COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 135/2013
of 18 February 2013
amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 926/2011 for the purposes of Council Decision 2009/470/EC as regards Union financial aid to the EU reference laboratories for feed and food and the animal health sector
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Decision 2009/470/EC of 25 May 2009 on expenditure in the veterinary field (1), and in particular Article 31(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 926/2011 of 12 September 2011 for the purposes of Council Decision 2009/470/EC as regards Union financial aid to the EU reference laboratories for feed and food and the animal health sector (2) lays down rules as regards the arrangements for the granting of Union financial aid for the activities of EU reference laboratories, including for the organisation of workshops and the conditions according to which that aid is granted.
(2)
In order to limit the administrative burden for EU reference laboratories and the Commission, the organisation of workshops should be subject to the same rules as other activities of those laboratories. The submission by those laboratories of specific financial and technical reports on workshops should therefore no longer be required. Accordingly, the Commission should no longer be required to make specific payments following the submission and approval of those reports.
(3)
Implementing Regulation (EU) No 926/2011 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(4)
As the amendments to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 926/2011, introduced by this Regulation, will have no negative impact for the EU reference laboratories, this Regulation should apply retroactively from 1 January 2013. This retroactivity is necessary in order to ensure an equal treatment between EU reference laboratories in cases where workshops have been organised before the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
(5)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Implementing Regulation (EU) No 926/2011 is amended as follows:
(1)
Article 6 is replaced by the following:
‘Article 6
Payment of the aid
The balance of Union financial aid for work programmes shall be paid to laboratories following their submission of the financial and technical reports referred to in Article 11(1) and the approval of those reports by the Commission.’;
(2)
in Chapter II, the title is replaced by the following:
(3)
Article 9 is amended as follows:
(a)
the title is replaced by the following:
‘Article 9
Definitions’;
(b)
the following paragraph is added:
‘A workshop is defined as an annual date for information and coordination to which all National Reference Laboratories are invited by the laboratories.’;
(4)
Articles 10 and 11 are replaced by the following:
‘Article 10
Eligibility
1. Expenditure relating to the following items shall be eligible under the laboratories’ work programme:
(a)
staff dedicated to the activities of the laboratories;
(b)
subcontracting;
(c)
capital equipment;
(d)
consumables;
(e)
the shipment of samples for comparative tests;
(f)
missions;
(g)
workshops to which at least one participant per Member State has been invited;
(h)
training activities;
(i)
meetings;
(j)
overheads.
2. The expenditure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be eligible within the limits set out in the annual financing decision and in accordance with the eligibility rules set out in Annexes II and IV.
3. Laboratories shall submit a written request to the Commission for its prior approval to increase the budget of one of the items referred to in Paragraph 1 by more than 10 % without exceeding the total eligible costs stipulated in the annual financing decision.
Article 11
Submission of reports on the laboratories’ work programme
1. Laboratories shall submit the following reports to the Commission by 31 March of calendar year “n + 2”:
(a)
a paper copy and an electronic version of their financial report concerning the implementation of the work programme for the previous calendar year completed in accordance with Annexes III(a) and III(b);
(b)
a technical report of their activities, certified by the laboratory’s technical director.
2. Union financial aid may be reduced by the Commission if the work programme is not completely executed or poorly executed by 31 December of the calendar year for which it was approved.’;
(5)
the second paragraph of Article 12 is deleted;
(6)
Article 13 is deleted;
(7)
Chapter III is deleted;
(8)
the Annexes to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 926/2011 are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2013.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 18 February 2013.