Legal issues of use of financial support for lessees of agricultural land from the first and second pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy and schemes approved by the European Commission

Aneta Suchoń

Abstract

The aim of the article was an attempt to determine whether and to what extent legal regulations allow the lessees of agricultural land to use funds from the first and second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy and to refund part of the excise tax included in the price of diesel fuel used for agricultural production. The implementation of the indicated goal requires consideration of legal regulations on financing and construction of the lease of agricultural land (primarily the Civil Code Act and the Act of 19 October 1991 on the management of agricultural property of the State Treasury). First of all, the considerations focused on the direct payment system. It was emphasized that when an agricultural plot is the subject of independent ownership and dependent ownership, it is the dependent holder who is entitled to use direct payments. Further on, the considerations concerned the support for lessees from the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy, primarily the agri-environment-climate scheme, suport for organic farming and modernization of farms. Then, as part of the article, selected issues from the Act of 10 March 2006 on the refund of excise duty included in the price of diesel fuel used for agricultural production were discussed. The aid specified in this legal act is included in the schemes approved by the European Commission pursuant to Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain types of aid compatible with the internal market pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty. Subsequently, considerations focused on selected elements of the structure of the lease agreement, most of all, the duration, extension of the contract and the issue of making improvements to the subject of the lease. In conclusion, the author stated, among other things, that the fact that farmers who are lessees are entitled to use the basic instrument of the EU support for agricultural producers, that is the system of direct payments, especially area payments, as well as selected schemes under the Rural Development Plan and the refund of part of the tax included in the price of diesel fuel used for agricultural production should be positively assessed. Provisions on the structure of the lease agreement included in the Civil Code, as a rule, do not favor the conclusion of long-term contracts, and do not include separate provisions on the extension of the lease or the settlement of improvements to the subject of the lease, which sometimes makes it difficult to obtain payments from the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy.