Principle and scope
1. Member States shall establish a system for advising beneficiaries on land management and farm management ('farm advisory system'). That farm advisory system shall be operated by designated public bodies and/or selected private bodies.
2. The farm advisory system shall cover at least the following:
(a)
obligations at farm level resulting from the statutory management requirements and the standards for good agricultural and environmental condition of land as laid down in Chapter I of Title VI;
(b)
the agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment as laid down in Chapter 3 of Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 and the maintenance of the agricultural area as referred to in point (c) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013;
(c)
measures at farm level provided for in rural development programmes for farm modernisation, competitiveness building, sectoral integration, innovation and market orientation, as well as for the promotion of entrepreneurship;
(d)
requirements, at the level of beneficiaries as defined by Member States for implementing Article 11(3) of Directive 2000/60/EC;
(e)
requirements at the level of beneficiaries as defined by Member States for implementing Article 55 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, in particular the requirement referred to in Article 14 of Directive 2009/128/EC.
3. The farm advisory system may also cover, in particular:
(a)
the promotion of conversions of farms and the diversification of their economic activity;
(b)
risk management and the introduction of appropriate preventive actions to address natural disasters, catastrophic events and animal and plant diseases;
(c)
the minimum requirements established by national law, as referred to in Article 28(3) and 29(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013;
(d)
the information related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity and protection of water, as set out in Annex I to this Regulation.
Specific requirements relating to the farm advisory system
1. Member States shall ensure that advisors working within the farm advisory system are suitably qualified and regularly trained.
2. Member States shall ensure the separation between advice and checks. In that respect, and without prejudice to national law concerning public access to documents, Member States shall ensure that the selected and designated bodies as referred to in Article 12(1) do not disclose any personal or individual information or data they obtain in the course of their advisory activity to persons other than the beneficiary who is managing the holding concerned, with the exception of any irregularity or infringement found in the course of their activity which is covered by an obligation laid down in Union or national law to inform a public authority, in particular in the case of criminal offences.
3. The national authority concerned shall provide, primarily by electronic means, the potential beneficiary with the appropriate list of selected and designated bodies as referred in Article 12(1).
Access to the farm advisory system
Beneficiaries and farmers not receiving support under the CAP may use the farm advisory system on a voluntary basis.
Without prejudice to the fourth subparagraph of Article 99(2), Member States may, however, determine in accordance with objective criteria, the categories of beneficiaries that have priority access to the farm advisory system, including networks operating with limited resources within the meaning of Articles 53, 55 and 56 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013.
In such cases, Member States shall ensure that priority is given to those farmers with the most limited access to an advisory service other than the farm advisory system.
The farm advisory system shall ensure that beneficiaries have access to advice reflecting the specific situation of their holding.
Commission powers
The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down rules on the uniform implementation of the farm advisory system in order to render that system fully operational.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 116(3).
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
