Article 1 Extension of the period of duration of programmes supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development
1. For programmes supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020 laid down in Article 26(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 is hereby extended until 31 December 2022. 2. The extension of the period of duration of programmes supported by the EAFRD, referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be without prejudice to the need to submit a request to amend rural development programmes for the transitional period as referred to in point (a) of Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013. Such an amendment shall ensure that at least the same overall share of the EAFRD contribution is reserved for the measures referred to in Article 59(6) of that Regulation.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The recent natural disasters in Central and Eastern as well as in Southern Europe have had a devastating effect on the populations living and working in these regions. A lot of agricultural and forestry production potential has been destroyed, causing huge losses of income. In order to quickly address vulnerabilities of the European food system and rural communities resulting from these disasters, Europe needs to be able to rapidly deploy effective support through the Rural Development Programmes in addition to ressources available from other European Funds. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) already provides support for investments in restoration of agricultural and forestry potential and income support. However, these support measures may be underfunded in face of the needs of farmers and foresters in countries affected by natural disasters. In order to provide additional assistance and further flexibility to Member States affected by natural disasters, the Commission proposes a new measure and more flexibility in relation to the non-regression threshold for a budgetary reinforcement of investments in restoration of agricultural potential as well as for funding the new measure. The new measure, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and implemented under rural development programmes, allows Member States to provide targeted liquidity support to farmers, forest holders, SMEs active in processing, marketing or development of agricultural or forestry products affected by natural disasters occurring as of 1 January 2024. By directly and swiftly addressing the cash-flow challenges of affected businesses, the support through the new measure will contribute to food security and address upfront the potential market disturbance due to the impact of the natural disasters. In order to achieve these goals while providing for a reasonably simple administration allowing swift deployment, the support will take the form of a one-off lump sum for farmers, forest holders and SMEs. In addition, investments in restoration of agricultural potential should be reinforced by providing more budgetary flexibilities as regards the non-regression threshold in using EAFRD funds. In this context, while providing for budgetary flexibility as regards the non-regression threshold, it is important to continue and reinforce the planned investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness, as well as climate adaptation to mitigate the impact of the increasingly frequent climate-induced disasters. Restoration efforts and liquidity payments should be balanced as much as possible with the need to pursue currently foreseen investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness. Further, with a view to ensuring the most efficient use of resources available under existing rural development programmes, Member States will be required to substantiate the targeting of the new support measure to those most affected, based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Moreover, a maximum share of the Union contribution to this new measure should be fixed. As regards the process, Member States would need to include the new measure or the planned reallocation of funding in the rural development programmes via a programme modification. This submission of the programme modification can take place after the entry into force of this proposal.
Revised version (Article 1 Extension of the period of duration of programmes supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development):
1. For programmes supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020 laid down in Article 26(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 is hereby extended until 31 December 2022. 2. The extension of the period of duration of programmes supported by the EAFRD, referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be without prejudice to the need to submit a request to amend rural development programmes for the transitional period as referred to in point (a) of Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013. Such an amendment shall ensure that at least the same overall share of the EAFRD contribution is reserved for the measures referred to in Article 59(6) of that Regulation. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, second sentence, of this paragraph, when reallocating funds to and spending funds for measures referred to in Article 6a of this Regulation and in Article 18(1), point (b), of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, Member States may decrease the overall share of the EAFRD contribution reserved for the measures referred to in Article 59(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013. That decrease shall not go beyond the EAFRD amounts reallocated to the measures referred to in Article 6a of this Regulation and in Article 18(1), point (b), of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, and shall not exceed 15 percentage points of the overall share of the EAFRD contribution set in the rural development programmes for the measures referred to in Article 59(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013. For that purpose, the overall share of the EAFRD contribution set in the rural development programmes as planned at the time of the extension of the period of duration of programmes supported by the EAFRD until31 December 2022, in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be taken into account. The overall share reserved for the measures referred to in Article 59(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 shall not be lower than the minimum threshold set out in that Article. The same decrease in percentage points may be applied to the additional resources referred to in Article 58a(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 without reallocating funds to the measures referred to in Article 6a of this Regulation and in Article 18(1), point (b), of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013.
Article 2 Continued application of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 to programmes supported by the EAFRD
1. Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall continue to apply to programmes supported by the EAFRD under the 2014–2020 programming period and extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation. 2. For programmes extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation, the references to periods or deadlines in Article 50(1), Article 51(1), Article 57(2) and Article 65(2) and (4) and the first paragraph of Article 76 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall be extended by two years. 3. For programmes extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation, Member States shall amend their targets established in the context of the performance framework set out in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 to establish targets for 2025. For those programmes, references to targets for 2023 set out in implementing acts adopted in accordance with Article 22(7) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 or Article 8(3), Article 67, Article 75(5) or Article 76(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 shall be read as references to targets for 2025. 4. The final date by which the Commission is to prepare a synthesis report outlining the main conclusions of ex-post evaluations of the EAFRD provided for in Article 57(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall be 31 December 2027.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The recent natural disasters in Central and Eastern as well as in Southern Europe have had a devastating effect on the populations living and working in these regions. A lot of agricultural and forestry production potential has been destroyed, causing huge losses of income. In order to quickly address vulnerabilities of the European food system and rural communities resulting from these disasters, Europe needs to be able to rapidly deploy effective support through the Rural Development Programmes in addition to ressources available from other European Funds. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) already provides support for investments in restoration of agricultural and forestry potential and income support. However, these support measures may be underfunded in face of the needs of farmers and foresters in countries affected by natural disasters. In order to provide additional assistance and further flexibility to Member States affected by natural disasters, the Commission proposes a new measure and more flexibility in relation to the non-regression threshold for a budgetary reinforcement of investments in restoration of agricultural potential as well as for funding the new measure. The new measure, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and implemented under rural development programmes, allows Member States to provide targeted liquidity support to farmers, forest holders, SMEs active in processing, marketing or development of agricultural or forestry products affected by natural disasters occurring as of 1 January 2024. By directly and swiftly addressing the cash-flow challenges of affected businesses, the support through the new measure will contribute to food security and address upfront the potential market disturbance due to the impact of the natural disasters. In order to achieve these goals while providing for a reasonably simple administration allowing swift deployment, the support will take the form of a one-off lump sum for farmers, forest holders and SMEs. In addition, investments in restoration of agricultural potential should be reinforced by providing more budgetary flexibilities as regards the non-regression threshold in using EAFRD funds. In this context, while providing for budgetary flexibility as regards the non-regression threshold, it is important to continue and reinforce the planned investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness, as well as climate adaptation to mitigate the impact of the increasingly frequent climate-induced disasters. Restoration efforts and liquidity payments should be balanced as much as possible with the need to pursue currently foreseen investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness. Further, with a view to ensuring the most efficient use of resources available under existing rural development programmes, Member States will be required to substantiate the targeting of the new support measure to those most affected, based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Moreover, a maximum share of the Union contribution to this new measure should be fixed. As regards the process, Member States would need to include the new measure or the planned reallocation of funding in the rural development programmes via a programme modification. This submission of the programme modification can take place after the entry into force of this proposal.
Revised version (Article 2 Continued application of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 to programmes supported by the EAFRD):
1. Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall continue to apply to programmes supported by the EAFRD under the 2014–2020 programming period and extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation. 2. For programmes extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation, the references to periods or deadlines in Article 50(1), Article 51(1), Article 57(2) and Article 65(2) and (4) and the first paragraph of Article 76 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall be extended by two years. 3. For programmes extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation, Member States shall amend their targets established in the context of the performance framework set out in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 to establish targets for 2025. For those programmes, references to targets for 2023 set out in implementing acts adopted in accordance with Article 22(7) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 or Article 8(3), Article 67, Article 75(5) or Article 76(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 shall be read as references to targets for 2025. 4. The final date by which the Commission is to prepare a synthesis report outlining the main conclusions of ex-post evaluations of the EAFRD provided for in Article 57(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall be 31 December 2027. 5. By way of derogation from Article 65(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the managing authority may select for support operations that have been physically completed or fully implemented before the submission of an application for funding to the managing authority, provided that those operations are implemented through the measures referred to in Article 6a of this Regulation and in Article 18(1), point (b), or Article 24(1), point (d), of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 and provided that such operations provide a response to a natural disaster which occurred on or after 1 January 2024.
Article 3 Eligibility of certain types of expenditure during the transitional period
Without prejudice to Article 2(2) of this Regulation, to Article 65(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and to Article 38 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, the expenditure referred to in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1310/2013 and in Article 16 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 807/2014 shall be eligible for an EAFRD contribution from the 2021 and 2022 allocation for programmes supported by the EAFRD which were extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation, subject to the following conditions: (a) such expenditure is provided for in the respective rural development programme for the years covered by the transitional period; (b) the EAFRD contribution rate of the corresponding measure under Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, as set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1310/2013 and in Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) No 807/2014, applies; (c) the system referred to in Article 67(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 applies to the legal commitments undertaken under measures that correspond to support granted in accordance with points (a) and (b) of Article 21(1) and Articles 28 to 31, 33, 34 and 40 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 and the relevant operations are clearly identified; and (d) the payments for the legal commitments referred to in point (c) of this Article are made within the period laid down in Article 75 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The recent natural disasters in Central and Eastern as well as in Southern Europe have had a devastating effect on the populations living and working in these regions. A lot of agricultural and forestry production potential has been destroyed, causing huge losses of income. In order to quickly address vulnerabilities of the European food system and rural communities resulting from these disasters, Europe needs to be able to rapidly deploy effective support through the Rural Development Programmes in addition to ressources available from other European Funds. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) already provides support for investments in restoration of agricultural and forestry potential and income support. However, these support measures may be underfunded in face of the needs of farmers and foresters in countries affected by natural disasters. In order to provide additional assistance and further flexibility to Member States affected by natural disasters, the Commission proposes a new measure and more flexibility in relation to the non-regression threshold for a budgetary reinforcement of investments in restoration of agricultural potential as well as for funding the new measure. The new measure, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and implemented under rural development programmes, allows Member States to provide targeted liquidity support to farmers, forest holders, SMEs active in processing, marketing or development of agricultural or forestry products affected by natural disasters occurring as of 1 January 2024. By directly and swiftly addressing the cash-flow challenges of affected businesses, the support through the new measure will contribute to food security and address upfront the potential market disturbance due to the impact of the natural disasters. In order to achieve these goals while providing for a reasonably simple administration allowing swift deployment, the support will take the form of a one-off lump sum for farmers, forest holders and SMEs. In addition, investments in restoration of agricultural potential should be reinforced by providing more budgetary flexibilities as regards the non-regression threshold in using EAFRD funds. In this context, while providing for budgetary flexibility as regards the non-regression threshold, it is important to continue and reinforce the planned investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness, as well as climate adaptation to mitigate the impact of the increasingly frequent climate-induced disasters. Restoration efforts and liquidity payments should be balanced as much as possible with the need to pursue currently foreseen investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness. Further, with a view to ensuring the most efficient use of resources available under existing rural development programmes, Member States will be required to substantiate the targeting of the new support measure to those most affected, based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Moreover, a maximum share of the Union contribution to this new measure should be fixed. As regards the process, Member States would need to include the new measure or the planned reallocation of funding in the rural development programmes via a programme modification. This submission of the programme modification can take place after the entry into force of this proposal.
Revised version (Article 3 Eligibility of certain types of expenditure during the transitional period):
(a) such expenditure is provided for in the respective rural development programme for the years covered by the transitional period; (d) the payments for the legal commitments referred to in point (c) of this Article are made within the period laid down in Article 75 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013.
Article 4 Community-led local development
For programmes extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation, the EAFRD may support the costs of capacity building and preparatory actions supporting the design and future implementation of community-led local development strategy under the new legal framework.
Article 5 Definitive payment entitlements
1. Payment entitlements allocated to farmers before 1 January 2020 shall be considered legal and regular as from 1 January 2021. The value of those entitlements to be considered legal and regular shall be the value for calendar year 2020 valid on 31 December 2020. 2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 of this Article, a Member State which has made use of the option provided for in Article 24(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 may, while respecting the legitimate expectations of farmers, decide that all payment entitlements allocated before 1 January 2020 shall be considered legal and regular as from that date. In that case, the value of those entitlements to be considered legal and regular shall be the value for calendar year 2019 valid on 31 December 2019. 3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall apply without prejudice to the relevant provisions of Union law, in particular to Article 22(5) and Article 25(12) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, concerning the value of payment entitlements for calendar year 2020 and onwards. 4. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to payment entitlements allocated to farmers on the basis of factually incorrect applications, except in cases where the error could not reasonably have been detected by the farmer. 5. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not prejudice the Commission’s power to take decisions referred to in Article 52 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 in relation to expenditure incurred for payments granted in respect of calendar years up to 2020 inclusive where paragraph 1 of this Article applies, or up to 2019 inclusive where paragraph 2 of this Article applies.
Article 6 Eligibility of expenditure incurred under Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, and certain types of expenditure incurred under Regulations (EC) No 1698/2005 and (EC) No 1257/1999
Expenditure relating to legal commitments to beneficiaries incurred under Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, and certain types of expenditure incurred under Council Regulations (EC) No 1698/2005 ( 14 ) and (EC) No 1257/1999 ( 15 ) may be eligible for a contribution from the EAFRD in the period 2023-2027 from 1 January 2023, subject to the conditions to be determined in accordance with the CAP legal framework applicable in the period 2023-2027.
Article 7 Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013
Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 is amended as follows: (1) point (h) of Article 8(1) is amended as follows: (a) point (i) is replaced by the following: ‘(i) a table setting out, in accordance with Article 58(4) and Article 58a(2) of this Regulation, the total EAFRD contribution planned for each year. That table shall indicate separately the additional resources as referred to in Article 58a(2) of this Regulation. When applicable, that table shall also indicate separately, within the total EAFRD contribution, the appropriations provided for the less developed regions and the funds transferred to the EAFRD pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013. The planned annual EAFRD contribution shall be compatible with the Multiannual Financial Framework;’; (b) point (ii) is replaced by the following: ‘(ii) a table setting out, for each measure, for each type of operation with a specific EAFRD contribution rate, for the type of operation referred to in Article 37(1) and Article 39a, for the type of operation referred to in Article 38(3) and Article 39(1) when a Member State applies a percentage less than 30 %, and for technical assistance, the total Union contribution planned and the applicable EAFRD contribution rate. Where applicable, that table shall indicate separately the EAFRD contribution rate for less developed regions and for other regions;’; (2) in Article 28(5), the following subparagraphs are added: ‘For new commitments to be undertaken from 2021, Member States shall determine a shorter period of one to three years in their rural development programmes. If Member States provide for an annual extension of commitments after the termination of the initial period in accordance with the first subparagraph, from 2022 the extension shall not go beyond one year. By way of derogation from the second subparagraph, for new commitments to be undertaken in 2021 and 2022, Member States may determine a period of longer than three years in their rural development programmes based on the nature of the commitments and the environmental and climate-related objectives sought.’; (3) in Article 29(3), the following subparagraphs are added: ‘For new commitments to be undertaken from 2021, Member States shall determine a shorter period of one to three years in their rural development programmes. If Member States provide for an annual extension for the maintenance of organic farming after the termination of the initial period in accordance with the first subparagraph, from 2022 the extension shall not go beyond one year. By way of derogation from the second subparagraph, for new commitments to be undertaken in 2021 and 2022, where support is granted for conversion to organic farming, Member States may determine a period of longer than three years in their rural development programmes.’; (4) in Article 31(5), the second subparagraph is replaced by the following: ‘In the years 2021 and 2022, for programmes extended in accordance with Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2020/2220 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( * ) , where degressive payments were not granted by the Member States for the maximum duration of four years up to 2020, those Member States may decide to continue those payments until the end of 2022 but for no longer than four years in total. In that case, the payments in the years 2021 and 2022 shall not exceed EUR 25 per hectare. ( * ) Regulation (EU) 2020/2220 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 December 2020 laying down certain transitional provisions for support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) in the years 2021 and 2022 and amending Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013 as regards resources and application in the years 2021 and 2022 and Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 as regards resources and the distribution of such support in respect of the years 2021 and 2022 (OJ L 437, 28.12.2020, p. 1).’;" (5) in Article 33(2), the following subparagraphs are added: ‘For new commitments to be undertaken as from 2021, Member States shall determine a shorter period of one to three years in their rural development programmes. If Member States provide for an annual renewal of commitments after the termination of the initial period in accordance with the second subparagraph, as from 2022 the renewal shall not go beyond one year. By way of derogation from the third subparagraph, for new commitments to be undertaken in 2021 and 2022, Member States may determine a period of longer than three years in their rural development programmes based on the nature of the commitments and the animal welfare benefits sought.’; (11) Article 58 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, the following subparagraph is added: ‘Without prejudice to paragraphs 5, 6 and 7, the total amount of Union support for rural development under this Regulation for the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2022 shall be a maximum of EUR 26 896 831 880, in current prices, in accordance with the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027.’; (b) paragraph 7 is replaced by the following: ‘7. In order to take account of the developments relating to the annual breakdown referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, including the transfers referred to in paragraphs 5 and 6 of this Article and the transfers resulting from the application of Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2020/2220, to make technical adjustments without changing the overall allocations, or to take account of any other change provided for by a legislative act after the adoption of this Regulation, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 83 of this Regulation, to review the ceilings set out in Annex I to this Regulation.’;
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The recent natural disasters in Central and Eastern as well as in Southern Europe have had a devastating effect on the populations living and working in these regions. A lot of agricultural and forestry production potential has been destroyed, causing huge losses of income. In order to quickly address vulnerabilities of the European food system and rural communities resulting from these disasters, Europe needs to be able to rapidly deploy effective support through the Rural Development Programmes in addition to ressources available from other European Funds. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) already provides support for investments in restoration of agricultural and forestry potential and income support. However, these support measures may be underfunded in face of the needs of farmers and foresters in countries affected by natural disasters. In order to provide additional assistance and further flexibility to Member States affected by natural disasters, the Commission proposes a new measure and more flexibility in relation to the non-regression threshold for a budgetary reinforcement of investments in restoration of agricultural potential as well as for funding the new measure. The new measure, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and implemented under rural development programmes, allows Member States to provide targeted liquidity support to farmers, forest holders, SMEs active in processing, marketing or development of agricultural or forestry products affected by natural disasters occurring as of 1 January 2024. By directly and swiftly addressing the cash-flow challenges of affected businesses, the support through the new measure will contribute to food security and address upfront the potential market disturbance due to the impact of the natural disasters. In order to achieve these goals while providing for a reasonably simple administration allowing swift deployment, the support will take the form of a one-off lump sum for farmers, forest holders and SMEs. In addition, investments in restoration of agricultural potential should be reinforced by providing more budgetary flexibilities as regards the non-regression threshold in using EAFRD funds. In this context, while providing for budgetary flexibility as regards the non-regression threshold, it is important to continue and reinforce the planned investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness, as well as climate adaptation to mitigate the impact of the increasingly frequent climate-induced disasters. Restoration efforts and liquidity payments should be balanced as much as possible with the need to pursue currently foreseen investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness. Further, with a view to ensuring the most efficient use of resources available under existing rural development programmes, Member States will be required to substantiate the targeting of the new support measure to those most affected, based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Moreover, a maximum share of the Union contribution to this new measure should be fixed. As regards the process, Member States would need to include the new measure or the planned reallocation of funding in the rural development programmes via a programme modification. This submission of the programme modification can take place after the entry into force of this proposal.
Revised version (Article 7 Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013):
Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 is amended as follows: (2) in Article 28(5), the following subparagraphs are added: ‘For new commitments to be undertaken from 2021, Member States shall determine a shorter period of one to three years in their rural development programmes. If Member States provide for an annual extension of commitments after the termination of the initial period in accordance with the first subparagraph, from 2022 the extension shall not go beyond one year. By way of derogation from the second subparagraph, for new commitments to be undertaken in 2021 and 2022, Member States may determine a period of longer than three years in their rural development programmes based on the nature of the commitments and the environmental and climate-related objectives sought.’; (3) in Article 29(3), the following subparagraphs are added: ‘For new commitments to be undertaken from 2021, Member States shall determine a shorter period of one to three years in their rural development programmes. If Member States provide for an annual extension for the maintenance of organic farming after the termination of the initial period in accordance with the first subparagraph, from 2022 the extension shall not go beyond one year. By way of derogation from the second subparagraph, for new commitments to be undertaken in 2021 and 2022, where support is granted for conversion to organic farming, Member States may determine a period of longer than three years in their rural development programmes.’; (5) in Article 33(2), the following subparagraphs are added: ‘For new commitments to be undertaken as from 2021, Member States shall determine a shorter period of one to three years in their rural development programmes. If Member States provide for an annual renewal of commitments after the termination of the initial period in accordance with the second subparagraph, as from 2022 the renewal shall not go beyond one year. By way of derogation from the third subparagraph, for new commitments to be undertaken in 2021 and 2022, Member States may determine a period of longer than three years in their rural development programmes based on the nature of the commitments and the animal welfare benefits sought.’; (16) Annex I is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation; (17) A new Annex Ia is inserted as set out in Annex II to this Regulation;
Article 8 Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013
Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 is amended as follows: (1) in Article 25, the following subparagraph is added: ‘For each of the years 2021 and 2022, the amount of the reserve shall be EUR 400 million (at 2011 prices) and shall be included under Heading 3 of the Multiannual Financial Framework as set out in the Annex to Council Regulation (EU) 2020/2093 ( * ) [MFF]. ( * ) Council Regulation (EU) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027 ( OJ L 433, 22.12.2020, p. 11 ).’;"
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The recent natural disasters in Central and Eastern as well as in Southern Europe have had a devastating effect on the populations living and working in these regions. A lot of agricultural and forestry production potential has been destroyed, causing huge losses of income. In order to quickly address vulnerabilities of the European food system and rural communities resulting from these disasters, Europe needs to be able to rapidly deploy effective support through the Rural Development Programmes in addition to ressources available from other European Funds. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) already provides support for investments in restoration of agricultural and forestry potential and income support. However, these support measures may be underfunded in face of the needs of farmers and foresters in countries affected by natural disasters. In order to provide additional assistance and further flexibility to Member States affected by natural disasters, the Commission proposes a new measure and more flexibility in relation to the non-regression threshold for a budgetary reinforcement of investments in restoration of agricultural potential as well as for funding the new measure. The new measure, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and implemented under rural development programmes, allows Member States to provide targeted liquidity support to farmers, forest holders, SMEs active in processing, marketing or development of agricultural or forestry products affected by natural disasters occurring as of 1 January 2024. By directly and swiftly addressing the cash-flow challenges of affected businesses, the support through the new measure will contribute to food security and address upfront the potential market disturbance due to the impact of the natural disasters. In order to achieve these goals while providing for a reasonably simple administration allowing swift deployment, the support will take the form of a one-off lump sum for farmers, forest holders and SMEs. In addition, investments in restoration of agricultural potential should be reinforced by providing more budgetary flexibilities as regards the non-regression threshold in using EAFRD funds. In this context, while providing for budgetary flexibility as regards the non-regression threshold, it is important to continue and reinforce the planned investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness, as well as climate adaptation to mitigate the impact of the increasingly frequent climate-induced disasters. Restoration efforts and liquidity payments should be balanced as much as possible with the need to pursue currently foreseen investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness. Further, with a view to ensuring the most efficient use of resources available under existing rural development programmes, Member States will be required to substantiate the targeting of the new support measure to those most affected, based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Moreover, a maximum share of the Union contribution to this new measure should be fixed. As regards the process, Member States would need to include the new measure or the planned reallocation of funding in the rural development programmes via a programme modification. This submission of the programme modification can take place after the entry into force of this proposal.
Article 9 Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013
Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 is amended as follows: (2) Article 14 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, the following subparagraph is added: ‘Member States may decide to make available, as additional support financed under the EAFRD in financial years 2022 and 2023, up to 15 % of their annual national ceilings for the calendar years 2021 and 2022 set out in Annex II to this Regulation. As a result, the corresponding amount shall no longer be available for granting direct payments. That decision shall be notified to the Commission for the calendar year 2021 by 19 February 2021 and for the calendar year 2022 by 1 August 2021 and shall set out the percentage chosen.’; (b) in paragraph 2, the following subparagraph is added: ‘Member States which do not take the decision referred to in the seventh subparagraph of paragraph 1 for financial years 2022 and 2023, may decide to make available as direct payments up to 15 %, or in the case of Bulgaria, Estonia, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden up to 25 %, of the amount allocated to support financed under the EAFRD in financial year 2022 by Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 and in financial year 2023 by Union legislation adopted after the adoption of Council Regulation (EU) 2020/2093 ( * ) [MFF]. As a result, the corresponding amount shall no longer be available for support financed under the EAFRD. That decision shall be notified to the Commission for the financial year 2022 by 19 February 2021 and for the financial year 2023 by 1 August 2021 and shall set out the percentage chosen. ( * ) Council Regulation (EU) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027 ( OJ L 433, 22.12.2020, p. 11 ).’;" (3) Article 22 is amended as follows: (a) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. For each Member State, the amount calculated in accordance with the paragraph 1 of this Article may be increased by a maximum of 3 % of the relevant annual national ceiling set out in Annex II after deduction of the amount resulting from the application of Article 47(1) for the relevant year. When a Member State applies such an increase, that increase shall be taken into account by the Commission when setting the annual national ceiling for the basic payment scheme pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article. For that purpose, Member States shall notify the Commission by 1 August 2014 of the annual percentages by which the amount calculated pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article is to be