General Requirements for the Receipt of Direct Payments, Single Area Payment, Climate

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REGULATION

17.04.2015 No. 32

General requirements for the receipt of direct payments, single area payment, climate and environment payment, and payment for young farmers

The Regulation shall be established under § 2(3), § 12(2), § 13(2) and (5), § 14(3), § 15(2)1-5) and (3)3), § 16(3), § 21(2) and (3) of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act; Article 9(2), Article 10(1)b), Article 11(2), Article 32(3), Article 33(1), Article 36(5), Article 45(1), Article 46(2), Article 46(3) and (7), Article 50(3) and (9) of the Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 637/2008 and Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, pp. 608670); and Article 4(1) b), Article 12(2), Article 13(2), Articles 41 and 42, and Article 45(4), (8) and (10) of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014, supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and amending Annex X to that Regulation (OJ L 181, 20.6.2014, pp. 1-47).

Chapter 1

General provisions

§ 1. Scope of application

The Regulation establishes the general requirements for receiving direct payments, and the specific requirements for receiving single area payment, payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment (hereinafter climate and environment payment), the payment for young farmers, and the procedure of applying for and the support and processing of the applications.

Chapter 2
General requirements for the receipt of direct payments

§ 2. Requirements to applicants of direct payments

(1) A direct payment can be applied for by a natural or legal person or an association of persons without the status of a legal person, which is engaged in an agricultural activity specified in Article 4(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council in a holding specified in point b of the same Article and is an active farmer for the purposes of Article 9 of the same Regulation (hereinafter applicant).

(2) No direct payments shall be granted to applicants who operate the activities stated in Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, or solely with forest management.

(3) Direct payments shall be granted to the applicants listed in Section 2:

1) in cases stated in Article 9(2)a)-c) of the Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

2) whose holdings received agricultural direct payments in the amount of up to 5,000 euros in the calendar year preceding the year of submission of the application.

(4) The principal business of a legal person applicant in the meaning of Article 9(2)c) of the Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council shall be deemed agriculture when the arable land of the holdings covers more than 10 hectares.

§ 3. Requirements for agricultural area

(1) A direct payment can be applied for regarding at least one hectare of agricultural area where an agricultural activity is being pursued or that is in a state suitable for grazing or cultivation and which the applicant uses as of June 15 in the year of submission of the application. Upon determining the size of an agricultural area, an agricultural parcel with an area of at least 0.3 hectares is taken into account.

(2) The agricultural area where an agricultural activity is being pursued or that is in a state suitable for grazing or cultivation shall be safe from extensive spread of undesirable flora and the area shall be usable for agricultural activity in the next growing season without additional expenses.

(3) Agricultural area on which short rotation coppice willow (Salix) is grown, shall be eligible when complying with the requirements provided in § 14 of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act if cutting is performed at least on every fifth year from the establishment of the plantation or from the last cutting. When new cutting is carried out on the fifth year from the establishment of the plantation or from the last cutting at the latest, the agricultural area shall be deemed non-eligible also on the previous four years.

(4) The agricultural area on which hemp (Cannabis) is grown shall be eligible when it is in compliance with the requirements set in Article 32 (6) of the Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and in Article 9 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014. The Agricultural Registers and Information Board (hereinafter ARIB) shall be informed immediately of the beginning of the florescence of the hemp, and the hemp shall be grown at the minimum until ten days has passed from the end of the florescence period.

(5) The agricultural area used for organising of a fare, exhibition, sports event, auction of farm animals, or an entertainment event; camping; practicing winter sports, or temporarily storing timber outside a plant production season shall be eligible when the above-mentioned activities do not significantly hamper growing of the agricultural crop or the turf or soil, and such agricultural area can be introduced for agricultural activity after the above-mentioned activities without any additional expenses.

(6) Eligible agricultural areas are determined under the provisions of § 5 of the Minister of Agriculture’s Regulation No 22 of 10 March 2015, “Procedure for and conditions of preparation of maps of agricultural parcels, determination of boundary points of agricultural parcels, assignment of unique numeric codes to agricultural parcels, and determination of landscape features located on agricultural parcels and eligible areas of agricultural parcels, and the data to be submitted concerning the use of agricultural parcels and the procedure for submission thereof”.

§ 4. Requirements for maintaining agricultural area

(1) The agricultural area shall be deemed compliant with the requirement established in § 3(2) when it is used for growing agricultural crop or it is mowed, chopped, kept as a fallow, or maintained in some other way that provides a similar result with mowing. The compliance with the requirement established in § 3(2) shall be visually detectable on the entire agricultural area stated on the application.

(2) The agricultural crop grown on the agricultural area shall be sown, seeded, or planted on 15 June at the latest by using agrotechnical methods corresponding to the local norms, or the agricultural area shall be kept as fallow as at the same date.

(3) The grassland shall be mown, chopped, or maintained in some other way, and the hay harvest gathered by 10 August at the latest.

(4) Grasslands located at a protected natural object in the meaning of Article 4(1) 1), 2), 4), and 5) of the Nature Conservation Act shall be mown, chopped, or maintained in some other way, and the hay harvest gathered by 20 August at the latest.

(5) When the applicant applies for the environmentally friendly management support under the Estonian Rural Development Plan 2014-2020, the area of perennial crop to which payment is applied for the additional activity of establishing gathering areas for bees shall be mown, chopped, or maintained in some other way by 15 September at the latest.

(6) Permanent grasslands are allowed to be chopped from 5 July.

(7) The requirements established in Sections 3-5 shall not apply to the following agricultural areas:

1) grassland established at the year of filing the application;

2) agricultural area on which grass plants are grown for seed or as energy crop;

3) short-term grassland at the year of green manures plough-in.

(8) When the applicant applies for the environmentally friendly management support under the Estonian Rural Development Plan 2014-2020, they can promote the population of field birds by leaving the permanent grasslands unmown, unchopped, or unmaintained in some other way every second year starting from the second obligation year of the environmentally friendly management on an area that is lower than or equal to the eligible area for environmentally friendly management payment. In that case, the entire area of permanent grassland shall be left unmown, unchopped, or unmaintained in some other way.

§ 5. Removing hay crop and chopped hay from permanent grassland

(1) On permanent grasslands, hay crop and chopped hay shall be gathered by the deadline established in § 4(3).

(2) (4) On permanent grasslands located at protected natural objects set out in § 4(1), (2), (4), and (5) of the Nature Conservation Act, hay crop and chopped hay shall be gathered and removed from the area by the deadline established in § 4(4).

(3) Chopped hay may be left to the field on permanent grasslands:

1) on the entire permanent grassland when the applicant has up to ten hectares of agricultural area;

2) on up to ten hectares and additionally on up to ten per cent of the part of the agricultural area that exceeds ten hectares when the applicant has more than ten hectares of agricultural area;

3) when arable land, except short-term grassland, makes up more than 30 per cent of the agricultural land used by the applicant;

4) when according to the register of farm animals, as at 15 June of the year of application, the applicant owns such a number of grazing farm animals that the stocking density per one hectare of the permanent grassland is at least 0.2 livestock units, calculated based on Annex 9 to the Minister of Agriculture’s Regulation No 71 of 14 July 2014 “Calculated values of nutrient conditions of different types of manure, the methodology for calculating the volume of manure storage facilities, and the coefficients for converting farm animals to livestock units.”

(4) When chopped hay is partly left to the area, it shall be deemed in calculating the restrictions established in Section (3) 2)-4) that the chopped hay is left to the entire area.

§ 6. Maintaining areas under trees and bushes, and between rows

(1) Areas under fruit trees and berry bushes, and between the rows shall be mown together with gathering the hay crop, chopped, or maintained in some other way that provides a result similar with mowing by the deadline established in § 4(3).

(2) In areas located at protected natural objects established in § 4(1) 1), 2), 4), and 5) of the Nature Conservation Act, the areas under fruit trees and berry bushes and between the rows shall be mown together with gathering the hay crop, chopped, or maintained in some other way that provides a result similar with mowing, by the deadline established in § 4(4).

§ 7. Semi-natural habitats

When the applicant applies for payment for maintaining a semi-natural habitats under the Estonian Rural Development Plan 2014-2020, they shall comply with the following at the agricultural area that is the semi-natural habitat occurrence area:

1) the requirements established in Sections (4)-(6), or

2) the requirements for maintaining a semi-natural habitat submitted for the payment for managing semi-natural communities.

§ 8. Compliance with the cross compliance requirements

(1) The beneficiaries stated in Article 92 of the Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council shall comply in their agricultural operations and at the entire agricultural area with the requirements established in the Minister of Agriculture’s Regulation No 4 of 14 January 2015 „Requirements for preserving good agricultural and environmental condition of land” and the mandatory management requirements published under § 32(2) of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act.

(2) The beneficiary shall comply with the requirements set out in Subsection 1 throughout the calendar year of filing the application.

§ 9. Transferring of an agricultural holding

(1) Transferring of an agricultural holding shall comply with the provisions of Article 8 of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014, laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system, rural development measures and cross compliance (OJ L 227, 31.7.2014, pp. 69-124).

(2) The period stated in Article 8(3) a) of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014 shall begin on 22 May and end on 1 September. During that period, the person to whom the agricultural holding is transferred may submit ARIB the documents verifying the transfer and apply for a payment.

Chapter 3

Single area payment and climate and environment payment

§ 10. Requirements for single area payment and climate and environment payment

(1) Single area payment and climate and environment payment can be applied for by an applicant complying with the requirements established in § 2 and adheres to the requirements set out in § 8.

(2) Single area payment and climate and environment payment can be applied on an agricultural area that complies with the requirements established in § 3 and adheres to the requirements set out in §§ 4-7.

(3) Applicants of single area payment and climate and environment payment shall adhere to the agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment established in Articles 43-46 of the Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

(4) Applicants of single area payment and climate and environment payment who are farmers referred to in Article 43(10) of the Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council shall adhere to the agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment in the extent established in the article.

(5) Applicants of single area payment and climate and environment payment who are farmers referred to in Article 43(11) of the Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council shall adhere to the agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment on agricultural areas that are not used for organic farming.

(6) When upon applying for support, a farmer referred to in Section 5 has taken the obligation to adhere to the agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment in the entire agricultural area, they shall also adhere to these principles on land used for organic farming.

§ 11. Crop diversification practice

(1) In order to adhere to the crop diversification practice, the applicant shall comply with the requirements set in Article 44 of the Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and in Article 40 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014.