2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No2222/2000
of7June2000
laying down financial rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 on
Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development in the
applicantcountriesofcentral andeasternEuropeinthepre-accessionperiod
(OJ L 253, 7.10.2000, p. 5)
Amended by:
OfficialJournal
No page date
►M1 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2252/2001 of 20 November 2001 L 304 8 21.11.2001
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COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No2222/2000
of7June2000
layingdownfinancialrulesfortheapplicationofCouncilRegulation
(EC) No 1268/1999 on Community support for pre-accessionmeasures for agriculture and rural development in the applicantcountriesofcentralandeasternEuropeinthepre-accessionperiod
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to CouncilRegul ation (EC) No 1268/1999 of 21 June
1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agricultureand rural development in the applicant countries of central and easternEurope in the pre-accession period (
1), and in particular Articles 9(2) and
12(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Article 11(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1266/1999 (2) on co-
ordinating aid to the applicant countries in the framework of the
pre-accession strategy stipulates that the Commission shallimplement the Community aid in accordance with the rules ofthe Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of theEuropean Communities (
3), and in particular Article 114 thereof,
Article 9(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 stipulates
that the financial support shall comply with the principles laid
down in CouncilRegul ation (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999on the financing of the common agricultural policy (
4). That
Regulation concerns both the Guarantee and Guidance sections ofthe European Agriculture Guarantee and Guidance Fund but sets
out, in particular specific provisions relating to the Guarantee
section which falls under Title VIII of the Financial Regulation,
(2) It is envisaged that implementation of Sapard should have an
institution building effect in the countries concerned. The Special
Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development(Sapard) will require, for each of the 10 applicant countriesreferred to in Article 1(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999, thefollow up of numerous projects, each of which is generally oflimited financial dimension. Delegation of management tasks to
the applicant country is desirable and Article 12(2) of Regulation
(EC) No 1266/1999 provides for the possibility to confer suchmanagement to the applicant country. Sapard management shouldtherefore be organised through agencies in the applicant countriesin accordance with that decentralised approach.
(3) The minimum criteria and conditions for the application ofdecentralised management under Article 12(2) of Regulation (EC)No 1266/1999 are laid down in the Annex to that Regulation.
Those criteria and conditions reflect those that paying agencies
must fulfil to be in conformity with the EAGGF Guarantee ruleslaid down in the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 (
5), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2245/1999 (6), in
the light of the above, the agency established by each applicantcountry should be organised in conformity with EAGGF-
Guarantee provisions.
(4) EAGGF Guarantee provisions laid down in Regulation (EC) No
1663/95 concern mainly the payment function. The agencies in
the applicant countries however will need to dispose of both that
function plus an implementation function, appropriate criterianecessary also for that function therefore need to be laid down.2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 87.
(2) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 68.
(3) OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.
(5) OJ L 158, 8.7.1995, p. 6.
(6) OJ L 273, 23.10.1999, p. 5.
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(5) It is appropriate that accreditation may also be provisionally
granted subject to the respect of essential/minimum criteria.
(6) For the Commission to waive the ex ante approvalstipul ated in
Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1266/1999 and to confermanagement of the aid on an applicant country, the nationalaccreditation of the Sapard agency in the applicant country needsto be approved.
(7) It is appropriate, where possible, to use existing structures inapplicant countries for certain financial operations in each ofthese countries there is already a national fund through whichPHARE monies are transferred and paragraph 2(v) of the Annexto Regulation (EC) No 1266/1999 provides that the national
authorising officer shall bear the full financial responsibility and
liability for the funds. It is therefore appropriate for Sapardpurposes that the nationalfund in each appl icant country be thecompetent authority which accredits the Sapard agency andsupervises subsequent compliance with the accreditation criteria.The nationalauthorising officer shal lbe the contact point for
financialinformation between the Commission and the appl icant
country.
(8) Council Regulation No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying downgeneralprovisions on the StructuralFunds (
1) provides in its
Article 31(2) that the first commitment shall be made when the
Commission lays down its decision approving the assistance. That
modelmay, under these circumstances and with respect to thetriggering of the Community budget commitment, be consideredas an appropriate modelto be appl ied mutatis mutandis to Sapard.
(9) Article 12(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1266/1999 foresees
execution of ex post controls by the Commission.The EAGGF
clearance of accounts procedure is an efficient system to audit
payments of the decentralised agencies and, if necessary, torecover irregular or undue payments from the applicant countries.
