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The Direct Payments to Farmers and Rural Affairs (Miscellaneous Amendments etc.) (Wales) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Type Welsh-Statutory-Instrument

Publication 2020-12-16

State In force

Jurisdiction Wales

Department King's Printer of Acts of Parliament

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API PDF

Made: 16 December 2020

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1(2)

In accordance with section 50(6)(c) and (8) of the Agriculture Act 2020, and paragraph 1(9) of Schedule 7 to the 2018 Act, a draft of this instrument has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of Senedd Cymru.

PART 1 — Introductory

Title, commencement, and application

1

(1) The title of these Regulations is the Direct Payments to Farmers and Rural Affairs (Miscellaneous Amendments etc.) (Wales) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

(2) They come into force as follows—

(a) except as provided for by sub-paragraph (b), these Regulations come into force on implementation period completion day;

(b) Parts 1, 5 and 6 and regulation 7(4) come into force on the day after the day on which these Regulations are made.

(3) These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.

PART 2 — Direct Payments: Horizontal Legislation

Amendment of Regulation (EU) No. 1306/2013

2

(1) Regulation (EU) No. 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy[^f00003] is amended, insofar as it relates to direct payments, as follows.

(2) For Article 2(1)(m) substitute—

(m) “appropriate authority” means the relevant authority for the constituent nation in which the regulations apply.

(3) In Article 12—

(a) for “must” substitute “may”;

(b) for “shall”, in the second sentence, substitute “may”;

That system may cover the maintenance of the agricultural area as referred to in point (c) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No. 1307/2013.

(4) Omit Article 26.

(5) In Article 54—

(a) in paragraph 1, omit “within 18 months”;

(b) in paragraph 3(a)—

(i) in point (i), for “EUR 100” substitute “£100”;

(ii) in point (ii)—

(aa) for “EUR 100” substitute “£100”;

(bb) for “EUR 250” substitute “£250”.

(6) Omit Article 55.

(7) In Article 67—

(a) in paragraph 4(a), after “continuous area of land” insert “within Wales”;

(b) 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;”.

(8) In Article 69—

(a) omit the final sentence of paragraph 1;

(b) omit paragraph 2.

(9) In Article 70—

(a) in paragraph 1—

(i) omit “and, as from 2016, at a scale of 1: 5 000,”;

(ii) omit the second subparagraph;

(b) omit paragraph 2.

(10) Omit Article 71(2).

(11) In Article 75—

(a) in paragraph 1, after “calendar year” insert “or in cases where it has not been possible to complete the verification of eligibility conditions by 30 June, upon completion.”;

(b) in paragraph 1(a)—

(i) omit “but not before 16 October”;

(ii) after “direct payments” insert “before the verification of eligibility conditions, to be carried out by the relevant authority pursuant to Article 74, has been finalised”;

(12) Omit Article 77(6).

(13) In Article 91—

(a) omit the second subparagraph of paragraph 2;

(b) in paragraph 3(a), for “the United Kingdom” substitute “Wales”.

(14) In the title of Article 94, omit “of Member States”.

(15) In Article 97(3), for “EUR 100” substitute “£100”.

(16) Omit Articles 105 and 106.

(17) Omit Article 108.

(18) Omit the final subparagraph of Article 111(1).

(19) In Article 112, in the first subparagraph, for the words from “the Funds” to the end, substitute “received in one year by a beneficiary is equal to or less than £1250.”

(20) In Annex II, in the row “Landscape, minimum level of maintenance”, in the fourth column, after “measures for avoiding invasive plant species” insert—

. Restrictions on converting, ploughing or reseeding environmentally sensitive permanent grassland.

Amendment of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. 640/2014

3

(1) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. 640/2014 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[^f00004], is amended, insofar as it relates to direct payments, as follows.

(2) In Article 2(1), for point (22) substitute—

(22) ‘use’ in relation to area means the use of area in terms of the type of permanent grassland as defined in Article 4(1)(h) of Regulation (EU) No. 1307/2013, or areas of grassland, other than permanent grassland, or ground cover or the absence of a crop;

(3) In Article 5(2)—

(a) omit point (c);

(b) in point (d), omit the words from “areas designated” to the end.

(4) In Article 6—

(a) for paragraph 1 substitute—

(1) The relevant authority shall annually assess the quality of the identification system for agricultural parcels. Where the results of the quality assessment reveal deficiencies in the system, the relevant authority shall take appropriate remedial action.

(b) for paragraph 2 substitute—

(2) The relevant authority shall perform the assessment referred to in paragraph 1 on the basis of a sample of reference parcels.

(5) In Article 7(1), omit “at United Kingdom level”.

(6) Omit the final subparagraph of Article 9(3).

(7) Omit Article 10.

(8) In Article 13—

(a) omit the second subparagraph of paragraph 1;

(b) after the final subparagraph of paragraph 1 insert—

All documents in support of an aid application, must be submitted by 31 December of that calendar year.

(9) Omit the second subparagraph of Article 16(1).

(10) In Article 18(2), omit “and (8)”.

(11) In Article 19a—

(a) for paragraph 2 substitute—

(2) The administrative penalty referred to in paragraph 1 shall be reduced by 50% if the difference between the area declared and the area determined does not exceed 10% of the area determined.

(b) omit paragraphs 3 and 4.

(12) Omit Articles 22 to 29.

(13) Omit the final sentence of Article 38(1).

Amendment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 809/2014

4

(1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 809/2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No. 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system, rural development measures and cross compliance[^f00005], is amended, in so far as it relates to direct payments, as follows.

(2) Omit Article 2.

(3) Omit the second paragraph of Article 4.

(4) In Article 6—

(a) in paragraph 2(f)(v), for “national” substitute “total”;

(b) omit paragraph 3(b).

(5) In Article 14(1), omit point (h).

(6) In Article 15—

(a) omit paragraph 1b;

(b) in paragraph 2—

(i) in the second subparagraph, for “Member States” substitute “the relevant authority”;

(ii) in the third subparagraph, omit the words from “the payment for agricultural practices” to “Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 or”;

(d) in paragraph 3, omit the second subparagraph.

(7) In Article 17—

(a) omit paragraph 2;

(b) in the second subparagraph of paragraph 4, omit the final sentence;

(5) The beneficiary shall unambiguously identify and declare the area of each agricultural parcel.

(d) omit paragraph 6.

(8) Omit Article 18.

(9) In Article 25, omit “and shall not exceed 14 days”.

(10) Omit Article 26(4).

(11) Omit the second and third paragraphs of Article 27.

(12) In Article 29(1)(d), for “(6)” substitute “(4)”.

(13) In the heading of Article 30, omit “other than the payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and environment”.

(14) For Article 30 substitute—

For area-related aid schemes the control sample for on-the-spot checks carried out each year shall cover at least: (a) 3% of all beneficiaries applying for the basic payment scheme in accordance with Title III of Regulation (EU) No. 1307/2013 (which includes the redistributive payment, and the payment for young farmers); and (b) 5% of all beneficiaries applying for area-related payments under voluntary coupled support in accordance with Chapter 1 of Title IV of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013.

(15) Omit Article 31.

(16) For Article 33 substitute—

For animal aid schemes, the control sample for on-the-spot checks carried out each year shall for each of the aid schemes cover at least 5% of all beneficiaries applying for that respective aid scheme.

(17) Omit Article 33a.

(18) In Article 34—

(a) for paragraph 2 substitute—

(2) For the purposes of Article 30, the sample selection shall ensure that: (a) a proportion of the control population is selected randomly; (b) the remaining number of beneficiaries in the control sample is selected on the basis of a risk analysis.

(b) omit paragraphs 3, 4 and 4a;

(i) for “shall” substitute “may”;

(ii) in point (d), after “that” insert “may”.

(19) In Article 36—

(a) in paragraph 2—

(i) omit “and (b)”;

(ii) for “3%” substitute “1%”;

(b) in paragraph 3—

(i) omit “and (b)”;

(ii) omit the second, third and fourth subparagraphs;

(i) for “2, 3 and 4” substitute “2 and 3”;

(ii) omit “and (b)”.

(20) Omit Article 37(3).

(21) In Article 38—

(a) omit the final sentence in paragraph 5;

(b) omit paragraph 6;

(d) in paragraph 10, omit “or permanent pastures”.

(22) In Article 39—

(a) omit the first sentence of paragraph 2;

(b) omit paragraph 3.

(23) Omit Article 40a.

(24) In Article 41—

(a) omit the final subparagraph of paragraph 1;

(b) in the final subparagraph of paragraph 2—

(i) omit “or by means of monitoring in accordance with Article 40a,”;

(ii) omit “or by monitoring” in both places that it occurs;

(iii) omit the final sentence.

(25) In Article 42(1), in the second subparagraph—

(a) omit “at least 50% of”;

(b) for “shall”, in both places that it occurs, substitute “may”.

