1. Each Member State shall set up and operate an integrated administration and control system (the 'integrated system').
2. The integrated system shall apply to the support schemes listed in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 and to the support granted in accordance with points (a) and (b) of Article 21(1) and Articles 28 to 31, 33, 34 and 40 of Regulation 1305/2013 and where applicable points (b) and (c) of Article 35(1) of Regulation (EU) 1303/2013.
This Chapter shall not, however, apply to measures referred to in Article 28(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013. Nor shall it apply to, measures under points (a) and (b) of Article 21(1) of that Regulation as far as the establishment cost is concerned.
3. To the extent necessary, the integrated system shall also apply to the control of cross-compliance as laid down in Title VI.
4. For the purpose of this Chapter:
(a)
"agricultural parcel" means a continuous area of land, declared by one farmer, which does not cover more than one single crop group; however, where a separate declaration of the use of an area within a crop group is required in the context of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, that specific use shall if necessary further limit the agricultural parcel; Member States may lay down additional criteria for further delimitation of an agricultural parcel;
(b)
"area-related direct payment" means the basic payment scheme; the single area payment scheme and the redistributive payment referred to in Chapter 1 of Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013; 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; the payment for areas with natural constraints referred to in Chapter 4 of Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013; the payment for young farmers referred to in Chapter 5 of Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013; the voluntary coupled support referred to in Chapter 1 of Title IV, where the support is paid per hectare; the crop specific payment for cotton referred to in Chapter 2 of Title IV; the small farmers scheme as referred to in Title V of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013; specific measures for agriculture in the outermost regions of the Union as referred to in Chapter IV of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 33 ) , where support is paid per hectare; and specific measures for agriculture in favour of the smaller Aegean islands as referred to in Chapter IV of Regulation (EU) No 229/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 34 ) , where the support is paid per hectare.
1. The integrated system shall comprise the following elements:
(a)
a computerised database;
(b)
an identification system for agricultural parcels;
(c)
a system for the identification and registration of payment entitlements;
(d)
aid applications and payment claims;
(e)
an integrated control system;
(f)
a single system to record the identity of each beneficiary of the support referred to in Article 67(2) who submits an aid application or a payment claim.
2. Where applicable, the integrated system shall include a system, set up in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 35 ) and Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 ( 36 ) for the identification and registration of animals.
3. Without prejudice to the responsibilities of the Member States for the implementation and application of the integrated system, the Commission may seek the assistance of specialised bodies or persons in order to facilitate the establishment, monitoring and operation of the integrated system, in particular, with a view to providing the competent authorities of the Member States with technical advice, should they request it.
4. Member States shall take all further measures required for the proper application of the integrated system and shall give one another the mutual assistance needed for the purposes of the checks required under this Regulation.
1. The computerised database ("the database") shall record, for each beneficiary of the support referred to in Article 67(2), the data obtained from aid applications and payment claims.
The database shall, in particular, allow consultation through the competent authority of the Member State, of the data relating to the current calendar and/or marketing years and to the previous ten such years. Where the support level of farmers is affected by the data relating to earlier calendar and/or marketing years, starting with 2000, the database shall also allow consultation of the data relating to those years. The database shall also allow direct and immediate consultation of the data relating to at least the previous four consecutive calendar years and for data related to "permanent pasture" as defined in point (c) of Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1120/2009 ( 37 ) in its original version and, for periods as from its date of application, "permanent grassland and permanent pasture" as defined in point (h) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, relating to at least the previous five consecutive calendar years.
By way of derogation from the second subparagraph, the Member States which acceded to the Union in or after 2004, shall only be required to ensure consultation of the data as from the year of their accession.
2. Member States may set up decentralised databases on condition that these, and the administrative procedures for recording and accessing data, are designed to be homogeneous throughout the territory of the Member State and are compatible with one another in order to allow for cross-checks.
1. The identification system for agricultural parcels shall be established on the basis of maps, land registry documents or other cartographic references. Use shall be made of computerised geographical information system techniques, including aerial or spatial orthoimagery, with a homogenous standard that guarantees a level of accuracy that is at least equivalent to that of cartography at a scale of 1:10 000 and, as from 2016, at a scale of 1:5 000, while taking into account the outline and condition of the parcel. This shall be fixed in accordance with existing Union standards.
Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, Member States may continue to make use of such techniques including aerial or spatial orthoimagery, with a homogenous standard that guarantees a level of accuracy that is at least equivalent to that of cartography at a scale of 1:10 000 where they were acquired on the basis of long-term contracts that were agreed before November 2012.
2. Member States shall ensure that the identification system for agricultural parcels contains a reference layer to accommodate ecological focus areas. That reference layer shall, in particular, cover the relevant specific commitments and/or environmental certification schemes referred to in Article 43(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 that are equivalent to the practices in Article 46 of that Regulation before the application forms referred to in Article 72 of this Regulation for payments for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment referred to in Articles 43 to 46 of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 are provided in respect of claim year 2018 at the latest.
System for the identification and registration of payment entitlements
1. The system for the identification and registration of payment entitlements shall allow for verification of the entitlements and for cross-checks with the aid applications and the identification system for agricultural parcels.
2. The system referred to in paragraph 1 shall allow direct and immediate consultation, through the competent authority of the Member State, of the data relating to at least the previous four consecutive calendar years.
1. Each year, a beneficiary of the support referred to in Article 67(2) shall submit an application for direct payments or a payment claim for the relevant area and animal-related rural development measures respectively indicating, where applicable:
(a)
all the agricultural parcels on the holding, as well as the non-agricultural area for which support referred to in Article 67(2) is claimed;
(b)
the payment entitlements declared for activation;
(c)
any other information provided for in this Regulation or required with a view to the implementation of the relevant sectoral agricultural legislation or by the Member State concerned.
As regards the area-related direct payment, each Member State shall determine the minimum size of agricultural parcels in respect of which an application may be made. However, the minimum size shall not exceed 0,3 ha.
2. By way of derogation from point (a) of paragraph 1, Member States may decide that agricultural parcels of an area of up to 0,1 ha on which an application for payment is not made, do not need to be declared, provided that the sum of such parcels does not exceed 1 ha, and/or may decide that a farmer who does not apply for any area-based direct payment does not have to declare his agricultural parcels in the case where the total area does not exceed 1 ha. In all cases, the farmer shall, indicate in his application that he has agricultural parcels at his disposal and at the request of the competent authorities, shall indicate their location.
3. Member States shall provide, inter alia through electronic means, pre-established forms based on the areas determined in the previous year as well as graphic material indicating the location of those areas.
A Member State may decide that the aid application and the payment claim:
(a)
are valid if the beneficiary confirms the absence of changes with respect to the aid application and the payment claim submitted the previous year,
(b)
need to contain only changes with respect to the aid application and the payment claim submitted for the previous year.
However, with regard to the small farmers scheme provided for in Title V of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, that possibility shall be given to all farmers concerned.
4. A Member State may decide that a single application shall cover a number of or all support schemes and measures referred to in Article 67 or other support schemes and measures.
5. By way of derogation from Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1182/71 ( 38 ) , the calculation of the date for the submission or the amendment of an aid application, of a payment claim or of any supporting documents, contracts or declarations under this Chapter shall be adapted to the specific requirements of the integrated system. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 115 concerning rules applicable to periods, dates and time limits where the final date for submission of applications or amendments is a public holiday, a Saturday or a Sunday.
The single system for recording the identity of each beneficiary of the support as referred to in Article 67(2) shall guarantee that all aid applications and payment claims submitted by the same beneficiary can be identified as such.
Verification of eligibility conditions and reductions
1. In accordance with Article 59, Member States, through the paying agencies or the bodies delegated by them, shall carry out administrative checks on the aid application to verify the eligibility conditions for the aid. Those checks shall be supplemented by on-the-spot checks.
2. For the purpose of on-the-spot checks Member States shall draw up a sampling plan of agricultural holdings and/or beneficiaries.