(10) Sapard implementing rules should be fixed in bilateral agreementsto be concluded between the Commission and each applicant
country. The Commission and each applicant country should
therefore draw up a multiannual financing agreement in which theconditions determining the use of the Sapard contribution will beset out. Annualfinancing agreements shoul d set out the financialcontribution of the Community.
(11) To protect the financialinterests of the Community, appl icant
countries should have similar obligations as Member States with
regard to controls carried out by Community agents on the Sapardmonies.
(12) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordancewith the opinion of the Committee of the European Agriculture
Guarantee and Guidance Fund (EAGGF),
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
CHAPTER 1
GENERALPROVISIONS
Article 1
ScopeofthepresentRegulation
1. This Regulation lays down the conditions under which manage-
ment of the aid provided under Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 isconferred to agencies in the 10 applicant countries referred to in Article1(1) of that Regulation as provided for under Article 12(2) of Regulation(EC) No 1266/1999.2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 3
(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1.
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2. The Commission intends to require the applicant countries to
respect these conditions by including them in financing agreementsnegotiated with each country.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation:
(a) ‘applicant countries’ means the countries listed in Article 1(1) of
Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999;
(b) ‘nationalfund’ means the body appointed by the appl icant country
and placed under the responsibility of the national authorisingofficer bearing the full financial responsibility and liability for thefunds, which acts as the competent authority. The nationalauthorising officer is the contact point for financialinformation
sent between the Commission and the applicant country;
(c) ‘competent authority’ means the body, in the applicant country,
(i) issuing, monitoring and withdrawing accreditation of the Sapard
agency for the purposes of Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No1663/95; and
(ii) appointing a certifying body;
(d) ‘Sapard agency’ means the body established by the applicant
country and operating under its responsibility which discharges twofunctions: an implementing function and a paying function. Onlyone Sapard agency may be accredited at any time in each applicant
country;
(e) ‘certifying Body’ means the body which is operationally indepen-
dent of the Sapard agency and establishes the attestation of theaccounts, reports on the management and controlsystems andverifies the co-financing elements;
(f) ‘multiannual financing agreement’ means the agreement setting out
the relevant provisions to be respected for Sapard co-financing;
(g) ‘annualfinancing agreement’ means the agreement setting out the
financial allocation for the year in question on the basis of theappropriations entered in the Community budget and supplementingand amending, as appropriate, provisions laid down either in themultiannual financing agreement or in a prior annual financing
agreement;
(h) ‘Sapard euro account’ means the account opened by the national
authorising officer under their responsibility in a financial ortreasury institution bearing interest under normalcommercialconditions to receive payments referred to in Article 8 and usedexclusively for Sapard transactions and maintained in euro;
(i) ‘financialyear’ means the cal endar year 1 January to 31 December.
CHAPTER 2
CONFERRALOFMANAGEMENT
Article 3
Conferralofmanagementofaid
1. The Commission shall verify compliance with the conditions of
Article 12(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1266/1999, hereinafter referred to
as ‘the conditions’, and the provisions of Articles 4 to 6 of and theAnnex to this Regulation prior to deciding on conferral of managementof aid to the applicant countries.
For the establishment of compliance with the conditions and with the
provisions mentioned in the first subparagraph, the Commission shall:
— examine the nationalfund procedures and structures rel ated to the
implementation of the Sapard programme and Sapard agency2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 4
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procedures and structures and, where appropriate, procedures and
structures of other bodies to which tasks may have been delegated inaccordance with Articles 4(4), 5(3) and 6(2),
— carry out verifications on-the-spot.
2. The decision to confer management on an agency may be made on
a provisionalbasis, provided there is compl iance with the conditions and
with the functions and criteria of the Annex to this Regulation and theprovisions of Articles 4 to 6.
3. The Commission shall monitor continued compliance with the
conditions and provisions of this Regulation including the Annex. If, at
any stage, they are found to be no longer fulfilled, the Commission shallimmediately revoke the decision and shall:
— cease to undertake any new financialobl igations on the part of the
Community,
— cease to transfer monies to the applicant country and
— if appropriate, make financialcorrections against the appl icant
country.
Article 4
Tasksofthecompetentauthority
1. The tasks of the competent authority shall include those set out in
Article 1(3), (4), (6) and (7) of Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 mutatis
mutandis . Accreditation may be provisionally granted for a period to be
fixed in relation to the seriousness of the problem pending theimplementation of any requisite changes to the administrative andaccounting arrangements.
2. The decision of the competent authority to accredit the Sapard
agency shall be taken on the basis of an examination covering theadministrative, payment, controland accounting procedures andstructures, which includes the arrangements regarding the selection ofprojects, tendering, contracting and the respect of procurement rules
taking account of the criteria set out in the Annex. The examination shall
be conducted according to internationally accepted auditing standards.In instances where a provisionalaccreditation is envisaged, there mustbe satisfactory compliance with the provisions of the Annex, inparticular with the obligations for written procedures, segregation ofduties, pre-project approvaland pre-payment checks, payment proce-
dures, accounting procedures, computer security, internalaudit and
where appropriate public procurement provisions.
3. The competent authority shall monitor accreditation and withdraw
it, without delay, if the accreditation criteria are no longer fulfilled and
shall inform immediately the Commission.
4. The competent authority may delegate the examination task
referred to in paragraph 2 to other bodies. In all cases the national
authorising officer retains overall responsibility.
Article 5
TasksoftheSapardagency
1. The implementation task of the Sapard agency shall comprise:
— call for applications,
— project selection,— checking of applications for approval of projects against terms and
conditions, eligibility and against the content of the approved Sapard
agriculture and rural development programme, hereinafter referred toas ‘the programme’, including, where appropriate, public procure-ment provisions,
— laying down contractual obligations between the agency and
potentialbeneficiaries and the issue of approvalto commence work,
— execution of on-the-spot checks both prior to and following project
approval,
— follow-up action to ensure progress of projects being implemented,2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 5
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— reporting of progress of measures being implemented against
indicators.
2. The payment task of the Sapard agency shall comprise:
— checking of payment claims,
— execution of on-the-spot checks to establish eligibility for payment,
— authorisation of payment,— execution of payment,
— accounting of commitment and payment,
— where applicable, controls on beneficiaries after payment of aid to
establish whether the terms and conditions of the grants continue to
be respected.
3. Where functions of implementation and payment are not
discharged within a single administrative structure, they may be carried
out by other parties provided the provisions of paragraph 2.3 of theAnnex are respected. However, in no case may the execution of paymentand of accounting of commitment and payment be delegated. Theproject approval, on-the-spot controls and payment processes must bebased on an appropriate segregation of duties.
4. Any proposed changes in the implementing and/or paying
arrangements of the Sapard agency after its accreditation shall be
submitted by the competent authority to the Commission.
5. Where the Sapard agency does not also discharge the functions of
the managing authority provided for in Article 9 of Commission
Regulation (EC) No 2759/1999 (
1), it shall communicate to that authority
the information necessary to perform its functions.
Article 6
Tasksofthecertifying body
1. The tasks of the certifying body shall include
— delivery of an attestation on the annual account of the Sapard agency
as well as the Sapard euro account,
— reporting on an annualbasis on the adequacy of management and
controlsystems of the Sapard agency as regards their capabil ity to
ensure conformity of expenditure with the provisions of Article 8(1),
— verification of the existence and correctness of the nationalco-
financing element referred to in Article 9(1).
2. In performing those tasks, the certifying body shall act in
accordance with the provisions of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No1663/95 and guidelines set by the Commission. Where the body
appointed is the national audit office or equivalent, it may delegate some
or all of the examination tasks referred to in Article 3(1) of Regulation(EC) No 1663/95 to other bodies, provided the tasks are dischargedeffectively. The certifying body in all cases retains overall responsi-bility.
3. The attestation on the annualaccounts and the audit report referred
to in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 and Article 13(1) shallbe drawn up before 15 April of the following year and communicated tothe Commission by 30 Aprilat the l atest.2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 6
(1) OJ L 331, 23.12.1999, p. 51.
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CHAPTER 3
PAYMENTANDCONTROL
Article 7
Budgetcommitments
1. The Commission decision authorising signature of each annual
financing agreement shall give rise to commitment of the appropriations
in the Community budget.
2. The first annual financing agreement may only be signed on behalf
of the Commission when the following conditions have been met:
— the programme has been approved by the Commission, and,
— the multiannual financing agreement has been signed by both parties.
