This document is meant purely as documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
"B COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 609/2001
of 28 March 2001
laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards
operational programmes, operational funds and Community financial assistance, and repealing Regulation
(EC) No 411/97
(OJ L 90, 30.3.2001, p. 4)
Corrected by:
"C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 109, 19.4.2001, p. 76 (609/2001)2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 1
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 609/2001
of 28 March 2001
laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC)
No 2200/96 as regards operational programmes, operational funds and
Community financial assistance, and repealing Regulation (EC) No
411/97
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on
the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables (1), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 2826/2000 (2), and in particular Article 48
thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 provides for financial
assistance to be granted to producer organisations setting up an
operational fund in accordance with certain rules and within certain
limits. Article 13 grants financial assistance to existing producerorganisations needing a transitional period in order to qualify forrecognition. Article 16 lays down certain rules for the implementation
of operational programmes, and action plans in the case of producer
organisations recognised under Article 13. Detailed rules should belaid down for the application of those provisions.
(2) So as to promote regrouping of supply and facilitate the implemen-
tation of certain measures within operational programmes, producer
organisations should be able to confer the partial or total implemen-tation of actions in their operational programme to a recognised
association of producer organisations. However, specific provisions are
necessary in order to avoid abuses or double financing.
(3) To facilitate the use of the scheme, the marketed production of
producer organisations should be clearly defined, including the
specification of the eligibility of product and the marketing stage at
which the value of production is to be calculated. To guarantee equaltreatment for all products intended for processing eligible for an aidsystem under Council Regulations (EC) No 2201/96 of 28 October
1996 on the common organisation of the markets in processed fruit and
vegetables (
3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2699/2000 (4),
and (EC) No 2202/96 of 28 October 1996 introducing a Community
aid scheme for producers of certain citrus fruits (5), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 2699/2000, the aid referred to in Article 2 ofRegulation (EC) No 2201/96 and Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No2202/96 should be added to the appropriate value of marketed
production. For consistency, the ceilings on Community financial
assistance should be calculated on the basis of the value of productionmarketed during a 12-month period. To ensure flexibility of thissystem for operators, Member States may define limited options for
calculating this 12-month period; additional methods of calculation of
marketable production should also be made possible in case of yearlyfluctuations or insufficient data. To prevent misuse of the scheme,
producer organisations should not be permitted to change reference
periods within the duration of a programme.
(4) To ensure correct use of Community funds, rules must be laid down for
the management of operational funds and members’ financial
contributions towards these funds. In particular it should be specified
that the financial contributions of members of the producerorganisation are based on the marketed production used to calculatethe Community financial assistance. Different levels of contributions
may be set to take into account different levels of participation in an
operational programme by different groups of members, on condition!B
(1) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 328, 23.12.2000, p. 2.
(3) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 29.
(4) OJ L 311, 12.12.2000, p. 9.
(5) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 49.2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 2
that the collective nature of the operational programme is not
weakened.
(5) In the interests of sound management, procedures for the presentation
and approval of operational programmes, including deadlines, should
be laid down so as to enable the adequate evaluation of the information
by the competent authorities, and measures and activities to beincluded in or excluded from the programmes. Since the programmesare managed on an annual basis, it should be stipulated that
programmes not approved before a given date should be postponed
for one year.
(6) There should be an annual procedure for amending operational
programmes for the following year, so that they can be adjusted to take
account of any new conditions which could not have been foreseen
when they were initially presented. In addition, it must be possible formeasures to be changed within the year of execution of a programme.
All such changes should be subject to certain limits and conditions, to
be defined by Member States and including obligatory notification ofchanges to the competent authorities, to ensure the approvedprogrammes maintain their overall objectives.
(7) For reasons of financial and legal security, lists of operations and
expenditure which may or may not be covered by operationalprogrammes should be drawn up; these lists should be non-exhaustive.For transparency and ease of application of Community rules,
eligibility criteria of certain measures should, where appropriate,
follow guidelines set in Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21June 1999 laying down general provisions on the structural funds (
1).
