Identification system for agricultural parcels
1. The identification system for agricultural parcels referred to in Article 68 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall operate at reference parcel level and include information allowing the exchange of data with the geo-spatial aid application referred to in Article 69 of that Regulation and the area monitoring system referred to in Article 70 of that Regulation.
2. For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘reference parcel’ means a geographically delimited area retaining a unique identification as registered in the identification system for agricultural parcels referred to in Article 68 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116. A reference parcel shall contain a unit of land representing agricultural area, as referred to in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115. Where appropriate, a reference parcel shall also contain non-agricultural areas considered eligible by Member States for receiving the support for area-based interventions referred to in Article 65(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.
3. The reference parcels shall serve as basis to support beneficiaries in submitting geo-spatial applications for area-based interventions referred to in Article 65(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.
4. Member States shall delimit the reference parcels in such a way as to ensure that each parcel is stable in time, measurable, enables the unique and unambiguous localisation of each agricultural parcel and unit of land of non-agricultural areas considered eligible by the Member States for receiving the support for the area-based interventions referred to in Article 65(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 declared annually.
5. Member States shall ensure the update of information for all reference parcels in the identification system at least once every 3 years. In addition, Member States shall each year take into account all information available from the geo-spatial application, the area monitoring system or any other reliable source.
6. Member States shall ensure that the identification system for agricultural parcels contains the necessary information to extract data relevant for the correct reporting on indicators referred to in Article 66(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.
7. In the identification system, for each reference parcel Member States shall at least:
(a)
determine a maximum eligible area for the purpose of the area-based interventions under the integrated system. In order to determine the maximum eligible area Member States shall deduct ineligible elements from the parcel by delineation, where possible. Member States shall define beforehand the criteria and procedures used to assess, quantify and where appropriate delineate the eligible and ineligible parts of the parcel. In determining the maximum eligible area, Member States may set a reasonable margin for correct quantification, to take account of the outline and condition of the parcel;
(b)
identify the agricultural area, as referred to in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115. Where applicable, Member States shall ensure the distinction of agricultural area in arable land, permanent crops and permanent grassland, including when they form agroforestry systems on that area, as determined in accordance with Article 4(3) of that Regulation by delineation;
(c)
as regards permanent grassland with scattered ineligible features and when Member States decide to apply a fixed reduction coefficients to determine the area considered eligible, as provided for in Article 4(4), point (b), third subparagraph of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, register all relevant information;
(d)
include features and/or commitments that are relevant for the eligibility of area-based interventions and for conditionality requirements, and are stable in time. This information shall be recorded as attributes or layers in the identification system for agricultural parcels and at least the following shall be indicated:
(i)
the location of peatland or wetland area, where relevant, in accordance with GAEC standard 2 listed in Annex III to Regulation (EU) 2021/2115;
(ii)
the type and location of landscape features on the parcel relevant for conditionality or interventions referred to in Article 65(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116;
(e)
where applicable, locate and determine the size of the landscape features under GAEC standard 8 listed in Annex III to Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 relevant for the minimum share of agricultural area devoted to non-productive areas or features.
(f)
determine whether parcels are located in areas facing natural or other area-specific constraints as referred to in Article 71 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, or whether area-specific disadvantages resulting from certain mandatory requirements apply as referred to in Article 72 of that Regulation,
(g)
determine whether parcels are located in Natura 2000 areas, in areas covered by Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 6 ) , whether they are located on agricultural land authorised for cotton production pursuant to Article 37(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, on areas forming part of established local practices referred to in Article 4(3), point (c), second subparagraph, point (i), of that Regulation, on areas covered with permanent grasslands designated as environmentally sensitive pursuant to GAEC standard 9 listed in Annex III to Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, or in areas covered by Council Directive 92/43/EEC ( 7 ) or Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 8 ) .
8. For forestry related interventions supported under Articles 70 and 72 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, Member States may establish appropriate alternative systems to uniquely identify the land subject to support where that land is covered by forest.
9. The geographic information system shall operate on the basis of a national coordinate reference system as defined in Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 9 ) which permits standardised measurement and unique identification of agricultural parcels throughout the Member State concerned. Where different coordinate reference systems are used, they shall be mutually exclusive and each of them shall ensure the consistency between items of information which refer to the same location.
Quality assessment of the identification system for agricultural parcels
1. Member States shall annually carry out the quality assessment referred to in Article 68(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 for the purpose of the basic income support for sustainability. That quality assessment shall cover the following elements:
(a)
the correct quantification of the maximum eligible area;
(b)
the proportion and distribution of reference parcels where the maximum eligible area takes ineligible areas into account or where it does not take agricultural area into account;
(c)
the occurrence of reference parcels with critical defects;
(d)
the correct classification of agricultural area as arable land, permanent grassland or permanent crop in each reference parcel;
(e)
the ratio of area declarations per reference parcel;
(f)
the categorisation of reference parcels where the maximum eligible area takes ineligible areas into account, where it does not take agricultural area into account or reveals a critical defect;
(g)
the percentage of reference parcels which have been subject to change, accumulated over the regular update cycle.
Member States shall also ensure that all requests for the update of the identification system for agricultural parcels are carried out in a way that it is possible to trace whether they resulted from the area monitoring system, action of the beneficiary or from any other source.
2. Member States shall perform the assessment referred to in paragraph 1 on the basis of a sample of reference parcels. They shall use data allowing to assess the actual situation on the ground.
3. In case the results of the quality assessment reveal deficiencies, Member State shall propose adequate remedial actions.
Quality assessment of the geo-spatial application system
1. The annual quality assessment referred to in Article 69(6) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall assess the reliability of information in the geo-spatial application and the correctness of the information used for the reporting on the indicators referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115. In particular, the quality assessment shall assess the completeness and correctness of the information pre-filled in the geo-spatial application, the completeness and correctness of the guiding alerts provided to the beneficiaries during the application process and the traceability of all changes registered in the geo-spatial applications after its submission.
2. The quality assessment shall comprise the following:
(a)
verification that the information used by the Member State to pre-fill the geo-spatial application was complete, correct and up-to-date;
(b)
verification by the Member State that the area declared by the beneficiary for an area-based intervention was correctly established in relation to the applicable eligibility conditions;
(c)
verification that, to the extent possible, all eligibility conditions of interventions and, where relevant conditionality requirements, were taken into account for the issuing of guiding alerts by the Member State to beneficiaries during the application process;
(d)
verification that all amendments of the geo-spatial application after its submission were registered by the Member State in a way that it is possible to trace if they resulted from an area monitoring system warning, an action of the beneficiary or from any other source.
3. The quality assessment provided for in paragraph 2, points (a), (c) and (d), shall be carried out by means of IT testing and reperformance of the application process on a representative sample of aid applications.
4. For the verification under paragraph 2, point (b), the quality assessment shall be carried out by means of visits in situ or analysis of imagery of the same calendar year and of at least the same quality as required for the quality assessment referred to in Article 68(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116. That verification shall be performed by measurement of the area declared in respect to an intervention on the sample selected for the quality assessment of the area monitoring system referred to in Article 5 of this Regulation.
5. Member States shall ensure that all area-based interventions managed by the integrated system are included in the samples referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 and verified in the quality assessment process.
6. In case the results of the quality assessment reveal deficiencies, Member State shall propose adequate remedial actions.
Quality assessment of the area monitoring system
1. The annual quality assessment referred to in Article 70(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall assess the reliability of the implementation of the area monitoring system, provide diagnostic information on the sources of incorrect decisions at the level of interventions and eligibility conditions and in particular assess the correctness of the information provided for the reporting on the indicators referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115.
2. The quality assessment shall be carried out by means of visits in situ or analysis of imagery of the same calendar year and where relevant, with at least the same quality as required for the quality assessment referred to in Article 68(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116. In situ visits can be carried out at any time during the year and shall, to the extent possible, cover all eligibility conditions relevant for a given beneficiary during the same visit. The imagery used by the Member States for the quality assessment shall be able to provide conclusive and reliable results in respect to the actual situation on the ground. Where Member States use geo-tagged photos for observation, tracking and assessment of agricultural activities as data with at least equivalent value to Copernicus Sentinels satellite data, Member States may carry out the quality assessment of the decisions based on geo-tagged photos by means of non-automated analysis of the geo-tagged photos, provided they offer conclusive and reliable results.
3. At the level of interventions, the quality assessment shall comprise of the following:
(a)
quantification of errors due to incorrect decisions on eligibility conditions on parcels under an area-based intervention, irrespective whether the relevant decision was stemming from the area monitoring system or not. The result shall be expressed in hectares;
(b)
quantification of the number of parcels where the area monitoring system found a non-compliance with eligibility conditions and of the number of parcels not meeting the eligibility conditions after the latest date for amendments of aid applications.
4. The reports due by 15 February 2025 and 15 February 2027 shall also comprise verification that all eligibility conditions of area-based interventions that are considered monitorable, were subject to area monitoring system in years 2024 and 2026, respectively. Remedial actions may be necessary following the assessment of the results of these reports.
5. The quality assessment shall be carried out by checking all eligibility conditions of all the interventions applied for on a representative sample of parcels.
6. For simplification purposes and given that the sample of the quality assessment of the area monitoring system provides adequate level of assurance in respect to the fulfilment of eligibility conditions per intervention, Member State may decide to take the quality assessments referred in Articles 4 and 5 of this Regulation into account in respect to the obligation to set up a control system laid down in Article 72 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.
7. Member States shall ensure that all area-based interventions managed by the integrated system are included in the sample of parcels and verified in the quality assessment process, irrespective of the possibility to set up the area monitoring system gradually, referred to in Article 70(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.
8. In case the results of the quantifications referred to in paragraph 3, points (a) and (b), reveal deficiencies, Member State shall propose adequate remedial actions.
9. Remedial actions for non-monitored or non-conclusively monitored eligibility conditions may include the performance of in situ visits. In cases where remedial actions are necessary following the results of the quality assessment for the calendar year concerned, additional details may have to be included in the quality assessment report of the following year as regards the deficiencies to be remedied.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
