUGAR PAYMENT, AID FOR SUGAR BEET AND CANE
PRODUCERS AND SEPARATE SUGAR PAYMENT

Article 17a

Requirements pertaining to aid applications for the
sugar payment,
the aid for sugar beet and cane
producers and the separate sugar payment

1.
Farmers applying for the sugar payment provided for
in Chapter 10e of Title IV of Regulation (EC) No
1782/2003, farmers applying for the aid for sugar beet
and cane producers provided for in Chapter 10f of Title
IV of that Regulation and farmers applying for the separate
sugar payment provided for in Article 143ba of that Regu-
lation shall submit an aid application containing all infor-
mation necessary to establish eligibility for the aid, and in
particular:

(a)

the identity of the farmer;

(b) a statement by the farmer that he is aware of
conditions pertaining to the aid in question.

the

the aid to sugar beet and cane
The application for
producers
the delivery
contract referred to in Article 110r of Regulation (EC) No
1782/2003.

shall also contain a copy of

The aid application for the sugar payment, the aid for
2.
sugar beet and cane producers or
the separate sugar
payment respectively shall be submitted by a date to be
fixed by the Member States which shall not be later than
15 May and,
in the case of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Finland and Sweden, not later than 15 June.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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However, in respect of the year 2006, the date referred to
in the first subparagraph shall not be later than 30 June
2006 for
the
the submission of aid applications
separate sugar payment in accordance with Article 143ba
of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.’

for

in the course of
he lodges
following the calendar year of the finding.’

the three calendar years

8. In the second subparagraph of Article 52(3), the second

sentence is replaced by the following:

4. In Article 26, paragraph 1 is amended as follows:

(a)

in the second subparagraph, point (e) is deleted;

(b) the third subparagraph is replaced by the following:

sample drawn under

‘Where the control
the first
subparagraph already contains applicants for the aids
referred to in points (a) to (d) of the second subpar-
agraph, those applicants may be counted towards the
control rates stipulated therein. ’

5. In Article 30, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

‘3.
Further to paragraph 2, any features referred to in the
acts listed in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003
or which may form part of the good agricultural and envir-
that
onmental condition as referred to in Article 5 of
Regulation and Annex IV thereto shall form part of the
total area of an agricultural parcel.’

‘That amount shall be off-set against aid payments under
any of the aid schemes referred to in Titles III and IV of
Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 or under the additional
amount provided for in Article 12 of that Regulation to
which the farmer is entitled in the context of applications
he lodges
the three calendar years
in the course of
following the calendar year of the finding.’

9. In the second paragraph of Article 53, the second sentence

is replaced by the following:

‘That amount shall be off-set against aid payments under
any of the aid schemes referred to in Titles III, IV and IVa
of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 or under the additional
amount provided for in Article 12 of that Regulation to
which the farmer is entitled in the context of applications
he lodges
the three calendar years
in the course of
following the calendar year of the finding.’

10. Article 59 is amended as follows:

6. In Article 50(4), points (a) and (b) are replaced by the

following:

(a)

in the third subparagraph of paragraph 2, the second
sentence is replaced by the following:

‘(a) if a farmer does not declare all area required for the
purpose of activating the set-aside entitlements at his
disposal but declares, at the same time, an area for the
activation of other entitlements, an area corresponding
shall be
to the non-declared set-aside entitlements
considered as declared as set-aside area;

(b) if area declared as set-aside is not found or is found not
to be set-aside, that area shall be considered as not
being determined.’

7. In the second subparagraph of Article 51(2), the second

sentence is replaced by the following:

‘That amount shall be off-set against aid payments under
any of the aid schemes referred to in Titles III, IV and IVa
of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 or under the additional
amount provided for in Article 12 of that Regulation to
which the farmer is entitled in the context of applications

‘That amount shall be off-set against aid payments
under any of the aid schemes referred to in Titles III,
IV and IVa of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 or under
the additional amount provided for in Article 12 of
that Regulation to which the farmer is entitled in the
context of applications he lodges in the course of the
three calendar years following the calendar year of the
finding.’;

(b) in the second subparagraph of paragraph 4, the second

sentence is replaced by the following:

‘That amount shall be off-set against aid payments
under any of the aid schemes referred to in Titles III,
IV and IVa of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 or under
the additional amount provided for in Article 12 of
that Regulation to which the farmer is entitled in the
context of applications he lodges in the course of the
three calendar years following the calendar year of the
finding.’

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11. In the second subparagraph of Article 60(6), the second

13. In Article 73(2),

the first sentence is replaced by the

sentence is replaced by the following:

following:

‘That amount shall be off-set against aid payments under
any of the aid schemes referred to in Titles III, IV and IVa
of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 or under the additional
amount provided for in Article 12 of that Regulation to
which the farmer is entitled in the context of applications
he lodges
the three calendar years
in the course of
following the calendar year of the finding.’

12. In the second paragraph of Article 64, the third sentence is

replaced by the following:

‘An amount equal to the amount covered by the refused
application shall be off-set against aid payments under any
of the aid schemes established in Titles III, IV and IVa of
Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 or under the additional
amount provided for in Article 12 of that Regulation to
which the person is entitled in the context of applications
he lodges in the course of the calendar year following the
calendar year of the finding.’

‘Member States may decide that recovery of an undue
payment is to be made by deduction of the corresponding
amount from any advances or payments under aid schemes
referred to in Titles III, IV and IVa of Regulation (EC) No
1782/2003 or under the additional amount provided for in
Article 12 of that Regulation made to the farmer concerned
following the date of the decision to recover.’

Article 2

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 to aid applications relating to years or premium
periods starting as of 1 January 2007.

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

Done at Brussels, 22 December 2006.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission