Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/561 of 7 April 2015 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings

Published date09 April 2015
Subject MatterCommon organisation of agricultural markets
Official Gazette PublicationOfficial Journal of the European Union, L 93, 9 April 2015
L_2015093EN.01001201.xml
9.4.2015 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 93/12

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2015/561

of 7 April 2015

laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (1), and in particular Articles 70, 72 and Article 145(3) thereof,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 352/78, (EC) No 165/94, (EC) No 2799/98, (EC) No 814/2000, (EC) No 1290/2005 and (EC) No 485/2008 (2), and in particular Article 62(2)(a) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 contains in Chapter III of Title I of Part II rules on a scheme of authorisations for vine plantings which repeal and replace the transitional planting right regime set out in Subsection II of Section IVa of Chapter III of Title I of Part II of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (3) as from 1 January 2016. Chapter III of Title I of Part II of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 lays down rules concerning duration, management and control of the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings and empowers the Commission to adopt implementing acts concerning the management and also the control of the scheme. The transitional planting right regime set out in Subsection II of Section IVa of Chapter III of Title I of Part II of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 remains applicable until 31 December 2015 in accordance with Article 230(1)(b)(ii) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
(2) Article 62 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 lays down the general requirement for Member States to grant an authorisation for vine planting upon submission of an application by producers intending to plant or replant vines. Article 63 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 provides for a safeguard mechanism for new plantings, whereby Member States have to grant every year authorisations for new plantings corresponding to 1 % of the total area actually planted with vines in their territory, but where lower limits may be decided on the basis of sound justifications. Article 64 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 lays down rules concerning the granting of authorisations for new plantings and sets out eligibility and priority criteria that Member States may apply.
(3) Rules should be established at Union level concerning the procedure to follow by the Member States regarding the decisions on the safeguard mechanism and on the choice of eligibility and priority criteria. Such rules should include time limits for decisions to be taken and implications in case certain decisions are not taken.
(4) In order to provide clarity and a consistent application in all Member States and wine regions, the rules in relation to the granting of authorisations for new plantings should also include the processing of applications, the selection procedure and their granting each year. In that way, producers are subject to similar rules at Union level when applying for authorisations for new plantings. These rules aim at ensuring a transparent, fair, and timely functioning of the system, adapted to the needs of the wine sector. They should also prevent that applicants face unjustified inequalities, excessive delays or disproportionate administrative burden. In particular, since the beginning of the wine year is on 1 August, the granting of authorisations for new plantings by that date seems well adjusted to the needs of the wine sector and ensures that vine plantings can still be undertaken within the same civil year. An appropriate date should be fixed to ensure that all relevant decisions taken by the Member State are made public in due time before the opening of the call for applications and to allow producers to be well aware of the applicable rules before they submit an application.
(5) Where the total number of hectares requested in the eligible applications largely exceeds the number of hectares made available by Member States, it may lead to a large share of individual applicants obtaining only a fraction of the hectares they applied for and therefore not using the corresponding authorisations and thus being subject to penalties. To address such situations, it is appropriate not to impose such penalties where the authorisations granted correspond to less than a certain percentage of what was applied for. Furthermore, in order to avoid the loss of the corresponding authorisations, it should be made possible for Member States either to transfer them to the following year or to redistribute them within the same year among the applicants who did not see their application fully satisfied and did not reject the authorisations granted.
(6) Article 66 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Articles 3 and 4 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560 (4) establish rules concerning the granting of authorisations for replantings in the same holding. Rules should also be established at Union level concerning the procedure to follow by the Member States when granting those authorisations for replantings, and the time frame for Member States to grant these authorisations. In order to enable producers to address constraints as regards replanting in the same holding due to phytosanitary, environmental or operational reasons, Member States should have the possibility to allow the producers to submit an application within a reasonable but limited period after the grubbing up. Furthermore, given the administrative burden for Member States and for the producers implied by the submission and processing of applications for authorisations for replanting, it should also be possible to apply a simplified procedure in the specific cases where the area to be replanted corresponds to the area grubbed up or where no restrictions on replantings are decided.
(7) Article 68 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 establishes rules on the granting of authorisations on the basis of conversion of plantings rights granted before 31 December 2015. Rules should also be established at Union level concerning the procedure to be followed by the Member States for the granting of such authorisations. Timeframe for submission and treatment of the requests should be established, so that Member States can receive and process the requests for conversion in an appropriate and timely manner.
(8) Article 62(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 establishes that authorisations are to be granted for a specific area of the producer's holding identified in an application. In duly justified cases, applicants should be given the possibility to change such specific area during the period of validity of the authorisation. However, this possibility should be excluded in some cases in order to prevent the circumvention of the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings.
(9) Articles 63(4), 64(3), 71(3) and Article 145 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 establish the obligation for Member States to notify the Commission of certain aspects of the implementation of the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings. Requirements should be established to facilitate the communication of information by Member States on all relevant aspects of the management and control of this scheme, allowing for a proper monitoring of its implementation.
(10) Article 62 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 provides for the need to establish control provisions in relation to the implementation of the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings. General rules on control are needed in order to clarify that the main tool for verifying the compliance with the scheme is the vineyard register, and that controls should be carried out in line with the general principles which are laid down in Article 59 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013. Such rules should provide the general framework for Member States to develop more detailed provisions at national level in order to avoid non-authorised plantings and to ensure that the rules of the scheme of authorisations are respected, including the respect of the deadline for using the authorisations and for grubbing up in the case of anticipated replanting as well as the respect of the commitments made by the producers to obtain the authorisations.
(11) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Authorisations for vine plantings

Authorisations for vine planting as provided for in Chapter III of Title I of Part II of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall be granted as from 2016 in accordance with this Regulation.

The authorisations concern new plantings, replantings and plantings rights to be converted.

The authorisations for new plantings referred to in Article 64 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall be granted annually.

Article 2

Prior decisions on areas to be made available for new plantings

1. Where Member States decide to limit the total area available for new plantings to be allocated in the form of authorisations in accordance with Article 63(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, they shall make public such decisions and respective justifications by 1 March.

2. Where Member States take into account...

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