This Regulation lays down rules for the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 as regards the presentation of rural development programmes, procedures and timetables for approval and amendment of rural development programmes and national frameworks, the content of national frameworks, information and publicity for rural development programmes, implementation of certain rural development measures, monitoring and evaluation and reporting.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 808/2014 of 17 July 2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 808/2014 of 17 July 2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005(1), and in particular Article 8(3), Article 12, Article 14(6), Article 41, Articles 54(4) and 66(5), Article 67, Articles 75(5) and 76(1),
Whereas:
Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 lays down general rules governing Union support for rural development financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), complementing the common provisions for the European Structural and Investment Funds laid down in Part Two of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council(2). In order to ensure that the new legal framework established by those Regulations functions smoothly and applies uniformly, the Commission has been empowered to adopt certain rules for its implementation.
Rules for the presentation of the content of rural development programmes, based in particular on the requirements of Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 and Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 should be laid down. It should also be established which of those rules for the presentation also apply to programmes dedicated to joint instruments for uncapped guarantees and securitisation providing capital relief implemented by the European Investment Bank (‘EIB’) referred to in Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. Rules for the content of national frameworks should also be laid down.
The procedures and timetables for the approval of national frameworks should be established.
In order to systematise the amendment of rural development programmes, rules for their submission as well as for the frequency of amendments should be established. This should be done in order to reduce as much as possible the administrative burden while leaving flexibility for clearly defined emergencies and specific situations.
Rules for amendments to national frameworks including on timing and in particular to facilitate the amendment of national frameworks of Member States which have regional programmes should be established.
In order to ensure the good use of EAFRD resources, voucher systems or equivalent systems for payment of participants’ costs for knowledge transfer and information actions should be established to ensure that reimbursed expenditure is clearly connected to a specific, eligible training or knowledge transfer action provided to the participant.
In order to ensure that the service provider offering best value for money is chosen, the selection of authorities or bodies offering advisory services should follow the applicable national public procurement rules.
As final payments should only be granted upon the correct implementation of business plans, common parameters for such assessments should be established. Additionally, in order to facilitate the access for young farmers setting up for the first time to other measures under the farm and business development measure referred to in Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, rules for the coverage of several measures in the business plans as well as for the approval procedure of the related applications should be established.
Member States should be allowed to calculate support for commitments under the agri-environment-climate, organic farming and animal welfare measures on the basis of other units than those established in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 because of the specific nature of those commitments. Rules should be established concerning the compliance with the maximum amounts allowed, the exception for payments per livestock unit and the conversion rates of different categories of animals to livestock units.
In order to ensure that the calculation of additional costs and income foregone for measures referred to in Articles 28 to 31, 33 and 34 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 is done in a transparent and verifiable manner certain common elements for the calculation that apply across Member States should be established.
In order to avoid overcompensation and an increased administrative burden, rules for the combination of certain measures should be set up.
Rules regarding the start of the operation of the national rural networks as well as on their structure should be established in order to ensure that the networks can work efficiently and in a timely manner in order to accompany the programme implementation.
In order to ensure information and publicity on the rural development activities benefitting from support by the EAFRD, the Managing Authority has responsibilities to fulfil which should be further specified in this Regulation. The Managing Authority should systemise its overall information and publicity efforts in a strategy, and through the establishment of a single website or website portal raise awareness regarding the objectives of rural development policy and strengthen accessibility and transparency of information about funding opportunities. Provision on the responsibility of beneficiaries to inform about the EAFRD support provided for their projects should be made.
In order to facilitate the setting up of the common monitoring and evaluation system, the common elements of that system including the indicators and the evaluation plan should be defined.
The central elements of the annual implementation report referred to in Article 75 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 and the minimum requirements for the evaluation plan referred to in Article 56 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 should be established.
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Rural Development Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1 Subject matter
Article 2 Content of rural development programmes and national frameworks
The presentation of the content of rural development programmes as referred to in Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, of national programmes dedicated to joint instruments for uncapped guarantees and securitisation providing capital relief implemented by the European Investment Bank (‘EIB’) as referred to in Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and of national frameworks as referred to in Article 6(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, shall be established in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation.
Article 3 Adoption of national frameworks
National frameworks as referred to in Article 6(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 shall be adopted in accordance with Article 29 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
Article 4 Amendments of rural development programmes
1.
Proposals to amend rural development programmes and specific programmes for the establishment and operation of national rural networks shall contain, in particular, the following information:
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the type of amendment that is being proposed;
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the reasons and/or implementation problems that justify the amendment;
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the expected effects of the amendment;
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the impact of the change on indicators;
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the relationship between the change and the Partnership Agreement referred to in Chapter II of Title II of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013.
2.
Programme amendments of the type referred to in Article 11(a)(i) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 may be proposed no more than three times during the duration of the programming period.
A single amendment proposal for all other types of amendments combined may be submitted per calendar year and per programme, with the exception of the year 2023 in which year more than a single amendment proposal may be submitted for amendments concerning exclusively the adaptation of the financing plan, including any resulting changes to the indicator plan.
The first and second subparagraphs shall not apply:
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in case emergency measures due to natural disasters and catastrophic events formally recognized by the competent national public authority need to be taken; or
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in case an amendment is necessary following a change to the Union legal framework; or
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following the performance review referred to in Article 21 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013; or
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in case of a change in the EAFRD contribution planned for each year referred to in Article 8(1)(h)(i) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 resulting from developments of the annual breakdown by Member State referred to in Article 58(7) of that Regulation.
3.
Member States shall submit their last programme amendment of the type referred to in Article 11(a)(iii) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 to the Commission by 30 September 2020.
Other types of programme amendments shall be submitted to the Commission by 30 September 2023.
4.
When a programme amendment changes any of the data that is included in the table of the national framework referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 6(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, the approval of the programme amendment shall constitute approval of the corresponding revision of that table.