Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013

• Date of Signature: 02 December 2021
• Published date: 06 December 2021
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Union, L 435, 6 December 2021

6.12.2021 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 435/187

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REGULATION (EU) 2021/2116 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 2 December 2021

on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(2) and Article 322(1), point (a), thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (3),

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (4),

Whereas:

(1) The Commission communication of 29 November 2017 entitled ‘The Future of Food and Farming’ concludes that the common agricultural policy (CAP) should continue to step up its response to future challenges and opportunities by boosting employment, growth and investment, by fighting and adapting to climate change and by bringing research and innovation out of the laboratories and onto fields and markets. The CAP should furthermore address citizens’ concerns regarding sustainable agricultural production.

(2) In accordance with Article 208 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the implementation of the CAP should take account of the objectives of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Union’s obligations on climate change mitigation and development cooperation.

(3) The current CAP’s compliance-driven delivery model should be adjusted to ensure a greater focus on results and performance. Accordingly, the Union should set the basic policy objectives, types of intervention and basic Union requirements while greater responsibility and accountability for meeting those objectives should be borne by the Member States. As a consequence, there is a need to ensure greater subsidiarity and flexibility in order to take better account of the local conditions and needs. Accordingly, under the new CAP delivery model, Member States should be responsible for tailoring their CAP interventions in line with their specific needs and basic Union requirements in order to maximise their contribution to Union’s CAP objectives. In order to continue to ensure a common approach and a level playing field, Member States should also establish and design the compliance and control framework for beneficiaries, including compliance with standards for good agricultural and environmental conditions and statutory management requirements.

(4) The CAP encompasses various interventions and measures, many of which are covered by the CAP Strategic Plans referred to in Title III of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5). Others still follow the traditional compliance logic. It is important to provide financing for all interventions and measures in order to contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the CAP. Both of those interventions and measures have certain elements in common, therefore their financing should be dealt with in the same set of provisions. However, where necessary, those provisions should allow for different treatment. Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) governs two European agricultural funds, namely the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Those two funds should be maintained in this Regulation. In view of the scope of the current CAP reform, it is appropriate to replace Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013.

(5) The provisions of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7) (‘the Financial Regulation’), in particular those governing shared management with Member States, the function of accredited bodies and the budgetary principles, should apply to the interventions and measures set out in this Regulation.

(6) In order to harmonise practices among Member States as regards the application of the force majeure clause, this Regulation should, where appropriate, provide for exemptions from the CAP rules in cases of force majeure and exceptional circumstances, as well as for a non-exhaustive list of possible cases of force majeure and exceptional circumstances to be recognised by the national competent authorities. National competent authorities should take decisions on force majeure or exceptional circumstances on a case-by-case basis, on the basis of relevant evidence.

(7) Furthermore, this Regulation should provide for exemptions from the CAP rules in cases of force majeure and exceptional circumstances, such as in the case of a severe meteorological event gravely affecting the holding of the beneficiary on a level comparable to a severe natural disaster.

(8) The general budget of the Union (‘the Union budget’) should finance CAP expenditure, including expenditure on the CAP Strategic Plan interventions under Title III of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, either directly through the EAGF and EAFRD or in the context of shared management with the Member States. The types of expenditure that can be financed using those two funds should be specified.

(9) In order to achieve the objectives of the CAP laid down in Article 39 TFEU, and to comply with the principle of shared management provided for in Article 63 of the Financial Regulation, Member States should ensure that the necessary governance systems are in place. Provision should therefore be made in this Regulation for designating governance bodies, namely the competent authority, paying agency, coordinating body and certification body.

(10) It is necessary to provide for the accreditation of paying agencies and for the designation and accreditation of coordinating bodies by Member States and for the establishment of the procedures for obtaining management declarations, the annual clearance documents, an annual summary of the final audit reports, and performance reports, and for obtaining the certification of management and monitoring systems, of reporting systems and the certification of annual accounts by independent bodies. Moreover, in order to ensure the transparency of the system of checks to be carried out at national level, in particular as regards procedures for authorisation, validation and payment, and to reduce the administrative and audit burden for the Commission and for the Member States where accreditation of each individual paying agency is required, the number of authorities and bodies to which those responsibilities are delegated should be restricted while respecting the constitutional provisions of each Member State. Where a Member State’s constitutional framework provides for regions, that Member State should have the possibility to accredit regional paying agencies, under certain conditions.

(11) Where a Member State accredits more than one paying agency, it should designate a single public coordinating body in order to ensure consistency in the management of the EAGF and EAFRD, to provide for a liaison between the Commission and the various accredited paying agencies, and to ensure that the information requested by the Commission concerning the operations of several paying agencies is provided promptly. That coordinating body should also take and coordinate actions with a view to resolving any deficiencies of a common nature encountered at national level, should keep the Commission informed of any follow-up, and should ensure the harmonised application of the Union rules, taking account of any limitation or restrictions due to the constitutional provisions in force.

(12) Involving paying agencies that have been accredited by the Member States is a crucial prerequisite under the new CAP delivery model for having reasonable assurance that the objectives and targets set out in the relevant CAP Strategic Plans will be achieved by the interventions financed by the Union budget. It should, therefore, be explicitly provided in this Regulation that only expenditure effected by accredited paying agencies can be reimbursed from the Union budget. In addition, the expenditure financed by the Union for the interventions referred to in Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 should have a corresponding output regarding, and should comply with, the basic Union requirements and the governance systems.

(13) In order to have an overview of public and private certification bodies and to have up-to-date information on those that are active, the Commission should receive information from the Member States and keep an up-to-date registry of those bodies. In order for the European Parliament to have accurate and up-to-date information as well, it is necessary for the Commission to communicate to it annually the list of the designated certification bodies.

(14) In the context of respecting budgetary discipline, it is necessary to define the annual ceiling for the expenditure financed by the EAGF by taking into account the maximum amounts laid down for the EAGF under the multiannual financial framework provided for in Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 (8).

(15) Budgetary discipline also requires the annual ceiling for expenditure financed by the EAGF to be respected in all circumstances and at every stage of the budget procedure and of the implementation of the budget. Consequently, it is necessary for the national ceiling for the direct payments for each Member State set out in

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