3. Member States may use remote sensing and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) techniques as a means of carrying out on-the-spot checks on agricultural parcels.
4. In the case of non -compliance with the eligibility conditions Article 63 shall apply.
1. The payments under the support schemes and the measures referred to in Article 67(2) shall be made within the period from 1 December to 30 June of the following calendar year.
Payments shall be made in a maximum of two instalments within that period.
Notwithstanding the first and second subparagraphs, Member States may, prior to 1 December but not before 16 October, pay advances of up to 50 % for direct payments and of up to 75 % for the support granted under rural development as referred to in Article 67(2).
With regard to support granted under rural development, as referred to in Article 67(2), this paragraph shall apply in respect of the aid applications or payment claims submitted from claim year 2018, except as regards the payment of advances of up to 75 % provided for in the third subparagraph of this paragraph.
2. Payments referred to in the paragraph 1 shall not be made before the verification of eligibility conditions, to be carried out by the Member States pursuant to Article 74, has been finalised.
By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, advances for support granted under rural development as referred to in Article 67(2) may be paid after the administrative checks pursuant to Article 59(1) have been finalised.
3. In the event of an emergency, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts which are both necessary and justifiable, in order to resolve specific problems in relation to the application of this Article. Such implementing acts may derogate from paragraphs 1 and 2, but only to the extent that, and for such a period, as is strictly necessary.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 116(3).
1. In order to ensure that the integrated system provided for in this Chapter is implemented in an efficient, coherent and non-discriminatory way which protects the financial interests of the Union, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 115 concerning:
(a)
specific definitions needed to ensure a harmonised implementation of the integrated system, in addition to those provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013;
(b)
with regards to Articles 67 to 75, rules on further measures necessary to ensure the compliance with control requirements laid down in this Regulation or in sectoral agricultural legislation to be taken by the Member States in respect of producers, services, bodies, organisations or other operators, such as slaughterhouses or associations involved in the procedure for the granting of the aid, where this Regulation does not provide for relevant administrative penalties; such measures shall as far as possible, follow, mutatis mutandis, the provisions on penalties set out in paragraphs (1) to (5) of Article 77.
2. In order to ensure a correct distribution of the funds resulting from the aid applications provided for in Article 72 to the entitled beneficiaries and to allow for verification of the fulfilment by them of the obligations related thereto, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 115 concerning:
(a)
the basic features, technical rules, including, for the update of reference parcels, appropriate tolerance margins taking into account the outline and condition of the parcel, and including rules on the inclusion of landscape features located adjacent to a parcel, and quality requirements for the identification system for agricultural parcels provided for in Article 70 and for the identification of the beneficiaries as provided for in Article 73;
(b)
the basic features, technical rules and quality requirements of the system for the identification and registration of payment entitlements provided for in Article 71;
(c)
the rules to establish the definition of the basis for the calculation of aid, including rules on how to deal with certain cases in which eligible areas contain landscape features or trees; such rules shall allow Member States for areas under permanent grassland to consider scattered landscape features and trees, the total area of which does not exceed a certain percentage of the reference parcel, to be automatically part of the eligible area without a requirement to map them for that purpose.
1. As regards the administrative penalties referred to in Article 63(2), this Article shall apply in the case of non-compliance with relation to eligibility criteria, commitments or other obligations resulting from the application of the rules on support referred to in Article 67(2).
2. No administrative penalty shall be imposed:
(a)
where the non-compliance is due to force majeure;
(b)
where the non-compliance is due to obvious errors as referred to in Article 59(6);
(c)
where the non-compliance is due to an error of the competent authority or another authority, and where the error could not reasonably have been detected by the person concerned by the administrative penalty;
(d)
where the person concerned can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the competent authority that he or she is not at fault for the non-compliance with the obligations referred to in paragraph 1 or if the competent authority is otherwise satisfied that the person concerned is not at fault;
(e)
where the non-compliance is of a minor nature, including where expressed in the form of a threshold, to be set by the Commission in accordance with point (b) of paragraph 7;
(f)
other cases in which the imposition of a penalty is not appropriate, to be defined by the Commission in accordance with point (b) of paragraph 7.
