Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the common agricultural policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013

TITLE I SUBJECT MATTER AND SCOPE, APPLICABLE PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

• (a) general and specific objectives to be pursued through Union support financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) under the common agricultural policy (CAP) as well as the related indicators;

• (b) types of intervention and common requirements for Member States to pursue those objectives as well as the related financial arrangements;

• (c) CAP Strategic Plans, which are to be drawn up by Member States and which set targets, specify conditions for interventions and allocate financial resources, according to the specific objectives and identified needs;

• (d) coordination and governance as well as monitoring, reporting and evaluation.

Article 2

Applicable provisions

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

• (1) ‘farmer’ means a natural or legal person, or a group of natural or legal persons, regardless of the legal status granted to such group and its members by national law, whose holding is situated within the territorial scope of the Treaties, as defined in Article 52 of the Treaty on European Union in conjunction with Articles 349 and 355 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and who exercises an agricultural activity as determined by Member States in accordance with Article 4(2) of this Regulation;

• (2) ‘holding’ means all the units used for agricultural activities and managed by a farmer situated within the territory of the same Member State;

• (3) ‘intervention’ means a support instrument with a set of eligibility conditions specified by a Member State in its CAP Strategic Plan based on a type of intervention provided for in this Regulation;

• (4) ‘operation’ means:
• (a) a project, contract, action or group of projects or actions selected under the CAP Strategic Plan concerned;
• (b) in the context of financial instruments, the total eligible public expenditure granted to a financial instrument and the subsequent financial support provided to final recipients by that financial instrument;

• (5) ‘public expenditure’ means any contribution to the financing of operations the source of which is the budget of national, regional or local public authorities, the budget of the Union made available to the EAGF and the EAFRD, the budget of public law bodies or the budget of associations of public authorities or of public law bodies;

• (6) ‘milestones’ means intermediate pre-established values, set by Member States in the framework of their intervention strategies referred to in Article 107(1), point (b), for a specific financial year to be achieved at a given point in time during the CAP Strategic Plan period to ensure timely progress in relation to the result indicators;

• (7) ‘targets’ means pre-established values, set by Member States in the framework of their intervention strategies referred to in Article 107(1), point (b), to be achieved at the end of the CAP Strategic Plan period in relation to the result indicators;

• (8) ‘outermost regions’ means the outermost regions referred to in Article 349 TFEU;

• (9) ‘AKIS’ means the combined organisation and knowledge flows between persons, organisations and institutions who use and produce knowledge for agriculture and interrelated fields (Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System);

• (10) ‘smaller Aegean islands’ means smaller Aegean islands as defined in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EU) No 229/2013;

• (11) ‘mutual fund’ means a scheme accredited by a Member State in accordance with its national law for affiliated farmers to insure themselves, whereby compensation payments are made to affiliated farmers who experience economic losses;

• (12) ‘less developed regions’ means less developed regions within the meaning of Article 108(2), first subparagraph, point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060;

• (13) ‘beneficiary’ in relation to the types of intervention for rural development referred to in Article 69 means:
• (a) a public or private law body, an entity with or without legal personality, a natural person or a group of natural or legal persons responsible for initiating or both initiating and implementing operations;
• (b) in the context of State aid schemes, the undertaking which receives the aid;
• (c) in the context of financial instruments, the body that implements the holding fund or, where there is no holding fund structure, the body that implements the specific fund or, where the managing authority referred to in Article 123 (‘the managing authority’) manages the financial instrument, the managing authority;

• (14) ‘support rate’ means the rate of public expenditure to an operation; in the context of financial instruments it refers to the gross grant equivalent of the support as defined in Article 2, point (20), of Commission Regulation (EU) No 702/2014 ([^E0001]);

• (15) ‘LEADER’ means community-led local development referred to in Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060;

• (16) ‘intermediate body’ means any public or private law body, including regional or local bodies, regional development bodies or non-governmental organisations, which acts under the responsibility of a national or regional managing authority, or which carries out duties on behalf of such an authority;

• (17) ‘financial year’ means agricultural financial year in accordance with Article 35 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

Article 4

Definitions and conditions to be provided in the CAP Strategic Plans

• (a) the production of agricultural products, which includes actions such as raising animals or cultivation including by way of paludiculture, where agricultural products means products listed in Annex I to the TFEU with the exception of fishery products, as well as cotton and short rotation coppice;

• (b) the maintenance of the agricultural area in a state which makes it suitable for grazing or cultivation, without preparatory action going beyond the use of usual agricultural methods and machinery.

• (a) ‘arable land’ shall be land cultivated for crop production or areas available for crop production but lying fallow; in addition, it shall, for the duration of the commitment, be land cultivated for crop production or areas available for crop production but lying fallow that have been set aside in accordance with Article 31 or Article 70 of this Regulation, or with Articles 22, 23 or 24 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 ([^E0002]), or with Article 39 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 ([^E0003]), or with Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0004]);

• (b) ‘permanent crops’ shall be non-rotational crops other than permanent grassland and permanent pasture that occupy the land for five years or more and that yield repeated harvests, including nurseries and short rotation coppice;

• (c) ‘permanent grassland and permanent pasture’ (together referred to as ‘permanent grassland’) shall be land that is used to grow grasses or other herbaceous forage naturally (self-seeded) or through cultivation (sown) and that has not been included in the crop rotation of the holding for five years or more or, where Member States so decide, for seven years or more and, where Member States so decide, that has not been ploughed up, or tilled, or reseeded with different types of grass or other herbaceous forage, for five years or more or for seven years or more; it may include other species, such as shrubs or trees, which can be grazed and, where Member States so decide, other species such as shrubs or trees which produce animal feed, provided that the grasses and other herbaceous forage remain predominant. Member States may decide that land that was classified as arable land on 1 January 2026 remains classified as arable land and is not reclassified as permanent grassland even if the period referred to in the first subparagraph has expired and the land has not been ploughed up, or tilled, or reseeded with different types of grass or other herbaceous forage. Member States may also decide to consider the following types of land to be permanent grassland:
• (i) land which is covered by any of the species referred to in this point and which forms part of established local practices, where grasses and other herbaceous forage are traditionally not predominant or absent in grazing areas;
• (ii) land covered by any of the species referred to in this point, where grasses and other herbaceous forage are not predominant or are absent in grazing areas.

• (a) any agricultural area of the holding that, during the year for which support is requested, is used for an agricultural activity or, where the area is also used for non-agricultural activities, is predominantly used for agricultural activities; where duly justified for environmental, biodiversity and climate-related reasons, Member States may decide that eligible hectares also include certain areas used for agricultural activities only every second year:

• (b) any area of the holding which is:
• (i) covered by landscape features subject to the retention obligation under GAEC standard 8 listed in Annex III; or
• (ii) for the duration of the relevant commitment by the farmer, established or maintained as a result of an eco-scheme referred to in Article 31. If Member States so decide, ‘eligible hectare’ may contain other landscape features, provided they are not predominant and do not significantly hamper the performance of the agricultural activity due to the area they occupy on the agricultural parcel. In implementing that principle, Member States may set a maximum share of the agricultural parcel covered by those other landscape features. As regards permanent grassland with scattered ineligible features, Member States may decide to apply fixed reduction coefficients to determine the area considered eligible;

• (c) any area of the holding that gave a right to payments under Title III, Chapter II, Section 2, Subsection 2, of this Regulation or under the basic payment scheme or the single area payment scheme laid down in Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, and which is not an ‘eligible hectare’ as determined by Member States on the basis of points (a) and (b) of this paragraph:
• (i) as a result of the application of Directive 92/43/EEC, 2009/147/EC or 2000/60/EC to that area;
• (ii) as a result of area-based interventions set out under this Regulation covered by the integrated system referred to in Article 65(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 allowing for the production of products not listed in Annex I TFEU by way of paludiculture, or under national schemes for biodiversity or greenhouse gas reductions the conditions of which comply with those area-based interventions, provided that those interventions and national schemes contribute to achieving one or more specific objectives set out in Article 6(1), points (d), (e) and (f), of this Regulation;
• (iii) for the duration of an afforestation commitment by the farmer, pursuant to Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 or to Article 43 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 or to Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 or to Article 70 or Article 73 of this Regulation, or under a national scheme the conditions of which comply with Article 43(1), (2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 or Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 or Article 70 or Article 73 of this Regulation;
• (iv) for the duration of a commitment by the farmer resulting in the setting aside of the area, pursuant to Articles 22, 23 and 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, to Article 39 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, to Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 or to Article 70 of this Regulation.

