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

TITLE I SUBJECT MATTER AND SCOPE, APPLICABLE PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1 Subject matter and scope

This Regulation lays down rules on:

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

Article 2 Applicable provisions

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.

Article 3 Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

‘farmer’ means a natural or legal person, or a group of natural or legal persons, regardless of the legal status granted to such group and its members by national law, whose holding is situated within the territorial scope of the Treaties, as defined in Article 52 of the Treaty on European Union in conjunction with Articles 349 and 355 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and who exercises an agricultural activity as determined by Member States in accordance with Article 4(2) of this Regulation;
‘holding’ means all the units used for agricultural activities and managed by a farmer situated within the territory of the same Member State;
‘intervention’ means a support instrument with a set of eligibility conditions specified by a Member State in its CAP Strategic Plan based on a type of intervention provided for in this Regulation;
‘operation’ means:
1. a project, contract, action or group of projects or actions selected under the CAP Strategic Plan concerned;
2. in the context of financial instruments, the total eligible public expenditure granted to a financial instrument and the subsequent financial support provided to final recipients by that financial instrument;
‘public expenditure’ means any contribution to the financing of operations the source of which is the budget of national, regional or local public authorities, the budget of the Union made available to the EAGF and the EAFRD, the budget of public law bodies or the budget of associations of public authorities or of public law bodies;
‘milestones’ means intermediate pre-established values, set by Member States in the framework of their intervention strategies referred to in Article 107(1), point (b), for a specific financial year to be achieved at a given point in time during the CAP Strategic Plan period to ensure timely progress in relation to the result indicators;
‘targets’ means pre-established values, set by Member States in the framework of their intervention strategies referred to in Article 107(1), point (b), to be achieved at the end of the CAP Strategic Plan period in relation to the result indicators;
‘outermost regions’ means the outermost regions referred to in Article 349 TFEU;
‘AKIS’ means the combined organisation and knowledge flows between persons, organisations and institutions who use and produce knowledge for agriculture and interrelated fields (Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System);
‘smaller Aegean islands’ means smaller Aegean islands as defined in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EU) No 229/2013;
‘mutual fund’ means a scheme accredited by a Member State in accordance with its national law for affiliated farmers to insure themselves, whereby compensation payments are made to affiliated farmers who experience economic losses;
‘less developed regions’ means less developed regions within the meaning of Article 108(2), first subparagraph, point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060;
‘beneficiary’ in relation to the types of intervention for rural development referred to in Article 69 means:
1. a public or private law body, an entity with or without legal personality, a natural person or a group of natural or legal persons responsible for initiating or both initiating and implementing operations;
2. in the context of State aid schemes, the undertaking which receives the aid;
3. in the context of financial instruments, the body that implements the holding fund or, where there is no holding fund structure, the body that implements the specific fund or, where the managing authority referred to in Article 123 (‘the managing authority’) manages the financial instrument, the managing authority;
‘support rate’ means the rate of public expenditure to an operation; in the context of financial instruments it refers to the gross grant equivalent of the support as defined in Article 2, point (20), of Commission Regulation (EU) No 702/2014⁽¹⁾;
‘LEADER’ means community-led local development referred to in Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060;
‘intermediate body’ means any public or private law body, including regional or local bodies, regional development bodies or non-governmental organisations, which acts under the responsibility of a national or regional managing authority, or which carries out duties on behalf of such an authority;
‘financial year’ means agricultural financial year in accordance with Article 35 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

Article 4 Definitions and conditions to be provided in the CAP Strategic Plans

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:

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;
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:

‘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⁾;
‘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;
‘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:

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;
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;
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:

an upper age limit set between 35 years and 40 years;
the conditions for being ‘head of the holding’;
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.

TITLE II OBJECTIVES AND INDICATORS

Article 5 General objectives

Article 6 Specific objectives

Article 7 Indicators

TITLE III COMMON REQUIREMENTS AND TYPES OF INTERVENTION

CHAPTER I COMMON REQUIREMENTS

Section 1 General principles

Article 8 Strategic approach

Article 9 General principles

Article 10 WTO domestic support

Article 11 Implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on oilseeds

Section 2 Conditionality

Article 12 Principle and scope

Article 13 Obligations of Member States relating to good agricultural and environmental condition

Section 3 Social conditionality

Article 14 Principle and scope

Section 4 Farm advisory services

Article 15 Farm advisory services

CHAPTER II TYPES OF INTERVENTION IN THE FORM OF DIRECT PAYMENTS

Section 1 Types of intervention, reduction and minimum requirements

Article 16 Types of intervention in the form of direct payments

Article 17 Capping and degressivity of payments

Article 18 Minimum requirements

Article 19 Contribution to risk management tools

Section 2 Decoupled direct payments

Subsection 1 General provisions

Article 20 General requirements for receiving decoupled direct payments

Subsection 2 Basic income support for sustainability

Article 21 General rules

Article 22 Amount of support per hectare

Article 23 Payment entitlements

Article 24 Value of payment entitlements and convergence

Article 25 Activation of payment entitlements

Article 26 Reserves for payment entitlements

Article 27 Transfers of payment entitlements

Article 28 Payments for small farmers

Subsection 3 Complementary income support

Article 29 Complementary redistributive income support for sustainability

Article 30 Complementary income support for young farmers

Subsection 4 Schemes for the climate, the environment and animal welfare

Article 31 Schemes for the climate, the environment and animal welfare

Section 3 Coupled direct payments

Subsection 1 Coupled income support

Article 32 General rules

Article 33 Scope

Article 34 Eligibility

Article 35 Delegated powers in the case of structural market imbalances in a sector

