# Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, Annex III

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

BIOPHYSICAL CRITERIA FOR THE DELIMITATION OF AREAS FACING NATURAL CONSTRAINTS
Member StatesThe relevant authority need only check fulfilment of this criterion against those of the thresholds that are relevant to the specific situation of an area
CRITERION
DEFINITION
THRESHOLD
CLIMATE
Low Temperature
Length of growing period (number of days) defined by number of days with daily average temperature > 5 °C (LGPt5) or
≤ 180 days
Thermal-time sum (degree-days) for Growing Period defined by accumulated daily average temperature > 5 °C
≤ 1 500 degree-days
Dryness
Ratio of the annual precipitation (P) to the annual potential evapotranspiration (PET)
P/PET ≤ 0.5
CLIMATE AND SOIL
Excess Soil Moisture
Number of days at or above field capacity
≥ 230 days
SOIL
Limited Soil Drainage
Areas which are water logged for significant duration of the year
Wet within 80 cm from the surface for over 6 months, or wet within 40 cm for over 11 months or
Poorly or very poorly drained soil or
Gleyic colour pattern within 40 cm from the surface
Unfavourable Texture and Stoniness
Relative abundance of clay, silt, sand, organic matter (weight %) and coarse material (volumetric %) fractions
≥ 15 % of topsoil volume is coarse material, including rock outcrop, boulder or
texture class in half or more (cumulatively) of the 100 cm soil surface is sand, loamy sand defined as:
Silt % + (2 × clay %) ≤ 30 % or
Topsoil texture class is heavy clay
(≥ 60 % clay) or
Organic soil (organic matter ≥ 30 %) of at least 40 cm or
Topsoil contains 30 % or more clay, and there are vertic properties within 100 cm of the soil surface
Shallow Rooting Depth
Depth (cm) from soil surface to coherent hard rock or hard pan
≤ 30 cm
Poor Chemical Properties
Presence of salts, exchangeable sodium, excessive acidity
Salinity: ≥ 4 deci-Siemens per meter (dS/m) in topsoil or
Sodicity: ≥ 6 Exchangeable Sodium Percentage (ESP) in half or more (cumulatively) of the 100 cm soil surface layer or
Soil Acidity: pH ≤ 5 (in water) in topsoil
TERRAIN
Steep Slope
Change of elevation with respect to planimetric distance (%)
≥ 15 %

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2013/1305/annex/III (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2013-1305/annex-III
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.