Basic payment
The basic payment is granted to holdings per hectare of eligible land - arable land, areas under permanent crops and grassland Areas.
The area payment is handled via payment entitlements (PE). Based on the applicant’s eligible areas of 2015 and his/her direct payments from 2014, new PE were allocated to farmers in 2015.
The amount of the payment per PE and holding is until application year 2019 adapted to a standardised all-Austrian value in five equal steps.
A reduction coefficient of 80 percent is applied to alpine pastures. This means that on these areas PE are allocated for only 20 percent of the area applied for.
An example: For 10 hectares of alpine pasture, 2 PE are allocated.
As from application year 2017, the reduction coefficient for rough meadows was repealed. For rough meadows for which an application as eligible areas had been filed in application year 2017 and which had not received payment entitlements due to the application of the reduction coefficient, were granted further payment entitlements.
Extensive areas profit from the harmonisation of the PE values, whereas intensively managed areas gradually receive lower payments.
All current AMA leaflets on direct payments are available here.