Regulation (EU) 2020/2220 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 December 2020 laying down certain transitional provisions for support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) in the years 2021 and 2022 and amending Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013 as regards resources and application in the years 2021 and 2022 and Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 as regards resources and the distribution of such support in respect of the years 2021 and 2022

1 For programmes supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020 laid down in Article 26(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 is hereby extended until 31 December 2022.

2 The extension of the period of duration of programmes supported by the EAFRD, referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be without prejudice to the need to submit a request to amend rural development programmes for the transitional period as referred to in point (a) of Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013. Such an amendment shall ensure that at least the same overall share of the EAFRD contribution is reserved for the measures referred to in Article 59(6) of that Regulation.

1 Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall continue to apply to programmes supported by the EAFRD under the 2014–2020 programming period and extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation.

2 For programmes extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation, the references to periods or deadlines in Article 50(1), Article 51(1), Article 57(2) and Article 65(2) and (4) and the first paragraph of Article 76 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall be extended by two years.

3 For programmes extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation, Member States shall amend their targets established in the context of the performance framework set out in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 to establish targets for 2025. For those programmes, references to targets for 2023 set out in implementing acts adopted in accordance with Article 22(7) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 or Article 8(3), Article 67, Article 75(5) or Article 76(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 shall be read as references to targets for 2025.

4 The final date by which the Commission is to prepare a synthesis report outlining the main conclusions of ex-post evaluations of the EAFRD provided for in Article 57(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall be 31 December 2027.

Without prejudice to Article 2(2) of this Regulation, to Article 65(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and to Article 38 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, the expenditure referred to in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1310/2013 and in Article 16 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 807/2014 shall be eligible for an EAFRD contribution from the 2021 and 2022 allocation for programmes supported by the EAFRD which were extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation, subject to the following conditions: (a) such expenditure is provided for in the respective rural development programme for the years covered by the transitional period; (b) the EAFRD contribution rate of the corresponding measure under Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, as set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1310/2013 and in Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) No 807/2014, applies; (c) the system referred to in Article 67(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 applies to the legal commitments undertaken under measures that correspond to support granted in accordance with points (a) and (b) of Article 21(1) and Articles 28 to 31, 33, 34 and 40 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 and the relevant operations are clearly identified; and (d) the payments for the legal commitments referred to in point (c) of this Article are made within the period laid down in Article 75 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013.

For programmes extended in accordance with Article 1 of this Regulation, the EAFRD may support the costs of capacity building and preparatory actions supporting the design and future implementation of community-led local development strategy under the new legal framework.

1 Payment entitlements allocated to farmers before 1 January 2020 shall be considered legal and regular as from 1 January 2021. The value of those entitlements to be considered legal and regular shall be the value for calendar year 2020 valid on 31 December 2020.

2 By way of derogation from paragraph 1 of this Article, a Member State which has made use of the option provided for in Article 24(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 may, while respecting the legitimate expectations of farmers, decide that all payment entitlements allocated before 1 January 2020 shall be considered legal and regular as from that date. In that case, the value of those entitlements to be considered legal and regular shall be the value for calendar year 2019 valid on 31 December 2019.

3 Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall apply without prejudice to the relevant provisions of Union law, in particular to Article 22(5) and Article 25(12) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, concerning the value of payment entitlements for calendar year 2020 and onwards.

4 Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to payment entitlements allocated to farmers on the basis of factually incorrect applications, except in cases where the error could not reasonably have been detected by the farmer.

5 Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not prejudice the Commission’s power to take decisions referred to in Article 52 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 in relation to expenditure incurred for payments granted in respect of calendar years up to 2020 inclusive where paragraph 1 of this Article applies, or up to 2019 inclusive where paragraph 2 of this Article applies.

Expenditure relating to legal commitments to beneficiaries incurred under Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, and certain types of expenditure incurred under Council Regulations (EC) No 1698/2005 and (EC) No 1257/1999 may be eligible for a contribution from the EAFRD in the period 2023-2027 from 1 January 2023, subject to the conditions to be determined in accordance with the CAP legal framework applicable in the period 2023-2027.

‘1 Support under point (c) of Article 36(1) shall only be granted where the drop in income exceeds 30 % of the average annual income of the individual farmer in the preceding three-year period or a three-year average based on the preceding five-year period excluding the highest and lowest entry. Income for the purposes of point (c) of Article 36(1) shall refer to the sum of revenues the farmer receives from the market, including any form of public support, deducting input costs. Payments by the mutual fund to farmers shall compensate for less than 70 % of the income lost in the year the producer becomes eligible to receive this assistance. Indexes may be used to calculate the annual loss of income of the farmer. Member States may decide to reduce that percentage of 30 %, however, to not less than 20 %.’;

‘4 The support shall take the form of a lump sum payment to be paid by 31 December 2021, based on applications for support approved by the competent authority by 30 June 2021. The subsequent reimbursement by the Commission shall be made in accordance with budget appropriations and subject to available funding. The level of payment may be differentiated by categories of beneficiaries, in accordance with objective and non-discriminatory criteria.’;

‘1 In addition to the tasks referred to in Article 34 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2020/2220, local action groups may also perform additional tasks delegated to them by the Managing Authority and/or the paying agency.’;

‘7 In order to take account of the developments relating to the annual breakdown referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, including the transfers referred to in paragraphs 5 and 6 of this Article and the transfers resulting from the application of Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2020/2220, to make technical adjustments without changing the overall allocations, or to take account of any other change provided for by a legislative act after the adoption of this Regulation, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 83 of this Regulation, to review the ceilings set out in Annex I to this Regulation.’;

1 Point (g) of Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EU) 2020/2094 (‘EURI Regulation’) shall be implemented in accordance with this Article through measures that are eligible under the EAFRD and that are directed at addressing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, with an amount of EUR 8070486840 in current prices of the amount referred to in point (vi) of Article 2(2)(a) of that Regulation, subject to Article 3(3), (4) and (8) thereof. That amount of EUR 8070486840 in current prices shall constitute external assigned revenues in accordance with Article 21(5) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council . It shall be made available as additional resources for budgetary commitment under the EAFRD for the years 2021 and 2022, in addition to the total resources set out in Article 58 of this Regulation as follows: 2021: EUR 2387718000; 2022: EUR 5682768840. For the purpose of this Regulation and Regulations (EU) No 1306/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013, those additional resources shall be considered as amounts financing measures under the EAFRD. They shall be considered as being part of the total amount of Union support for rural development, as referred to in Article 58(1) of this Regulation, to which they shall be added when reference is made to the total amount of Union support for rural development. Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 shall not apply to the additional resources referred to in this paragraph and in paragraph 2 of this Article.

2 The breakdown for each Member State of the additional resources referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, after deduction of the amount referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article, is set out in Annex Ia.

3 The percentage thresholds of the total EAFRD contribution to the rural development programme referred to in Article 59(5) and (6) of this Regulation shall not apply to the additional resources referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. However, Member States shall ensure that at least the same overall share of the EAFRD contribution, including the additional resources referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, is reserved in each rural development programme for the measures referred to in Article 59(6) of this Regulation, in line with Article 1(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/2220.

4 At least 37 % of the additional resources referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall be reserved in each rural development programme for measures referred to in Article 33 and Article 59(5) and (6), and in particular for: (a) organic farming; (b) mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change, including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture; (c) soil conservation, including the enhancement of soil fertility through carbon sequestration; (d) improvement of the use and management of water, including water saving; (e) creation, conservation and restoration of habitats favourable to biodiversity; (f) reduction of the risks and impacts of pesticide and antimicrobial use; (g) animal welfare; (h) LEADER cooperation activities.

5 At least 55 % of the additional resources referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall be reserved in each rural development programme for measures referred to in Articles 17, 19, 20 and 35, provided that the designated use of such measures in the rural development programmes promotes economic and social development in rural areas, and contributes to a resilient, sustainable and digital economic recovery in line, inter alia, with the agri-environment-climate objectives pursued under this Regulation, and in particular: (a) short supply chains and local markets; (b) resource efficiency, including precision and smart farming, innovation, digitalisation and modernisation of production machinery and equipment; (c) safety conditions at work; (d) renewable energy, circular and bio-economy; (e) access to high-quality ICT in rural areas. When allocating the additional resources referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, Member States may decide to derogate from the percentage threshold set out in the first subparagraph of this paragraph to the extent necessary to comply with the non-regression principle set out in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/2220. However, Member States may instead decide to derogate from that non-regression principle to the extent necessary to comply with the percentage threshold set out in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.