3. The Commission shall decommit any part of a commitment
according to the rule fixed in the second subparagraph of Article 31(2)
of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 and taking account of therequirements of Article 10.
By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, the Commission shall
automatically decommit any part of the commitment corresponding to
the year 2000 which has not been settled by the payment on account orfor which it has not received an acceptable payment application, by 31December 2003 at the latest.
Article 8
PaymentsfromtheCommission
1. Only Sapard assistance granted in accordance with the provisions
of the Programme approved by the Commission, of the multiannual and
annualfinancing agreements and in accordance with the Commissiondecision referred to Article 3(1), shall be subject to co-financing by theCommunity.
2. Payments shall be made in euro to the Sapard euro account, and in
accordance with the provisions of Article 32(1), th second subparagraph
of Article 32(2), Article 32(3) with the exception of subparagraphs (a),
(d) and the second and third last subparagraphs, and in accordance withArticle 32(4)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EC) No. 1260/1999.
3. The Commission shall make an initial payment, on account, to the
Sapard euro account. This payment, which may be made in more thanone instalment, shall not exceed 49 % of the first annual allocation to the
applicant country concerned, set out in the Annex to Commission
Decision (EC) No 1999/595/EC (
1). The payment shall be made on
condition that the Sapard agency accreditation has been subject to thedecision referred to in Article 3(1), and after conclusion of themultiannual financing agreement and first annual financing agreement.
The payment shall be repaid if no payment application in accordance
with Article 10 is received by the Commission within 18 months of thedate of that payment.
4. Subsequent payments shall be made in accordance with the rules
provided for in Article 10.
5. Conversion costs, bank charges and exchange losses shall not be
subject to Community co-financing.2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 7
(1) OJ L 226, 27.8.1999, p. 23.▼M1
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Article 9
PaymentsfromtheSapardagency
1. Payments from the Sapard agency to the beneficiary shall:
— be made in nationalcurrency and debited as appropriate against the
Sapard euro account. The payable order(s) to the beneficiary(ies)
shall as a general rule be issued within five days of this debit,
— be based on declarations of expenditure incurred by the beneficiary.
Such declarations shall include only projects selected and expendi-
ture paid from the date of the Commission decision referred to in
Article 3(1), except for feasibility and related studies concerning theselected projects and for technical assistance.
The Community contribution shall be made simultaneously with the
nationalcontribution. However, in the case of beneficiaries in the publ ic
sector, the nationalcontribution may precede that of the Community.
2. The totalpubl ic contribution to the individualmeasures and to the
grants at project level shall be readily identifiable at the level of theSapard agency.
3. The Sapard agency shall maintain records of each payment which
shall include at least the following information:
— amount in nationalcurrency,
— the corresponding amount in euro.
4. Any overpayment, namely amounts in excess of the sum due,
noted by the Sapard agency, shall be recorded without delay in theSapard euro account and subtracted from the applications for payment tothe Commission referred to in Article 10.
5. The final balance of the assistance shall be paid in accordance with
Article 32(4)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 and after the
decisions referred to in Articles 13 and 14 have been adopted.
6. The Sapard agency shall ensure timely treatment of payment
requests by beneficiaries. In cases where the intervalbetween receipt ofthe complete supporting documents and issuing of the payment order
exceeds three months, Community co-financing may be reduced in
accordance with the provisions of Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No296/96 (
1).
Article 10
ApplicationforpaymentfromtheCommunity
1. The Commission shall take into consideration only payment
applications drawn up by the Sapard agency on a quarterly basis,presented in accordance with a form established by the Commission andtransmitted by the nationalauthorising officer to the Commission withinone month of the end of each quarter. However, supplementary
applications may be submitted only if justified on the basis of the risk
of the net balance in the Sapard euro account being exhausted before thenext quarterly application has been processed.
2. The applications shall include at least the following information:
— the amount of expenditure paid by the Sapard agency to beneficiaries
in the previous quarter, broken down in both nationalcurrency andeuro by measure and the nationaland Community contribution,
— the balance of Community funds in the Sapard euro account
following the most recent debit,
— details of debts to be collected.2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 8
(1) OJ L 39, 17.2.1996, p. 5.▼M1
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3. The Commission shall verify the payment applications taking
account of the conditions set out in Article 32(3)(b), (c), (e) and (f) ofRegulation (EC) No 1260/1999.
