Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1465 of 14 July 2023 providing for emergency financial support for the agricultural sectors affected by specific problems impacting on the economic viability of agricultural producers

1 Union aid of a total amount of EUR 330000000 shall be available to Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden, to provide exceptional support to farmers subject to the conditions set out in this Regulation.

2 The Member States referred to in paragraph 1 shall use the amounts referred to in Article 3 for measures aiming to compensate farmers in the most affected sectors such as the animal, fruit and vegetables, wine, cereals and oilseeds sectors, for the economic losses impacting on the viability of agricultural producers.

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 Member States 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 Expenditure borne by the Member States 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 have been made by 31 January 2024.

6 For the purposes of Article 30(3) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127, the operative event for the exchange rate as regards the amounts set out in Article 3(1) of this Regulation shall be the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

7 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.

1 Member States referred in Article 1(1) implementing national support programmes in the wine sector may also use their financial allocations laid down in Article 3(1) of this Regulation for the purpose of financing the temporary crisis distillation measure as provided for in Article 2 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1225 in accordance with the same requirements and conditions as those provided for therein, with the exception of Article 1(2) and Article 6, first subparagraph, thereof.

2 Distillation operations financed under this Regulation may be implemented later than 15 October 2023. In this case, Articles 39 to 54 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 as well as Articles 4(1), point (b), Article 5, Article 7(3), Article 17, Articles 40 to 43 and Articles 51, 52, 54, 59, 63 and 65 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council shall continue to apply to these operations and payments made in their respect. Similarly, Articles 1 and 2, Article 43, Articles 48 to 54 and Article 56 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1149 , Articles 1, 2 and 3, Articles 19 to 23, Articles 25 to 31, Article 32(1), second subparagraph, and Articles 33 to 40 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1150 shall continue to apply mutatis mutandis. In addition, Article 5, Article 11(1), second subparagraph, and Articles 12 and 13 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 907/2014 shall continue to apply to expenditure incurred and payments made for these distillation operations.

3 Distillation operations financed under this Regulation shall be implemented sufficiently in advance to enable payments in accordance with the eligibility date for payments referred to in Article 1(5).

4 Member States may grant additional national support for distillation operations financed under this Regulation up to a maximum of 200 % in line with the additional national support referred to in Article 3(2).

5 The Union financial support paid for distillation operations financed in accordance with paragraph 1 shall be deemed Union financial contribution for the financial year in which the payments by Member States are made.

1 The Union expenditure incurred in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 shall not exceed a total amount of: (a) EUR 3912118 for Belgium; (b) EUR 6862150 for Czechia; (c) EUR 6352520 for Denmark; (d) EUR 35767119 for Germany; (e) EUR 1722597 for Estonia; (f) EUR 9529841 for Ireland; (g) EUR 15773591 for Greece; (h) EUR 81082911 for Spain; (i) EUR 53100820 for France; (j) EUR 3371029 for Croatia; (k) EUR 60547380 for Italy; (l) EUR 574358 for Cyprus; (m) EUR 6796780 for Latvia; (n) EUR 10660962 for Lithuania; (o) EUR 462680 for Luxembourg; (p) EUR 240896 for Malta; (q) EUR 4995081 for Netherlands; (r) EUR 5529091 for Austria; (s) EUR 11619548 for Portugal; (t) EUR 1234202 for Slovenia; (u) EUR 4269959 for Finland; (v) EUR 5594367 for Sweden.

2 The Member States referred to in Article 1(1) may grant additional national support for the measures taken under Article 1(2) up to a maximum of 200 % of the corresponding amount set out in paragraph 1 of this Article, on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory criteria, provided that the resulting payments do not cause any market or competition distortion, or overcompensation.

3 The Member States referred to in Article 1(1) and those using their financial allocations for the purpose of financing the temporary crisis distillation measure referred to in Article 2(1), shall pay the additional support referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article and in Article 2(4), respectively, by 31 January 2024.

In order to avoid overcompensation, when granting support under this Regulation, the Member States referred to in Article 1(1) shall take into account the support granted under other national or Union support instruments or private schemes to respond to the economic losses concerned.

1 Without delay and no later than 30 September 2023, the Member States referred to in Article 1(1) 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 January 2024; (g) the level of additional support granted pursuant to Article 3(2); (h) the actions taken to control the eligibility of farmers and to protect the financial interests of the Union.

2 No later than 15 June 2024, the Member States referred to in Articles 1(1) and 2(1) 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.

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