Proposal for a Regulation fixing the adjustment rate provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 for direct payments in respect of calendar year 2015

Summary:

The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union lays down the fundamental rule governing Union financing that the annual budget of the Union must comply with the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

In order to support the agricultural sector in case of major crises affecting agricultural production or distribution, a reserve for crises should be established by applying, at the beginning of each year, a reduction to direct payments through a financial discipline mechanism which is provided for in Article 26 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of 17 December 2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy.

Article 25 of this regulation determines that the total amount of the reserve for crises in the agricultural sector shall be €2,800 million with equal annual instalments of €400 million (at 2011 prices) for the period 2014-2020 and shall be included under Heading 2 of the MFF. The amount of the reserve to be included in the Commission 2016 Draft Budget amounts to €441.6 million in current prices, covered via a reduction to direct payments listed in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy.