CAP direct aid payments for the 2023 campaign exceed 3,475 million

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, 5 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, through the Spanish Agrarian Guarantee Fund (FEGA), has coordinated the payment in Galicia of 121.9 million euros of direct aid from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the 2023 campaign, until December 31, and whose advance payment period began on October 16.

Overall, more than 3,475 million euros of the first payments of the new CAP 2023-2027, which came into force on January 1, 2023, have been paid throughout the country. This amount, paid on December 31, is similar to that carried out in other first campaigns in which a new CAP has been launched, due to the specificities that these transition years imply.

Agriculture has specified that in the specific case of the CAP 2023 campaign, the application submission period began in March, a month later than usual, since the regulations required the conversion of basic payment rights to aid rights. basic income for sustainability before opening the submission period.

The initially planned deadline was extended by one month, until June 30, 2023, following the request of the autonomous communities and the sector, to facilitate its adaptation to new developments in the management of applications, which has led to extensions of deadlines. for the modification of requests, the presentation of georeferenced photographs and the management of incidents derived from monitoring controls.

Furthermore, this CAP has incorporated new interventions, such as eco-regimes, or new requirements, such as those established in this period in order to comply with the status of active farmer, which require additional controls to be carried out by the autonomous communities prior to payment. of aid, in order to guarantee the appropriate use of European Union funds.

Controls have also been reinforced to prevent direct aid from being fraudulently requested for areas that the applicant does not have at their disposal (whether owned or under usufruct, lease or sharecropping).

All of these issues have implied adaptations to the payment schedule of the different interventions, so it is necessary to wait for the end of the direct aid payment period, on June 30 of this year, for the 4,875 million euros to be completed. euros that the 622,400 farmers and ranchers who submitted their single application will receive in 2023.

As of December 1, the payment of up to 90% of the basic income aid and its complementary payments was authorized and from that day up to 90% of the payment of the eco-regimes and the aid regimes associated with the sustainable production of proteins of plant origin, rice, sugar beets, tomatoes for processing, nuts in areas at risk of desertification, traditional production of raisins and olive groves with specific difficulties and high environmental value, as well as aid associated with livestock farming, except aid for fattening calves.

Thus, once the allocation of rights from the National Reserve of Basic Income Assistance has been carried out (the deadline is April 1), as well as the calculation of definitive unit amounts, remainders and transfers between interventions (before on May 1), the payment of the remaining 10% will be authorized, whose deadline to become effective ends on June 30.

Regarding the specific payment for cotton and aid for fattening calves, the admissibility requirements of these aids cannot be verified until the beginning of 2024, since the calculation of the unit amount is based on production units (hectares and number of animals) that meet all the requirements of these aid schemes. As in the other regimes, the deadline to make payments for these two aids ends on June 30.