Areas used for the production of hemp shall be eligible hectares only if the varieties used have a tetrahydrocannabinol content not exceeding 0,3 %.

When determining who is an ‘active farmer’, Member States shall apply objective and non-discriminatory criteria, such as income tests, labour inputs on the farm, company object and inclusion of their agricultural activities in national or regional registers. Such criteria may be introduced in one or more forms chosen by Member States, including through a negative list disqualifying a farmer from being considered to be an active farmer. If a Member State considers to be ‘active farmers’ those farmers who did not receive direct payments exceeding a certain amount for the previous year, such an amount shall not be higher than EUR 5 000 .

• (a) an upper age limit set between 35 years and 40 years;

• (b) the conditions for being ‘head of the holding’;

• (c) the appropriate training or skills required, as determined by Member States.

TITLE II OBJECTIVES AND INDICATORS

Article 5

General objectives

In accordance with the objectives of the CAP set out in Article 39 TFEU, with the objective to maintain the functioning of the internal market and a level playing field between farmers in the Union and with the principle of subsidiarity, support from the EAGF and the EAFRD shall aim to further improve the sustainable development of farming, food and rural areas and shall contribute to achieving the following general objectives in the economic, environmental and social spheres, which will contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:

• (a) to foster a smart, competitive, resilient and diversified agricultural sector ensuring long-term food security;

• (b) to support and strengthen environmental protection, including biodiversity, and climate action and to contribute to achieving the environmental and climate-related objectives of the Union, including its commitments under the Paris Agreement;

• (c) to strengthen the socio-economic fabric of rural areas.

Article 6

Specific objectives

• (a) to support viable farm income and resilience of the agricultural sector across the Union in order to enhance long-term food security and agricultural diversity as well as to ensure the economic sustainability of agricultural production in the Union;

• (b) to enhance market orientation and increase farm competitiveness both in the short and long term, including greater focus on research, technology and digitalisation;

• (c) to improve the farmers’ position in the value chain;

• (d) to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, including by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing carbon sequestration, as well as to promote sustainable energy;

• (e) to foster sustainable development and efficient management of natural resources such as water, soil and air, including by reducing chemical dependency;

• (f) to contribute to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, enhance ecosystem services and preserve habitats and landscapes;

• (g) to attract and sustain young farmers and new farmers and facilitate sustainable business development in rural areas;

• (h) to promote employment, growth, gender equality, including the participation of women in farming, social inclusion and local development in rural areas, including the circular bio-economy and sustainable forestry;

• (i) to improve the response of Union agriculture to societal demands on food and health, including high-quality, safe and nutritious food produced in a sustainable way, to reduce food waste, as well as to improve animal welfare and to combat antimicrobial resistance.

Article 7

Indicators

• (a) output indicators relating to the realised output of the interventions supported;

• (b) result indicators relating to the specific objectives concerned referred to in Article 6(1) and (2), and which are used for the establishment of quantified milestones and targets in relation to those specific objectives in the CAP Strategic Plans and for assessing progress towards those targets; result indicators relating to environmental and climate-related objectives may cover interventions which contribute to the fulfilment of the commitments emanating from the Union legislative acts listed in Annex XIII;

• (c) impact indicators related to the objectives set out in Article 5 and Article 6(1) and (2) and used in the context of the CAP Strategic Plans and of the CAP;

• (d) context indicators referred to in Article 115(2) and listed in Annex I.

TITLE III COMMON REQUIREMENTS AND TYPES OF INTERVENTION

CHAPTER I COMMON REQUIREMENTS

Section 1 General principles

Article 8

Strategic approach

Member States shall pursue the objectives set out in Title II by specifying interventions on the basis of the types of intervention set out in Chapters II, III and IV of this Title in accordance with their assessment of needs and with the common requirements set out in this Chapter.

