The Direct Payments to Farmers and Cross-Compliance (Simplifications) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2020/1387 |
| Year | 2020 |
2020 No. 1387
Agriculture, England
The Direct Payments to Farmers and Cross-Compliance (Simplifications) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020
Made 30th November 2020
Laid before Parliament 1st December 2020
Coming into force 1st January 2021
The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 9, 14(1) and (2) and 50(3) of the Agriculture Act 20201.
Citation, commencement and application
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Direct Payments to Farmers and Cross-Compliance (Simplifications) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 and come into force on 1st January 2021.
(2) The amendments contained in the regulations specified in paragraph (4) apply only in relation to an application for direct payments made in 2021 or in any subsequent year.
(3) These Regulations apply in England only.
(4) The regulations specified in this paragraph are—
(a)
(a) regulation 2(3);
(b)
(b) regulation 4(2) – (5);
(c)
(c) regulation 5(2), (4), (6) – (10);
(d)
(d) regulation 6(2) – (4);
(e)
(e) regulation 7(2) – (4), (6), (7);
(f)
(f) regulation 8(2), (4);
(g)
(g) regulation 9(3), (4)(b), (5) – (8), (10), (15) – (17), (19).
(5) In these Regulations, “direct payments” means payments made to farmers under support schemes under Regulation (EU) No 1307/20132of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 637/2008and Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.
Amendment of the Common Agricultural Policy Basic Payment and Support Schemes (England) Regulations 2014
2.—(1) The Common Agricultural Policy Basic Payment and Support Schemes (England) Regulations 20143are amended as follows.
(2) In regulation 5—
(a)
(a) the existing text becomes paragraph (1);
(b)
(b) at the beginning of renumbered paragraph (1), insert “Subject to paragraph (2),”;
(c)
(c) after renumbered paragraph (1), insert—
“2. Direct payments may be granted to a farmer where the eligible area of the holding referred to in paragraph (1) is less than five hectares where in 2020 direct payments were claimed by or due to be granted to that farmer—
(a) before the application of Article 63 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013; and
(b) in respect of such a holding (as defined for the 2020 claim year)—
the eligible area was situated in England and at least one other constituent nation;
where the eligible area situated in England of that holding was less than five hectares; and
for which a payment was claimed or due to be granted in respect of the eligible area situated in England.”.
(3) Omit regulations 11 to 13 and the Schedule.
Amendment of the Common Agricultural Policy (Control and Enforcement, Cross-Compliance, Scrutiny of Transactions and Appeals) Regulations 2014
3.—(1) The Common Agricultural Policy (Control and Enforcement, Cross-Compliance, Scrutiny of Transactions and Appeals) Regulations 20144are amended as follows.
(2) In regulation 2, in the definition of “competent authority” omit “, except as otherwise provided by regulation 3,”.
(3) In regulation 3—
(a)
(a) omit paragraphs (2) to (3A);
(b)
(b) for paragraph (4) substitute—
“4. In this regulation “holding” has the meaning given by Article 4(1)(b) of the Direct Payments Regulation.”.
Amendment of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013
4.—(1) Regulation (EU) No 1306/20135of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 352/78, (EC) No 165/94, (EC) No 2799/98, (EC) No 814/2000, (EC) No 1290/2005and (EC) No 485/2008is amended as follows.
(2) Insofar as it relates to direct payments, in Article 126—
(a)
(a) omit “the agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment laid down in Chapter 3 of Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 and”;
(b)
(b) for “that Regulation” substitute “Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013”.
(3) Insofar as it relates to direct payments, in Article 67 (integrated administration and control system – scope and terms used) in paragraph 4(b) omit “; the payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment referred to in Chapter 3 of Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013;”.
(4) Insofar as it relates to direct payments, in Article 70, omit paragraph 2.
(5) Insofar as it relates to direct payments, in Article 77 omit paragraph 6.
(6) In Article 91, in paragraph (3)(a), in the definition of “holding” for “the United Kingdom” substitute “England”.
(7) In Article 99(2)7—
(a)
(a) in the second subparagraph—
(i) omit “, given their minor severity, extent and duration,”;
(ii) after the words “remedial action”, insert “where it is possible”;
(iii) after the words “has not been remedied”, insert “as required”;
(b)
(b) after the second subparagraph, insert—
“Duly justified cases as referred to in the second subparagraph may be determined by the relevant authority based on the severity, extent and duration of the non-compliance in question, and on the beneficiary’s overall engagement with the cross-compliance rules.”.
Amendment of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013
5.—(1) Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 637/2008and Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009is amended as follows.
(2) In Article 1, omit point (b)(iv).
(3) In Article 4, in paragraph 1—
(a)
(a) in subparagraph (a) in the definition of “farmer” for “the United Kingdom” substitute “England”;
(b)
(b) in subparagraph (b) in the definition of “holding” for “the United Kingdom” substitute “England”.
(4) In Article 22, in paragraph 5, after “as a result of”, insert “the removal of the payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment or”.
(5) In Article 31, in paragraph 1 omit points (a) and (b).
(6) In Title III, omit Chapter 3.
(7) In Article 50, in paragraph 6, in subparagraph (a) for “between 25% and 50%” substitute “17.5%”.
(8) In Annex I, in the table, omit the entry relating to “Title III, Chapter 3 of this Regulation” across all three columns.
(9) Omit Annex IX.
(10) Omit Annex X.
Amendment of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014
6.—(1) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/20148of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and amending Annex X to that Regulation is amended as follows.
(2) In Article 1, omit point (d).
(3) Omit Chapter 3.
(4) Omit Annex II.
Amendment of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014
7.—(1) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/20149of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system and conditions for refusal or withdrawal of payments and administrative penalties applicable to direct payments, rural development support and cross compliance, is amended as follows.
(2) Insofar as it relates to direct payments, in Article 2, in paragraph 1, in subparagraph (22) omit “use of area in terms of the type of crop as referred to in Article 44(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013,”.
(3) Insofar as it relates to direct payments, in Article 4, in paragraph 2 for “fifteen working days” substitute “eight weeks”.
(4) Insofar as it relates to direct payments, in Article 5, in paragraph 2—
(a)
(a) omit point (c);
(b)
(b) omit point (d).
(5) Insofar as it relates to direct payments, in Article 13—
(a)
(a) in paragraph (1), in the second subparagraph, for “the first subparagraph” to the end of that subparagraph substitute “an applicant may submit documents which are constitutive for the eligibility for the aid in question to the relevant authority by no later than 25 calendar days after the final date for submission of an aid application as fixed by Article 13 of Regulation (EU) No 809/2014.”;
(b)
(b) for paragraph (3) substitute—
“3. Except in cases of force majeure and exceptional circumstances as referred to in Article 4, no amendment to the single application may be admissible after the final date for submission of amendments as specified in Article 15(2) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014.”.
(6) Insofar as it relates to direct payments, in Article 16, in paragraph 1, omit the second subparagraph.
(7) In Title II, in Chapter IV—
(a)
(a) insofar as it relates to direct payments, in the title to Section 2, omit “, except the payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment”;
(b)
(b) omit Section 3.
(8) In Article 39(1)10—
(a)
(a) in the first subparagraph, for “, as a general rule, be 3%” substitute “be a percentage”;
(b)
(b) in the second subparagraph—
(i) for “However, the” substitute “The”;
(ii) for “either to reduce that percentage to 1% or increase it to 5%” substitute “that the percentage reduction will be 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% or 5%”.
To continue reading
Request your trial