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Amending Regulation (EU) No1305/2013 as regards specific measures to provide exceptional temporary support under EAFRD in response to the COVID-19 outbreak

In “Agriculture and Rural Development - AGRI”

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The COVID-19 sanitary crisis is having long-term repercussions on the economies of all Member States. This unprecedented situation requires exceptional measures in the various sectors affected.

The farming and food sectors are facing many difficulties originating from the extensive movement restrictions and the mandatory closures of shops, outdoor markets, restaurants and other hospitality establishments decided by Member States during the first semester of 2020. Economic disruption to the agricultural sector and rural communities has led to liquidity and cash-flow problems for farmers and small rural businesses processing agricultural products, which are now in urgent need of aid.

To support farmers and rural SMEs and help them ensure the continuity of their activities, the European Commission has proposed to grant them temporary emergency aid under the rural development fund (EAFRD). The Commission wants to offer easy-to-use solutions which can be rolled out by Member States, and which can support diverse situations on the ground and which are easily accessible to beneficiaries.

To this end, on 30 April 2020, the Commission published a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). The proposed amending regulation provided for specific measures to grant exceptional temporary support under EAFRD in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. They were inserted as part of the EAFRD regulation, in a new Article 39b. The support provided consisted of a one-off lump sum payment of maximum 5 000 € per farmer and 50 000 € per SME and was limited to a maximum of 1% of the total EAFRD contribution to the rural development programme of each Member State. The payments should be made by the end of 2020. Member States would be required to substantiate the targeting of the support to those most affected, based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Given the urgency of the situation related to the COVID-19 crisis, the Regulation would enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

During their meeting of 20 May 2020, the Members of the EP Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) widely supported the request to use the Urgent procedure under Rule 163 of the Rules of Procedure to ensure the swift approval of the proposed Regulation. They also proposed to reinforce the measures and asked for an increased amount to allocate to this measure - at least 2% of the envelopes for each national rural development programme. They also asked to extend the period for the lump-sum payments into 2021.

During the COMAGRI meeting of 11 June 2020, the Members voted unanimously to adopt a set of amendments already agreed with the Council during informal meetings. The changes involved raising the ceilings for payments to farmers to 7 000 €, raising the limit on finance for the measure to 2% of the total contribution from the EAFRD to national rural development programmes, extending the deadline for payments under the scheme to 30 June 2021; applications for support would have to be approved by the competent authorities before 31 December 2020.

On 17 June 2020, the Plenary approved the COMAGRI’s request to proceed according to the Urgent procedure. Norbert Lins (PPE, DE), the rapporteur, presented a compromise amendment to the proposal for a Regulation on behalf of the COMAGRI.

On 19 June 2020, the Plenary adopted the compromise amendment to the proposal for the Regulation, then adopted the proposal with this amendment in its final vote. The emergency measure was approved by 636 votes in favour to 21 against, with 8 abstentions.

The draft regulation as approved by MEPs and informally agreed by Member States was submitted to the Council for final endorsement. The Council approved the draft regulation on 20 June 2020. The new EU Regulation entered into force on 26 June 2020, the day it was published in the EU’s Official Journal.

References:

Author: Marie-Laure Augère-Granier, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu 

As of 20/03/2023.