Ref. Ares(2018)4934080 - 26/09/2018
Ref. Ares(2019)6903599 - 07/11/2019
Dato 5. September 2018
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Follow up on the meeting with Pierre Bascou 15. June 2018
As promised we send you a short follow up on the constructive discussions we had at the
meeting on 15. June 2018.
Longer update cycles for land parcels with areas within multiannual contracts
As we discussed at the meeting, the field parcels are updated every 3 years in Denmark.
This is done in order to keep a low percentage of controls. This procedure often makes it
necessary to adjust very small areas in the multiannual contracts after field parcel
updates – and farmers need to pay back up to 5 years of the multiannual contract. Often
the cost of administering these small changes are much higher than the amount of
support concerned. The question we discussed at the meeting was whether it would be
possible to have a longer update cycle – e.g. 5 years – in areas with wetland projects (or
other areas with multiannual contracts) without changing the percentage of controls for all
farms, and that you would consider whether it would be possible to do this.
Allow pro rata on extensive areas which are under multiannual contracts
As you also highlighted in the written answer it is possible to apply pro rata on permanent
grassland. The challenge is, that very often areas in wetland projects (and other areas
with multiannual commitments) are defined as arable land. It would be beneficial to use
pro rata on these areas, because they are more extensive and often very dynamic areas
which are difficult to digitalize precisely into a map.
Typically, they are not defined as permanent grassland due to the definitions in the
guideline on permanent grassland. In the guideline it is outlined, that areas under
multiannual commitments will not grow into the definition of permanent grassland. The
“counting” of the number of years with grassland is paused, when the area is under a
multiannual commitment, as the multiannual commitment “freezes” the grassland status.
Generally, this is a good principle, but in certain cases it does not make sense. It is very
difficult for a farmer to understand that an area which is grassland (and maybe also
always has been), and which will always continue to be so is defined as arable land due
to a multiannual commitment. In such cases it should be possible for the farmer to decide
to convert areas under multiannual commitments from arable land into permanent
grassland and thereby be able to use the pro rata system.
Make it simple to use article 32 in project areas
We understood the following at the meeting:
When areas within the project have been registered either as areas which can be
exempted from regular eligibility criteria due to article 32 in 1307/2013 or areas which
cannot be exempted once and for all, it should be possible to claim the whole project area
with the use of the exemption in article 32 every year. Therefore, the farmer does not
have to actively assess every year which part of the project area that will fulfill regular
eligibility criteria and which will not do so and draw that into the yearly application. Can
you confirm this.
First year of new wetland project – precise mapping impossible – farmers spend
many resources on adjusting maps the following years
At the meeting, we suggested that the Commission permits the farmer to make a
retrospective application of the 20-year rural development commitment which is typically
given in wetland projects. This would give time to make a more precise mapping of the
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commitment after the physical establishment of the project. This would give fewer
corrections of the maps and fewer reductions of commitments afterwards.
What happens today is the following:
Physical establishment of the project
A wetland project in Denmark typically involves changing the placement of the riverbed
and increasing the water level (up until the 1970’s many watercourses were straightened
out in order to get more regular fields and enhance draining of the nearby fields – now the
watercourses are brought back into their original geographical position). Therefore, the
physical establishment of the project typically involves machinery work and would take
some time. Typically, physical establishment of the project starts during the summer
period and continues in the fall.
Application deadline for the 20-year commitment is September 1st in the physical
establishment year
The application deadline for the 20-year commitment which will compensate the farmer
for not being able to take the area into production is September 1st in the physical
establishment year. Often the physical establishment of the project is not finished by the
time of application, and therefore there does not exist any maps or photos which show
precisely the new outline of the area. A project plan exists, but the physical realization of
the project can deviate from the plan. Therefore it is very difficult to make a precise
mapping of the area of the 20-year commitment. The 20-year commitment starts 1.
September.
Application deadline for the first payment claim for the 20. year commitment is April 21st in
the year following the establishment year
The application deadline for the first payment claim in the 20-year commitment is April
21st the following year. At this point in time our paying agency works intensively on having
the first photos/maps and reallocation of field parcels ready. Already by the 1st payment
claim, there will be reductions in the 20-year commitment, because the physical
establishment of the project will most likely not be precisely as projected and mapped by
1. September, when the farmer applied for the 20-year commitment. This means that the
farmer (who typically pays his professional advisor to do it due to the high complexity)
needs to spend time and resources on reducing the commitment or applying for new
commitments if the final area covered by the project includes areas which were not part of
the first commitment. Bottom line is that the farmer spends a large amount of resources
on correcting the applications. It is often very small areas, and typically the cost of
correcting largely exceeds the amount of support concerned.
Payment for the first year in December-June
The first payment of the 20-year commitment will get to the farmer in December-June.
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What to do about it
A suggestion to solve the challenge is to make it possible to change the time of
application for the 20-year commitment from September 1st to April 21st the following
year. At this point in time there will be a better mapping of the area. Therefore the 20-year
commitment will be more precise, a large part of the small reductions of the commitment
can be avoided, and all eligible area can be included in the commitment. Basically, the
remaining part of the process continues as usual. The 20-year commitment starts at the
same time as before (September 1st the year before), and simultaneously with the
application for the 20-year commitment in April the farmer also makes the first payment
claim for the 20-year commitment. The first payment to the farmer will be at the same
time as it is now.
Improve instrument of up-front, lump sum compensation
There is a need to improve this instrument to make it a real alternative to the 20-year
commitment. If this would be possible, it could reduce complexity significantly – going
from 2 or 3 layers of support on the same area (basic payment, 20-year commitment and
5-year agri-environmental commitment) to only 1 or 2 layers of support (basic payment
and 5-year agri-environmental commitment). The land in the project is restricted in use in
a national register – and would not be allowed for agricultural production again.
We hope that you will look more into this.