Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the common agricultural policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013

This Regulation lays down rules on:

1. general and specific objectives to be pursued through Union support financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) under the common agricultural policy (CAP) as well as the related indicators;

2. types of intervention and common requirements for Member States to pursue those objectives as well as the related financial arrangements;

3. CAP Strategic Plans, which are to be drawn up by Member States and which set targets, specify conditions for interventions and allocate financial resources, according to the specific objectives and identified needs;

4. coordination and governance as well as monitoring, reporting and evaluation.

This Regulation applies to Union support financed by the EAGF and the EAFRD for interventions specified in a CAP Strategic Plan drawn up by a Member State and approved by the Commission, covering the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2027 (‘the CAP Strategic Plan period’).

Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 and the provisions adopted pursuant to that Regulation apply to support provided under this Regulation.

Article 19, Chapter II of Title III with the exception of Article 28, first subparagraph, point (c), and Articles 46 and 48 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 apply to support financed by the EAFRD under this Regulation.

Member States shall provide in their CAP Strategic Plans the definitions of ‘agricultural activity’, ‘agricultural area’, ‘eligible hectare’, ‘active farmer’, ‘young farmer’ and ‘new farmer’, as well as the relevant conditions in accordance with this Article.

‘Agricultural activity’ shall be determined in such a way that it allows to contribute to the provision of private and public goods through one or both of the following:

1. the production of agricultural products, which includes actions such as raising animals or cultivation including by way of paludiculture, where agricultural products means products listed in Annex I to the TFEU with the exception of fishery products, as well as cotton and short rotation coppice;

2. the maintenance of the agricultural area in a state which makes it suitable for grazing or cultivation, without preparatory action going beyond the use of usual agricultural methods and machinery.

‘Agricultural area’ shall be determined in such a way as to comprise arable land, permanent crops and permanent grassland, including when they form agroforestry systems on that area. The terms ‘arable land’, ‘permanent crops’ and ‘permanent grassland’ shall be further specified by Member States within the following framework:

1. ‘arable land’ shall be land cultivated for crop production or areas available for crop production but lying fallow; in addition, it shall, for the duration of the commitment, be land cultivated for crop production or areas available for crop production but lying fallow that have been set aside in accordance with Article 31 or Article 70 or GAEC standard 8 listed in Annex III to this Regulation, or with Articles 22, 23 or 24 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999⁽²⁾, or with Article 39 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005⁽³⁾, or with Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁴⁾;

2. ‘permanent crops’ shall be non-rotational crops other than permanent grassland and permanent pasture that occupy the land for five years or more and that yield repeated harvests, including nurseries and short rotation coppice;

3. ‘permanent grassland and permanent pasture’ (together referred to as ‘permanent grassland’) shall be land that is used to grow grasses or other herbaceous forage naturally (self-seeded) or through cultivation (sown) and that has not been included in the crop rotation of the holding for five years or more and, where Member States so decide, that has not been ploughed up, or tilled, or reseeded with different types of grass or other herbaceous forage, for five years or more. It may include other species, such as shrubs or trees, which can be grazed and, where Member States so decide, other species such as shrubs or trees which produce animal feed, provided that the grasses and other herbaceous forage remain predominant.

   Member States may also decide to consider the following types of land to be permanent grassland:

   1. land which is covered by any of the species referred to in this point and which forms part of established local practices, where grasses and other herbaceous forage are traditionally not predominant or absent in grazing areas;

   2. land covered by any of the species referred to in this point, where grasses and other herbaceous forage are not predominant or are absent in grazing areas.

For the purpose of types of intervention in the form of direct payments, ‘eligible hectare’ shall be determined in such a way that it covers areas which are at the farmer’s disposal and which consist of:

1. any agricultural area of the holding that, during the year for which support is requested, is used for an agricultural activity or, where the area is also used for non-agricultural activities, is predominantly used for agricultural activities; where duly justified for environmental, biodiversity and climate-related reasons, Member States may decide that eligible hectares also include certain areas used for agricultural activities only every second year;

2. any area of the holding which is:

   1. covered by landscape features subject to the retention obligation under GAEC standard 8 listed in Annex III;

   2. used to attain the minimum share of arable land devoted to non-productive areas and features, including land lying fallow, under GAEC standard 8 listed in Annex III; or

   3. for the duration of the relevant commitment by the farmer, established or maintained as a result of an eco-scheme referred to in Article 31.

   If Member States so decide, ‘eligible hectare’ may contain other landscape features, provided they are not predominant and do not significantly hamper the performance of the agricultural activity due to the area they occupy on the agricultural parcel. In implementing that principle, Member States may set a maximum share of the agricultural parcel covered by those other landscape features.

   As regards permanent grassland with scattered ineligible features, Member States may decide to apply fixed reduction coefficients to determine the area considered eligible;

3. any area of the holding that gave a right to payments under Title III, Chapter II, Section 2, Subsection 2, of this Regulation or under the basic payment scheme or the single area payment scheme laid down in Title III of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, and which is not an ‘eligible hectare’ as determined by Member States on the basis of points (a) and (b) of this paragraph:

   1. as a result of the application of Directive 92/43/EEC, 2009/147/EC or 2000/60/EC to that area;

   2. as a result of area-based interventions set out under this Regulation covered by the integrated system referred to in Article 65(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 allowing for the production of products not listed in Annex I TFEU by way of paludiculture, or under national schemes for biodiversity or greenhouse gas reductions the conditions of which comply with those area-based interventions, provided that those interventions and national schemes contribute to achieving one or more specific objectives set out in Article 6(1), points (d), (e) and (f), of this Regulation;

   3. for the duration of an afforestation commitment by the farmer, pursuant to Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 or to Article 43 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 or to Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 or to Article 70 or Article 73 of this Regulation, or under a national scheme the conditions of which comply with Article 43(1), (2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 or Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 or Article 70 or Article 73 of this Regulation;

   4. for the duration of a commitment by the farmer resulting in the setting aside of the area, pursuant to Articles 22, 23 and 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, to Article 39 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, to Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 or to Article 70 of this Regulation.

Areas used for the production of hemp shall be eligible hectares only if the varieties used have a tetrahydrocannabinol content not exceeding 0,3 %.

‘Active farmer’ shall be determined in such a way as to ensure that support is granted only to natural or legal persons, or to groups of natural or legal persons, engaged in at least a minimum level of agricultural activity, while not necessarily precluding the granting of support to pluri-active or part-time farmers.

When determining who is an ‘active farmer’, Member States shall apply objective and non-discriminatory criteria, such as income tests, labour inputs on the farm, company object and inclusion of their agricultural activities in national or regional registers. Such criteria may be introduced in one or more forms chosen by Member States, including through a negative list disqualifying a farmer from being considered to be an active farmer. If a Member State considers to be ‘active farmers’ those farmers who did not receive direct payments exceeding a certain amount for the previous year, such an amount shall not be higher than EUR 5 000.

‘Young farmer’ shall be determined in such a way as to include:

1. an upper age limit set between 35 years and 40 years;

2. the conditions for being ‘head of the holding’;

3. the appropriate training or skills required, as determined by Member States.

‘New farmer’ shall be determined in such a way as to refer to a farmer other than a young farmer and who is ‘head of the holding’ for the first time. Member States shall include further objective and non-discriminatory requirements concerning appropriate training and skills.

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 152 supplementing this Regulation with rules making the granting of payments conditional upon the use of certified seeds of certain hemp varieties and the procedure for the determination of hemp varieties, as well as the verification of their tetrahydrocannabinol content referred to in paragraph 4, second subparagraph, of this Article, to preserve public health.