1999R1268 — EN — 01.07.2002 — 002.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No1268/1999
of21June1999
on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development in the
applicantcountriesofcentral andeasternEuropeinthepre-accessionperiod
(OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 87)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Council Regulation (EC) No 2500/2001 of 17 December 2001 L 342 1 27.12.2001
►M2Council Regulation (EC) No 696/2003 of 14 April 2003 L 99 24 17.4.2003
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 244, 16.9.1999, p. 64 (1268/1999)
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COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No1268/1999
of21June1999
on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture
and rural development in the applicant countries of central and
easternEuropeinthepre-accessionperiod
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, andin particular Article 308 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (
1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions(4),
(1)Whereasthe conclus ionsof the European Council of 12 and
13 December 1997 provide for an enhanced pre-accession
strategy for the applicant countries of central and eastern Europeand a specific pre-accession strategy for Cyprus;
(2)Whereasthe conclus ionsof the European Council provide thatthe aid provided for in thisRegulation be granted for the time
being to the 10 applicant countriesof central and eas tern Europe;
(3)Whereas the Community has decided to provide special assis-
tance in the form of pre-accession aid for the countriesapplying for accession in order to carry out action to supportthe current economic and social reform process in those coun-
triesand to prepare and facilitate the integration of their
economiesinto the Community economy;
(4)Whereas assistance from the Community support for pre-acces-sion measures for agriculture and rural development in theapplicant countriesof central and eas tern Europe in the pre-accession period together with assistance from the Community
under Council Regulation 1267/1999 of 21 June 1999 estab-
lishing an Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession (
5)
should be coordinated within the framework of Council Regula-tion 1266/1999 of 21 June 1999 on coordinating aid to theapplicant countries in the framework of the pre-accession
strategy and amending Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89 (
6) and be
subject to the conditional provisions of Council Regulation (EC)No 622/98 of 16 March 1998 on assistance to the applicantcountries in the framework of the pre-accession strategy, and inparticular on the establishment of Accession Partnerships (
7);
(5)Whereasparagraph 17 of the conclus ionsof the Luxembourg
European Council of 12 and 13 December 1997 providesthat
financial support to the countries involved in the enlargementprocess will be based, in the allocation of aid, on the principleof equal treatment, independently of the time of accession, withparticular attention being paid to countrieswith the greates t
need;
(6)Whereas the Community pre-accession aid has to be decided in
particular to resolve priority problems in adapting the economiesof the applicant countries in a sustainable manner and facilitatingthe implementation by them of the acquis communautaire ,
focusing in particular on the common agricultural policy (CAP);1999R1268 — EN — 01.07.2002 — 002.001 — 2
(1) OJ C 175, 9.6.1998, p. 7 and OJ C 27, 2.2.1999, p. 18.
(2) Opinion delivered on 6 May 1999 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
(3) OJ C 101, 12.4.1999.
(4) OJ C 93, 6.4.1999.
(5) See page 73 of thisOfficial Journal.
(6) See page 68 of thisOfficial Journal.
(7) OJ L 85, 20.3.1998, p. 3.
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(7)Whereas pre-accession aid for agriculture should follow the prio-
rities of the reformed CAP; whereas such aid should be applied
to priority areasto be defined for each country, s uch astheimprovement of structures for processing agricultural and fisheryproducts, distribution, quality control of food as well as veter-inary and plant-health controlsand the s etting-up of producergroups; whereas it should also be possible to finance integrated
rural development projectsto s upport local initiativesand agri-
environmental measures, to improve the efficiency of farms, toadapt infras tructure aswell asmeas ureswhich will acceleratestructural reconversion;
(8)Whereas, in the agricultural sector, the Community support willbe implemented in the form of multiannual programmeses tab-
lished in accordance with the guidelines and the principles of
the operational programmesapplied in the framework of s truc-tural policy in order to facilitate in the applicant countriestheimplementation of the principlesand proceduresin force;
(9)Whereas, in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the
Structural Funds(
1), assistance can only be granted for any
measure from one Community financial instrument within agiven period, subject in the case of the European InvestmentBank (EIB) to its own rules on the provision of assistance;
(10)WhereasCommunity fundss hould not replace funding availablein each applicant country and whereas Community assistance
constitutes a financial contribution to the completion of projects;
(11)Whereas pre-accession aid in the agricultural sector has to be
granted in the form of a financial contribution and subject tothe specific financial rules established by Council Regulation(EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the financing of thecommon agricultural policy (
2);
(12)Whereasthe allocation to applicant countriesof res ourcesfixedby the budget authority in the preamble of this instrument shouldtake full account of national prosperity on the basis of grossdomestic product, of the agricultural workforce, of utilised agri-cultural area and, if necessary, of specific territorial
particularities;
(13)Whereas applicant countries should submit their plans as quickly
as possible in order to avoid delaying the implementation of thepre-accession measures from 1 January 2000;
(14)Whereas the drawing-up of those programmes, their implementa-tion and the follow-up mechanisms should comply with thespecific Structural Fund rules and thus facilitate the transfer of
theacquis communautaire ;
(15)Whereasa detailed ex-ante assessment should be carried out
before Community resources are commited in order to ensurethat the programme complieswith real needs , to permit flex-ibility in the implementation of Community intervention to takeaccount of the relevant information and the first results of the
measures, and to strengthen the monitoring and ex-post evalua-
tion to ensure the effectiveness of the anticipated impact;
(16)Whereas provision should be made for a monitoring committeeto assist the Commission with the follow-up to each programme;
(17)Whereas the necessary decisions should be adopted in accor-dance with the procedure laid down in Article 50(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 and for specific financial items
in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 13 ofRegulation (EC) No 1258/1999;1999R1268 — EN — 01.07.2002 — 002.001 — 3
(1) See page 1 of thisOfficial Journal.
(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.
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(18)Whereas reports should be submitted to the Parliament, the
Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regionson progres sachieved in the imple-mentation of agricultural pre-accession aid;
(19)Whereas, during the transitional period (1 January 1999 to31 December 2001) all reference to the euro should as a generalrule be cons idered asa reference to the euro asa monetary unit,in accordance with the second sentence of Article 2, of Council
Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction
of the euro (
1);
(20)Whereas the implementation of these measures will help toachieve the Community'saims ; whereasthe Treaty doesnotprovide for the adoption of thisRegulation powersother thanthose laid down in Article 308,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
TITLE 1
OBJECTIVESANDTYPESOFMEASURES
Article 1
Objectives
1. This Regulation establishes the framework for Community
support for sustainable agriculture and sustainable rural development
for the pre-accession period for the following applicant countries:Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
2. Community support shall comply with the conditions laid down
in the framework of accession partnerships and shall relate in particularto:
(a) contributing to the implementation of the acquis communautaire
concerning the common agricultural policy and related policies;
(b) solving priority and specific problems for the sustainable adaptation
of the agricultural sector and rural areas in the applicant countries.
Article 2
Measures
In accordance with the prioritiesdefined by the applicant countriesand
asdefined in Article 4(3), s upport for agriculture and rural develop-
ment shall relate to one or more of the following measures, which
shall be consistent with the relevant acquis communautaire :
— investments in agricultural holdings,
— improving the processing and marketing of agricultural and fishery
products,
— improving the structures for quality, veterinary and plant-health
controls, for the quality of foodstuffs and for consumer protection,
— agricultural production methodsdes igned to protect the environ-
ment and maintain the countryside,
— development and diversification of economic activities, providing
for multiple activitiesand alternative income,
— setting up farm relief and farm management services,— setting up producer groups,
— renovation and development of villagesand the protection and
conservation of the rural heritage,
— land improvement and reparcelling,— establishment and updating of land registers,1999R1268 — EN — 01.07.2002 — 002.001 — 4
(1) OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 1.
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— improvement of vocational training,
— development and improvement of rural infrastructure,— agricultural water resources management,— forestry, including afforestation of agricultural areas, investments in
forest holdings owned by private forest owners and processing andmarketing of forestry products,
— technical assistance for the measures covered by this Regulation,
including studies to assist with the preparation and monitoring ofthe programme, information and publicity campaigns.
TITLE II
ASSISTANCE
Article 3
Complementarityandtechnical assistance
1. The Community action shall complement corresponding national
actions or contribute to these. It shall be established in close collabora-tion between the Commission, the applicant country, the competentauthoritiesand bodiesand the economic and s ocial partnersat theappropriate level. Such cooperation shall cover preparation, implemen-
tation including financing and appraisal, monitoring and evaluation of
the measures.
2. In the framework of the technical assistance, the Commission
shall take initiatives and measures to ensure that the Communitymeasures supports the priority objectives referred to in Article 1 andbring added value to national initiatives.
3. Natural and legal persons from Cyprus, Malta and Turkey may
participate in invitationsto tender and contractson the s ame termsthat apply to all natural and legal persons from the Member Statesand the beneficiary countries.
Article 4
Programming
1. Measures for agriculture and sustainable rural development under
this Regulation shall be the subject of a plan to be drawn up at the
most appropriate geographical level. The plan shall be prepared by thecompetent authorities designated by the applicant country and shall besubmitted by those countries to the Commission after the competentauthoritiesand organis ationsat the appropriate level have been
consulted.
2. The plan shall cover a period of up to seven years from the year
2000 and subject to the application of Article 1(2), shall include:
— a quantified description of the current situation showing disparities,
shortcomings and potential for development, the main results of
previous operations undertaken with Community assistance, the
financial resources deployed and the evaluation results available,
— a description of the strategy proposed, its quantified objectives, the
priorities selected and the geographical scope,
— a prior appraisal showing the anticipated economic, environmental
and social impact, including effects on employment,
— an indicative overall financial table summarising the national, the
Community and, where appropriate, the private financial resourcesprovided for and corresponding to each rural development priorityadopted in the context of the plan, including, if necessary, measuresfinanced by the EIB and other international financial instruments,
— an indicative financial profile for each year covered by the
programming period for each source contributing to the programme,1999R1268 — EN — 01.07.2002 — 002.001 — 5
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— where appropriate, information on the need for any studies, training
or technical assistance operations relating to the preparation, imple-mentation or adaptation of the measures concerned,
— the names of the competent authorities and bodies responsible for
carrying out the programme, including the paying agency,
— a definition of ‘final beneficiaries’, which may be organisations, or
public or private undertakings responsible for conducting the opera-
tions. In cases where public aid is granted by other authoritiesentrusted there with by the applicant countries, the final benefici-aries shall be the institutions deciding the granting of the public aid,
— a description of the measures contemplated for implementing the
plans, and in particular aid schemes, including the points necessary
for assessing the rules of competition,
— provisions ensuring correct implementation of the programme,
including monitoring and evaluation and the definition of quantified
indicatorsfor evaluation and the arrangementsfor controlsand
penalties,
— the results of consultations and provisions adopted for associating
competent authoritiesand bodiesaswell asappropriate economic,social and environmental partners.
3. In their plans, applicant countries shall ensure that priority is
given to measures to improve market efficiency, quality and healthstandards and measures to create new employment in rural areas, in
compliance with the provisions on the protection of the environment.
4. Unless otherwise agreed with the applicant country, the plan shall
be submitted not later than six months after the entry into force of thisRegulation.
5. On the basis of each applicant country's plan, a Programme for
Agriculture and Rural Development shall be approved by the Commis-sion in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 50(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 within six months of submission of
the plan, on condition that all the relevant information isavailable. Inparticular the Commission shall appraise the proposed plan to deter-mine whether it is consistent with this Regulation.
