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1. Support under this Article shall provide emergency assistance to farmers, forest holders and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are particularly affected by natural disasters, aimed at ensuring continuity of their business activity, subject to the conditions set out in this Article.

2. Support under this Article shall be subject to the formal recognition by the competent public authorities of Member States that a natural disaster as defined in Article 2(1), point (k), of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 has occurred on or after 1 January 2024 and that that natural disaster, or measures adopted in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council () to eradicate or contain a plant disease or pest, have caused the destruction of at least 30 % of the relevant production or potential.

3. Support under this Article shall be granted to:

(a) farmers;

(b) private and public forest holders and other private law and public bodies and their associations, excluding State-owned forest managed by the State;

(c) SMEs active in the processing, marketing or development of agricultural products covered by Annex I to the TFEU or cotton, except fishery products; or (d) SMEs active in the processing, mobilising and marketing of forest products. With regard to the processing of agricultural products, the output of the production process may be a product not covered by Annex I to the TFEU.

4. Member States shall target the support under this Article to beneficiaries who are most affected by natural disasters, by determining eligibility conditions on the basis of available evidence.

5. The support under this Article shall take the form of a lump sum payment to be paid by 31 December 2025, based on applications for support approved by the competent authority by 30 June 2025. The level of payment may be differentiated by categories of beneficiaries, on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory criteria.

6. The maximum amount of support under this Article shall not exceed EUR 42 000 per beneficiary.

7. When granting support under this Article, Member States shall take into account the support granted under other national or Union support instruments or private schemes to respond to the impact of natural disasters in order to ensure sound financial management in accordance with Article 33 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council (), as applicable, while targeting the support to beneficiaries who are most affected by natural disasters.