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 recommendations from professional organisations or interested groups of producers as referred to in Article 65 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, these recommendations shall be presented with sufficient time for their examination before the decision referred to in paragraph 1 is taken by the Member State concerned. The recommendations shall also be made public.
Article 3
Criteria for the granting of authorisations for new plantings
Where Member States decide to use criteria for the granting of authorisations for new plantings as laid down in Article 64(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, such decisions shall be made public by 1 March.
The decisions referred to in the first paragraph shall concern:
(a)
the application of one or more of the criteria listed in the second subparagraph of Article 64(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, including the due justification in case Member States decide to apply point (d) of Article 64(1), as well as in Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560;
(b)
the number of hectares available for the granting of authorisations at national level:
(i)
on a pro-rata basis;
(ii)
according to priority criteria listed in Article 64(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, as well as in Article 2(3) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560
Where Member States intend to apply the priority criteria referred to in point (b)(ii) of the second paragraph of this Article, they shall define which of these priority criteria will be applied. Member States may also decide to attribute different importance to each of the priority criteria chosen. Such decisions shall enable Member States to establish a ranking of individual applications at national level for the granting of the number of hectares referred to in point (b)(ii), based on the compliance of these applications with the priority criteria chosen.
Article 4
Default rules for new plantings
Where Member States do not make public the relevant decisions by the deadlines set out in Articles 2 and 3, the following rules for granting of authorisations for new plantings shall apply for the corresponding year:
(a)
availability of authorisations for new planting corresponding to 1 % of the total area actually planted with vines in their territory, as specified in Article 63(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, and without other limits;
(b)
pro-rata distribution of hectares to all eligible applicants on the basis of the area for which they have requested the authorisation, where applications exceed the area made available.
Member States shall ensure that the information relating to the rules applicable pursuant to the first paragraph is made public.
Article 5
Submission of applications for new plantings
1. Once the decisions referred to in Articles 2 and 3 or the information referred to in the second paragraph of Article 4 are made public and not later than 1 May, Member States shall open the period for the submission of individual applications, which shall be at least of 1 month.
2. Applications shall identify the specific size and location of the area in the applicant holding for which the authorisation is to be granted. Where no limits are decided in accordance with Article 2 and no criteria are decided in accordance with Article 3, Member States may exempt applicants from the requirement to indicate in the application the specific location of the area in the applicant holding for which the authorisation is to be granted. Member States may request, where relevant for the implementation of the scheme of authorisations, additional information from applicants.
3. Where Member States decide to use certain criteria for the granting of authorisations for new plantings, the following rules apply:
(a)
eligibility criteria referred to in Article 64(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and in Article 2(1) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560: applications shall indicate the grapevine product(s) the applicant intends to produce in the newly planted area(s) specifying whether the applicant intends to produce one or more of the following:
(i)
wines with a protected designation of origin;
(ii)
wines with a protected geographical indication;
(iii)
wines without geographical indication including with an indication of the wine grape variety;
(b)
priority criterion referred to in Article 64(2)(e) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013: applications shall include information of an economic nature demonstrating the economic sustainability of the respective project on the basis of on one or more of the standard methodologies of financial analysis for agricultural investment projects mentioned in Part E of Annex II to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560;
(c)
priority criterion referred to in Article 64(2)(f) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013: applications shall include information of an economic nature demonstrating the potential for increased competitiveness on the basis of the considerations laid down in Part F of Annex II to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560;
(d)
priority criterion referred to in Article 64(2)(g) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013: applications shall include information demonstrating the potential for the improvement of products with geographical indications on the basis of one of the conditions laid down in Part G of Annex II to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560;
(e)
priority criterion referred to in Article 64(2)(h) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013: applications shall include information showing that the size of the applicant's holding at the time of the application complies with thresholds to be established by Member States on the basis of the provisions laid down in Part H of Annex II to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560;
(f)
where Member States require applicants to undertake the commitments referred to in Parts (A) and (B) of Annex I and Parts (A), (B), (D), (E), (F), (G) and in section II of Part (I) of Annex II to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560 in relation to the respective criteria, applications shall include those commitments.
Where any of the elements mentioned in points (a) to (f) of the first subparagraph may be gathered directly by Member States, Member States may exempt applicants from including such elements in their applications.
4. After the expiry of the submission period referred to in paragraph 1, Member States shall inform the non-eligible applicants on the non-eligibility of their applications pursuant to the decision on the eligibility criteria adopted by Member States in accordance with Article 3. Such applications shall be excluded from the subsequent steps of the procedure.
Article 6
Granting of authorisations for new plantings
1. Where the total area covered by the eligible applications submitted does not exceed the area(s) made available in accordance with Article 2(1), Member States shall grant the authorisations to the full extent applied for by producers.
2. Where the total area covered by the eligible applications submitted exceeds the area(s) made available in accordance with Article 2(1), Member States shall apply the selection procedure laid down in Annex I.
Member States shall, not later than 1 August, grant the authorisations to the selected applicants according to the outcome of such selection procedure. Where eligible applications have not been fully satisfied, applicants shall be informed of the reasons for such decision.
3. Where the authorisation granted corresponds to less than 50 % of the area requested in the respective application, the applicant may refuse such authorisation within 1 month following the date on which the authorisation was granted.
In that case, the applicant shall not be subject to the administrative penalties referred to in Article 62(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. Member States may decide that the corresponding number of hectares is made available in the same year, not later than 1 October, for authorisations to be granted to those applicants that were granted only a part of the area they requested in line with the outcome of the selection procedure referred to in paragraph 2, and which did not refuse the corresponding authorisations. Member States may also decide to make available those hectares in the following year on top of the 1 % of the total area planted with vines as provided for in Article 63(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
Article 7
Restrictions of the granting of authorisations for replantings
1. Where Member States decide to restrict the granting of authorisations for replantings in areas eligible for the production of wines with a protected designation of origin or a protected geographical indication in accordance with Article 66(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Article 4 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560, they shall make such decisions public by 1 March.
Professional organisations or interested groups of producers referred to in Article 65 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall present the recommendations to be taken into account by the Member State pursuant to that Article with sufficient time for their examination before the decision referred to in the first subparagraph is taken. The Member State concerned shall make public those recommendations.
2. The decisions referred to in paragraph 1 shall apply during 1 year from the date on which they were made public.
Where a recommendation from a professional organisation or an interested group of producers is made for a period of time longer than 1 year but no more than 3 years, as provided for in the second subparagraph of Article 65 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, such decisions may also apply for a period of time up to 3 years.
Where such professional organisations or interested groups of producers do not submit the relevant recommendations with sufficient time for their examination as provided for in paragraph 1, or Member States do not make public the relevant decisions by 1 March, Member States shall authorise the replanting automatically as provided for in Article 8.
Article 8
Procedure for granting the authorisations for replantings
1. Applications for authorisations for replantings referred to in Article 66(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 may be submitted at any time during the same wine year in which the grubbing up takes place. However, Member States may decide that the submission of applications for authorisations for replantings can be made until the end of second wine year following the one in which the grubbing up took place. Where those time-periods are not respected, Member States shall not grant an authorisation for replanting.
Applications shall identify the specific size and the location of the area(s) grubbed up and of the area(s) to be replanted in the same applicant's holding for which the authorisation is to be granted. Where no restrictions are decided in accordance with Article 7, and the applicant has not undertaken any of the commitments referred to in point (2)(b) of Parts A and B of Annex I and in Parts B(4) and D of Annex II to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560, Member States may exempt applicants from the requirement to indicate in the application the specific location of area(s) to be replanted for which the authorisation is to be granted. Member States may request, where relevant for the implementation of the scheme of authorisations, additional information from applicants.
Member States shall grant authorisations automatically within 3 months as from the submission of the applications. However, Member States may decide to apply the time-periods referred to in Articles 5 and 6 for the submission of applications and granting of authorisations for new plantings respectively.
2. Where the area to be replanted corresponds to the same area grubbed up or where no restrictions are decided in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 7, a simplified procedure may be applied at national level or for certain areas within the territory of the Member State. In such case, the authorisation for replanting may be considered to have been granted the date the area was grubbed up. To this purpose, the producer concerned shall submit, at the latest by the end of the wine year in which the grubbing up was undertaken, an ex post communication which stands as application for authorisation.
3. Applications for authorisations for replantings referred to in Article 66(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 may be submitted at any time during the year.
Applications shall identify the specific size and the location of the area(s) to be grubbed up and of the area(s) to be replanted in the same applicant's holding for which the authorisation is to be granted. Applications shall also include the commitment to grub up the area planted with vines at the latest by the end of the fourth year from the date on which new vines have been planted. Member States may request, where relevant for the implementation of the scheme of authorisations, additional information from applicants.
Member States shall grant authorisations automatically within 3 months as from the submission of the application. However, Member States may decide to apply the time-periods referred to in Articles 5 and 6 for the submission of applications and granting of authorisations for new plantings respectively.
Article 9
Procedure for granting the authorisations according to the transitional provisions
1. Producers shall submit the requests for conversion of planting rights into authorisations as referred to in Article 68(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 as from 15 September 2015.
Applications shall identify the specific size and location of the area in the applicant holding for which the authorisation is to be granted. Member States may exempt applicants from the requirement to indicate in the application the specific location of the area in the applicant holding for which the authorisation is to be granted. Member States may request, where relevant for the implementation of the scheme of authorisations, additional information from applicants.
2. Where, in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 68(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Member States decide to extend the time period to submit the request for the conversion of planting rights into authorisations beyond 31 December 2015, they shall make this decision public by 14 September 2015.
In this case, the requests for conversion by the producer may be submitted at any time as from 15 September 2015 and until the end of the time period fixed by Member States pursuant to the first subparagraph.
3. After verifying that the planting rights for which the conversion has been requested in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 are still valid, Member States shall grant the authorisations automatically. The period between the submission of the request to convert and the granting of the authorisations shall not exceed 3 months. However, when the request is submitted before 31 December 2015, the 3-month period shall start on 1 January 2016.
Article 10
Modification of the specific area for which the authorisation is granted
In duly justified cases, Member States may decide, at the request of the applicant, that a vine planting may be made in an area of the holding which is different from the specific area for which the authorisation has been granted provided that the new area has the same size in hectares and that the authorisation is still valid in accordance with Article 62(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
The first paragraph shall not apply where authorisations have been granted on the basis of the compliance with specific eligibility or priority criteria linked to the location indicated in the application and the request for modification indicates a new specific area outside such location.
Article 11
Notifications
1. As from 2016, Member States shall submit to the Commission each year by 1 March:
(a)
the communication on wine-growing areas referred to in Article 145(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, concerning the situation on 31 July of the previous wine year. This communication shall be made in the form set out in Annex II to this Regulation;
(b)
the notifications referred to in Articles 63(4) and 64(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. These notifications shall be made in the form set out in Annex III to this Regulation;
(c)
a notification on the restrictions decided by Member States in relation to replantings in the same holding as referred to in Article 7 of this Regulation. This notification shall be made in the form set out in Annex VI (Table A) to this Regulation;
(d)
an updated national list of professional organisations or interested groups of producers referred to in Articles 2 and 7 of this Regulation;
(e)
the communication on the total size of the areas ascertained as planted with vines without an authorisation as well as the non-authorised areas grubbed up, as referred to in Article 71(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. Such communication shall refer to the previous wine year. The first communication shall be submitted for the first time by 1 March 2017 and shall cover the period between 1 January 2016 and 31 July 2016. The communication shall be made in the form set out in Annex IV to this Regulation;
(f)
where Member States decide to apply the priority criterion referred to in Article 64(2)(h) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, the thresholds decided in relation to the minimum and maximum size of holdings as referred to in Part H of Annex II to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560.
2. As from 2016, Member States shall submit to the Commission each year by 1 November:
(a)
a notification on the applications for authorisations for new plantings requested, on the authorisations effectively granted during the previous wine year pursuant to Article 6(1) or (2) of this Regulation, and on the authorisations refused by the applicants as well as those granted to other applicants before 1 October pursuant to Article 6(3) of this Regulation. These notifications shall be made in the form set out in Annex V to this Regulation;
(b)
a notification on the authorisations for replantings granted during the previous wine year as referred to in Article 8 of this Regulation. The first notification shall be made by 1 November 2016 and shall cover the period between 1 January 2016 and 31 July 2016. The notification shall be made in the form set out in Annex VI (Table B) to this Regulation;
(c)
a notification on the authorisations granted during the previous wine year on the basis of the conversion of valid planting rights as referred to in Article 9 of this Regulation. Such notification shall be made in the form set out in Annex VII (Table B), and be made only until the 1 November of the year following the end of the deadline for conversion referred to in Article 68(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 or the deadline decided by the Member State in accordance with Article 9(2) of this Regulation.
3. Member States complying with the conditions set out in Article 67(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall notify the Commission by 31 July 2015 of the decision not to implement the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings pursuant Article 67(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
4. Member States shall notify the Commission by 15 September 2015 of the deadline for conversion of planting rights into authorisations pursuant to Article 9(2) of this Regulation. This notification shall be made in the form set out in Annex VII (Table A) to this Regulation.
5. The notifications, communications and submission of lists referred to in this Article shall be made in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 792/2009 (5).
6. If a Member State fails to comply with paragraphs 1 to 4, or if the relevant information appears incorrect, the Commission may suspend part or all of the monthly payments referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 as regards the wine sector until the notification is correctly made.
7. Member States shall retain the information submitted in accordance with this Article for at least 10 wine years following the wine year during which it was submitted.
8. The obligations laid down in this Article shall not prejudice the Member States' obligations laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6).
Article 12
Controls
1. Member States shall apply controls to the extent they are necessary to ensure the proper application of the rules for the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings laid down in Chapter III of title I of Part II of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/560 and in this Regulation.
2. In order to verify the compliance with the rules referred to in paragraph 1, Member States shall make use of the vineyard register referred to in Article 145 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
3. Article 59 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the scheme of authorisations for vine plantings.
Article 13
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 7 April 2015.