1. Union aid of a total amount of EUR 420 000 000 shall be available to Member States to provide targeted support to farmers in the beef and veal, milk and milk products, pigmeat and sheepmeat and goatmeat sectors (‘livestock sectors’).

Member States shall use the amounts available to them as set out in the Annex for measures taken on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory criteria, provided that the resulting payments do not cause distortion of competition.

The measures taken by the Member States shall aim at alleviating the economic consequences resulting from the market disturbances on farmers in the livestock sectors.

Member States shall ensure that, when farmers in the livestock sectors are not the direct beneficiaries of the payments, the economic benefit of the support is passed on to them in full.

Member States' expenditure in relation to the payments under this Regulation shall only be eligible for Union aid if the support has been paid by them by 30 June 2016 at the latest.

2. In respect of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the operative event for the exchange rate as regards the amounts set out in the Annex shall be the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

3. Support provided for in this Regulation may be cumulated with other support financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2015/1853 of 15 October 2015 providing for temporary exceptional aid to farmers in the livestock sectors ANNEX