COMMISSION DECISION of 20 March 1997 laying down the arrangements for the transmission of information to the Commission by the Member States under the Communities' own resources system (97/245/EC, Euratom)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom of 31 October 1994 on the system of the European Communities' own resources (1), and in particular Article 8 (2) thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89 of 29 May 1989 implementing Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom on the system of the Communities' own resources (2), as last amended by Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 1355/96 (3), and in particular Articles 6 and 17 thereof,
Having consulted the Advisory Committee on Own Resources,
Whereas, in Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 1355/96, the Council adopted provisions designed to improve certain parts of the arrangements for Member States to report to the Commission about action they have taken to recover own resources, in particular where fraud and irregularities are involved;
Whereas these improvements mainly concern the production of monthly and quarterly statements of accounts of own resources, the description of cases of fraud and irregularities already detected involving entitlements in excess of ECU 10 000 and the content of the annual report;
Whereas the details of these reporting procedures are to be laid down by the Commission after the Advisory Committee on Own Resources has been consulted;
Whereas the Member States must be allowed a suitable length of time to apply the reporting procedures,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
1. Member States shall use the models contained in Annexes I, II and III to draw up the monthly and quarterly statements of their accounts of own resources referred to in Article 6 (3) (a) and (3) (b) of Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89.
2. The first such statements to be produced using the models referred to in paragraph 1 shall be those for April 1997 for the monthly statement and for the second quarter of 1997 for the quarterly statement.
Article 2
1. Member States shall use the model fraud form and update form in Annexes IV and V for the descriptions of cases of fraud and irregularities detected involving entitlements of over ECU 10 000 and details of the position concerning cases of fraud and irregularities already reported to the Commission where recovery, cancellation or non-recovery has not been indicated earlier, as referred to in Article 6 (4) of Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89.
2. The first fraud forms and updates to be produced using the models referred to in paragraph 1 shall be sent in April 1997.
Article 3
1. The model in Annex VI shall be used for the annual report on the most important problems arising out of the application of Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89, as referred to in Article 17 (3) of that Regulation.
2. The first report to be produced using the model referred to in paragraph 1 shall be sent by 30 April 1997.
Article 4
Member States shall inform the Commission by 31 March 1997 of the departments or agencies responsible for producing the statements, forms and reports covered by this decision.
Article 5
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 20 March 1997.