3. Administrative penalties may be imposed on the beneficiary of the aid or support, including groups or associations thereof, bound by the obligations laid down in the rules referred to in paragraph 1.
4. The administrative penalties may take the following forms:
(a)
a reduction in the amount of aid or support paid or to be paid in relation to the aid applications or payment claims affected by the non-compliance and/or in relation to aid applications or payment claims for previous or subsequent years;
(b)
payment of an amount calculated on the basis of the quantity and/or the period concerned by the non-compliance;
(c)
exclusion from the right to participate in the aid scheme or support measure concerned.
5. The administrative penalties shall be proportionate and graduated according to the severity, extent, duration and reoccurrence of the non-compliance found and shall respect the following limits:
(a)
the amount of the administrative penalty for a given year, as referred to in point (a) of paragraph 4, shall not exceed 100 % of the amounts of the aid applications or payment claims;
(b)
the amount of the administrative penalty for a given year, as referred to in point (b) of paragraph 4, shall not exceed 100 % of the amount of the aid applications or payment claims to which the penalty is applied;
(c)
the exclusion referred to in point (c) of paragraph 4 may be set at a maximum of three consecutive years, which may apply again in the case of any new non-compliance.
6. Notwithstanding paragraphs 4 and 5, as regards the payment referred to in Chapter 3 of Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, administrative penalties shall take the form of a reduction in the amount of payments made or to be made under that Regulation.
The administrative penalties referred to in this paragraph shall be proportionate and graduated according to the severity, extent, duration and reoccurrence of the non-compliance concerned.
The amount of such administrative penalties for a given year shall not exceed 0 % for the first two years of application of Chapter 3 of Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 (claim years 2015 and 2016), 20 % for the third year of application (claim year 2017) and 25 % starting with the fourth year of application (claim year 2018), of the amount of the payment referred to in Chapter 3 of Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 to which the farmer concerned would be entitled if the farmer met the conditions for that payment.
7. In order to take account of the deterrent effect of penalties to be imposed on the one hand, and the specific characteristics of each aid scheme or support measure referred to in Article 67(2) on the other, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 115:
(a)
identifying, for each aid scheme or support measure and person concerned as referred to in paragraph 3 from the list set out in paragraph 4 and within the limits laid down in paragraphs 5 and 6, the administrative penalty and determining the specific rate to be imposed by Member States, including in cases of non-quantifiable non-compliance;
(b)
identifying, the cases in which the administrative penalties are not to be imposed, as referred to in point (f) of paragraph 2.
8. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts, laying down detailed procedural and technical rules for the uniform application of this Article on:
(a)
rules on the application and calculation of the administrative penalties;
(b)
the detailed rules for identifying a non-compliance as minor, including the setting of a quantitative threshold expressed as a nominal value or a percentage of the eligible amount of aid or support which shall not be less than 0,5 %.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 116(3).
The Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down the following:
(a)
the basic features, technical rules and quality requirements for the computerised database provided for in Article 69;
(b)
rules on the aid applications and payments claims provided for in Article 72, and applications for payment entitlements, including the final date for submission of applications, the requirements as to the minimum amount of information to be included in applications, provisions for amendments to or the withdrawal of aid applications, exemption from the requirement to submit aid applications and provisions which allow Member States to apply simplified procedures or to correct obvious errors;
(c)
rules on the carrying out of checks in order to verify compliance with obligations, and the correctness and completeness of the information provided in the aid application or payment claim, including rules on measurement tolerances for on-the-spot checks;
(d)
technical specifications needed for the purpose of the uniform implementation of this Chapter;
(e)
rules on situations of transfer of holdings accompanied by the transfer of any obligation concerning eligibility in respect of the aid in question which still needs to be fulfilled;
(f)
rules on the payment of the advances referred to in Article 75.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 116(3).