6. The programme may, if necessary, be revised and amended as a
result:
— of socioeconomic development, relevant new information and the
results observed from the implementation of the actions concerned,including the results of monitoring and evaluation, as well as theneed to adjust the amounts of aid available,
— in view of actions taken in the framework of the accession partner-
ship and the national programme for the adoption of the acquis
communautaire ,
— of a reallocation of resources as laid down in Article 15.
Article 5
Ex-anteappraisal,monitoringandevaluation
1. In order to assess their effectiveness, support for measures
included in the programme shall be subject to prior and mid-termappraisal, on-going monitoring and ex-post evaluation designed to
appraise the success and impact with respect to the defined objectives.
2. The Commission and the applicant country shall monitor the
implementation of the programme. Such monitoring shall be carried
out by way of jointly agreed procedures.
Monitoring shall be carried out by reference to specific physical envir-
onmental and financial indicators agreed and established beforehand.
Applicant countries shall submit annual progress reports to the
Commission not later than the end of the first six months of thefollowing year, which shall contain at least the information referred toin Article 37 of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999.1999R1268 — EN — 01.07.2002 — 002.001 — 6
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3. A monitoring committee shall be established for each rural devel-
opment programme in compliance with Article 35 of Regulation (EC)No 1260/1999.
Article 6
Compatibility
Measures granted Community support shall comply with the commit-
ments adopted in the Accession Partnership and shall be consistentwith the principlesof the national programme for the adoption of theacquis communautaire .
Measures financed under this Regulation shall comply with the provi-
sions of the Europe Agreements, including the provisions implementingthose agreements with regard to State aids.
Measures financed under this Regulation shall comply with the objec-
tivesof the CAP, in particular thos e relating to common marketorganisations, and of Community structural measures. They shall notcause commercial disruption.
TITLE III
FINANCIALPROVISIONS
Article 7
Resources
1. Community assistance under this Regulation shall be granted
during the period from 2000 to 2006. The annual appropriationss hallbe authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the finan-cial perspective.
2. The Community financial contribution for carrying out the rural
development programme shall be granted in the form of advances,part-financing and financing in accordance with the principleslaiddown in Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999.
Payments of financial assistance may take the form of advances for
programme implementation and of paymentsagains t expenditureincurred.
3. The financial allocation to each applicant country for pre-acces-
sion aid under this instrument shall be based on the followingobjective criteria:
— farming population,
— agricultural area,
— gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in purchasing power,
— specific territorial situation.
4. For the period referred to in Article 4(2), up to 2 % of the annual
allocation of fundsmay be devoted to financing the meas urestaken on
the initiative of the Commission for preliminary studies, exchangevisits, evaluations and controls.
Article 8
RateofCommunitycontribution
1. The Community contribution may amount to up to 75 % of the
total eligible public expenditure except for the following:
(a) for relevant projects under any measure where the Commission
determines that exceptional natural disasters have occurred, theCommunity contribution may amount to up to 85 % of the totaleligible public expenditure;
(b) for measures referred to in the last indent of Article 2 and Article
7(4), the Community contribution to financing may amount to up to100 % of the total eligible cost.1999R1268 — EN — 01.07.2002 — 002.001 — 7
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2. For revenue generating investments,
(a) except those referred to in paragraph 1(a), public aid may amount
to up to 50 % of the total eligible cost of which the Communitycontribution may amount to up to 75 %;
(b) referred to in paragraph 1(a), public aid may amount to up to 75 %
of the total eligible cost of which the Community contribution may
amount to up to 85 % of the public aid.
In any case the Community contribution shall comply with the ceilings
on ratesof aid and cumulation laid down for State aid.
3. The financial support and the payments shall be expressed in
euro.
Article 9
Financialcontrol
1. The financial support shall comply with the principles laid down
in Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999.
The Commission shall implement expenditure under this Regulation in
accordance with the Financial Regulation applicable to the generalbudget of the European Communitieson the bas isof the financingmemorandum to be drawn up between the Commission and the appli-cant country.
2. The Commission, in accordance with the procedure set out in
Article 12, shall adopt the methods for managing the programme, the
provisions for monitoring and checking its execution, the systems for
preventing and checking irregularitiesand the proceduresfor reco-vering amounts unduly paid. These measures shall be adopted as aprerequisite to the approval of the programme as referred to inArticle 4(5).
3. Without prejudice to checkscarried out by beneficiary countries ,
the Commission and the Court of Auditors may, through their ownagents or duly authorised representatives, carry out on-the-spot tech-
nical or financial audits, including sample checks and final audits.
Article 10
Reduction,suspensionandcancellation ofaid
1. If the implementation of a measure does not appear to justify any
part of the finance allocated to it, the Commission shall carry out anappropriate examination of the case, in particular by requesting theapplicant country or the authoritiesdes ignated by it to implement the
measure to make their comments within a specified period.
2. Following that examination, the Commission may reduce or
suspend the aid for the measure concerned if the examination confirms
the existence of an irregularity or of an important modification which
affectsthe nature or the conditionsof implementation of the meas ureand for which Commission approval was not obtained.
3. Any amount recovered by way of overpayment shall be trans-
ferred to the Commission. The amounts not transferred shall besubject to interest on arrears in accordance with the provisions of theFinancial Regulation.
Article 11
The Commission shall allocate the available resources to the applicant
countriesfor the implementation of Article 7(2). Within three monthsof the adoption of this Regulation, the Commission shall communicateitsdecis ionsto each applicant country on the indicative financial allo-cation for seven years.1999R1268 — EN — 01.07.2002 — 002.001 — 8
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TITLE IV
IMPLEMENTINGRULES
Article 12
1. The Commission shall adopt detailed rules for the implementation
of thisRegulation in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 50(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999.
2. The Commission shall adopt the detailed financial rules in accor-
dance with the procedure laid down in Article 13 of Regulation (EC)No 1258/1999. They shall relate, in particular, to appropriate provisionsto ensure compliance with budgetary discipline.
TITLE V
OTHERPROVISIONS
Article 13
Reports
The Commission shall present an annual report on the Community
support granted under this Regulation to the European Parliament, tothe Council, the Economic and Social Committee and to the Committeeof the Regions.
In such reports the Commission shall outline in particular the progress
made towardsachieving the objectivess et out in Article 1.
TITLE VI
FINALPROVISIONS
Article 14
Informationandpublicity
1. The programmes set out in Article 4(5) shall be the subject of
appropriate publicity in the applicant countries.
2. The publicity shall entail in particular:
— informing potential beneficiaries and professional organisations of
the assistance available,
— informing the general public of the Community'srole in relation to
the aid.
The proposals contemplated and the measures adopted to that end shall
be communicated to the Commission.
Article 15
On accession to the European Union, a country shall lose its entitle-
ment to support under this Regulation. Resources made available as aresult of an applicant country acceding to the European Union shall bereallocated to other applicant countrieslis ted in Article 1(1). Realloca-tion shall be based on applicant countries' need and capacity for
absorbing assistance and on the criteria laid down in Article 7(3).
The Council, acting by qualified majority on a proposal from the
Commission, shall take a decision outlining the general approach forreallocation.
In the light of the decision referred to in the second paragraph by the
Council, the Commission shall decide on the reallocation of availableresources among the other beneficiaries in accordance with the proce-dure laid down in Article 12(1).1999R1268 — EN — 01.07.2002 — 002.001 — 9
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Article 16
Entryintoforce
ThisRegulation s hall enter into force on the third day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
It shall apply from 1 January 2000.
ThisRegulation s hall be binding in itsentirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1999R1268 — EN — 01.07.2002 — 002.001 — 10