Article 9

General principles

Member States shall design the interventions of their CAP Strategic Plans and GAEC standards referred to in Article 13 in accordance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the general principles of Union law.

Member States shall ensure that interventions and GAEC standards referred to in Article 13 are set out on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory criteria, are compatible with the proper functioning of the internal market and do not distort competition.

Member States shall establish the legal framework governing the granting of Union support to farmers and other beneficiaries in accordance with the CAP Strategic Plans as approved by the Commission in accordance with Articles 118 and 119 of this Regulation and with the principles and requirements set out in this Regulation and in Regulation (EU) 2021/2116. They shall implement those CAP Strategic Plans as approved by the Commission.

Article 10

WTO domestic support

Member States shall design the interventions on the basis of the types of intervention which are listed in Annex II to this Regulation, including the definitions and conditions set out in Article 4, in such a way that they qualify under the criteria of Annex 2 to the WTO Agreement on Agriculture.

In particular, the basic income support for sustainability, the complementary redistributive income support for sustainability, the complementary income support for young farmers, and the schemes for the climate, the environment and animal welfare, and the crisis payments to farmers following natural disasters, adverse climatic events or catastrophic events shall qualify under the criteria of the paragraphs of Annex 2 to the WTO Agreement on Agriculture listed in Annex II to this Regulation for those interventions. For other interventions, the paragraphs of Annex 2 to the WTO Agreement on Agriculture listed in Annex II to this Regulation are indicative and those interventions may instead comply with a paragraph of Annex 2 to the WTO Agreement on Agriculture not listed in Annex II to this Regulation if that is specified and explained in the CAP Strategic Plan.

Article 11

Implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on oilseeds

If, following the notification of all planned outputs by Member States, the maximum support area for the whole Union referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is exceeded, the Commission shall calculate for each Member State that notified an excess compared to its reference area a reduction coefficient that is proportionate to the excess of its planned outputs so that the maximum support area for the whole Union is maintained. Each Member State concerned shall be informed about that reduction coefficient in the Commission’s observations to the CAP Strategic Plan in accordance with Article 118(3). The reduction coefficient for each Member State shall be set in the implementing decision referred to in Article 118(6) by means of which the Commission approves the CAP Strategic Plan.

Member States shall not amend their support area on their own initiative after the date referred to in Article 118(1).

The Commission shall inform the Member States concerned about the reduction coefficients by 31 January of the year preceding the claim year concerned.

Each Member State concerned shall submit a notification in accordance with Article 119(9) with the reduction coefficient referred to in the second subparagraph of this paragraph by 31 March of the year preceding the claim year concerned.

Section 2 Conditionality

Article 12

Principle and scope

• (a) the climate and the environment, including water, soil and biodiversity of ecosystems;

• (b) public health and plant health;

• (c) animal welfare.

1a. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 of this Article, the system of conditionality shall not apply to beneficiaries of payments referred to in Article 28.

Article 13

Obligations of Member States relating to good agricultural and environmental condition

In setting the GAEC standards 5, 6, 7 or 9 listed in Annex III, Member States may establish specific exemptions from the requirements of those standards. Those exemptions shall be based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria, such as crops, soil types and farming systems or damage to permanent grasslands due, inter alia, to wild animals or invasive species, and shall be limited in terms of their area coverage. Specific exemptions shall be established only in the event, and to the extent, that they are necessary to address specific problems in the application of those standards and shall not significantly hamper the contribution of each of those standards to their main objectives, as listed in Annex III.

Farmers certified in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0005]) shall be deemed to comply with GAEC standards 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 listed in Annex III to this Regulation in relation to their organic production units, as defined in Article 3, point (10), of Regulation (EU) 2018/848, and their in-conversion production units, as defined in Article 3, point (11), of that Regulation.

Member States may, taking into consideration the administrative burden of checks, decide that only farmers certified in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/848 whose entire holding consists of organic production units, as defined in Article 3, point (10), of Regulation (EU) 2018/848, or of in-conversion production units, as defined in Article 3, point (11), of that Regulation, or of both such production units, are deemed to comply with GAEC standards 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 listed in Annex III to this Regulation.

In setting their standards, Member States may, where relevant, set the elements referred to in Article 109(2), point (a)(i), of this Regulation so that they are consistent with mandatory requirements established by national law and do not go beyond them, provided that those existing national mandatory requirements comply with the GAEC standards listed in Annex III to this Regulation.

Member States shall not set minimum standards for main objectives other than the main objectives laid down in Annex III.

2a. When implementing the minimum standards set in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2, Member States may grant temporary derogations from the requirements of those minimum standards where weather conditions, plant diseases or pest infestations prevent farmers and other beneficiaries from complying with those requirements in a given year. Such temporary derogations shall be limited in their scope to farmers and other beneficiaries or areas affected by such weather conditions, plant diseases or pest infestations, and shall be applied only for as long as they are strictly necessary.

Section 3 Social conditionality

Article 14

Principle and scope

Section 4 Farm advisory services

Article 15

Farm advisory services

Through the farm advisory services, appropriate assistance shall be offered along the cycle of the farm development, including for the setting-up for the first time, conversion of production patterns towards consumer demand, innovative practices, agricultural techniques for resilience to climate change, including agroforestry and agroecology, improved animal welfare, and where necessary safety standards and social support.

Farm advisory services shall be integrated within the interrelated services of farm advisors, researchers, farmer organisations and other relevant stakeholders that form the AKIS.

• (a) all requirements, conditions and management commitments applying to farmers and other beneficiaries set in the CAP Strategic Plan, including requirements and standards under conditionality and conditions for interventions, as well as information on financial instruments and business plans established under the CAP Strategic Plan;

• (b) the requirements laid down by Member States for implementing Directive 92/43/EEC, Directive 2000/60/EC, Article 55 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0006]), Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0007]), Directive 2009/128/EC, Directive 2009/147/EC, Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0008]), Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0009]) and Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0010]);

• (c) farm practices preventing the development of antimicrobial resistance as set out in Commission communication of 29 June 2017 entitled ‘A European One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)’;

• (d) risk prevention and management;

• (e) innovation support, in particular for preparing and for implementing the projects of the EIP operational groups referred to in Article 127(3);

• (f) digital technologies in agriculture and rural areas as referred to in Article 114, point (b);

• (g) sustainable management of nutrients, including at the latest as from 2024 the use of a Farm Sustainability Tool for Nutrients, which is any digital application that provides at least:
• (i) a balance of the main nutrients at field scale;
• (ii) the legal requirements on nutrients;
• (iii) soil data, based on available information and analyses;
• (iv) data from the integrated administration and control system (IACS) relevant for nutrient management;

• (h) conditions of employment, employer obligations, occupational health and safety and social support in farming communities.

CHAPTER II TYPES OF INTERVENTION IN THE FORM OF DIRECT PAYMENTS

Section 1 Types of intervention, reduction and minimum requirements

Article 16

Types of intervention in the form of direct payments

• (a) the basic income support for sustainability;

• (b) the complementary redistributive income support for sustainability;

• (c) the complementary income support for young farmers;

• (d) the schemes for the climate, the environment and animal welfare.

• (a) the coupled income support;

• (b) the crop-specific payment for cotton.

Article 17

Capping and degressivity of payments

Member States may set additional tranches above EUR 60 000 , and specify the percentages of reduction for those additional tranches. They shall ensure that the reduction for each tranche is equal to or higher than for the previous tranche.

• (a) all the salaries linked to an agricultural activity declared by the farmer, including taxes and social contributions related to employment;

• (b) the equivalent cost of regular and unpaid labour linked to an agricultural activity practiced by persons working on the farm concerned who do not receive a salary, or who receive less remuneration than the amount normally paid for the services rendered, but are rewarded through the economic result of the farm business;

• (c) the labour cost element of the contracting costs linked to an agricultural activity declared by the farmer.

To calculate the amounts referred to in the first subparagraph, point (a), Member States shall use salary costs actually incurred by the farmer. In duly justified cases, farmers may request to use standards costs to be determined by the Member State concerned according to a method to be further specified in its CAP Strategic Plan based on the average standard salaries linked to an agricultural activity at national or regional level multiplied by the number of annual work units declared by the farmer concerned.

