Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 (repealed)Show full title

[F1 CHAPTER IXa U.K. SPECIFIC MEASURES FOR THE NEW MEMBER STATES

SUBCHAPTER I U.K. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT APPLICABLE TO ALL NEW MEMBER STATES U.K.

Article 33a U.K. General provisions

This Subchapter lays down the conditions under which temporary additional support complementary to that under Chapters I to IX shall be granted for transitional rural development measures in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia (hereinafter referred to as ‘ the new Member States ’ ) to address the specific needs of the new Member States during the programming period 2004-2006.

Article 33b U.K. Support for semi-subsistence farms undergoing restructuring

1. Support for semi-subsistence farms undergoing restructuring shall contribute to the following objectives:

(a) to help ease rural transition problems as the agricultural sector and rural economy of the new Member States are exposed to the competitive pressure of the single market;

(b) to facilitate and encourage the restructuring of farms not yet economically viable.

For the purpose of this Article, ‘ semi-subsistence farms ’ shall mean farms which primarily produce for their own consumption, but also market a proportion of their output.

2. To benefit from the support, the farmer must present a business plan which:

(a) demonstrates the future economic viability of the farm;

(b) contains details of investments required;

(c) describes specific milestones and targets.

3. Compliance with the business plan referred to in paragraph 2 shall be reviewed after three years. If the objectives set out in the plan have not been achieved by the time of the three-year review, no further support shall be granted, but there will be no requirement to repay monies already received.

4. Support shall be paid annually in the form of flat rate aid up to the maximum eligible amount specified in Annex II and for a period not exceeding five years.

Article 33d U.K. Producer groups

1. Flat-rate support shall be granted in order to facilitate the establishment and administrative operation of producer groups which have as their objectives:

(a) adapting the production and output of the producers who are members of such groups to market requirements;

(b) jointly placing goods on the market, including preparation for sale, the centralisation of sales and supply to bulk buyers; and

(c) establishing common rules on production information, with particular regard to harvesting and availability.

2. The support shall be granted only to producer groups which are formally recognised by the competent authorities of the new Member State between the date of accession and the end of the programming period on the basis of either national or Community law.

3. The support shall be granted in annual instalments for the first five years following the date on which the producer group was recognised. It shall be calculated on the basis of the group's annual marketed production and shall not exceed:

(a) 5 %, 5 %, 4 %, 3 % and 2 % of the value of the production up to EUR  1 000 000 marketed respectively in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth year, and

(b) 2,5 %, 2,5 %, 2,0 %, 1,5 % and 1,5 % of the value of the production exceeding EUR  1 000 000 marketed respectively in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth year.

In any case, support shall not exceed the maximum eligible amounts laid down in Annex II.

In the case of Malta, a minimum aid for a sector of production where the total output is extremely small may be established. The sector concerned and the aid level shall be determined by the Commission.

Article 33e U.K. Technical assistance

1. Support may be granted for the preparation, monitoring, evaluation and control measures which are necessary for the implementation of the rural development programming documents.

2. The measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall include in particular:

(a) studies;

(b) measures of technical assistance, the exchange of experience and information aimed at partners, beneficiaries and the general public;

(c) installation, operation and interconnection of computerised systems for management, monitoring and evaluation;

(d) improvements in evaluation methods and exchange of information on practice in this field.

Article 33f U.K. Leader + type measures

1. Support may be granted for measures which are related to the acquisition of skills intended to prepare rural communities to conceive and implement local rural development strategies.

These measures may include, in particular:

(a) technical support for studies of the local area, and territory diagnosis taking into account the wishes expressed by the population concerned;

(b) information and training of the population to encourage an active participation in the development process;

(c) building representative local development partnerships;

(d) drawing up integrated development strategies;

(e) financing research and preparing application for support.

2. Support may be granted for the adoption of integrated territorial rural development strategies, of a pilot nature, prepared by local action groups in accordance with the principles laid down in items 12, 14 and 36 of the Commission notice to the Member States of 14 April 2000 laying down guidelines for the Community initiative for rural development (Leader+) (1) . This support shall be limited to regions where there is already sufficient administrative capacity and experience of local rural development type approaches.

3. The local action groups referred to in paragraph 2 may be eligible to participate in inter-territorial and transnational cooperation actions in accordance with the principles laid down in items 15 to 18 of the Commission Notice referred to in paragraph 2.

4. The new Member States and local action groups shall be given access to the Observatory of Rural Areas provided for in point 23 of the Commission Notice referred to in paragraph 2.

Article 33g U.K. Farm advisory and extension services

In addition to the measure provided for in the third indent of Article 33, support shall be granted for the provision of farm advisory and extension services.

Article 33h U.K. Complements to direct payments

1. As a temporary and sui generis provision support may be granted to farmers eligible for complementary national direct payments or aids under Article 143c of Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 (2) during the 2004-2006 period only.

2. The support granted to a farmer in respect of the years 2004, 2005, 2006 shall not exceed the difference between:

(a) the level of direct payments applicable in the new Member States for the year concerned in accordance with Article 143a of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003, and

(b) 40 % of the level of direct payments applicable in the Community as constituted on 30 April 2004 in the relevant year.

3. The Community contribution to support granted under this Article in a new Member State in respect of each of the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 shall not exceed 20 % of its respective annual allocation. However, a new Member State may replace this 20 % annual rate with the following rates: 25 % for 2004, 20 % for 2005 and 15 % for 2006.

