Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 (repealed)Show full title

CHAPTER 4 U.K. LAND USE UNDER THE SINGLE PAYMENT SCHEME

Section 1 U.K. Use of the land

[F1 Article 51 U.K. Agricultural use of the land

Farmers may use the parcels declared in accordance with Article 44(3) for any agricultural activity except for:

(a)

permanent crops, apart from hops;

(b)

the production of the products referred to in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 (1) and in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 (2) .

However, Member States may decide to allow secondary crops to be cultivated on the eligible hectares during a period of maximum three months starting each year on 15 August; however, at the request of a Member State, this date is modified in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 144(2) for regions where cereals are normally harvested earlier for climatic reasons;

(c)

potatoes other than those intended for the manufacture of potato starch for which aid is granted under Article 93.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Council Regulation (EC) No 864/2004 of 29 April 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers, and adapting it by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union.

Article 52 U.K. Production of hemp

1. In case of production of hemp falling within CN Code 5302 10 00, the varieties used shall have a tetrahydrocannabinol content not exceeding 0,2 % and the production shall be covered by a contract or commitment as referred to in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1673/2000. Member States shall establish a system for verifying the tetrahydrocannabinol content of the crops grown on at least 30 % of the areas on hemp grown for fibre for which the contract is concluded or the commitment made. However, if a Member State introduces a system of prior approval for such cultivation, the minimum shall be 20 %.

2. In accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2), the granting of payments shall be made subject to the use of certified seeds of certain varieties and to a declaration of areas on hemp grown for fibre.

Section 2 U.K. Set-aside entitlements

Article 53 U.K. Determination of the set-aside entitlements

1. By way of derogation from Articles 37 and 43 of this Regulation, where in the reference period a farmer was subject to the obligation to set aside part of the land of his holding pursuant to Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999, the three-year average amount corresponding to the compulsory set-aside payment calculated and adjusted according to Annex VII and the three-year average number of compulsory set-aside hectares shall not be included in the determination of the entitlements referred to in Article 43 of this Regulation.

2. In the case referred to in paragraph 1, the farmer shall receive an entitlement per hectare (hereinafter referred to as ‘set-aside entitlement’) which is calculated by dividing the three-year set-aside average amount by the three-year average number of hectares set-aside, as referred to in paragraph 1.

The total number of set-aside entitlements shall be equal to the average number of compulsory set-aside hectares.

Article 54 U.K. Use of set-aside entitlements

1. Any set-aside entitlement accompanied by a hectare eligible for set-aside entitlement shall give right to the payment of the amount fixed by the set-aside entitlement.

2. By way of derogation from Article 44(2), ‘hectare eligible for set-aside entitlement’ shall mean any agricultural area of the holding taken up by arable land, except areas which at the date provided for the area aid applications for 2003 were under permanent crops, forests or used for non agricultural activities or under permanent pasture.[F2 For the new Member States, the reference to the date provided for the area aid applications for 2003 shall be construed as a reference to 30 June 2003 .]

However, the following areas may be counted as being set aside, as a result of an application made after 28 June 1995:

• areas set aside pursuant to Articles 22 to 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, which are neither put to any agricultural use nor used for any lucrative purposes other than those accepted for other land set aside under this Regulation, or

• areas afforested pursuant to Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999.

3. Farmers shall set aside from production the hectares eligible for set-aside entitlements.

4. Set aside areas shall not be less than 0,1 ha in size and 10 metres wide. For duly justified environmental reasons, Member States may accept areas at least 5 metres wide and 0,05 ha in size.

5. Member States may, on terms to be determined in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 144(2), derogate from first subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article, provided that they take action to prevent any significant increase in the total agricultural area eligible to set-aside entitlements.

6. By way of derogation from Articles 36(1) and 44(1), set-aside entitlements shall be claimed before any other entitlement.

7. The set aside obligation shall continue to apply in respect of the set-aside entitlements which are transferred.

Textual Amendments

F2 Inserted by Council Regulation (EC) No 583/2004 of 22 March 2004 amending Regulations (EC) No 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers, (EC) No 1786/2003 on the common organisation of the market in dried fodder and (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union.

Article 55 U.K. Exemption from set-aside

A farmer shall not be subject to the obligation referred to in Article 54 if:

(a)

his entire holding is managed for the totality of its production in compliance with the obligations laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs(3);

(b)

the land set-aside is used for the provision of materials for the manufacture within the Community of products not primarily intended for human or animal consumption, provided that effective control systems are applied.

Article 56 U.K. Use of the set aside land

1. The land set aside shall be maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition as established under Article 5.

Without prejudice to Article 55, it shall not be used for agricultural purposes and shall not produce any crop for commercial purposes.

2. It may be subject to rotation.

3. If the quantity of by-products for feed or food uses likely to be made available as a result of the cultivation of oilseeds on land set-aside under Article 55(b), will, on the basis of the forecast quantities covered by contracts made with farmers, exceed 1 million tonnes annually expressed in soya bean meal equivalents, in order to limit such quantity to 1 million tonnes, the amount of the forecast quantity under each contract, which may be used of feed or food uses, shall be reduced.

4. Member States shall be authorised to pay national aid up to 50 % of the costs associated with establishing multiannual crops intended for bio-mass production on set-aside land.

Article 57 U.K. Application of other provisions

Save as otherwise provided for in this section, the other provisions of this Title shall apply to the set-aside entitlements.

(1)

[F1 OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 1 .

(2)

OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 29 .]

(3)

OJ L 198, 22.7.1991, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 806/2003 (OJ L 122, 16.5.2003, p. 1).

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Council Regulation (EC) No 864/2004 of 29 April 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers, and adapting it by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union.