This Regulation amends existing rules to provide emergency financial assistance through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) to farmers, forest holders and rural businesses affected by natural disasters occurring from January 2024. The act introduces a new temporary support measure with simplified procedures and increased flexibility in fund allocation to quickly address the devastating effects of natural disasters in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe.The Regulation modifies the existing Regulation 2020/2220 by adding several new articles that establish the framework for emergency assistance. The key changes include allowing Member States to decrease the non-regression threshold by up to 15 percentage points, introducing a new temporary support measure with 100% EU co-financing rate, and setting up simplified procedures for disaster recognition and fund distribution.The main provisions include:
– Support eligibility for farmers, forest holders, and SMEs who lost at least 30% of their production potential due to natural disasters
– Maximum support of €42,000 per beneficiary
– Lump sum payments to be made by December 31, 2025
– Applications must be approved by June 30, 2025
– EAFRD support cannot exceed 10% of the total rural development program contribution for 2021-2022
– Member States can consider whole affected areas as being under force majeure
– Support must be targeted to most affected beneficiaries using objective criteria
– Implementation must follow ‘build back better’ principle to increase sector resilience
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