Government tightens direct payment rules for farmers and shifts autumn deadlines

The Czech government has tightened the conditions under which farmers receive direct payments and has moved two autumn deadlines. Government Regulation No. 167/2026 Sb., signed on 17 August 2026 and published in the Sbírka zákonů on 16 September 2026, amends the rules on direct payments, cross-compliance, organic farming, agroforestry and the afforestation of agricultural land, and enters into force on 1 October 2026.

The regulation was issued by the government under § 2c(5) and § 3i of Act No. 252/1997 Sb., on agriculture, and § 1(3) of Act No. 256/2000 Sb., on the State Agricultural Intervention Fund. It amends Government Regulation No. 83/2023 Sb., on the conditions for granting direct payments to farmers, as amended, together with four related regulations. It is signed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Havlíček, standing in for the Prime Minister, and by Minister of Agriculture Šebestyán.

Permanent grassland and landscape features

Under the new § 12(6)(c) of Regulation No. 83/2023 Sb., a farmer may convert permanent grassland into another type of agricultural culture, or plough it, only on the basis of a binding opinion from the locally competent nature protection authority. That opinion must show that European habitats are not affected and that the plan cannot, alone or in combination with other plans, significantly affect the subject of protection or the integrity of a site of European importance or a bird area, so that it does not fall under the procedure in § 45h and § 45i of Act No. 114/1992 Sb., on nature and landscape protection.

A new letter f) in § 13(4) adds a landscape element to the list of features covered by the rules, and § 24(4) now refers to a motorway or a road under Act No. 13/1997 Sb., on roads, instead of “a road of class I or II”.

Sanctions and the new no-payment rule

A new § 24(10) requires the State Agricultural Intervention Fund to apply the highest reduction set out in paragraphs 6 and 7, or to refuse the premium whole-farm eco-payment, where the conditions in § 13(2), (3) or (5) or in paragraph 1(b) are breached. A new § 24a(4) states that inclusion under § 12(3) and notification under § 12(7)(b) of the regulation on agro-environmental-climate measures is not treated as a breach.

Section 25 of the direct payments regulation is repealed. A new § 38b provides that the Fund will not grant aid for the calendar year under § 28 and § 30 to § 33 if the applicant fails to meet the condition in § 28(4), § 30(5), § 31(5), § 32(6) or § 33(6) — that is, if a related supporting document is not supplied.

Deadlines and other schemes

• Afforestation of agricultural land: Regulation No. 63/2023 Sb. moves the date in § 5(1), § 6(1) and § 11(5)(a) from 30 November to 10 December.
• Agroforestry: Regulation No. 140/2023 Sb. makes the same change in § 6(1) and § 18(5).
• Cross-compliance: Regulation No. 73/2023 Sb. replaces the figure “12” with “6” in § 11(7).
• Organic farming: Regulation No. 81/2023 Sb. repeals § 9(1)(b) and § 18(2) and renumbers the following provisions.

Transitional provisions state that proceedings begun before 1 October 2026 will be completed under the earlier wording, except for § 13(4)(f), § 24(10), § 24a(4) and § 25, which apply in the new wording.

The changes affect every applicant for agricultural subsidies from the State Agricultural Intervention Fund and take effect on 1 October 2026, ahead of the autumn deadlines they move. Farmers converting permanent grassland will now need a nature protection opinion first, and a missing supporting document will cost the entire payment for the year.

Source: Sbírka zákonů a mezinárodních smluv, no. 167/2026, 16 September 2026, pp. 2–6 (official reference: 167/2026 Sb.).