Article 1 Legal commitments under Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 in 2014
1. Without prejudice to Article 88 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, Member States may continue to undertake new legal commitments in relation to beneficiaries in 2014, in relation to the measures referred to in Article 20, with the exception of points (a)(iii), (c)(i) and (d) thereof, and in Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, pursuant to the rural development programmes adopted on the basis of that Regulation even after the financial resources of the 2007-2013 programming period have been used up, provided that the application for support is submitted before the adoption of the respective rural development programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. Without prejudice to Point E of Annex VI to the 2012 Act of Accession and the provisions adopted on the basis thereof, Croatia may continue to undertake new legal commitments in respect of beneficiaries in 2014 in relation to the measures referred to in points (a) and (c) of Article 171(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 ( 16 ) , pursuant to the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance on Rural Development (IPARD) programme adopted on the basis of that Regulation even after the relevant financial resources of that programme have been used up, provided that the application for support is submitted before the adoption of its rural development programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The expenditure incurred on the basis of those commitments shall be eligible in accordance with Article 3 of this Regulation. 2. The condition set out in the second indent of Article 14(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 shall not apply to new legal commitments undertaken by Member States under points (a)(i) and (ii) of Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 in 2014.
Article 2 Continued application of Articles 50a and 51 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005
Without prejudice to Article 88 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, Articles 50a and 51 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall continue to apply, until 31 December 2014, to operations selected under the rural development programmes of the 2014-2020 programming period pursuant to points (a) and (b) of Article 21(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, as regards the annual premium, and to Articles 28 to 31, 33 and 34 of that Regulation.
Article 3 Eligibility of certain types of expenditure
1. Without prejudice to Article 6(1) and Article 88 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, expenditure relating to legal commitments to beneficiaries incurred under the measures referred to in Articles 20 and 36 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 and, without prejudice to Point E of Annex VI to the 2012 Act of Accession and the provisions adopted on the basis thereof in the case of Croatia, measures referred to in points (a) and (c) of Article 171(2) of Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 shall be eligible for an EAFRD contribution in the 2014-2020 programming period in the following cases: (a) for payments to be made between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2015, and, in the case of Croatia, between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2016, where the financial allocation for the relevant measure of the respective programme adopted pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 or Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 has already been used up; and (b) for payments to be made after 31 December 2015, and, in the case of Croatia, after 31 December 2016. This paragraph shall also apply to legal commitments to beneficiaries undertaken under corresponding measures provided for in Regulations (EC) No 1257/1999, (EEC) No 2078/1992 and (EEC) No 2080/1992 which are receiving support under Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005. 2. The expenditure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be eligible for an EAFRD contribution in the 2014-2020 programming period, subject to the following conditions: (a) that such expenditure is provided for in the respective rural development programme for the 2014-2020 programming period; (b) that the EAFRD contribution rate of the corresponding measure under Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, as set out in Annex I to this Regulation, applies; and (c) that Member States ensure that the relevant transitional operations are clearly identified through their management and control systems.
Article 4 Application of certain provisions of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 in 2014
By way of derogation from Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, for the year 2014: (a) the reference to Chapter I of Title VI of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 in Articles 28, 29, 30 and 33 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 shall be read as a reference to Articles 5 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 and to Annexes II and III thereto. (b) the reference in Article 40(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 to Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 shall be read as a reference to Article 132 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009; (c) the reference in point (a) of Article 40(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 to Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 shall be read as a reference to Article 121 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.
Article 5 Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005
Article 70(4c) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 is hereby amended as follows: (a) in the first subparagraph, the introductory phrase is replaced by the following: "(4c) By way of derogation from the ceilings set out in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5, the EAFRD contribution may be increased up to a maximum of 95 % of eligible public expenditure in the regions eligible under the Convergence Objective and the outermost regions and the smaller Aegean Islands, and 85 % of eligible public expenditure in other regions. These rates shall apply to the eligible expenditure newly declared in each certified declaration of expenditure until the final date of eligibility of expenditure for the 2007-2013 programming period on 31 December 2015, where on 20 December 2013 or thereafter a Member State complies with one of the following conditions:"; (b) the second subparagraph is replaced by the following: "A Member State wishing to make use of the derogation provided in the first subparagraph shall submit a request to the Commission to modify its rural development programme accordingly. The derogation shall apply from the approval, by the Commission, of the modification of the programme.".
Article 6 Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 73/2009
Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 is hereby amended as follows: (1) In Article 29, the following paragraph is added: "5. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, Member States may, from 16 October 2014, pay advances to farmers of up to 50 % of the direct payments under the support schemes listed in Annex I in respect of applications made in 2014. In the case of beef and veal payments provided for in Section 11 of Chapter 1 of Title IV, Member States may increase that percentage to up to 80 %.".