Commission Regulation (EC) No 1557/2001
of 30 July 2001
laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 on information measures relating to the common agricultural policy
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 of 17 April 2000 on information measures relating to the common agricultural policy(1), and in particular Article 9 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) In view of experience gained during the 2000 and 2001 marketing years, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1390/2000 of 29 June 2000 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 on information measures relating to the common agricultural policy(2) should be amended in order to make some clarifications, improve the arrangements for the receipt and processing of applications and provide for greater flexibility in financing arrangements to allow up to 75 % financing of certain measures of exceptional interest. In view of the extent of these necessary amendments, and to achieve transparency for all the interested parties, Regulation (EC) No 1390/2000 should be redrafted.
(2) Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 defines the type and content of information measures relating to the common agricultural policy.
(3) A call for proposals is the most efficient and most transparent way of ensuring that the grants provided for in Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 receive the widest publicity and that the best measures are selected.
(4) The eligibility criteria for applicants, the exclusion criteria and the general selection criteria for the measures referred to in Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 should be laid down in detail.
(5) Amongst the recipients of the financing foreseen under Regulation (EC) No 814/2000, there are organisations without a well-defined legal status. In order to protect the financial interests of the Community, when an advance on the grant is to be paid, it is, therefore, necessary for a bank guarantee of an equivalent amount to be provided.
(6) In order to make the financial resources available to the largest number possible, a financing rate of more than 50 % must be an exception.
(7) Notifying the Committee for the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), established by Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy(3), of measures financed under this Regulation will facilitate the coordination of measures implemented by the Member States and those supported by the Community.
(8) Taking into account the time limits necessary for the call for proposals to be published, it is advisable to foresee the entry into force of the Regulation with immediate effect.
(9) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the EAGGF Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Scope
This Regulation lays down detailed rules for the application of the information measures relating to the common agricultural policy in the form of work programmes and specific measures referred to in Article 2(1)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EC) No 814/2000.
Article 2
Call for proposals
The Commission shall publish in the Official Journal of the European Communities by 31 July each year a call for proposals specifying inter alia the priority topics and measures and the deadlines for the submission of applications and for the commencement, implementation and conclusion of the measures concerned.
Article 3
Eligibility criteria for applicants
1. The organisations and associations referred to in Article 2(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 must meet the following conditions:
(a) be private; in the case of organisations or associations bringing together other organisations or associations, these last bodies must also be private;
(b) be non-profit-making;
(c) have been established in a Member State for at least two years.
2. The parties referred to in Article 2(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 must be legal persons legally constituted in a Member State for at least two years.
3. Where the agreement referred to in Article 9 provides for the payment of an advance on the grant, the applicant shall provide a bank guarantee of an equivalent amount.
This guarantee shall not be required where the applicant is a public body.
Article 4
Reasons for excluding applicants
Applicants will be excluded in the following cases:
(a) if they are in a state of bankruptcy, liquidation, cessation or suspension of activities, judicial winding-up, composition or similar action, or if are the subject of such proceedings;
(b) if they have been convicted by a final judgment for an offence relating to professional good character;
(c) if they are guilty of serious professional misconduct;
(d) if they are in breach of the rules regarding the payment of social security contributions, taxes or dues;
(e) if they do not have the financial, technical or professional capacity required to implement the measure in the light of the information given in point 3(c) and (d) of Annex I.
Article 5
Ineligible measures
Apart from the measures listed in Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 814/2000, the following shall not be eligible:
(a) profit-making measures;
(b) general assemblies or statutory meetings.
Article 6
Reasons for excluding measures and conditions governing the admissibility of measures
1. Work programmes shall be excluded where they involve an application for a grant of less than EUR 25000 or more than EUR 500000.
2. Specific measures shall be excluded where they involve an application for a grant of less than EUR 5000 or more than EUR 100000.
3. Work programmes and specific measures shall be excluded where the preparation thereof, implementation and follow-up are carried out outside the period laid down in the call for proposals under which they have been submitted.
4. Not more than one work programme or three specific measures may be received from each applicant in one marketing year.
5. If the call for proposals for the marketing year in question provides for a second date for the submission of applications, an applicant whose work programme has been rejected may submit a maximum of three grant applications, each for a specific measure, in compliance with the ceiling laid down in paragraph 2 of this Article.
6. Grant applications shall be admissible only where they are made in accordance with Annex I.
Article 7
Selection criteria for measures
1. The Commission shall select the applications to receive Community financing on the basis of the quality of the project and cost-effectiveness, as laid down in Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 814/2000.
2. The quality of projects shall be appraised inter alia on the basis of:
(a) their relevance and general interest;
(b) their european dimension and value-added;
(c) their lasting multiplier effect at european, national and regional level;
(d) their contribution to the development of lasting multinational, inter-regional or inter-sectoral cooperation;
(e) the means contemplated for evaluating the measures.
3. Cost-effectiveness shall be appraised inter alia on the basis of:
(a) whether the budget submitted is reasonable;
(b) the contribution requested from the Commission;
(c) the ability of the applicant to mobilise other sources of financing.
4. The selection criteria shall be as set out in Annex II.
Article 8
Rate of financial assistance
1. The maximum rate of Community financing for the measures selected shall be 50 % of the eligible cost as defined in Annex III.
2. The maximum rate of Community financing may be increased to 75 % of the eligible cost for a specific measure or for one or more measures contained in a programme provided that they are of exceptional interest on the basis of the selection criteria and that they provide for subsistence expenses per participant and per day of less than 60 % of the maximum amount laid down in the scales made available to applicants by the Commission.
Preference shall be given to measures implemented in rural areas.
Article 9
Agreement
The applications selected shall be the subject of an agreement between the Commission and the beneficiaries covering the rights and obligations resulting from the Commission decision to award a grant.
Article 10
Annual nature of grants
Grants shall be awarded on a strictly annual basis and shall imply no right in subsequent years, even where the measure concerned forms part of a multiannual strategy.
Article 11
Publicity
A list of the beneficiaries and activities financed under this Regulation and the amounts and rates of financial support shall be published each year in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Article 12
Notification of the EAGGF Committee
The EAGGF Committee shall be notified of:
(a) the content of the call for proposals before its publication;
(b) the work programmes received;
(c) the measures selected to receive a grant;
(d) activities implemented on the Commission's initiative.
Article 13
Evaluation
Beneficiaries shall provide everything required for the evaluation of the measures financed as provided for in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 and shall in particular, complete the questionnaires and evaluation forms attached to the application forms supplied by the Commission.
The Commission shall carry out the evaluation four years at the latest after the entry into force of this Regulation.
Article 14
Repeal
Regulation (EC) No 1390/2000 is hereby repealed.
Article 15
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 30 July 2001.