Certain operations and expenditure should be permitted temporarily or
within certain limits.
(8) In the interests of sound management of Community finances, a
written undertaking should be made by the producer organisation, on
behalf of itself and its members, not to receive duplicate financing of
Community or national funding of in respect of measures qualifyingfor Community financing under this Regulation.
(9) To ensure the effective implementation of operational programmes,
producer organisations shall receive notification of the decisions of the
competent authorities on operational programmes and the approvedamount of financial assistance on or before 15 December of the yearpreceding implementation of the programme.
(10) To prevent cash-flow difficulties, a system of advance payments
accompanied by appropriate securities should be available to producerorganisations. It should be stipulated that, in order to prevent thesystematic recovery of advances, such payments should not exceed the
minimum level of financial assistance. It should be possible for
furnished securities to be progressively released as implementation ofthe operational programme proceeds, to the extent of up to 80 % of the
advances paid, the remaining amount being retained until the balance
of the assistance has been paid. An alternative system should beavailable for the reimbursement, at periods throughout the year, ofexpenditure already incurred.
(11) To ensure correct application of the scheme, the information to be
included in applications for assistance should be specified. To provideagainst unforeseen circumstances in the implementation of operationalprogrammes, applications for advances or payment may be carried
over to the following year for operations which for reasons beyond the
control of the producer organisation could not be implemented withinthe time limits laid down. All applications should be subject toadministrative checks for verification. In the interests of sound
financial management, penalties should be determined for late
submission of applications for financial assistance.
(12) The ceiling on Community financial assistance applies to all
applications at the level fixed by Article 15(5) of Regulation (EC)
No 2200/96.
(13) The activities of producer organisations and their effectiveness should
be monitored. This can be achieved by means of periodical reports and
an assessment.!B
(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1.2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 3
(14) Strict control procedures should be laid down, together with deterrent
penalties in the event of infringement, given the high degree ofresponsibility and initiative conferred on the producer organisations.These penalties should be weighted according to the severity of the
infringement. To ensure fair treatment, conditions should be laid down
to cover ineligible actions included in error by the producerorganisation in an operational programme and approved by theMember State, whereby Member States should not be obliged to
withhold aid payments or recover sums paid, in accordance with the
jurisprudence of the Court of Justice.
(15) The competent authorities responsible for verifying the eligibility of
the proposed measures in operational programmes and their execution
must be provided with the possibility of introducing complementarynational legislative measures to ensure the correct application of thisscheme.
(16) This Regulation must apply to all operational programmes to be
implemented from 2001. Programmes already approved whoseapplication continues into 2001 must be amended unless theiradvanced state of implementation makes this inappropriate.
(17) To ensure correct application of this scheme, Member States should
forward all details of complementary and additional measures taken inthe framework of this Regulation. An adequate record of the activitiesof producer organisations and use of the operational funds should be
made available to the Commission for statistical, budget and control
purposes.
(18) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with
the opinion of the Management Committee for Fresh Fruit and
Vegetables,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
CHAPTER I
SUBJECT MATTER AND SCOPE
Article 1
1. The rules laid down herein shall apply to Community financial
assistance, operational funds and operational programmes as referred to inArticle 15(1) and (2)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 and to action plans as
referred to in Article 13(2)(a) of that Regulation.
2. For the purposes of this Regulation, unless it is stated otherwise, action
plans shall be treated in the same way as operational programmes.
Article 2
1. ‘Producer organisations’ as referred to in this Regulation means those
recognised pursuant to Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 and thosereferred to in Article 13 of that Regulation subject to the conditions therein.
2. Where a recognised ‘association of producer organisations’ acts on behalf
of its members for the purposes of fully managing their operational funds inaccordance with Article 16(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, it shall betreated in the same way as a producer organisation for the purposes of this
Regulation.
3. A recognised association of producer organisations may act on behalf of
its members for the partial implementation of their operational programmes.In such cases, Member States may authorise such associations to present a
partial operational programme on their own:
(i) consisting of actions identified, but not implemented by the member
producer organisations within their operational programmes;
(ii) in accordance with the provisions of Articles 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8; the partial
programme shall be considered together with the operational programmes
of the member producer organisations.!B2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 4
In this case Member States shall ensure that:
(a) these actions are fully financed from contributions of member producer
organisations paid out of the operational funds of these organisations;
(b) these actions and the corresponding financial participation are listed in
the operational programme of each participating producer organisation;
(c) there is no risk of duplicate financing.
4. Producer organisations may qualify for Community financial assistance
on the terms set out in Articles 15 and 16 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 and
those laid down herein.
The provisions of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 and of this Regulation relating
to verifications and penalties shall apply to both the associations of producerorganisations and the member producer organisations.
5. For the purposes of this Regulation, the ‘value of marketed production’ is
based on the production of members of producer organisations:
(a) for which the producer organisations are recognised;
(b) disposed of under the conditions laid down in the first and second
subparagraphs of Article 11(1)(c)(3), with the exception of:
(i) the first indent thereof,(ii) the second indent thereof, in cases of marginal quantities of product
marketed fresh or to the processing industry by the producer
members themselves,
of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96;
(c) invoiced at the ‘ex-producer organisation’ stage:
(i) where applicable, as ‘packaged or prepared but not processed
product’,
(ii) excluding V AT,
(iii) excluding internal transport costs (
1),
where applicable, Member States shall define reductions to be applied to
the invoiced value for products invoiced at different stages of processing
or delivery/transport;
(d) including, where relevant, the amount of the aid as provided for in Article
2 of Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 and Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No
2202/96 received by producer organisations during the same period;
(e) including, under conditions determined by Member States to avoid
duplicate counting, the production of members who leave or join theproducer organisation up to the time of submission of the operational
programme or of the submission of changes to the programme as in
Article 6(1) of this Regulation.
6. The annual ceiling on financial assistance referred to in the third
subparagraph of Article 15(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 shall becalculated each year on the basis of the value of marketed production during a
12-month reference period to be determined by Member States, which may be
based on:
(a) an actual 12-month period, commencing no earlier than 1 January two
years preceding the year in which the operational programme isimplemented and ending no later than 30 June of the year precedingthe operational programme year; or
(b) the average value of three subsequent 12-month periods between 1
January of the fourth year and 30 June of the year preceding the
operational programme year.
7. Different reference periods may be defined by the Member States for
different producer organisations to take into account various production, salesand accounting periods for different products or groups of products. The
reference period shall not vary during an operational programme except in
duly justified situations.!B
(1) Where the distance between the centralised collection or packing points of the
producer organisation and the point of distribution of the producer organisation is
significant.2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 5
8. Where a reduction in value of a product has occurred due to reasons
falling outside the responsibility and control of the producer organisation, thevalue of the marketed production referred to in paragraph 6 shall not be lessthan 65 % of the value of the previous reference period.
9. Where recently recognised producer organisations have insufficient
historical data on marketed production for the application of paragraph 6, thevalue of marketed production shall be considered to be the value ofmarketable production provided by the producer organisation for the purposes
of recognition.
10. Member States shall take the measures necessary to gather information
on the value of marketed production within the meaning of paragraph 5 ofproducer organisations which have not presented operational programmes.
CHAPTER II
OPERATIONAL FUNDS AND PROGRAMMES
Article 3
Operational funds
1. Operational funds set up by producer organisations as referred to in
Article 15(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 shall:
(a) be used solely for transactions connected with:
1. the implementation of the operational programme,2. the administration of the operational fund, and3. the financing of withdrawals, in accordance with Article 15(3) of
Regulation (EC) No 2200/96;
(b) be managed:
1. in a bank account with a financial institution in the Member State in
which the producer organisation has its headquarters, or
2. at the request of a producer organisation and upon decision of the
Member State, in financial accounts managed by the organisation,comprising accounts for each operation in which each item ofexpenditure and revenue relating to the operational fund can be
identified and can be checked and certified annually by external
auditors.
2. Financial contributions to the operational fund shall be levied in
accordance with Article 15(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96. The producer
organisation may set the levy:
(a) on the basis of volume or value of the marketed production, or a
combination of both;
(b) at different levels for different products or groups of members on the
basis of objective criteria set by the producer organisation, taking into
account in particular different levels of participation in an operationalprogramme by different groups of members under the following
conditions:
(i) if the collective nature of the operational programmes is not
weakened,
(ii) where the contribution of each individual member of that group is
calculated on the basis referred to in paragraph 2(a).
3. An operational programme shall be deemed to be of a collective nature if
its actions:
(i) involve a significant number or proportion of members; and(ii) are approved democratically by the members of the producer organi-
sation.
4. Under conditions set by Member States, producer organisations may
advance members’ contributions to the fund for a given year ofimplementation of the operational programme, conditional to compensation
against the levies collected from their members by 31 January of the
following year.!B2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 6
5. Any credit to the operational fund other than members contributions is
not eligible for the financial assistance referred to in Article 15(1) ofRegulation (EC) No 2200/96.
Article 4
Operational programme submission to Member States
Proposed operational programmes shall be submitted for approval to the
competent authorities in the Member State in which the producer organisationhas its headquarters on or before 15 September of the year preceding that in
which they are to be implemented. However, the Member States may
postpone that date.
Article 5
Operational programme approval by Member States
1. The competent national authorities shall take decisions on programmes
and funds on or before 15 December of the year in which they are submitted.
2. The national competent authorities shall verify:
(a) by all appropriate means, including on-the-spot inspections, the accuracy
of information provided pursuant to Article 8(1)(b)(c) and (e);
(b) compliance of the objectives of programmes with Article 15(4) of
Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 or, in the case of action plans, complianceof their objectives with Article 11(2) of that Regulation;
(c) eligibility of the operations and the expenditure proposed, account being
taken of the operations in Article 8(2) and the non-exhaustive list ofineligible operations and expenditure in Annex I;
(d) the economic consistency and technical quality of proposed programmes,
the soundness of the estimates and the financing plan, and the planning ofits implementation.
3. The competent national authorities shall, as appropriate:
(a) approve programmes which meet the requirements of Articles 15 and 16
of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 and those of this chapter;
(b) request changes to the proposed programmes, in which event only
programmes that incorporate the changes requested shall be approved;
(c) reject the programmes.
The competent national authorities shall notify producer organisations of their
decisions.
4. Operational programmes approved on or before 15 December shall be
implemented as from 1 January of the following year.
The implementation of programmes approved after 15 December shall be
postponed for one year.
Article 6
Operational programme changes
1. Producer organisations may request changes for the subsequent year(s) of
operational programmes each year on or before 15 September forimplementation on 1 January of the following year.
However, Member States may postpone the date for submitting requests.
2. Requests for changes shall be accompanied by supporting documents
justifying the reason, nature and implications of the changes.
The competent authorities shall take decisions on requests for changes to
operational programmes on or before 15 December, after considering the
evidence supplied, and with due regard for the verification of the authorities
as in Article 5(2). Where a decision is not taken within the abovementionedtime limit, the request shall be deemed to have been rejected.!B2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 7
3. Under conditions to be determined by Member States and subject to
approval by Member States, producer organisations may be allowed, duringany given year to:
(a) implement their operational programmes in part only;
(b) change the contents of the operational programme. Changes may include
extending operational programmes on condition that their total duration
does not exceed five years;
(c) change the amount of operational fund approved for financing with-
drawals as in Article 15(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 within the
limits laid down in the third subparagraph of Article 15(3) and in Article
23(3), (4) and (5),
provided the overall objectives of the operational programme are maintained
and the amount of the operational fund referred to in Article 9(1) is notexceeded.
4. Member States shall determine the conditions under which in-year
changes to operational programmes as in paragraph 3(a) and (b) of this Articlemay go ahead without the prior approval of Member States.
These changes are only eligible for financing if they are communicated by the
producer organisation to the competent authorities without delay.
5. Any increase of the amount of operational fund approved for financing
withdrawals as in Article 15(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 must in all
cases be the subject of prior approval by the competent authorities.