6 Up to 4 % of the total additional resources referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article may be allocated to technical assistance, at the initiative of the Member States, to the rural development programmes in accordance with Article 51(2). That percentage threshold may be 5 % for those Member States to which the fourth subparagraph of Article 51(2) applies.

7 Up to 0,25 % of the total additional resources referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may be allocated to technical assistance in accordance with Article 51(1).

8 The budget commitments relating to the additional resources referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall in each rural development programme be made separately from the allocation referred to in Article 58(4).

9 Articles 20, 21 and 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall not apply to the total additional resources referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article.

As regards the Union’s budget commitments for rural development programmes, Article 76 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and where applicable in conjunction with Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) 2020/2220 of the European Parliament and of the Council shall apply.

‘2 For each Member State, the amount calculated in accordance with the paragraph 1 of this Article may be increased by a maximum of 3 % of the relevant annual national ceiling set out in Annex II after deduction of the amount resulting from the application of Article 47(1) for the relevant year. When a Member State applies such an increase, that increase shall be taken into account by the Commission when setting the annual national ceiling for the basic payment scheme pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article. For that purpose, Member States shall notify the Commission by 1 August 2014 of the annual percentages by which the amount calculated pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article is to be increased. By 19 February 2021, Member States shall notify the Commission of the annual percentage by which the amount calculated pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article is to be increased for calendar years 2021 and 2022.’;

‘11 After having applied the adjustment referred to in Article 22(5), Member States that have made use of the derogation provided for in paragraph 4 of this Article may decide that payment entitlements held by farmers on 31 December 2019 which have a value lower than the national or regional unit value in 2020 as calculated in accordance with the second subparagraph of this paragraph have their unit value increased towards the national or regional unit value in 2020. The increase shall be calculated under the following conditions: (a) the calculation method for the increase decided upon by the Member State concerned is based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria; (b) in order to finance the increase, all or part of the owned or leased-in payment entitlements held by farmers on 31 December 2019 which have a value higher than the national or regional unit value in 2020 as calculated in accordance with the second subparagraph shall be reduced; that reduction shall apply to the difference between the value of those entitlements and the national or regional unit value in 2020; the application of that reduction shall be based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria, which may include the fixing of a maximum decrease. The national or regional unit value in 2020 referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be calculated by dividing the national or regional ceiling for the basic payment scheme set in accordance with Article 22(1) or Article 23(2) for 2020, excluding the amount of the national or regional reserves, by the number of the owned or leased-in payment entitlements held by farmers on 31 December 2019. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph of this paragraph, Member States that have made use of the derogation provided for in paragraph 4 of this Article may decide to keep the value of payment entitlements calculated in accordance with that paragraph subject to the adjustment referred to in Article 22(5). Member States shall inform farmers in due time of the value of their payment entitlements as calculated in accordance with this paragraph.

12 For calendar years 2021 and 2022, Member States may decide to apply further internal convergence by applying paragraph 11 to the year concerned.’;

‘1 Member States may decide by 1 August of any given year to grant, from the following year, an annual payment to farmers who are entitled to a payment under the basic payment scheme referred to in Sections 1, 2, 3 and 5 of Chapter 1 or under the single area payment scheme referred to in Section 4 of Chapter 1 (“the redistributive payment”). Member States may take such a decision by 19 February 2021 for calendar year 2021 and by 1 August 2021 for calendar year 2022. Member States already applying the redistributive payment may review their decision to grant such payment or the details of the scheme by 19 February 2021 for calendar year 2021 and by 1 August 2021 for calendar year 2022. Member States shall notify the Commission of any such decision by the relevant date referred to in the first subparagraph.’;

‘1 In order to finance the payment for young farmers, Member States shall use a percentage, which shall not be higher than 2 %, of the annual national ceiling set out in Annex II. The Member States shall notify the Commission, by 1 August 2014, of the estimated percentage necessary to finance that payment. By 19 February 2021, Member States shall notify the Commission of the estimated percentages necessary to finance that payment for calendar years 2021 and 2022.’;

‘10 The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 70 supplementing this Regulation as regards measures in order to avoid beneficiaries of voluntary coupled support suffering from structural market imbalances in a sector. Those delegated acts may allow Member States to decide that such support may continue to be paid until 2022 on the basis of the production units for which voluntary coupled support was granted in a past reference period.’;

