Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/756 of 1 April 2020 amending Annexes II and III to Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payment to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 637/2008 and Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009^f1, and in particular Articles 6(3) and 7(3) thereof,

Whereas:

In accordance with Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, Member States are to reduce the amount of direct payments to be granted to a farmer for a given calendar year, pursuant to Chapter 1 of Title III of that Regulation, by at least 5 % for the part of the amount exceeding EUR 150 000, unless they apply paragraph 3 of that Article. In accordance with Article 7(2) of that Regulation, the estimated product of that reduction is to be made available as additional support for measures under rural development.

In accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 11(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, the Member States notified the Commission by 31 December 2019 of their decision with regard to the reduction of the amount of direct payments and the resulting estimated product of reduction for calendar year 2020. The notifications of Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom indicated an estimate bigger than zero.

Pursuant to Article 14(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 Member States could opt to make a certain percentage of their annual national ceilings for direct payments available as additional support for measures under rural development programming.

In accordance with the sixth subparagraph of Article 14(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom notified the Commission of their decision to make available as additional support under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) in 2021 a certain percentage of their annual national ceiling for direct payments for calendar year 2020.

Pursuant to Article 14(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 Member States could make available as direct payments for calendar year 2020 a certain amount of the support to be financed under the EAFRD in financial year 2021.

In accordance with the sixth subparagraph of Article 14(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, Croatia, Hungary, Malta and Poland notified the Commission of their decision to make available as direct payments for calendar year 2020 a certain amount of their 2021 EAFRD allocation.

It is therefore necessary to adapt Annexes II and III to Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 in order to incorporate the proposed amendments to the annual national ceilings and the annual net ceilings for direct payments.

In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 137(1) of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 as applicable in the year 2020 does not apply in the United Kingdom for claim year 2020. Therefore, there is no need to set new ceilings for the year 2020 in respect of the United Kingdom.

Annexes II and III to Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly.

As the amendments made by this Regulation affect the application of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 for the year 2020, this Regulation should apply from 1 January 2020,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: