Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2820 of 15 December 2023 providing for emergency financial support for the agricultural sectors affected by natural disasters in Greece and Slovenia

• CELEX: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2820
• Articles: 3

Article 1

1.   Union aid of a total amount of EUR 43 082 500 shall be available to Greece and Union aid of a total amount of EUR 8 585 500 shall be available to Slovenia, to provide exceptional support to farmers subject to the conditions set out in this Regulation.

2.   Greece and Slovenia shall use the amounts referred to in paragraph 1 for measures aiming to compensate the most affected farmers for the economic losses impacting on their viability.

3.   The measures shall be taken on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory criteria that take account of the economic losses borne by the affected farmers and ensure that the resulting payments do not cause any market or competition distortion.

4.   Greece and Slovenia shall ensure that, when farmers are not the direct beneficiaries of the payments of the Union aid, the economic benefit of the Union aid is passed on to them in full.

5.   The expenditure borne by Greece and Slovenia referred to in paragraph 1 in relation to the payments for the measures referred to in paragraph 2 shall only be eligible for Union aid if those payments are made by 31 May 2024.

6.   Measures under this Regulation may be cumulated with other support financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

7.   Greece and Slovenia may grant additional national support for the measures taken under paragraph 2 up to a maximum of 200 % of the respective amounts set out in paragraph 1, on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory criteria, provided that the resulting payments do not cause any market or competition distortion, or overcompensation.

8.   In order to avoid overcompensation, when granting support under this Regulation, Greece and Slovenia shall take into account the support granted under other national or Union support instruments or private schemes to respond to the economic losses concerned.

Article 2

1.   Without delay and no later than 29 February 2024, Greece and Slovenia shall notify the Commission of the following in relation to measures implemented under Article 1:

(a)

a description of the measures to be taken;

(b)

the criteria used to determine the methods for granting the aid and the rationale for distributing the aid across farmers;

(c)

the intended impact of the measures in view of compensating farmers for economic losses;

(d)

the actions taken to verify that the intended impact of the measures is reached;

(e)

the actions taken to avoid distortion of competition and overcompensation;

(f)

the forecast for payments of the Union expenditure broken-down per month until 31 May 2024;

(g)

the level of additional support granted pursuant to Article 1(7);

(h)

the actions taken to control the eligibility of farmers and to protect the financial interests of the Union.

2.   No later than 15 October 2024, Greece and Slovenia shall notify the Commission of the total amounts paid per measure, when applicable, broken down by Union aid and additional national aid, the number and type of beneficiaries and the assessment of the effectiveness of the measure.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .