A Decree of Dec. 30, 2022, published in OJ No. 48, Feb. 25, contains provisions for
- the constitution,
- recognition,
- management
- and funding
of the National Mutual Fund for the coverage of catastrophic meteo-climatic damage to agricultural production caused by flood, frost or hoarfrost and drought in accordance with the provisions of Art. 1, paras. 515 et seq. of Law no. 2021 Dec. 30, no. 234.
The Fund is for the payment of compensation to participating farmers as a result of catastrophic meteo-climatic damage to agricultural production caused by flood, frost or hoarfrost and drought, according to Art. 76 of the Strategic Plans Regulation and operates in accordance with the provisions of the Strategic Plans Regulation and the CAP National Strategic Plan 2023-2027.
The corporation “AGRI-CAT S.r.l.” established on July 21, 2022 by the Institute of Services for the Agricultural Food Market – ISMEA pursuant to Art. 1, Paragraph 516 of Law Dec. 30, 2021, is recognized as the managing entity of the Fund.
How it operates
The Fund operates to cover catastrophic weather and climate risks to crop agricultural production throughout the country during the period from January 1 to December 31 of each year.
The managing entity shall adopt the regulations of the fund which, among other things, provide the procedure for the farmer’s participation in the fund.
The Fund also determines the compensation to be paid to eligible participating farmers within the limit of the annual financial availability.
If the total amount of indemnifiable damages exceeds the annual financial availability allocated for compensation payments, the amount of compensation is redetermined on the basis of linear reproportioning for all claimants.
The capital of the Fund for the payment of compensation to participating farmers is made up, for the private share, of the 3 percent levies made by the paying agencies on individual participating farmers, pursuant to Art. 19 of the Strategic Plans Regulations and, for the public share, from the financial contributions under Art. 76(3)(b) of the same regulation.
How to join
The single application submitted by each farmer under CAP 2023-2027 constitutes, for the year in question, an application for membership in the Fund and its mutual coverage.
The submission of the single application authorizes the paying agency to execute the compulsory levy in relation to all single applications that have at least one intervention eligible for aid, to the extent of 3% of each payment, in accordance with the procedures set forth in the decree containing the national implementing provisions of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 with regard to direct payments under Art. 4, paragraph 3, of Law Dec. 29, 1990, no. 428.
Compensation
Only participating farmers who have filed claims with the Fund and are found to fall in areas actually affected by the detected catastrophic event are potentially eligible for compensation.
In the presence of a catastrophic event that has resulted in production damage, the conditions required for the activation of the Fund’s intervention having been met, the participating farmer’s right to benefit from financial compensation arises exclusively in the presence of at least one levy relating to the single application for the year in which the catastrophic event occurred, regardless of the amount thereof and subject to the provisions of Art. 8, paragraph 3; in the absence of at least one levy of any amount, the farmer may file a claim but the relevant compensation may be settled only after the levy has occurred.