Subsection 2 Crop-specific payment for cotton

Article 36 Scope

Article 37 General rules

Article 38 Base areas, fixed yields and reference amounts

Article 39 Approved interbranch organisations

Article 40 Granting of the payment

Article 41 Derogations

CHAPTER III TYPES OF INTERVENTION IN CERTAIN SECTORS

Section 1 General provisions

Article 42 Scope

Article 43 Mandatory and optional types of intervention

Article 44 Forms of support

Article 45 Delegated powers for additional requirements for types of intervention

Article 46 Objectives in the fruit and vegetables sector, the hops sector, the olive oil and table olives sector and in the other sectors referred to in Article 42, point (f)

Article 47 Types of intervention in the fruit and vegetables sector, the hops sector, the olive oil and table olives sector and in the other sectors referred to in Article 42, point (f)

Article 48 Planning, reporting and performance clearance at operational programme level

Section 2 Fruit and vegetables sector

Article 49 Objectives in the fruit and vegetables sector

Article 50 Operational programmes

Article 51 Operational funds

Article 52 Union financial assistance to the fruit and vegetables sector

Article 53 National financial assistance

Section 3 Apiculture sector

Article 54 Objectives in the apiculture sector

Article 55 Types of intervention in the apiculture sector and Union financial assistance

Article 56 Additional delegated powers for types of intervention in the apiculture sector

Section 4 Wine sector

Article 57 Objectives in the wine sector

Article 58 Types of intervention in the wine sector

Article 59 Union financial assistance to the wine sector

Article 60 Specific rules on Union financial assistance to the wine sector

Section 5 Hops sector

Article 61 Objectives and types of intervention in the hops sector

Article 62 Union financial assistance

Section 6 Olive oil and table olives sector

Article 63 Objectives in the olive oil and table olives sector

Article 64 Types of intervention in the olive oil and table olives sector

Article 65 Union financial assistance

Section 7 Other sectors

Article 66 Objectives in other sectors

Article 67 Types of intervention in other sectors

Article 68 Union financial assistance

CHAPTER IV TYPES OF INTERVENTION FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Section 1 Types of intervention

Article 69 Types of intervention for rural development

Article 70 Environmental, climate-related and other management commitments

Article 71 Natural or other area-specific constraints

Article 72 Area-specific disadvantages resulting from certain mandatory requirements

Article 73 Investments

Article 74 Investments in irrigation

Article 75 Setting-up of young farmers and new farmers and rural business start-up

Article 76 Risk management tools

Article 77 Cooperation

Article 78 Knowledge exchange and dissemination of information

Section 2 Elements applying to several types of intervention

Article 79 Selection of operations

Article 80 Specific rules for financial instruments

Article 81 Use of the EAFRD delivered through InvestEU

Article 82 Adequacy and accuracy of payment calculation

Article 83 Forms of grants

Article 84 Delegated powers for additional requirements for types of intervention for rural development

TITLE IV FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

Article 85 EAGF and EAFRD expenditure

Article 86 Eligibility of expenditure

Article 87 Financial allocations for types of intervention in the form of direct payments

Article 88 Financial allocations for certain types of intervention in certain sectors

Article 89 Financial allocations for types of intervention for rural development

Article 90 EAFRD contribution

Article 91 EAFRD contribution rates

Article 92 Minimum financial allocations for LEADER

Article 93 Minimum financial allocations for interventions addressing environmental and climate-related specific objectives

Article 94 Maximum financial allocations for technical assistance

Article 95 Minimum financial allocations for support for young farmers

Article 96 Maximum financial allocations for coupled income support

Article 97 Minimum financial allocations for eco-schemes

Article 98 Minimum financial allocations for the redistributive income support

Article 99 Voluntary contribution from the EAFRD allocation to actions under LIFE and Erasmus+

Article 100 Tracking climate expenditure

Article 101 Indicative financial allocations

Article 102 Planned unit amounts and planned outputs

Article 103 Flexibility between direct payment allocations and EAFRD allocations

TITLE V CAP STRATEGIC PLAN

CHAPTER I GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Article 104 CAP Strategic Plans

Article 105 Increased ambition with regard to environmental and climate-related objectives