To calculate the amounts referred to in the first subparagraph, point (b), Member States shall use standard costs to be determined by the Member State concerned according to a method to be further specified in its CAP Strategic Plan based on the average standard salaries linked to an agricultural activity at national or regional level multiplied by the number of annual work units declared by the farmer concerned.

Member States may also use all or part of the product to finance types of intervention under the EAFRD as specified in Chapter IV by means of a transfer. Such transfer to the EAFRD shall be part of the CAP Strategic Plan financial tables and may be reviewed in 2025 in accordance with Article 103. It shall not be subject to the maximum limits for the transfers of funds from the EAGF to the EAFRD established under that Article.

Article 18

Minimum requirements

Alternatively, Member States may set a minimum amount of direct payments that may be paid to a farmer.

When setting the minimum area or minimum amount, Member States shall aim to ensure that direct payments are granted only to active farmers if:

• (a) the management of the corresponding payments does not cause excessive administrative burden; and

• (b) the corresponding amounts make an effective contribution to achieving the specific objectives set out in Article 6(1) to which direct payments contribute.

Article 19

Contribution to risk management tools

By way of derogation from Article 44(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, a Member State may decide to assign up to 3 % of the direct payments to be paid to a farmer as farmers’ contribution to risk management tools.

Member States that decide to make use of this provision shall apply it to all farmers receiving direct payments in a given year. Alternatively, such Member States may decide to apply it to the farmers for whom a risk management tool exists in a given year if this corresponds better to the risk management tool in place.

Section 2 Decoupled direct payments

Subsection 1 General provisions

Article 20

General requirements for receiving decoupled direct payments

Member States shall grant decoupled direct payments to active farmers under the conditions set out in this Section and as further specified in their CAP Strategic Plans.

Subsection 2 Basic income support for sustainability

Article 21

General rules

Article 22

Amount of support per hectare

Article 23

Payment entitlements

Article 24

Value of payment entitlements and convergence

Member States may decide to apply the reduction to all or part of the payment entitlements with a value determined in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article exceeding the planned unit amount referred to in Article 102(1) for the basic income support for claim year 2026, as laid down in the CAP Strategic Plan for the Member State or for group of territories referred to in Article 22(2).

Article 25

Activation of payment entitlements

Article 26

Reserves for payment entitlements

• (a) young farmers who have newly set up a holding for the first time;

• (b) new farmers.

Article 27

Transfers of payment entitlements

Article 28

Payments for small farmers

Subsection 3 Complementary income support

Article 29

Complementary redistributive income support for sustainability

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph of this paragraph or from Article 98, Member States may address the need for redistribution of income support by other instruments and interventions financed by the EAGF pursuing the objective of fairer distribution and more effective and efficient targeting of income support, provided they can demonstrate in their CAP Strategic Plans that such need is sufficiently addressed.

In the case of farmers who are part of a group of affiliated legal entities, as determined by Member States, Member States may apply the maximum number of hectares referred to in paragraph 3 at the level of that group under conditions to be determined by them.

Article 30

Complementary income support for young farmers

Member States may decide to grant the support under this Article to farmers who have received support under Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 for the remainder of the period referred to in paragraph 5 of that Article.

That support shall take the form either of an annual decoupled payment per eligible hectare or of a lump-sum payment per young farmer.

Member States may decide to grant the support under this Article only to a maximum number of hectares per young farmer.

• (a) who comply with the definition and conditions for a ‘young farmer’ determined in accordance with Article 4(6); and

• (b) where national law provides for the individual members to assume rights and obligations comparable to those of individual farmers who have the status of a head of holding, in particular as regards their economic, social and tax status, provided that they have contributed to strengthening the agricultural structures of the legal persons or groups concerned.

Subsection 4 Schemes for the climate, the environment and animal welfare

Article 31

Schemes for the climate, the environment and animal welfare

1a. As a part of the eco-schemes referred to in paragraph 1, Member States shall establish and provide support for one or more schemes covering, on arable land, practices for the maintenance of non-productive areas, such as land lying fallow, and for the establishment of new landscape features. Those schemes shall be voluntary for active farmers and groups of active farmers.

• (a) climate change mitigation, including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural practices, as well as maintenance of existing carbon stores and enhancement of carbon sequestration;

• (b) climate change adaptation, including actions to improve resilience of food production systems and animal and plant diversity for stronger resistance to diseases and climate change;

• (c) protection or improvement of water quality and reduction of pressure on water resources;

• (d) prevention of soil degradation, soil restoration, improvement of soil fertility and of nutrient management and soil biota;

• (e) protection of biodiversity, conservation or restoration of habitats or species, including maintenance and creation of landscape features or non-productive areas;

• (f) actions for a sustainable and reduced use of pesticides, in particular pesticides that present a risk for human health or environment;

• (g) actions to enhance animal welfare or combat antimicrobial resistance.

• (a) go beyond the relevant statutory management requirements and GAEC standards established under Chapter I, Section 2;

• (b) go beyond the relevant minimum requirements for the use of fertiliser and plant protection products, animal welfare, as well as other relevant mandatory requirements established by national and Union law;

• (c) go beyond the conditions established for the maintenance of the agricultural area in accordance with Article 4(2), point (b);

• (d) are different from commitments in respect of which payments are granted under Article 70.

For commitments referred to in the first subparagraph, point (b), where national law imposes requirements which go beyond the corresponding mandatory minimum requirements laid down in Union law, support may be granted for commitments contributing to compliance with those requirements.

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, Member States may decide to exclude from the requirement laid down in the first subparagraph, point (a), GAEC standards 2 and 9 established under Chapter I, Section 2, of this Title.

Without prejudice to Article 87(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, active farmers or groups of active farmers participating in eco-schemes established in accordance with the first subparagraph shall be deemed to comply with the relevant requirements and standards referred to in Annex III, provided that they fulfil the commitments under the eco-scheme concerned.

Member States that establish eco-schemes in accordance with the first subparagraph of this paragraph may ensure that their management and control systems do not duplicate checks where the same requirements and standards apply both under those eco-schemes and the obligations set in Annex III.

• (a) payments additional to the basic income support set out in Subsection 2; or

• (b) payments compensating active farmers or groups of active farmers for all or part of the additional costs incurred and income foregone as a result of the commitments made which shall be calculated in accordance with Article 82 and taking into account the targets for eco-schemes; those payments may also cover transaction costs.

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, payments granted in accordance with point (b) of that subparagraph for animal welfare commitments, commitments combating antimicrobial resistance, commitments for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and commitments to convert to or maintain organic farming practices and methods laid down in Regulation (EU) 2018/848 may also take the form of an annual payment for the livestock units.

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, payments granted in accordance with point (b) of that subparagraph may, where appropriate, take the form of an annual payment for beehives. For the purposes of this derogation, the definition of ‘beehive’ set out in the delegated act referred to in Article 56, point (b), shall apply.

Section 3 Coupled direct payments

Subsection 1 Coupled income support

Article 32

General rules

Article 33

Scope

Coupled income support may only be granted to the following sectors and productions or specific types of farming therein where they are important for socio-economic or environmental reasons:

• (a) cereals;

• (b) oilseeds excluding confectionary sunflower seeds as laid down in Article 11(7);

• (c) protein crops, including legumes and mixtures of legumes and grasses provided that legumes remain predominant in the mixture;

• (d) flax;

• (e) hemp;

• (f) rice;

• (g) nuts;

• (h) starch potatoes;

• (i) milk and milk products;

• (j) seeds;

• (k) sheep meat and goat meat;

• (l) beef and veal;

• (m) olive oil and table olives;

• (n) silk worms;

• (o) dried fodder;

• (p) hops;

• (q) sugar beet, cane and chicory roots;

• (r) fruit and vegetables;

• (s) short rotation coppice.

Article 34

Eligibility

Article 35

Delegated powers in the case of structural market imbalances in a sector

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 152 supplementing this Regulation with measures to avoid beneficiaries of coupled income support suffering from structural market imbalances in a sector. Those delegated acts may allow Member States to decide that coupled income support may continue to be paid until 2027 on the basis of the production units for which such support was granted in a past reference period.

Subsection 2 Crop-specific payment for cotton

Article 36

Scope