4. Expenditure declared in the payment applications shall be
reimbursed by the Commission within, in principle, two months of anacceptable payment application being received by it, subject to theverifications referred to in paragraph (3).
Article 11
Exchangerateandinterest
1. The conversion rate between euro and nationalcurrency shal lbe
the exchange rate published by the European Central Bank:
— for payments by the Sapard agency, on the last but one working day
at the Commission in the month preceding the month during which
the expenditure was recorded in the accounts of the Sapard agency.
The date the payment order is issued to the beneficiary shall be thedate shown in the accounts,
— for overpayments by the Sapard agency, on the last but one working
day at the Commission in the month preceding the month duringwhich the overpayment was first noted,
— for amounts fixed by the clearance of accounts and conformity
clearance decisions, on the last but one working day at the
Commission in the month preceding the month during which the
decision was taken.
2. Where the timelimits in Article 13(5) and 14(4) are not respected,
any outstanding amount shall generate interest at a rate equal to theEuribor rate for three month deposits published by the European CentralBank plus 1,5 % points. That rate shall be the monthly average of the
month in which the decision referred to in these articles was notified.
3. Interest earned on the Sapard euro account shall be used
exclusively for the programme. Such interest shall not be subject toreduction due to any charges.
Article 12
Commissioninitiative measures
In cases where the Commission does not allocate all the annual
allocation provided for in Article 7(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999to the applicant country, use of the amount not so allocated shall be
decided by the Commission on the basis of ad-hoc decisions.
Article 13
Clearance ofaccountsdecision
1. Without prejudice to decisions referred to in Article 14, for each
financialyear an annualdecl aration presented in accordance with a formestablished by the Commission together with a certificate and an auditreport as required by Article 6(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999,
Article 4 and Article 5(1)(a), (c) and (e), and Article 5(2) of Regulation
(EC) No 1663/95 shall be drawn up by the applicant country andtransmitted to the Commission by the nationalauthorising officer.
2. The Commission shall receive the documents referred to in
paragraph 1 by 30 April of the year following the financial year
concerned.
The provisions fixed in the first and second last sentence of Article 7(1),
Article 7(2)(c), and Article 7(3) and (4) of Regulation (EC) No 296/96are applicable. For the financial year ‘n’, all transactions recorded in theaccounts of the Sapard agency in the financialyear ‘n’ are taken intoconsideration.2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 9
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3. The Commission shall, before the 30 September of the year
following the financial year concerned, clear the account of the Sapardagency in accordance with the provisions of Article 7(3) of Regulation
(EC) No 1258/1999 and Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1663/95
hereinafter referred to as ‘the clearance of accounts decision’. Theclearance of accounts decision shall also cover the clearance of theSapard euro account. It shall also clear the amounts to be credited to theSapard euro account in accordance with Article 9(4) and Article 11(3).
4. The Commission shall communicate to the applicant country
concerned the results of its verifications of the information supplied,before 31 July following the end of the financial year. If, for reasonsattributable to the applicant country concerned, the Commission isunable to clear the accounts of an applicant country before 30
September, the Commission shall notify the applicant country of further
enquiries it proposes to undertake.
5. The amount fixed by the clearance of accounts decision shall
normally be added to or deducted from one of the subsequent paymentsfrom the Commission to the applicant country. However in cases wherethe amount to de deducted, fixed by this decision, exceeds the level of
possible subsequent payments, the amount not covered by the balance
shall be credited to the Commission in euro within two months ofnotification of the decision. The Commission may however, on a case bycase basis, decide that any amount to be credited to it shall be offsetagainst payments due to be made by the Commission to the applicant
country under any Community instrument.
Article 14
Conformityclearance decision
1. The Commission shall decide on the expenditure to be excluded
from Community cofinancing where it finds that expenditure has notbeen effected in compliance with the rules referred to in Article 8(1)
hereinafter referred to as the ‘conformity clearance decision’.
2. The conformity clearance procedures shall be executed in
accordance with the mechanisms and procedures in force for theapplication of Article 7(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 and Article8 of Regulation (EC) No 1663/95.
3. A financial correction may include application of flat rate
corrections in cases where controls have not correctly been establishedor executed by the Sapard agency and refusalof compensation of theforeseen financialcorrection with expenditure for other projects.
4. The amount to be recovered in accordance with the conformity
clearance decision under paragraph 1, shall be communicated to the
nationalauthorising officer who ensures that the amount is credited tothe Commission in euro within two months of notification of thedecision. The amount in the decision shall not be reallocated to theSapard programme. The Commission may however, on a case-by-case
basis, decide that any amount to be credited to it shall be offset against
payments due to be made by the Commission to the applicant countryunder any Community instrument.
Article 15
Recordingandcontrolprovision
1. Documents shall be kept by the Sapard agency and the national
fund at the disposalof the Commission for a period of five years after
the date of finalpayment to the beneficiary has been made.
2. When controls are carried out under Article 9 of Regulation (EC)
No 1268/1999, the provisions of Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 (
1) and of Article 8(1) and (2), and Article 9(1) and (2) of Regulation2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 10
(1) OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2.
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(EC) No 1258/1999, shall apply mutatis mutandis for the execution of
the Sapard programme.
3. Applicant countries will be required to apply the rules contained in
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1681/94 (1) concerning irregularities
and the organisation of an information system in this field.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 11
(1) OJ L 178, 12.7.1994, p. 43.
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ANNEX
FUNCTIONS AND CRITERIA FOR ACCREDITATION AS A SAPARD
AGENCY
1. FUNCTIONS
The Sapard agency shall execute the following principal functions in
respect of Sapard expenditure:
1.1. authorisation of commitments and payments: the objective of this function
is the establishment of the amount that shall be paid to a claimant or
supplier in conformity with the financing agreement rules, in particular
those concerning the eligibility of applications for approval and claims for
payment, compliance with commitments entered into concerning project
approvals, tendering and contracting procedures, and verification of the
work carried out or services supplied;
1.2. execution of payments: the objective of this function is the issuing of an
instruction to the agency's bankers, or, in appropriate cases, a govern-
mentalpayments office, to pay the authorised amount to the cl aimant or
supplier (or their assignee);
1.3. accounting for commitments and payments: the objective of this function
is the recording of the commitment and payment in the agency's separate
books of accounts of Sapard expenditure, which will normally be in the
form of an electronic data processing system, and the preparation of
periodic summaries of expenditure, including the periodic and annual
declarations to the Commission. The books of account shall also record
details of debts to be recovered;
1.4. control: the objective of this function is to verify the facts on which
applications and claims are based in order to review their compliance with
the financing agreement rules and the terms and conditions of the
commitment. this control shall, where appropriate, include pre-project
selection checks, remeasurement, checks on quantity and quality of goods
or services delivered, an analysis or a sample control, pre-payment checks
and any specialprovisions mentioned in the financing agreement rul es as
to the eligibility of the expenditure etc. In order to establish eligibility,
these controls shall require, where appropriate, examinations of a technical
nature, which can involve economic financial assessments and checks of a
specific agricultural, technical or scientific nature;
1.5. reporting: the objective of this function is to ensure that progress of the
individualprojects and measures is reported in a way which ensure the
effective and efficient implementation of the measure.
2. CRITERIA
2.1. The Sapard agency's administrative structure shall provide for the
separation of the three functions of authorisation, execution and
accounting, each of which shall be the responsibility of a separate
administrative sub-unit, the responsibilities of which are defined in an
organisation chart.
2.2. The Sapard agency shall adopt the following procedures or those offering
equivalent guarantees:
2.2.1. the Sapard agency shall lay down detailed written procedures for the
receipt, recording and processing of applications for project approval,
claims, invoices and supporting documents and control reports inclusive of
a description of all documents to be used.
These procedures should ensure that only claims for payment or projects
selected which comply with the criteria are processed;
2.2.2. the division of duties shall be such that no official has responsibility at any
time, for any project, for more than one of the responsibilities for
approving projects, authorising payment, paying or accounting for sums,
and that no officialperforms one of those tasks without their work comingunder the supervision of a second official. The responsibilities of each
official shall be defined in writing, including the setting of financial limits
to his authority. Staff training shall be appropriate, and there shall be a
policy for rotating staff in sensitive positions, or alternatively for increased
supervision;
2.2.3. each official responsible for authorisation shall have at their disposal a
detailed check-list of the verifications required to be undertaken, and shall
include in the supporting documents of the claim their attestation that these2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 12
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checks have been performed. This attestation may be made by electronic
means subject to the conditions referred to in subparagraph 2.2.6.
There shall be evidence of review of the work by a more senior member of
staff. The analysis, the appraisal and approval of the projects is to be
evidenced in writing. The analysis of the project should be guided by the
principles of sound efficient management;
2.2.4. an application/claim shall be authorised only after sufficient checks have
been made to verifiy that it complies with financing agreement rules and
the content of the Sapard programme. These checks shall include those
required by the rules governing the specific measure under which aid is
claimed, and those required to prevent and detect fraud and irregularity
with particular regard to the risks presented.
As part of the authorisation function, applications shall be subject to
checks which establish adherence to terms and conditions, eligibility,
completeness of documents, correctness of supporting documents, date of
receipt, etc.
All checks to be undertaken shall be specified in a checklist, and their
performance shall be attested for each application/claim, or for each batch
of applications/claims.
As regards the services/the goods delivered the control should consist of:
— documentary control: to ensure that data on quantity, quality and price
of the goods or services on the invoice reconcile with those ordered,
— physical control: to ensure that the quantity and quality of the goods or
services match those mentioned in the invoice/claim form.
This controlcan al so be performed on a continuous basis during the
delivery of the services, i.e. when initial or interim payments are made;
2.2.5. procedures should ensure that payment is made only to the claimant, to
their bank account or to their assignee. The payment shall be executed by
the agency's banker, or, as appropriate, a governmentalpayments office, or
the cheque mailed, within five working days of the date of charge to the
Sapard bank account. Procedures shall be adopted to ensure that all
payments for which transfers are not executed, or cheques not cashed, are
credited to Sapard euro account. No payments shall be made in cash. The
approvalof the authorising officialand/or their supervisor may be made by
electronic means, provided an appropriate level of security over these
means is ensured, and the identity of the signatory is entered in the
electronic records;
2.2.6. where applications, claims or invoices are processed using a computer
system, access to the computer system shall be protected and controlled in
such a way that:
— all information entered, modified, or validated, except by authorised
officials to whom individual passwords are attributed,
— no data may be entered, modified, or validated, except by authorised
officials to whom individual passwords are attributed,
— the identity of each officialentering, or modifying, data or programmes
is recorded in an operations log. Passwords shall be changed regularly
to avoid misuse. Computer systems shall be protected from
unauthorised access by physical controls, and the data shall be backed
up by copies stored in a separate, safeguarded location. Data entry shall
be checked by logical checks aimed at detecting inconsistent or
extraordinary data;
2.2.7. procedures should ensure that changes in rates of aid or terms and
conditions for the grant of aid are recorded and the instructions, databases
and checklists updated in good time.
2.3. part or all of the authorisation and the control function may be delegated to
other bodies provided that the following conditions are fulfilled:
2.3.1. the responsibilities and obligations of these other bodies, notably
concerning the controland verification of the compl iance with financing
agreement rules, are clearly defined;
2.3.2. the bodies dispose of effective systems for ensuring that they fulfil their
responsibilities in a satisfactory manner;
2.3.3. the bodies explicity confirm to the agency that they in fact fulfil their
responsibilities and describe the means employed;
2.3.4. the Sapard agency is informed on a regular and timely basis of the results
of controls effected, so that the sufficiency of these controls may always be
taken into account before a claim is authorised, settled or an invoice is
paid. The work performed shall be described in detail in a report
accompanying each application and claim, batch of applications and
claims or, when appropriate, in a report covering one year. The report shall2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 13
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be accompanied by an attestation of the eligibility of the approved
applications and claims and of the nature, scope and limits of the work
done. Physicaland/or administrative checks performed shal lbe identified,
the method described, the results of all inspections and the measures taken
in respect of discrepancies and irregularities reported upon. The supporting
documents submitted to the agency shall be sufficient to provide assurance
that all the required checks on the eligibility of the claims or invoices
authorised for payment have been performed;
2.3.5. the Sapard agency should be satisfied before the project approval and
before the payment of the expenditure, that the other bodies have followed
procedures which comply with the criteria set out in this Annex;
2.3.6. criteria for assessing applications and their order of priority shall be clearly
defined and documented;
2.3.7. where documents relating to the claims authorised, expenditure committed
and controls effected are retained by the other bodies, both these bodies
and the agency shall set up procedures to ensure that the location of all
such documents that are relevant to specific payments made by the agency
is recorded, and that these documents may be made available for
inspection at the agency's offices at the request of the persons and bodies
who would normally have the right to inspect such documents, which
include:
— the agency's staff who dealwith the cl aim,
— the agency's internalaudit service,— the certifying body that attests the agency's annualdecl aration,— mandated officials of the European Union;
2.3.8. written agreements must be concluded between the Sapard agency and
bodies to which functions of the Sapard agency have been delegated. Such
agreements should clearly identify the functions to be performed by the
delegated body and the type of supporting documents and reports to be
sent to the Sapard agency within specified time limits. The overall system
including the delegated functions performed by other bodies should be setout in an organisation chart.
The agreement should provide for access by officials of the Commission
and the Court of Auditors to information held by these delegated bodies
and for the investigation by such officials of applciations including the
carrying out of checks on projects and recipients of aid.
2.4. Accounting procedures shall ensure that declarations of expenditure to the
Commission are complete, accurate (correct project or account heading)
and timely, and that any errors or omissions are detected and corrected, in
particular through cheks and reconciliation performed at intervals not
exceeding three months.
The Sapard agency's accounting procedure shall ensure that the accounting
system can produce, in euro and nationalcurrency, for each regional
office, per project, contract or measure/sub-measure, the totalcost, the
committed expenditure, part payments and balance payments. Deadlines
shall be set for the cancellation of commitments where work has not been
completed within an agreed timetable. These cancellations shall be
appropriately recorded in the accounting system.
2.5. The Sapard agency shall dispose of an internal audit service. The objective
of this service or equivalent procedure is to ensure that the agency's system
of internalcontroloperates effectivel y; the internalaudit service shal lbe
independent of the agency's other departments and shall report directly to
the agency's top management. The internalaudit service shal lverify that
procedures adopted by the agency are adequate to ensure that compliance
with the programme and financing agreement is verified, and that accounts
are accurate, complete and timely. Verifications may be limited to selected
measures/sub-measures and to samples of transactions provided that an
audit plan ensures that all significant areas, including the departments/
bodies responsible for authorisation and those departments to which
functions have been delegated, are covered over a period not exceedingthree years. The service's work shall be performed according to
internationally accepted auditing standards, shall be recorded in working
papers and shall result in reports and recommendations addressed to the
agency's top management. The audit plans and reports shall be made
available to the certifying body and to officials of the European Union
mandated to undertake financialaudits and for the sol e purpose of
appraising the effectiveness of the internalaudit function.2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 14
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2.6. The rules for the procurement by public bodies of services, works and
supplies in the applicant country shall be in accordance with the rules set
out in the Commission annual(1) entitled ‘Service, supply and work
contracts concluded within the framework of Community cooperation for
the third countries’ with the exception of the requirement for ex ante
approvalby the Commission.
2.7. Services, works, machinery and supplies procured by private undertakings
must originate in the Community or in the countries referred to in Article
1(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999. The same goes for supplies and
equipment purchased by a contractor for works or service contracts if the
supplies and equipment are destined to become the property of the project
once the contract has been completed.
2.8. As regards in particular forfeited guarantees, reimbursed payments, etc.,
the agency shall set up a system for the recognition of all amounts due to
the Sapard euro acocunt and for the recording in a debtors ledger of all
such debst prior to their receipt. The debtors ledger shall be inspected at
regular intervals with the aim of taking action to collect debts that are
overdue.
2.9. The Sapard agency shall publicise the availability of support to all
potentialproject managers/operators so that they obtain as wide as possibl e
selection of potential project managers/operators. Standard application
forms with clear guidelines for completion and conditions for eligibity
shall be drawn up in advance of the launch of the scheme.
2.10. Timely processing of applications from beneficiaries.2.11. The Sapard agency will install an appropriate system to report progress of
each project and measure towards pre-defined indicators. Where appro-
priate these indicators shall, with the approval of the monitoring
committee, be revised.
Action is to be taken in instances where delays in meeting pre-defined
targets arise. Proper records shall be kept of all action taken.
An appropriate management information system shall be used for the
speedy generation of appropriate reports on the projects and measures.
These reports shall be made available to the managing authority, the
monitoring committee and the Commission on request.2000R2222 — EN — 24.11.2001 — 001.001 — 15
(1) SEC (1999) 1801 final ‘Service, supply and work contracts concluded within the
framework of Community cooperation for the third countries’.