Article 106 Procedural requirements

CHAPTER II CONTENT OF THE CAP STRATEGIC PLAN

Article 107 Content of the CAP Strategic Plan

Article 108 Assessment of needs

Article 109 Intervention strategy

Article 110 Elements common to several interventions

Article 111 Interventions

Article 112 Target and financial plans

Article 113 Governance and coordination systems

Article 114 Modernisation

Article 115 Annexes

Article 116 Delegated powers for the content of the CAP Strategic Plan

Article 117 Implementing powers for the content of the CAP Strategic Plan

CHAPTER III APPROVAL AND AMENDMENT OF THE CAP STRATEGIC PLAN

Article 118 Approval of the CAP Strategic Plan

Article 119 Amendment of the CAP Strategic Plan

Article 120 Review of the CAP Strategic Plans

Article 121 Calculation of time limits for Commission actions

Article 122 Delegated powers concerning amendments of CAP Strategic Plans

TITLE VI COORDINATION AND GOVERNANCE

Article 123 Managing authority

Article 124 Monitoring committee

Article 125 Technical assistance at the initiative of Member States

Article 126 National and European CAP networks

Article 127 European Innovation Partnership for agricultural productivity and sustainability

TITLE VII MONITORING, REPORTING AND EVALUATION

CHAPTER I PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK

Article 128 Establishment of the performance framework

Article 129 Objectives of the performance framework

Article 130 Electronic information system

Article 131 Provision of information

Article 132 Monitoring procedures

Article 133 Implementing powers for the performance framework

CHAPTER II ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORTS

Article 134 Annual performance reports

Article 135 Biennial performance review

Article 136 Annual review meetings

CHAPTER III REPORTING FOR THE CROP-SPECIFIC PAYMENT FOR COTTON AND THE TRANSITIONAL NATIONAL AID

Article 137 Annual reporting

Article 138 Annual reporting on transitional national aid

CHAPTER IV CAP STRATEGIC PLAN EVALUATION

Article 139 Ex-ante evaluations

Article 140 Evaluation of CAP Strategic Plans during the implementation period and ex post

CHAPTER V PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT BY THE COMMISSION

Article 141 Performance assessment and evaluation

Article 142 Reporting based on a core set of indicators

Article 143 General provisions

TITLE VIII COMPETITION PROVISIONS

Article 144 Rules applying to undertakings

Article 145 State aid

Article 146 Additional national financing

Article 147 Transitional national aid

TITLE IX GENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 148 Measures to resolve specific problems

Article 149 Application to the outermost regions and the smaller Aegean islands

CHAPTER II INFORMATION SYSTEM AND PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA

Article 150 Exchange of information and documents

Article 151 Processing and protection of personal data

CHAPTER III DELEGATED ACTS AND IMPLEMENTING ACTS

Article 152 Exercise of delegation

Article 153 Committee procedure

CHAPTER IV TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 154 Repeals

Article 155 Eligibility of certain types of expenditure relating to the CAP Strategic Plan period

Article 156 Transition for financial allocations for types of intervention in certain sectors

Article 157 Eligibility of expenditure for multi-funded community-led local development

Article 158 Transitional measures

Article 159 Review of Annex XIII

Article 160 Entry into force

ANNEX IIMPACT, RESULT, OUTPUT AND CONTEXT INDICATORS PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 7

ANNEX IIWTO DOMESTIC SUPPORT PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 10

ANNEX IIIRULES ON CONDITIONALITY PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 12

ANNEX IVRULES ON SOCIAL CONDITIONALITY PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 14

ANNEX VMEMBER STATES’ ALLOCATIONS FOR DIRECT PAYMENTS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 87(1), FIRST SUBPARAGRAPH

ANNEX VILIST OF PRODUCTS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 42, POINT (f)

ANNEX VIIMEMBER STATES’ ALLOCATIONS (PER FINANCIAL YEAR) FOR TYPES OF INTERVENTION IN THE WINE SECTOR AS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 88(1)

ANNEX VIIIMEMBER STATES’ ALLOCATIONS FOR COTTON REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 87(1), SECOND SUBPARAGRAPH

ANNEX IXMEMBER STATES’ ALLOCATIONS FOR DIRECT PAYMENTS WITHOUT COTTON AND BEFORE THE TRANSFERS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 87(1), THIRD SUBPARAGRAPH

ANNEX XMEMBER STATES’ ALLOCATIONS (PER FINANCIAL YEAR) FOR TYPES OF INTERVENTION IN THE APICULTURE SECTOR AS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 88(2)

ANNEX XIBREAKDOWN OF UNION SUPPORT FOR TYPES OF INTERVENTION FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (2023 TO 2027) REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE89(3)

ANNEX XIIMINIMUM AMOUNTS RESERVED FOR THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 6(1), POINT (g)

ANNEX XIIIUNION LEGISLATIVE ACTS CONCERNING THE ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE TO WHOSE OBJECTIVES MEMBER STATES’ CAP STRATEGIC PLANS SHOULD CONTRIBUTE TO, AND BE CONSISTENT WITH, PURSUANT TO ARTICLES 108, 109 AND 115

ANNEX XIVREPORTING BASED ON CORE SET OF INDICATORS PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 142Indicators for the European Agriculture Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)