(26) Omit Article 44.

(27) In Article 68—

(a) in paragraph 1—

(i) in the first subparagraph, omit “, as it has effect in EU law”;

(ii) omit the second subparagraph;

(b) in paragraph 4, for “shall” substitute “may”.

(28) In Article 69(1), omit the final sentence of the first subparagraph.

(29) In Article 70—

(a) in paragraph 3, omit the words from “or by using” to “equivalent value”;

(b) omit paragraph 4.

(30) Omit Articles 70a and 70b.

(31) In Article 72—

(a) omit the final subparagraph of paragraph 1;

(b) in paragraph 2, omit “checked by monitoring in accordance with Article 70a,”;

(d) in paragraph 4, omit the second sentence of the first subparagraph.

Amendment of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. 907/2014

5

In Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. 907/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No. 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to paying agencies and other bodies, financial management, clearance of accounts, securities and use of euro[^f00006], omit Article 11, insofar as it relates to direct payments.

Amendment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 908/2014

6

(1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 908/2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No. 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to paying agencies and other bodies, financial management, clearance of accounts, rules on checks, securities and transparency[^f00007] is amended, insofar as it relates to direct payments, as follows.

(2) In Article 4(1)—

(a) omit point (i);

(b) in point (ii), omit “on a single website”.

(3) Omit Article 11.

(4) In Article 27(1), for “EUR 5” substitute “£5.00”.

(5) In Article 28—

(a) omit “established in accordance with national law”;

(b) omit the words from “under direct” to “Development”.

(6) For Article 41(1) substitute—

(1) The relevant authorities may decide to reduce the minimum level of on-the-spot checks in accordance with Article 59(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013. For the reduced control rate to apply, the paying agency must confirm that— (a) the internal control system is functioning correctly; and (b) the error rate for the population concerned was below the materiality threshold of 2.0%.

(7) In Article 58, for “third” substitute “second”.

(8) Omit Article 62.

PART 3 — Direct Payments: Retained Direct Legislation

Amendment of Regulation (EU) No. 1307/2013

7

(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[^f00008] is amended as follows.

(2) In Article 1, omit point (b)(iv).

(3) In Article 4—

(a) in paragraph (1)—

(i) in points (a), (b) and (i), for “the United Kingdom”, in each place that it occurs, substitute “Wales”;

(ii) in point (e), omit “and permanent pasture”;

(iii) in point (g)—

(aa) omit “and permanent pasture”;

(bb) for “occupy” substitute “occupies”;

(iv) in point (h), for ““permanent grassland and permanent pasture” (together referred to as “permanent grassland”)” substitute ““permanent grassland””;

(v) for point (s) substitute—

(s) “appropriate authority” means the relevant authority for the constituent nation in which the regulations apply;

(vi) after point (s) insert—

(t) “total ceiling” means the amount determined in accordance with Article 5A.

(b) in paragraph 2, omit the final subparagraph.

(4) After Article 5 insert—

(1) The Welsh Ministers must determine the total ceiling for Wales. (2) The Welsh Ministers must determine the total ceiling before the start of the relevant year. (3) The Welsh Ministers must publish the total ceiling as soon as practicable after they have determined it under paragraph 1. (4) The total ceiling, for any relevant year, must be distributed among all claimed payment entitlements, including the national reserve or the regional reserves, and ceilings set in accordance with Articles 42 and 51 and the amount allocated under Article 53. (5) In this Article, “relevant year” has the same meaning as in paragraph 3(4) of Schedule 5 to the Agriculture Act 2020.

(5) Omit Articles 6, 7 and 7A.

(6) In Article 9—

(a) omit paragraphs 2 to 4;

(b) omit paragraph 5(b), (c) and (d);

(7) In Article 10(2), for “EUR 100” substitute “£100”.

(8) In Article 11—

(a) in paragraph 1, for “EUR 150 000” substitute “£150,000”;

(b) in paragraph 3—

(i) omit “of its share” in both places that it occurs;

(ii) for “annual national”, in both places that it occurs, substitute “total”.

(9) Omit Article 14.

(10) In Article 22—

(a) omit paragraph 1;

(b) for paragraph 2 substitute—

(2) The basic payment scheme ceiling in Wales for any given year is the amount which remains for the basic payment scheme after deducting, from the total ceiling, the ceilings set in accordance with Articles 42 and 51 for that year, and the amount allocated under Article 53.

(d) for paragraph 4 substitute—

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