The increasing number of extreme meteorological events and instances of damage to permanent grasslands designated as environmentally sensitive, due to factors such as wild animals or invasive species, increases the incidence of specific problems encountered by farmers in the application of the requirements of GAEC standards 5, 6, 7 and 9 which the Member States need to address. There is also a risk that such requirements would be disproportionate in view of their actual contribution to achieving the protection objective for GAEC standards 5, 6 and 7 and the objective of protection of habitats and species for GAEC standard 9. To avoid such situations, Member States should be allowed to establish specific exemptions from the requirements of GAEC standards 5, 6, 7 and 9 in order to address specific problems in the application of those GAEC standards based on objective and non-discriminatory criteria, such as soil types, crops or farming systems or damage to permanent grasslands due, inter alia, to wild animals or invasive species. Those exemptions should be limited in their area coverage and should not hamper the contribution of those standards to achieving their main objectives, as listed in Annex III to Regulation (EU) 2021/2115.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
