COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1754/2006
of 28 November 2006
laying down detailed rules for the granting of Community financial assistance to Community reference laboratories for feed and food and the animal health sector
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Decision 90/424/EEC of 26 June 1990 on expenditure in the veterinary field (1), and in particular Article 28(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Community reference laboratories fulfil the tasks and obligations laid down in Community veterinary legislation and in Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules (2) in order to assist the Community.
(2)
Pursuant to Article 32(7) of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004, Community reference laboratories may be granted a Community financial contribution in accordance with Article 28 of Decision 90/424/EEC.
(3)
The eligibility criteria for the expenditure of the Community reference laboratories receiving financial assistance pursuant to Article 28 of Decision 90/424/EEC and the procedures for the submission of expenditure and the conduct of audits were set out in Commission Regulation (EC) No 156/2004 (3).
(4)
The level of the annual Community financial assistance for the operation of certain laboratories is decided upon each year by specific decisions in the field of veterinary public health, animal health and residues.
(5)
Since a number of changes are to be made to Regulation (EC) No 156/2004, that Regulation should be replaced in the interest of clarity, while taking account of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004.
(6)
These changes concern in particular the introduction of a partnership agreement defining the respective roles and responsibilities of each of the parties, and of a specific agreement, an update of the provisions relating to VAT and the updating of expenditure relating to missions and workshops.
(7)
This partnership agreement must run for five years in order to enable an operational network of national reference laboratories to be set up in new fields, new methods of analysis to be developed and the performance of national reference laboratories to be evaluated correctly.
(8)
A sound financial management justifies the application of this Regulation from the beginning of 2007. However, the laboratories must be given the opportunity to modify the estimated operating budget for 2007 in line with the provisions of this Regulation.
(9)
For financial control purposes, Articles 9, 36 and 37 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 of 21 June 2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy (4) are applicable.
(10)
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:
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Subject
This Regulation lays down the detailed rules for the granting of Community financial assistance for the operation of Community reference laboratories (‘laboratories’), as provided for in Article 28 of Decision 90/424/EEC and Article 32 of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004, and for the organisation of workshops.
Article 2
Framework partnership agreement
The relationship between the Commission and the laboratory shall be laid down in a partnership agreement. The partnership agreement shall run for five years and be supported by a multi-annual work programme.
Article 3
Planned activities and estimated budget
1. The Community reference laboratories shall, by 1 September of each calendar year ‘n’, set out the Community activities planned in the course of the calendar year ‘n + 1’, and shall submit to the Commission the estimated budget concerning the expenditure on these activities.
For the 2007 financial year, the estimated budget drawn up in accordance with the provisions of Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 156/2004 shall be deemed to have been submitted in accordance with this Regulation. The laboratories may, up until 15 December 2006, introduce changes to this estimated budget in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation.
2. The laboratories shall provide the estimated budget in computerised form in accordance with Annex I.
Article 4
Specific agreement
1. Following the adoption by the Commission of the annual decision on the granting of financial assistance, a specific agreement shall be entered into between the parties. This agreement shall in particular specify the amount of assistance and the percentage of co-financing.
2. Signature of the agreement by the parties shall be a precondition for any payment.
Article 5
Pre-financing
Following the signing of the specific agreement by the parties, pre-financing amounting to 70 % of the total assistance for the laboratory’s operation and the organisation of workshops may be granted at the request of the beneficiary.
Article 6
Payment of the assistance
Provided that the approved work programmes are implemented effectively and the beneficiary submits the reports referred to in Articles 10 and 14 within the time-limits stipulated therein, the balance or the total amount of the Community financial assistance for the laboratory’s operation and the organisation of workshops shall be paid out after the reports have been approved.
Article 7
Supporting documents
1. The beneficiary shall, for a period of seven years, keep a certified copy of the supporting documents relating to the operation receiving the Community financial assistance, particularly invoices, salary statements, attendance records, and documents relating to the shipment of samples and to missions.
2. The beneficiary shall record the expenditure submitted to the Commission in its cost accounting system and keep all original documents for seven years for audit purposes.
3. The supporting documents, testifying to all the costs mentioned in the application for reimbursement, shall be sent to the Commission on request.
Article 8
Checks
For financial control purposes, Articles 9, 36 and 37 of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 shall be applicable.
CHAPTER II
OPERATION OF THE LABORATORIES
Article 9
Eligibility
1. Expenditure relating to staff, subcontracting, capital equipment, consumables, the shipment of samples for comparative tests, missions and overheads shall be eligible under the laboratories’ operation.
2. The expenditure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be eligible within the limits fixed by the Commission's annual decision on the granting of financial assistance, and in accordance with the eligibility rules set out in Annex II.
3. Any modification of an item which exceeds 10 % of its amount shall require the written prior consent of the Commission.
Article 10
Submission of reports on the operation of the laboratories
1. The financial report submitted in accordance with Annex III and the technical report on the operation of the laboratories, certified by the director, shall be sent no later than 31 March of the year following the end of the period for which the financial assistance was granted, with the postmark as proof of the date of posting.
2. When the time-limit set out in paragraph 1 is not respected, the financial assistance shall be reduced by 25 % on 1 April, 50 % on 1 May, 75 % on 1 June and 100 % on 1 July.
Article 11
Conversion rate for applications in national currency
The conversion rate for requests for pre-financing or the payment of balances in national currency submitted during month ‘n’ shall be that applying on the first of the month ‘n’, as published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union, or on the preceding day for which a rate is quoted.
Article 12
Value-added tax
Non-recoverable VAT paid by the beneficiary shall be regarded as eligible expenditure provided that, at the time the specific agreement referred to in Article 4 is signed, the beneficiary submits an attestation from the Finance Ministry of the Member State or from an equivalent authority certifying that it is not liable or is partially liable, and that the laboratory’s area of activity is not subject to this tax.
CHAPTER III
ORGANISATION OF WORKSHOPS
Article 13
Eligibility
1. Expenditure relating to travel costs and daily allowances for a maximum of 32 participants in workshops, to which at least one per Member State has been invited, shall be eligible under the organisation of workshops.
2. The expenditure referred to in paragraph 1 shall be eligible within the limits fixed by the Commission’s annual decision on the granting of financial assistance, and in accordance with the eligibility rules set out in section 3F of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities as laid down in Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 of the Council (5).
3. Derogations from paragraphs 1 and 2 may be granted in duly justified cases pursuant to the Commission’s annual decision on the granting of financial assistance.
Article 14
Submission of the financial report on the workshops
1. The financial report on the workshops submitted in accordance with Annex IV and the technical report on the operation of the laboratories, certified by the director, shall be sent no later than two months after the workshop was held.
2. When the time-limit set out in paragraph 1 is not respected, the financial assistance shall be reduced by 25 % for a delay of one month in relation to the scheduled date of submission of the documents, 50 % for two months, 75 % for three months and 100 % for four months.
Article 15
Conversion rate for applications in national currency
The conversion rate for requests for pre-financing or the payment of balances in national currency shall be that applying on the first day of the month in which the workshop was held, as published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union, or on the preceding day for which a rate is quoted.
CHAPTER IV
TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 16
Repeal
Regulation (EC) No 156/2004 is hereby repealed.
References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as being made to this Regulation.
Article 17
Entry into force and applicability
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2007.
However, the second paragraph of Article 3(1) shall apply as from the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 28 November 2006.