Payment deadline for area aid schemes under the EU’s common agricultural policy

Subject: Payment deadline for area aid schemes under the EU’s common agricultural policy

Payments from area aid schemes under the EU’s common agricultural policy are of crucial importance for farmers’ finances. Under EU law, the final deadline for the authorities to make payments under area aid schemes is 30 June.

There are no specific provisions in EU law that stipulate whether or not a farmer is entitled to have the aid paid by 30 June. On the other hand, it does state that the authorities may have a smaller proportion of the amount refunded if the deadline is not met.

1. Can the Commission explain which provisions of EU law ensure the legal safety of the farmer and guarantee that the aid will be paid out before 30 June?

2. Can the Commission explain what rights the farmer has if the national paying agencies do not meet this deadline, and whether Member States can be held financially liable if they do not pay out the aid until after 30 June?

3. Can the Commission clarify whether the farmer can claim interest if the aid to which he/she is entitled is not paid out before 30 June?

Answer given by Mr Wojciechowski on behalf of the European Commission (27 August 2020)

In the framework of shared management, Member States are responsible for payments to farmers and are bound to organise the payment schedule, ensuring prior verification of eligibility conditions (1). Member States must execute payments to farmers between 1 December of the claim year in question and 30 June of the following calendar year (2). They may also pay advances (3).

Under shared management, the Commission does not intervene in relations between the farmers and the Member States’ authorities. It checks the respect of payment deadlines at Member State level when reimbursing the expenditure incurred to the Member State concerned. If Member States pay the farmers only after 30 June, the reimbursement of the corresponding expenditure by the Commission is progressively reduced and, ultimately, the expenditure becomes ineligible for Union financin g (4). Therefore, it is in the interest of the Member States to comply with the payment deadlines and take all the measures necessary to grant payments correctly and on time.

From the Commission experience, there is no systemic issue of late execution of payments by Member States. Normally, around 98% of the amounts available for direct payments are booked in June (5).

EU legislation does not foresee any compensation of farmers for potential delays in payments. This is without prejudice to any provisions for such compensation under national legislation.

⋅1∙ Article 75(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, OJ L 347, 20.12.2013.

⋅2∙ Article 75(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, OJ L 347, 20.12.2013.

⋅3∙ Article 75(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, OJ L 347, 20.12.2013.

⋅4∙ Article 40 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, OJ L 347, 20.12.2013.

⋅5∙ Amounts spent per MS in comparison with net ceilings of Annex III as referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, OJ L 347, 20.12.2013.