‘6 Member States may, by 1 August of any given year, review their decision pursuant to this Chapter. By 8 February 2020, Member States may also review their decision pursuant to this Chapter to the extent necessary to adjust to the decision on flexibility between pillars for calendar year 2020 taken in accordance with Article 14. Member States shall decide by 19 February 2021 for calendar year 2021, and by 1 August 2021 for calendar year 2022, whether to continue or cease granting voluntary coupled support for the respective claim year. By means of a review pursuant to the first and second subparagraphs of this paragraph, or a notification pursuant to the third subparagraph of this paragraph, Member States may decide with effect from the following year and for calendar years 2020 and 2021 with effect from the same calendar year: (a) to leave unchanged, increase or decrease the percentage fixed pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, within the limits laid down therein where applicable, or to leave unchanged or decrease the percentage fixed pursuant to paragraph 4; (b) to modify the conditions for granting the support; (c) to cease granting the support under this Chapter. Member States shall notify the Commission of any decision relating to the first, second and third subparagraphs of this paragraph by the respective dates referred to in those subparagraphs. The notification of the decision relating to a review pursuant to the second subparagraph of this paragraph shall explain the link between the review and the decision on flexibility between pillars for calendar year 2020 taken in accordance with Article 14.’;

‘1 Member States shall notify the Commission of the decisions referred to in Article 53 by the dates referred to in that Article. Except for the decision referred to in point (c) of the fourth subparagraph of Article 53(6), the notification shall include information on the regions targeted, the selected types of farming or sectors, and the level of support to be granted. The notifications of the decisions referred to in Article 53(1) and of the decision referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 53(6) shall also include the percentage of the national ceiling referred to in Article 53 for the relevant calendar year.’;

‘3 The amount of the crop-specific payment for cotton per hectare of eligible area shall be calculated for 2020 by multiplying the yields established in paragraph 2 with the following reference amounts: Bulgaria: EUR 649,45, Greece: EUR 234,18, Spain: EUR 362,15, Portugal: EUR 228,00. The amount of the crop-specific payment for cotton per hectare of eligible area shall be calculated for 2021 and 2022 by multiplying the yields established in paragraph 2 with the following reference amounts: Bulgaria: EUR 636,13, Greece: EUR 229,37, Spain: EUR 354,73, Portugal: EUR 223,32.’;

‘2 The Union financing of the work programmes referred to in paragraph 1 for 2020 shall be: (a) EUR 11098000 for Greece; (b) EUR 576000 for France; (c) EUR 35991000 for Italy. The Union financing of the work programmes referred to in paragraph 1 for each of the years 2021 and 2022 shall be: (a) EUR 10666000 for Greece; (b) EUR 554000 for France; (c) EUR 34590000 for Italy.’;

‘2 The Union financing for the aid to producer organisations provided for in paragraph 1 for 2020 shall be EUR 2277000 for Germany. The Union financing for the aid to producer organisations provided for in paragraph 1 for each of the years 2021 and 2022 shall be EUR 2188000 for Germany.’;

‘2 Authorisations granted pursuant to paragraph 1 shall have the same period of validity as the planting rights referred to in paragraph 1. If those authorisations are not used, they shall expire at the latest by 31 December 2018, or, where a Member State has taken the decision referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, at the latest by 31 December 2025.’;

1 In order to improve and stabilise the operation of the common market in olive oils, including the olives from which they derive, producer Member States may lay down marketing rules to regulate supply. Such rules shall be proportionate to the objective pursued and shall not: (a) relate to any transaction after the first marketing of the produce concerned; (b) allow for price fixing, including where prices are set for guidance or recommendation; (c) render unavailable an excessive proportion of the production of the marketing year that would otherwise be available.

2 The rules provided for in paragraph 1 shall be brought to the attention of operators by being published in full in an official publication of the Member State concerned.

3 Member States shall notify the Commission of any decisions taken under this Article.’;

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Point 5 of Article 9 (concerning Article 25(11) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013) and point 5 of Article 10 (concerning Article 62(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013) shall apply from 1 January 2020. By way of derogation from the first paragraph of this Article, point 12, point (a) of point 13 and points 17 and 18 of Article 7 shall enter into force on the date of entry into force of the EURI Regulation. Point 12, point (a) of point 13 and points 17 and 18 of Article 7 shall apply from 1 January 2021.