Ownership of PAC Rights
One of the issues that most worries PAC recipients is determining the ownership of the rights, for which we must start from the requirements for be a beneficiary of this aid.
The “single payment rights” are currently subject to the regulatory regime established by the Royal Decree 1617/2005, of November 30, which regulates the granting of rights to farmers within the so-called single payment.
The objective of the aforementioned Royal Decree was to establish basic rules for the application in Spain, from January 1, 2006 of the “Regimen of Single Payment” which is established in the European Commission Regulation 1782/2003 of the Council, dated September 29, which establishes common provisions applicable to direct aid schemes within the framework of the policy common agricultural and establishes certain aid schemes for farmers.
According to article 2 of the aforementioned Royal Decree, the single payment system is understood to be:
“the income aid for farmers included in article 1 of Regulation (EC) 1782/2003, of the Council of September 20, 2003, and that includes the aid included in annex I of this Royal Decree”.
The European Commission Regulation mentions in its preamble that the single payment system:
“should bundle various direct payments currently received by farmers under different schemes into a single payment, to be determined from previously held entitlements, within a reference period…”
That is why it is an income support scheme for farmers that falls under the concept of public subsidy, understood as a monetary provision that is delivered to a beneficiary without consideration, subject to compliance with certain requirements and with an equally determined objective, and that responds to the promotion of an activity of public utility or social interest or the promotion of a public purpose, as deduced from article 2 of Law 38/2003, of November 17, General Grants.
Regarding the concept of single payment rights and their very nature, the Judgment of the Provincial Court of Madrid, of November 19, 2012, Appeal 85172011, cites that:< /p>
“Royal Decree 1617/2005 of December 30, which applies the community regulations arising from EC Regulation 1782/2003 of September 29, 2003, defines, in its article 2, a) that The single payment scheme must be understood as: the income support for farmers included in article 1 of the aforementioned Regulation; certainly article 13 of the same Regulation, even based on the very personal nature of the right, allows its assignment, “with or without lands”, and by any of the forms that are included in article 46.2 of the Community Regulation; in the same sense, Royal Decree 1470/2007 of November 2, which has repealed the previous one, although according to the Provision Third Transitory, it continues to be applicable to the ongoing procedures, for the initial assignment of single payment rights, in its article 21, first and second paragraphs.”
The above is complemented by the Judgment of the Provincial Court of Jaén, of April 8, 2011, Appeal 97/2011:
“certainly, Royal Decree 1617/2005, of December 30, which applies the community regulations deriving from EC Regulation 1782/2003, of September 29, 2003, in its art. 2. a), defines what is to be understood by a single payment scheme; it is income support for farmers, included in article 1 of the aforementioned Regulation. Article 13 of the precept in question regulates the assignment of rights aid, and in its different sections it describes them as farmer’s rights that can be transferred to another, which implies that they are very personal rights, which even as detailed in article 46.2 of the Community Regulation, could be transferred through sale or any other definitive means of assignment “with or without land”.
To know the ownership of the CAP rights, the concepts of farmer, beneficiary and agricultural exploitation, of which the beneficiary is the owner, must be based on. These concepts are autonomous from European Law and are defined in Regulation (EC) 1782/2003, which defines:
–Farmer: Any natural or legal person or group of natural or legal persons, whose exploitation is located in the territory of the Community.
–Holding: All production units managed by a farmer and located in the territory of the same Member State.
-Agricultural activity: The production, breeding or cultivation of agricultural products.
Consequently, the concept of farmer, and therefore of beneficiary of the subsidy, is linked to the ownership of an agricultural holding (located in the territory of a Member State), of which the “production units” are part, managed by the beneficiary based on the corresponding enabling legal title, which can be owned, leased, usufruct, sharecropping, etc.
You may be interested in: “Department specialized in Agrarian Law “
Patricia Prendes
Director of the Department of Agrarian Law
01/24/2023