4. Support granted to a farmer under this Article shall be counted:

(a) in the case of Cyprus, as complementary national direct aid for the purposes of applying the total amounts referred to in Article 143c(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003;

(b) in the case of any other new Member State, as complementary national direct payments or aids, as applicable, for the purposes of applying the maximum levels set out in Article 143c(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.

SUBCHAPTER II U.K. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT APPLICABLE TO MALTA U.K.

Article 33i U.K. Complements to State aid in Malta

1. In Malta, support may be granted to the beneficiaries of special temporary State aid under the Special Market Policy Programme for Maltese Agriculture (SMPPMA) provided for in Annex XI, Chapter 4 on Agriculture, Section A, point 1 to this Act.

2. By way of derogation from Article 33h(3), the total Community contribution to support granted in Malta under this Article and Article 33h in respect of each of the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 shall not exceed 20 % of that year's annual allocation. However, Malta may replace this 20 % annual rate with the following rates: 25 % for 2004, 20 % for 2005 and 15 % for 2006.

3. Support granted under this Article shall be counted as special temporary State aid under the SMPPMA for the purposes of applying the maximum amounts set out in that programme.

Article 33j U.K. Full-time farmers in Malta

Specific temporary support shall be granted to full-time farmers to enable them to adapt to the changes in the market environment resulting from the dismantling of levies upon accession.

Support shall be paid annually on a degressive basis for a period not exceeding five years. Three types of payment shall be envisaged:

(a)

payment per hectare for irrigated land;

(b)

payment per hectare for non-irrigated land;

(c)

payment per livestock unit for livestock farm.

Payment shall be established in relation to the expected drop in farm income due to the dismantling of levies, and consequent falls in prices for agricultural produce. Payment shall be fixed at a level which avoids overcompensation, in particular in relation to product-specific State aid under the SMPPMA.

Maximum eligible amounts per agricultural holding for the three categories of payments shall be adopted by the Commission.

SUBCHAPTER III U.K. DEROGATIONS U.K.

Article 33k U.K. General provisions

This Subchapter lays down the cases in which the new Member States may derogate from the eligibility criteria set for the measures defined in Chapters I, IV, V and VII.

Article 33l U.K. Derogations applicable to all new Member States

1. By way of derogation from the first indent of Article 5, support for investment shall be granted to agricultural holdings for which economic viability at the end of the realisation of the investment can be demonstrated.

2. By way of derogation from the second subparagraph of Article 7, the total amount of support for investment in agricultural holdings, expressed as a percentage of the volume of eligible investment, shall be limited to a maximum of 50 % and, in less favoured areas, 60 %. Where investments are undertaken by young farmers, as referred to in Chapter II, these percentages may reach a maximum of 55 % and, in less-favoured areas, 65 %.

2a. By way of derogation from Article 21b, for agricultural Community standards for which a transitional period is provided for under the Annexes referred to in Article 24 of the Act of Accession (3) the temporary support may be granted, from the date of eligibility of expenditures under the rural development programming document, to farmers who comply with these standards, for a period not exceeding five years.

[F2 2b. By way of derogation from Articles 21a, 21b and 21c, costs linked to investments needed to comply with a standard set by the Community before the date of accession, and binding for farmers from this date, or a later date, may be taken into consideration for determining the level of annual support. This possibility is limited to the first three years of the period of support, up to an annual ceiling of EUR  25 000 per farm. During this investment period, the degressivity provided for in Article 21c shall not apply. Loss of income and additional costs resulting from compliance with the standard may not be taken into consideration until the end of the investment period.

Investments supported under the first subparagraph are not eligible for the support provided for in Chapter I.]

3. By way of derogation from the second indent of Article 26(1), support for investment shall be granted to enterprises which have been granted a transitional period after accession in order to meet the minimum standards regarding the environment, hygiene and animal welfare. In this case, the enterprise shall comply with the relevant standards by the end of the specified transitional period or the end of the investment period, whichever is the earlier.

4. By way of derogation from Article 29(5), the classification of areas at risk of forest fires shall be submitted as part of the rural development plan.

Textual Amendments

F2 Inserted by Council Regulation (EC) No 567/2004 of 22 March 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF).

Article 33m U.K. Derogations applicable to individual new Member States

1. By way of derogation from the second indent of Article 11(1), farmers in Lithuania who have been allocated a milk quota, shall be eligible for the early retirement scheme on condition that they are less than 70 years old at the time of the transfer.

The amount of support shall be subject to the maximum amounts set out in Annex I to this Regulation and shall be calculated in relation to the size of the milk quota and the total farming activity on the holding.

Milk quotas allocated to a transferor shall be returned to the national milk quota reserve with no additional compensation payment.

2. By way of derogation from Article 21, Malta may exceed the limit of 10 % laid down for the total extent of the areas referred to in Article 20.

By way of derogation from Article 24(2), the maximum amounts per year eligible for Community support laid down in Annex I may be increased in the case of the measure to maintain and preserve rubble walls in Malta. The maximum amount per hectare payable under this derogation shall be established by the Commission.

3. By way of derogation from Article 31(1), support may be granted by Estonia for the afforestation of abandoned agricultural land on condition that such land has been in use within the previous five years. In this case, such support may only include, in addition to planting costs, the annual premium per hectare provided for in the first indent of the second subparagraph of Article 31(1).]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded.

(1)

[F1 OJ C 139, 18.5.2000, p. 5 .

(2)

OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 1 .

(3)

OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 33 .]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded.