COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION
of 4 April 2014
on excluding from European Union financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)
(notified under document C(2014) 2008)
(Only the Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish texts are authentic)
(2014/191/EU)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy (1), and in particular Article 7(4) thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 of 21 June 2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy (2), and in particular Article 31 thereof,
Having consulted the Committee on the Agricultural Funds,
Whereas:
(1)
Under Article 7(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999, and Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005, the Commission is to carry out the necessary verifications, communicate to the Member States the results of these verifications, take note of the comments of the Member States, initiate a bilateral discussion so that an agreement may be reached with the Member States in question, and formally communicate its conclusions to them.
(2)
The Member States have had an opportunity to request the launch of a conciliation procedure. That opportunity has been used in some cases and the reports issued on the outcome have been examined by the Commission.
(3)
Under Regulations (EC) No 1258/1999 and (EC) No 1290/2005, only agricultural expenditure which has been incurred in a way that has not infringed European Union rules may be financed.
(4)
In the light of the verifications carried out, the outcome of the bilateral discussions and the conciliation procedures, part of the expenditure declared by the Member States does not fulfil this requirement and cannot, therefore, be financed under the EAGGF Guarantee Section, the EAGF and the EAFRD.
(5)
The amounts that are not recognised as being chargeable to the EAGGF Guarantee Section, the EAGF and the EAFRD should be indicated. Those amounts do not relate to expenditure incurred more than 24 months before the Commission's written notification of the results of the verifications to the Member States.
(6)
As regards the cases covered by this decision, the assessment of the amounts to be excluded on grounds of non-compliance with European Union rules was notified by the Commission to the Member States in a summary report on the subject.
(7)
This Decision is without prejudice to any financial conclusions that the Commission may draw from the judgments of the Court of Justice in cases pending on 1 December 2013 and relating to its content,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
The expenditure itemised in the Annex hereto that has been incurred by the Member States' accredited paying agencies and declared under the EAGGF Guarantee Section, under the EAGF or under the EAFRD shall be excluded from European Union financing because it does not comply with European Union rules.
Article 2
This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Italian Republic, the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Republic of Slovenia, the Republic of Finland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Done at Brussels, 4 April 2014.