Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014 is amended as follows:
(1)
Article 9 is replaced by the following:
‘Article 9
Hemp
1. For the purposes of Article 32(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, the eligibility of areas used for the production of hemp shall be subject to the use of seed of the varieties listed in the “Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species” on 15 March of the year in respect of which the payment is granted and published in accordance with Article 17 of Council Directive 2002/53/EC ( *1 ) . The seed shall be certified in accordance with Council Directive 2002/57/EC ( *2 ) .
2. Member States shall establish the system for determining the Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol content (hereinafter referred to as “THC content”) in hemp varieties, which allows them to apply the method set out in Annex III.
3. The competent authority of the Member State shall keep the records related to findings on the THC content. Such records shall comprise for each variety at least the results in terms of THC content from each sample expressed in percentage to two decimal places, the procedure used, the number of tests carried out, an indication of the point at which the sample was taken and measures taken at national level.
4. If an average of all the samples of a given variety exceeds the THC content as laid down in Article 32(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, Member States shall use procedure B as described in Annex III to this Regulation for the variety concerned in the course of the following claim year. That procedure shall be used in the course of the next claim years unless all the analytical results for the given variety are below the THC content as laid down in Article 32(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013.
5. If for the second year the average of all the samples of a given variety exceeds the THC content as laid down in Article 32(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, the Member State shall notify the Commission of the request for authorisation to prohibit the marketing of such variety in accordance with Article 18 of Directive 2002/53/EC. Such notification shall be sent in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 792/2009 ( *3 ) by 15 January of the following claim year at the latest. Starting from that claim year, the variety covered by that request shall not be eligible for direct payments in the Member State concerned.
6. For the purposes of this Regulation, “hemp cultivated as catch crop” means crop of hemp sown after 30 June of a given year.
7. Crops of hemp shall continue to be cultivated under normal growing conditions in accordance with local practice for at least 10 days from the date of the end of flowering so that the checks necessary for the application of this Article can be made. Hemp cultivated as catch crop shall continue to be cultivated under normal growing conditions in accordance with local practice at least until the end of the vegetation period.
However, Member States may authorise hemp to be harvested after flowering has begun but before the end of the 10-day period after the end of flowering, provided that the inspectors indicate which representative parts of each plot concerned must continue to be cultivated for at least 10 days following the end of flowering for inspection purposes, in accordance with the method set out in Annex III.
( *1 ) Council Directive 2002/53/EC of 13 June 2002 on the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species ( OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 1 )."
( *2 ) Council Directive 2002/57/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of seed of oil and fibre plants ( OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 74 )."
( *3 ) Commission Regulation (EC) No 792/2009 of 31 August 2009 laying down detailed rules for the Member States' notification to the Commission of information and documents in implementation of the common organisation of the markets, the direct payments' regime, the promotion of agricultural products and the regimes applicable to the outermost regions and the smaller Aegean islands ( OJ L 228, 1.9.2009, p. 3 ).’
"
(2)
In Article 24, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:
‘2. Where a farmer declares a number of payment entitlements exceeding his total eligible area declared pursuant to Article 33(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, the payment entitlement or the fraction of a payment entitlement which is partially exceeding that eligible area shall be deemed as fully activated for the purposes of Article 31(1)(b) of that Regulation. However, the payment shall be calculated on the basis of the corresponding fraction of an eligible hectare.’
(3)
Article 40 is amended as follows:
(a)
in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, the following sentence is added:
‘That period may be fixed at national, regional or the appropriate sub-regional level.’;
(b)
in paragraph 3, the following fourth subparagraph is added:
‘Areas on which different crops are grown next to each other, where each single crop covers an area that is smaller than the minimum size set by Member States referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 72(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, may be considered by Member States as covered with one ‘mixed crop’ as referred to in the third subparagraph of this paragraph.’
(4)
Article 45 is amended as follows:
(a)
paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:
‘2. On land lying fallow there shall be no agricultural production. Member States shall fix a period during which the land must be lying fallow in a given calendar year. That period shall not be shorter than 6 months. By way of derogation from Article 4(1)(h) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, land lying fallow for the purpose of fulfilling the ecological focus area for more than 5 years shall remain arable land.’;
(b)
paragraphs 4 and 5 are replaced by the following:
‘4. Landscape features shall be at the disposal of the farmer and may be those that are protected under GAEC 7, SMR 2 or SMR 3 as referred to in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 and/or one or more of the following features:
(a)
hedges, wooded strips or trees in line;
(b)
isolated trees;
(c)
field copses including trees, bushes or stones;
(d)
ponds. Reservoirs made of concrete or plastic shall not be considered ecological focus areas;
(e)
ditches, including open watercourses for the purpose of irrigation or drainage. Channels with walls of concrete shall not be considered ecological focus areas.
(f)
traditional stone walls.
Member States may decide to limit the selection of landscape features to those under GAEC 7, SMR 2 or SMR 3 as referred to in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 and/or to one or more of points (a) to (f) of the first subparagraph.
For the hedges, wooded strips and trees in line as well as ditches referred to in points (a) and (e) of the first subparagraph, respectively, the area to be qualified as ecological focus area shall be calculated up to a maximum width of 10 metres.
For the field copses and ponds referred to in points (c) and (d) of the first subparagraph, respectively, the area to be qualified as ecological focus area shall be calculated up to a maximum size of 0,3 hectare.
For the purposes of point (d) of the first subparagraph, Member States may set a minimum size for ponds. Where there is a strip with riparian vegetation along the water the corresponding area shall be included for the purpose of calculating the ecological focus area. Member States may establish criteria to ensure that ponds are of natural value, taking into account the role that natural ponds play for the conservation of habitats and species.
For the purposes of point (f) of the first subparagraph, Member States shall establish minimum criteria based on national or regional specificities, including limits to the dimensions of height and width.
5. Buffer strips and field margins may be any buffer strips and field margins including those buffer strips along water courses required under GAEC 1, SMR 1 or SMR 10 as referred to in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 or field margins protected under GAEC 7, SMR 2 or SMR 3 as referred to in that Annex.
Member States shall not limit the selection of buffer strips and field margins to those required under the cross compliance rules referred to in the first subparagraph.
Member States shall establish the minimum width of buffer strips and field margins which shall not be below 1 metre for ecological focus area purposes. Along water courses, riparian vegetation shall be included for the purpose of calculating the ecological focus area. There shall be no agricultural production on buffer strips and field margins.
For buffer strips and field margins other than those required or protected under GAEC 1, GAEC 7, SMR 1, SMR 2, SMR 3 or SMR 10 as referred to in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, the area to be qualified as ecological focus area shall be calculated up to a maximum width of 20 metres.’;
(c)
the following paragraph 5a is inserted:
‘5a. For the purposes of the second sentence of the second subparagraph of Article 46(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, areas referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Article shall be considered as adjacent areas or features where they are adjacent to an ecological focus area directly adjacent to the arable land of the holding.’;
(d)
paragraphs 7 to 10 are replaced by the following:
‘7. As regards strips of eligible hectares along forest edges Member States may decide either to allow agricultural production or to establish a requirement of no agricultural production, or to provide the two options for farmers. Member States shall establish the minimum width of those strips, which shall not be below 1 metre.
The area to be qualified as ecological focus area shall be calculated up to a maximum width of 10 metres where Member States decide to allow agricultural production and 20 metres where Member States decide not to allow agricultural production.
8. For areas with short rotation coppice with no use of mineral fertiliser and/or plant protection products, Member States shall establish a list of species that may be used for this purpose, by selecting from the list established pursuant to Article 4(2)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 the species that are most suitable from an ecological perspective, thereby excluding species that are clearly not indigenous. Member States shall also establish the requirements as regards the use of mineral fertilisers and/or plant protection products in case Member States authorise their use, keeping in mind the objective of ecological focus areas in particular to safeguard and improve biodiversity.
9. Areas under catch crops or green cover shall include such areas established pursuant to the requirements under SMR 1 as referred to in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 as well as other areas under catch crops or green cover, on the condition that they were established by sowing a mixture of crop species or by under-sowing grass or leguminous crops in the main crop.
Member States shall set up the list of mixtures of crop species to be used and fix the period at national, regional, sub-regional or farm level during which areas under catch crops or green cover when established by sowing a mixture of crop species have to be in place. This period shall not be less than 8 weeks. Member States may establish additional conditions notably with regard to production methods.
Areas under catch crops or green cover shall not include areas under winter crops which are sown in autumn normally for harvesting or for grazing. They shall also not include the areas covered with equivalent practices mentioned in points I.3 and 4 of Annex IX to Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013.
10. On areas with nitrogen-fixing crops, farmers shall grow those nitrogen-fixing crops which are included in a list established by the Member State. That list shall contain the nitrogen-fixing crops that the Member State considers as contributing to the objective of improving biodiversity and may include mixtures of nitrogen-fixing crops with other crops provided that nitrogen-fixing crop species are predominant. Those crops shall be present during the growing season. Member States may establish additional conditions notably with regard to production method, in particular with a view to taking into account the need to meet the objectives of Directive 91/676/EEC and Directive 2000/60/EC, given the potential of nitrogen-fixing crops to increase the risk of nitrogen leaching in the autumn.
Areas with nitrogen-fixing crops shall not include the areas covered with equivalent practices mentioned in points I.3 and 4 of Annex IX to Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013.’;
(e)
the following paragraphs 10a, 10b and 10c are inserted:
‘10a. For the purposes of paragraphs 2, 5 and 7, “no agricultural production” means no agricultural activity as defined in Article 4(1)(c)(i) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, without prejudice to the requirements defined under GAEC 4 as referred to in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013. Actions aiming at establishing a green soil cover for biodiversity purposes, including sowing mixtures of wild flower seeds, shall be allowed.
However, by way of derogation from the “no production” requirement, for the purposes of paragraphs 5 and 7, Member States may allow cutting or grazing on buffer strips and field margins as well as on strips of eligible hectares along forest edges without production, provided that the strip remains distinguishable from adjacent agricultural land.
10b. The use of plant protection products shall be prohibited on all areas referred to in paragraphs 2, 9 and 10 as well as on areas with agricultural production referred to in paragraph 7.
10c. On areas referred to in paragraph 9 established by under-sowing grass or leguminous crops in the main crop, this prohibition shall apply from the moment of the harvesting of the main crop for at least 8 weeks or until the sowing of the next main crop.’
(5)
In Article 49(3), the following subparagraph is added:
‘A young farmer who exercises effective and long-term control over the legal person within the meaning of point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article shall, for the purposes of Article 50(2)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, be no more than 40 years of age in the year of the first submission of an application under the basic payment scheme or the single area payment scheme by that legal person with a young farmer in control.’
(6)
In Article 53(2), the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:
‘The annual payment shall be expressed as the per unit amount of support. It may be either one of the following amounts, or, when the area or the number of animals eligible for the support does not exceed the area or the number of animals fixed as referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph, an amount between them:
(a)
the ratio between the amount fixed for the financing of the measure as notified according to point (3)(i) of Annex I to this Regulation and the area or the number of animals eligible for the support in the year in question;
(b)
the ratio between the amount fixed for the financing of the measure as notified according to point (3)(i) of Annex I to this Regulation and the area or the number of animals fixed as referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.’
(7)
In Article 64, paragraph 5 is deleted.
(8)
Article 65(1) is amended as follows:
(a)
point (c) is amended as follows:
(i)
point (ii) is replaced by the following:
‘(ii)
the total number of farmers exempted from one or more greening practices and the number of hectares declared by such farmers, the number of farmers exempted from all practices because they comply with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, the number of farmers participating in the small farmer scheme, the number of farmers exempted from the crop diversification obligation, and the number of farmers exempted from the ecological focus area obligation, and the respective number of hectares declared by such farmers;’;
(ii)
point (vi) is replaced by the following:
‘(vi)
the total number of farmers declaring environmentally sensitive permanent grassland, the total number of hectares covered by environmentally sensitive permanent grassland declared by such farmers, the total number of hectares of designated environmentally sensitive permanent grasslands and the total number of hectares of permanent grassland in areas covered by Directives 92/43/EEC or 2009/147/EC;’;
(b)
the following point (e) is added:
‘(e)
by 1 August of each year, the period to be taken into account for the calculation of the shares of different crops in accordance with Article 40(1) of this Regulation, as well as the geographical level at which that period is fixed.’
(9)
In Article 67, paragraph 2 is deleted.
(10)
Annex III is added, the text of which is set out in Annex I to this Regulation.