Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1389 of 4 September 2019 authorising derogations from Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and from Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014 as regards the implementation of certain conditions relating to the greening payment for claim year 2019 in Belgium, Spain, France, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal (notified under document C(2019) 6438)

• CELEX: Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1389
• Articles: 5

Article 1 Scope of the derogations

1.   By way of derogation from Article 44(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, for claim year 2019 Belgium, Spain, France, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal may decide that land lying fallow is considered as a distinct crop even though such land has been grazed or harvested for production purposes.

2.   By way of derogation from Article 45(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014, for claim year 2019 Belgium, Spain, France, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal may decide that land lying fallow is considered as ecological focus area pursuant to point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 46(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 even though such land has been grazed or harvested for production purposes.

3.   By way of derogation from Article 45(9) of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014, for claim year 2019 Belgium, France, Lithuania and Poland may decide any of the following for the qualification as ecological focus areas in accordance with point (i) of the first subparagraph of Article 46(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013:

(a)

that areas under catch crops or green cover may be established without sowing a mixture of crop species, provided the crops sown are grasses or other herbaceous forage;

(b)

that areas under catch crops or green cover may include areas under winter crops which are sown in autumn normally for harvesting for forage or for grazing.

4.   By way of derogation from the second subparagraph of Article 45(9) of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014, for claim year 2019 France, Lithuania and Poland may shorten the minimum mandatory period during which areas under catch crops or green cover have to be in place as set in that provision, provided a winter crop is sown afterwards.

Article 2 Areas concerned by the derogations

The decisions referred to in Article 1 shall apply only to areas where the affected livestock is located or in the case of Article 1(4) where the soil condition was made unsuitable for preparatory work before sowing at the relevant time therefore preventing compliance with Article 45(9) of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014, and which are formally recognised by the competent authorities of Belgium, Spain, France, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal as having been affected in 2019 by the severe drought.

Article 3 Time limit

The decisions referred to in Article 1 shall be taken within 14 days after the date of notification of this Decision.

Article 4 Notification

1.   Within 7 days after the date on which the decisions referred to in Article 1 were taken, Belgium, Spain, France, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal shall notify the Commission of:

(a)

the areas formally recognised by their competent authorities as having been affected in 2019 by the severe drought;

(b)

the decisions taken pursuant to Article 1, including the nature of the derogations applied at NUTS 3 level and the justification for using the derogations in the areas concerned.

2.   By 15 December 2019 at the latest, Belgium, Spain, France, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal shall notify the Commission of the number of holdings which used the derogations provided for in Article 1 and the number of hectares where the derogations provided for in Article 1 have been applied. That information shall be provided at NUTS 3 level. By the same date Belgium, Spain, France, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal shall provide the Commission with an assessment of the impact of the derogation on the environment, biodiversity and climate objectives linked to ecological focus areas, catch crops and crop diversification, and where appropriate with a description of the measures to mitigate any identified negative impact.

Article 5 Addressees

This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Poland and the Portuguese Republic.