Brussels, 14/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to grant an extra month to the new Member States to benefit from the Single Area Payment Scheme (SAPS), which was agreed during the accession negotiations. This aid system, which has the advantage of being simpler than the new single payment regime decided upon in June 2003 by the Council as part of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), will be used by all the new Member States except Slovenia and Malta. Given the difficulty for farmers in these countries of getting used to the Community procedures, the Commission has chosen instead to postpone the deadline for introducing a new formal request for payment by one month, from 15 June to 15 July. "We decided to extend the deadline to guarantee that the EU agricultural aid available is used by farmers in the new Member States", said Commissioner Franz Fischler.