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1. Member States shall set up a system providing for the application of administrative penalties to beneficiaries referred to in Article 83(1) of this Regulation who do not comply, at any time in the calendar year concerned, with the obligations laid down in Title III, Chapter I, Section 2, of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115. The administrative penalties referred to in the first subparagraph shall only apply where the non-compliance is the result of an act or omission directly attributable to the beneficiary concerned, and where one or both of the following conditions are met:

(a) the non-compliance is related to the agricultural activity of the beneficiary;

(b) the non-compliance concerns the holding as defined in Article 3, point (2), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 or other areas managed by the beneficiary situated within the territory of the same Member State. With regard to forest areas, however, the administrative penalties referred to in the first subparagraph shall not apply where no support is claimed for the area concerned in accordance with Articles 70 and 71 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115.

2. In their system of administrative penalties referred to in paragraph 1, Member States:

(a) shall include rules on the application of administrative penalties in cases where the agricultural land, or an agricultural holding, or part thereof, is transferred during the calendar year or the years concerned; those rules shall be based on a fair and equitable attribution of the liability for non-compliance among transferors and transferees;

(b) may decide, notwithstanding paragraph 1, not to apply an administrative penalty to a beneficiary per a calendar year when the amount of the penalty is EUR 100 or less; however, the beneficiary shall be informed about the finding of the non-compliance and about the obligation to take remedial action for the future;

(c) shall provide that no administrative penalty be imposed if:

(i) the non-compliance is due to force majeure or exceptional circumstances in accordance with Article 3, (ii) the non-compliance is due to an order from a public authority.

For the purposes of the first subparagraph, point (a), ‘transfer’ means any type of transaction whereby the agricultural land, or the agricultural holding, or part thereof, ceases to be at the disposal of the transferor.

3. The application of an administrative penalty shall not affect the legality and regularity of the expenditure to which it applies.

4. Farmers with a maximum size of holding not exceeding 10 ha of agricultural area declared in accordance with Article 69(1) shall be exempted from the penalties referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article and in Article 85.