Application and calculation of the administrative penalties

1.   The administrative penalties referred to in Article 84 shall be applied by means of reduction or exclusion of the total amount of the payments listed in Article 83(1) granted or to be granted to the beneficiary concerned in respect of aid applications that the beneficiary has submitted or will submit in the course of the calendar year of the finding of the non-compliance. The reductions or exclusions shall be calculated on the basis of the payments granted or to be granted in the calendar year in which the non-compliance occurred. However, where it is not possible to determine the calendar year in which the non-compliance occurred, the reductions or exclusions shall be calculated on the basis of the payments granted or to be granted in the calendar year of the finding of the non-compliance.
For the calculation of those reductions and exclusions, account shall be taken of the severity, extent, permanence or reoccurrence and intentionality of the non-compliance detected. The administrative penalties imposed shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
The administrative penalties shall be based on the controls carried out in accordance with Article 83(6).
2.   The reduction shall, as a general rule, be 3 % of the total amount of the payments referred to in paragraph 1.
3.   Where the non-compliance has no or only insignificant consequences for the achievement of the objective of the standard or requirement concerned, no administrative penalty shall be applied.
Member States shall set up an awareness mechanism to ensure that beneficiaries are informed about the non-compliance detected and possible remedial actions to be taken. That mechanism shall also include the specific farm advisory services referred to in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 participation at which may be made mandatory for the beneficiaries concerned.
4.   Where a Member State uses the area monitoring system referred to in Article 66(1), point (c), to detect cases of non-compliance, it may decide to apply a lower percentage reduction than that provided for in paragraph 2 of this Article.
5.   Where the non-compliance has grave consequences for the achievement of the objective of the standard or requirement concerned or constitutes a direct risk to public or animal health, a higher percentage reduction than that provided for in paragraph 2 shall be applied.
6.   Where the same non-compliance persists or reoccurs once within three consecutive calendar years, the percentage reduction shall, as a general rule, be 10 % of the total amount of the payments referred to in paragraph 1. Further reoccurrences of the same non-compliance without justified reason by the beneficiary shall be considered to be cases of intentional non-compliance.
In the case of intentional non-compliance, the percentage reduction shall be at least 15 % of the total amount of the payments referred to in paragraph 1.
7.   In order to ensure a level playing field for Member States and the effectiveness, proportionality and dissuasive effect of the administrative penalties under this Chapter, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 102 supplementing this Regulation with detailed rules on the application and calculation of those penalties.