Contents
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007note, and in particular Article 220(1), first subparagraph, point (a), thereof,Whereas:
(1)Between 1 November 2024 and 30 April 2025, Italy confirmed 420 outbreaks of African swine fever and notified them to the Commission.
(2)Italy immediately and efficiently took all the necessary animal health and veterinary measures required pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Councilnote, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687note and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594note.
(3)On 31 March 2026, the Commission received a formal request from Italy for the part-financing of certain exceptional measures pursuant to Article 220(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 for the outbreaks confirmed between 1 November 2024 and 30 April 2025.
(4)The implementation of the animal health and veterinary measures referred to in recital 2 led to the non-production of piglets and fattening pigs due to movement restrictions, additional costs due to a longer rearing and fattening period of pigs and lower selling prices resulting from delayed slaughtering.
(5)Pursuant to Article 220(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, the Union part-financing should be equivalent to 50 % of the expenditure borne by Italy for the relevant exceptional market support measures. The maximum number of animals eligible for financing in the framework of each exceptional market support measure should be fixed by the Commission after scrutinising the request received from Italy concerning the restrictions related to outbreaks.
(6)To avoid any risk of overcompensation, the maximum amount of the Union part-financing should be based on technical and economic studies or accounting documents and fixed at an appropriate level for each animal.
(7)To avoid any risk of double funding, the losses incurred by the beneficiaries should not be compensated by State aid measures or via an insurance, and the Union part-financing under this Regulation should be limited to eligible animals and products for which no Union financial contribution has been received under Regulation (EU) 2021/690 of the European Parliament and of the Councilnote.
(8)The extent and duration of the exceptional market support measures provided for in this Regulation should be limited to what is strictly necessary to support the market. In particular, the exceptional market support measures should apply only to the production of pigmeat from the holdings located in the regulated zones and for the duration of the animal health and veterinary measures laid down in the Union and Italian legislation relevant to the outbreaks of African swine fever confirmed between 1 November 2024 and 30 April 2025.
(9)To ensure flexibility in case the number of animals eligible for compensation differs from the maximum numbers set in this Regulation, which are based on estimates, the compensation may be adjusted within certain limits, as long as the maximum amount of expenditure part-financed by the Union is respected.
(10)In order to ensure the effectiveness of this exceptional measure, the beneficiaries should rapidly receive the emergency financial support. Additionally, a timely monitoring of the budget as well as an up-to-date follow up and efficient use of the agricultural reserve should be ensured, thereby maximising its availability and enhancing the capacity to respond promptly to emerging crises. Therefore, it is appropriate to define an eligibility period for Member States to pay this support to the beneficiaries. Any payments made after a specific end date should be considered ineligible for Union financing.
(11)The Union should therefore finance the expenditure incurred by Italy under these exceptional market support measures only where such expenditure is made by a certain eligibility end date. The support for this exceptional measure should therefore be paid by 31 May 2027.
(12)As no payments made after 31 May 2027 should be considered eligible under any circumstances, Article 5(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127note, which provides for a proportional reduction of the monthly payments effected after the deadline, should not apply.
(13)In order to ensure the eligibility and the correctness of the payments, Italy should carry out ex ante checks.
(14)In order to ensure an immediate implementation by Italy of the measures laid down in this Regulation, this Regulation should enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
(15)The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for the Common Organisation of the Agricultural Markets,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1#
The Union shall provide part-financing equivalent to 50 % of the expenditure borne by Italy to support the pigmeat market seriously affected by the outbreaks of African swine fever which were confirmed and notified by Italy between 1 November 2024 and 30 April 2025.
Article 2#
1.Expenditure borne by Italy shall be eligible for Union part-financing only:
(a)for the duration of the application of animal health and veterinary measures referred to in the Union legal acts listed in the Annex and related to the period laid down in Article 1; and
(b)for those pig holdings that have been subject to the animal health and veterinary measures and are located in the zones referred to in the Union legal acts listed in the Annex (‘the regulated zones’); and
(c)if the compensation has been paid by Italy to the beneficiaries before 31 May 2027; and
(d)if, for the period referred to in point (a), the animal or product has not benefitted from any compensation by means of State aid or insurance and for which it has received no Union financial contribution under Regulation (EU) 2021/690.
2.None of the expenditure paid by Italy after 31 May 2027 shall be eligible for Union part-financing, irrespective of the share of the expenditure it represents.
Article 3#
1.The maximum amount of Union part-financing shall be EUR 12564303, broken down as follows:
(a)EUR 655364 for losses related to lower selling prices due to delayed slaughtering caused by movement restrictions in the regulated zones, up to 17650 animals;
(b)EUR 7887241 for losses of production of piglets resulting from interruption of sow breeding, up to 28491 animals;
(c)EUR 2890502 for losses of production of fattening pigs resulting from a prolonged fallowing period, up to 268392 animals;
(d)EUR 1131196 for losses due to prolonged rearing of pigs caused by movement restrictions in the regulated zones, up to a maximum of 154547 animals.
2.Where the number of animals eligible for compensation exceeds the maximum number of animals per item set out in paragraph 1, expenditure eligible for Union part-financing may be adjusted per item and go beyond the amounts resulting from the application of the maximum numbers per item, provided that the total of adjustments remains below 20 % of the maximum amount of expenditure part-financed by the Union referred to in the first sentence of paragraph 1.
Article 4#
1.Italy shall carry out preliminary administrative and on-the-spot checks in accordance with Articles 59 and 60 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 of the European Parliament and of the Councilnote.In particular, Italy shall verify:
(a)the eligibility of the applicant submitting the request for support;
(b)for each eligible applicant: the eligibility, the quantity and the value of the actual loss of production;
(c)that none of the eligible applicants have received funding from any other sources to compensate the losses referred to in Article 2 of this Regulation.
2.For eligible applicants for which administrative checks are completed, compensation may be paid without waiting for all checks to be made on those applicants who have also been selected for on-the-spot checks. All the on-the-spot checks shall be carried-out no later than six months after the payments.
3.In cases where the eligibility of an applicant was not confirmed, the compensation shall be recovered and sanctions applied in accordance with Article 59(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.
Article 5#
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
List of the Union legal acts referred to in Article 2(1) listing the regulated zones
Regulated zones in certain parts of Italy established in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/429, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687 and laid down in the following Commission Implementing Regulations amending Annexes I and II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594:
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