increased. By 19 February 2021, Member States shall notify the Commission of the annual percentage by which the amount calculated pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article is to be increased for calendar years 2021 and 2022.’; (b) in paragraph 5, the following subparagraph is added: ‘For calendar years 2021 and 2022, if the ceiling for a Member State set by the Commission pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article is different from that of the previous year as a result of a change in the amount set out in Annex II or as a result of any decision taken by that Member State in accordance with this Article, Article 14(1) or (2), Article 42(1), Article 49(1), Article 51(1) or Article 53, that Member State shall linearly reduce or increase the value of all payment entitlements and/or reduce or increase the national reserve or regional reserves in order to ensure compliance with paragraph 4 of this Article.’; (5) in Article 25, the following paragraphs are added: ‘11. After having applied the adjustment referred to in Article 22(5), Member States that have made use of the derogation provided for in paragraph 4 of this Article may decide that payment entitlements held by farmers on 31 December 2019 which have a value lower than the national or regional unit value in 2020 as calculated in accordance with the second subparagraph of this paragraph have their unit value increased towards the national or regional unit value in 2020. The increase shall be calculated under the following conditions: (a) the calculation method for the increase decided upon by the Member State concerned is based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria; (b) in order to finance the increase, all or part of the owned or leased-in payment entitlements held by farmers on 31 December 2019 which have a value higher than the national or regional unit value in 2020 as calculated in accordance with the second subparagraph shall be reduced; that reduction shall apply to the difference between the value of those entitlements and the national or regional unit value in 2020; the application of that reduction shall be based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria, which may include the fixing of a maximum decrease. The national or regional unit value in 2020 referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be calculated by dividing the national or regional ceiling for the basic payment scheme set in accordance with Article 22(1) or Article 23(2) for 2020, excluding the amount of the national or regional reserves, by the number of the owned or leased-in payment entitlements held by farmers on 31 December 2019. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph of this paragraph, Member States that have made use of the derogation provided for in paragraph 4 of this Article may decide to keep the value of payment entitlements calculated in accordance with that paragraph subject to the adjustment referred to in Article 22(5). Member States shall inform farmers in due time of the value of their payment entitlements as calculated in accordance with this paragraph. 12. For calendar years 2021 and 2022, Member States may decide to apply further internal convergence by applying paragraph 11 to the year concerned.’; (6) in Article 29, the following paragraph is added: ‘For calendar years 2020 and 2021, Member States shall notify the Commission of their decisions referred to in Article 25(11) and (12) by 19 February 2021. For calendar year 2022, Member States shall notify the Commission of their decision referred to in Article 25(12) by 1 August 2021.’; (8) Article 36 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, the following subparagraph is added: ‘Member States applying the single area payment scheme in 2020 shall continue to do so after 31 December 2020.’; (b) in paragraph 4, the second subparagraph is replaced by the following: ‘For each Member State, the amount calculated in accordance with the first subparagraph of this paragraph may be increased by a maximum of 3 % of the relevant annual national ceiling set out in Annex II after deduction of the amount resulting from the application of Article 47(1) for the relevant year. When a Member State applies such an increase, that increase shall be taken into account by the Commission when setting the annual national ceiling for the single area payment scheme pursuant to the first subparagraph of this paragraph. For that purpose, Member States shall notify the Commission by 31 January 2018 of the annual percentages by which the amount calculated pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article is to be increased each calendar year from 2018. By 19 February 2021, Member States shall notify the Commission of the annual percentage by which the amount calculated pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article is to be increased for calendar years 2021 and 2022.’; (9) Article 37 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, the following subparagraph is added: ‘Member States granting transitional national aid in the period 2015-2020 may decide to grant transitional national aid in 2021 and 2022.’; (b) in paragraph 4, the sixth indent is replaced by the following: ‘— 50 % in 2020, 2021 and 2022.’; (15) Article 53 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, the following subparagraph is added: ‘Member States not having granted voluntary coupled support until claim year 2020 may take a decision in accordance with the first subparagraph for calendar year 2021 by 19 February 2021.’; (b) paragraph 6 is replaced by the following: ‘6. Member States may, by 1 August of any given year, review their decision pursuant to this Chapter. By 8 February 2020, Member States may also review their decision pursuant to this Chapter to the extent necessary to adjust to the decision on flexibility between pillars for calendar year 2020 taken in accordance with Article 14. Member States shall decide by 19 February 2021 for calendar year 2021, and by 1 August 2021 for calendar year 2022, whether to continue or cease granting voluntary coupled support for the respective claim year. By means of a review pursuant to the first and second subparagraphs of this paragraph, or a notification pursuant to the third subparagraph of this paragraph, Member States may decide with effect from the following year and for calendar years 2020 and 2021 with effect from the same calendar year: (a) to leave unchanged, increase or decrease the percentage fixed pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, within the limits laid down therein where applicable, or to leave unchanged or decrease the percentage fixed pursuant to paragraph 4; (b) to modify the conditions for granting the support; (c) to cease granting the support under this Chapter. Member States shall notify the Commission of any decision relating to the first, second and third subparagraphs of this paragraph by the respective dates referred to in those subparagraphs. The notification of the decision relating to a review pursuant to the second subparagraph of this paragraph shall explain the link between the review and the decision on flexibility between pillars for calendar year 2020 taken in accordance with Article 14.’; (18) Annexes II and III are amended in accordance with Annex III to this Regulation.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The recent natural disasters in Central and Eastern as well as in Southern Europe have had a devastating effect on the populations living and working in these regions. A lot of agricultural and forestry production potential has been destroyed, causing huge losses of income. In order to quickly address vulnerabilities of the European food system and rural communities resulting from these disasters, Europe needs to be able to rapidly deploy effective support through the Rural Development Programmes in addition to ressources available from other European Funds. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) already provides support for investments in restoration of agricultural and forestry potential and income support. However, these support measures may be underfunded in face of the needs of farmers and foresters in countries affected by natural disasters. In order to provide additional assistance and further flexibility to Member States affected by natural disasters, the Commission proposes a new measure and more flexibility in relation to the non-regression threshold for a budgetary reinforcement of investments in restoration of agricultural potential as well as for funding the new measure. The new measure, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and implemented under rural development programmes, allows Member States to provide targeted liquidity support to farmers, forest holders, SMEs active in processing, marketing or development of agricultural or forestry products affected by natural disasters occurring as of 1 January 2024. By directly and swiftly addressing the cash-flow challenges of affected businesses, the support through the new measure will contribute to food security and address upfront the potential market disturbance due to the impact of the natural disasters. In order to achieve these goals while providing for a reasonably simple administration allowing swift deployment, the support will take the form of a one-off lump sum for farmers, forest holders and SMEs. In addition, investments in restoration of agricultural potential should be reinforced by providing more budgetary flexibilities as regards the non-regression threshold in using EAFRD funds. In this context, while providing for budgetary flexibility as regards the non-regression threshold, it is important to continue and reinforce the planned investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness, as well as climate adaptation to mitigate the impact of the increasingly frequent climate-induced disasters. Restoration efforts and liquidity payments should be balanced as much as possible with the need to pursue currently foreseen investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness. Further, with a view to ensuring the most efficient use of resources available under existing rural development programmes, Member States will be required to substantiate the targeting of the new support measure to those most affected, based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Moreover, a maximum share of the Union contribution to this new measure should be fixed. As regards the process, Member States would need to include the new measure or the planned reallocation of funding in the rural development programmes via a programme modification. This submission of the programme modification can take place after the entry into force of this proposal.
Revised version (Article 9 Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013):
Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 is amended as follows: (10) in Article 41, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. Member States may decide by 1 August of any given year to grant, from the following year, an annual payment to farmers who are entitled to a payment under the basic payment scheme referred to in Sections 1, 2, 3 and 5 of Chapter 1 or under the single area payment scheme referred to in Section 4 of Chapter 1 (“the redistributive payment”). Member States may take such a decision by 19 February 2021 for calendar year 2021 and by 1 August 2021 for calendar year 2022. Member States already applying the redistributive payment may review their decision to grant such payment or the details of the scheme by 19 February 2021 for calendar year 2021 and by 1 August 2021 for calendar year 2022. Member States shall notify the Commission of any such decision by the relevant date referred to in the first subparagraph.’; (18) Annexes II and III are amended in accordance with Annex III to this Regulation.
Article 10 Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013
Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 is amended as follows: (1) Article 29 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, the following subparagraph is added: ‘Work programmes drawn up for the period running from 1 April 2021 shall end on 31 December 2022.’; (b) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. The Union financing of the work programmes referred to in paragraph 1 for 2020 shall be: (a) EUR 11 098 000 for Greece; (b) EUR 576 000 for France; (c) EUR 35 991 000 for Italy. The Union financing of the work programmes referred to in paragraph 1 for each of the years 2021 and 2022 shall be: (a) EUR 10 666 000 for Greece; (b) EUR 554 000 for France; (c) EUR 34 590 000 for Italy.’; (2) in Article 33(1), the following subparagraphs are added: ‘Operational programmes for which an extension in line with the maximum duration of five years referred to in the first subparagraph is to be approved after 29 December 2020 may only be extended until 31 December 2022. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, new operational programmes that are approved after 29 December 2020 shall have a maximum duration of three years.’; (5) in Article 62(3), the following subparagraphs are added: ‘By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, the validity of authorisations granted in accordance with Article 64 and Article 66(1), which expires in the year 2020, is extended until 31 December 2021. Producers who hold authorisations in accordance with Article 64 and Article 66(1) of this Regulation, which expire in 2020, shall not, by way of derogation from the first subparagraph of this paragraph, be subject to the administrative penalty referred to in Article 89(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 provided that they inform the competent authorities by 28 February 2021 that they do not intend to make use of their authorisation and do not wish to benefit from the extension of their validity as referred to in the second subparagraph of this paragraph.’; (6) Article 68 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, the second subparagraph is replaced by the following: ‘Such conversion shall take place upon a request to be submitted by those producers before 31 December 2015. Member States may decide to allow producers to submit such a request to convert rights into authorisations until 31 December 2022.’; (b) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. Authorisations granted pursuant to paragraph 1 shall have the same period of validity as the planting rights referred to in paragraph 1. If those authorisations are not used, they shall expire at the latest by 31 December 2018, or, where a Member State has taken the decision referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, at the latest by 31 December 2025.’;
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The recent natural disasters in Central and Eastern as well as in Southern Europe have had a devastating effect on the populations living and working in these regions. A lot of agricultural and forestry production potential has been destroyed, causing huge losses of income. In order to quickly address vulnerabilities of the European food system and rural communities resulting from these disasters, Europe needs to be able to rapidly deploy effective support through the Rural Development Programmes in addition to ressources available from other European Funds. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) already provides support for investments in restoration of agricultural and forestry potential and income support. However, these support measures may be underfunded in face of the needs of farmers and foresters in countries affected by natural disasters. In order to provide additional assistance and further flexibility to Member States affected by natural disasters, the Commission proposes a new measure and more flexibility in relation to the non-regression threshold for a budgetary reinforcement of investments in restoration of agricultural potential as well as for funding the new measure. The new measure, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and implemented under rural development programmes, allows Member States to provide targeted liquidity support to farmers, forest holders, SMEs active in processing, marketing or development of agricultural or forestry products affected by natural disasters occurring as of 1 January 2024. By directly and swiftly addressing the cash-flow challenges of affected businesses, the support through the new measure will contribute to food security and address upfront the potential market disturbance due to the impact of the natural disasters. In order to achieve these goals while providing for a reasonably simple administration allowing swift deployment, the support will take the form of a one-off lump sum for farmers, forest holders and SMEs. In addition, investments in restoration of agricultural potential should be reinforced by providing more budgetary flexibilities as regards the non-regression threshold in using EAFRD funds. In this context, while providing for budgetary flexibility as regards the non-regression threshold, it is important to continue and reinforce the planned investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness, as well as climate adaptation to mitigate the impact of the increasingly frequent climate-induced disasters. Restoration efforts and liquidity payments should be balanced as much as possible with the need to pursue currently foreseen investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness. Further, with a view to ensuring the most efficient use of resources available under existing rural development programmes, Member States will be required to substantiate the targeting of the new support measure to those most affected, based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Moreover, a maximum share of the Union contribution to this new measure should be fixed. As regards the process, Member States would need to include the new measure or the planned reallocation of funding in the rural development programmes via a programme modification. This submission of the programme modification can take place after the entry into force of this proposal.
Revised version (Article 10 Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013):
Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 is amended as follows: (2) in Article 33(1), the following subparagraphs are added: ‘Operational programmes for which an extension in line with the maximum duration of five years referred to in the first subparagraph is to be approved after 29 December 2020 may only be extended until 31 December 2022. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, new operational programmes that are approved after 29 December 2020 shall have a maximum duration of three years.’; (4) in Article 58, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. The Union financing for the aid to producer organisations provided for in paragraph 1 for 2020 shall be EUR 2 277 000 for Germany. The Union financing for the aid to producer organisations provided for in paragraph 1 for each of the years 2021 and 2022 shall be EUR 2 188 000 for Germany.’; (10) Annex VI is replaced by the text set out in Annex IV to this Regulation.
Article 11 Entry into force and application
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . Point 5 of Article 9 (concerning Article 25(11) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013) and point 5 of Article 10 (concerning Article 62(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013) shall apply from 1 January 2020. By way of derogation from the first paragraph of this Article, point 12, point (a) of point 13 and points 17 and 18 of Article 7 shall enter into force on the date of entry into force of the EURI Regulation. Point 12, point (a) of point 13 and points 17 and 18 of Article 7 shall apply from 1 January 2021.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The recent natural disasters in Central and Eastern as well as in Southern Europe have had a devastating effect on the populations living and working in these regions. A lot of agricultural and forestry production potential has been destroyed, causing huge losses of income. In order to quickly address vulnerabilities of the European food system and rural communities resulting from these disasters, Europe needs to be able to rapidly deploy effective support through the Rural Development Programmes in addition to ressources available from other European Funds. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) already provides support for investments in restoration of agricultural and forestry potential and income support. However, these support measures may be underfunded in face of the needs of farmers and foresters in countries affected by natural disasters. In order to provide additional assistance and further flexibility to Member States affected by natural disasters, the Commission proposes a new measure and more flexibility in relation to the non-regression threshold for a budgetary reinforcement of investments in restoration of agricultural potential as well as for funding the new measure. The new measure, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and implemented under rural development programmes, allows Member States to provide targeted liquidity support to farmers, forest holders, SMEs active in processing, marketing or development of agricultural or forestry products affected by natural disasters occurring as of 1 January 2024. By directly and swiftly addressing the cash-flow challenges of affected businesses, the support through the new measure will contribute to food security and address upfront the potential market disturbance due to the impact of the natural disasters. In order to achieve these goals while providing for a reasonably simple administration allowing swift deployment, the support will take the form of a one-off lump sum for farmers, forest holders and SMEs. In addition, investments in restoration of agricultural potential should be reinforced by providing more budgetary flexibilities as regards the non-regression threshold in using EAFRD funds. In this context, while providing for budgetary flexibility as regards the non-regression threshold, it is important to continue and reinforce the planned investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness, as well as climate adaptation to mitigate the impact of the increasingly frequent climate-induced disasters. Restoration efforts and liquidity payments should be balanced as much as possible with the need to pursue currently foreseen investments and actions in disaster prevention and preparedness. Further, with a view to ensuring the most efficient use of resources available under existing rural development programmes, Member States will be required to substantiate the targeting of the new support measure to those most affected, based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Moreover, a maximum share of the Union contribution to this new measure should be fixed. As regards the process, Member States would need to include the new measure or the planned reallocation of funding in the rural development programmes via a programme modification. This submission of the programme modification can take place after the entry into force of this proposal.
Revised version (Article 11 Entry into force and application):
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . By way of derogation from the first paragraph of this Article, point 12, point (a) of point 13 and points 17 and 18 of Article 7 shall enter into force on the date of entry into force of the EURI Regulation. Point 12, point (a) of point 13 and points 17 and 18 of Article 7 shall apply from 1 January 2021.