Article 7
Operational programme format
Operational programmes shall be implemented in annual periods running
from 1 January to 31 December.
Article 8
Operational programme contents
1. Proposed operational programmes shall satisfy the requirements of
Article 15(4) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 or, in the case of action plans,those required, once the action plan is completed, for compliance with Article
11(2) of that Regulation.
They shall cover at least the following:
(a) the duration of the operational programme;
(b) description of the initial situation, in particular as regards production,
marketing and equipment;
(c) the objectives of the programme, bearing in mind the outlook for
production and outlets;
(d) the operations to be undertaken and the means to be employed for
attaining those objectives in each year of implementation of theprogramme;
(e) the financial aspects, namely:
(i) the method of calculation and the level of financial contributions;
(ii) the procedure for financing the operational fund as referred to in
Article 3;
(iii) if applicable, all necessary information to justify different levels of
contribution levied in accordance with Article 3;
(iv) the budget and timetable for undertaking operations for each year of
implementation of the programme.
2. Proposed operational programmes as in paragraph 1 may cover in
particular:
(a) costs of plants in the case of perennial crops (perennials, trees and
shrubs);!B2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 8
(b) specific costs for:
(i) organic, integrated or experimental production (1),
(ii) organic plant protection materials (2),
(iii) environmental measures (including recyclable and/or re-usable
packaging),
(iv) quality improvement measures (including certified seeds and plants),
for a maximum of 10 years per measure from the beginning of the first
operational programme;
(c) overheads specifically related to the operational fund or programme (3)
by means of the payment of a lump sum equal to 2 % of the approved
operational fund and up to a maximum of EUR 180 000 (4);
(d) personnel costs (including charges linked to wages and salaries, if these
are borne by the producer organisation) resulting from measures:
(i) to improve or maintain a high level of quality or environmental
protection,
(ii) to improve the level of marketing,implementation of which essentially involves the use of qualified
personnel. If, in such cases, the producer organisation uses its own
employees or member producers, the time worked must be documented;
(e) investments in means of transport equipped with cold-storage or
controlled-atmosphere transport;
(f) additional external transport costs, compared with road haulage costs,
incurred when using rail and/or ship as part of a measure to respect theenvironment, set by Member States per kilometre on a flat-rate basis;
(g) costs of meetings and training programmes related to implementation of
actions in the operational programme, including daily allowances of
participants covering transport and accommodation costs (whereappropriate on a flat-rate basis);
(h) generic promotion and promotion of collective labels (
5). Geographical
names are allowed only:
(i) if covered by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 (6), and which
in particular use a protected designation of origin or a protectedgeographical indication, or
(ii) if these geographical names are secondary to the principal message
and are not reserved for the use of the producer organisation
concerned.
Promotional material must bear the emblem of the European Community
(in the case of visual media only) and include the following legend:‘Campaign financed with the assistance of the European Community’;
(i) legal and administrative costs of mergers of producer organisations or
their acquisition; feasibility studies and proposals commissioned by
producer organisations in this respect;
(j) second-hand equipment within the conditions laid down in Rule No 4 of
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1685/2000 (
7);
(k) land not built on where purchase is necessary to carry out an investment
included in the programme, within the conditions laid down in paragraphs!B
(1) The competent national authority must lay down the eligibility criteria for an
experimental production taking account of the newness of the procedure or conceptand the risk involved.
(
2) Organic plant protection materials (such as pheromones and predators), whether
used in organic, integrated or conventional production.
(3) Including management and personnel costs, reports and evaluation studies; the
costs of keeping accounts and the management of accounts referred to in Article
3(1)(b).
(4) Member States may restrict funding to the real costs, in which case they should
define the eligible costs.
(5) Collective labels must not be restricted to producer organisation members and must
not represent an individual producer organisation name or trademark
(6) OJ L 208, 24.7.1992, p. 1.
(7) OJ L 193, 29.7.2000, p. 39.!C1
!B2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 9
1.1(a), (b) and (c) and 1.2 of Rule No 5 of Regulation (EC) No
1685/2000 (1);
(l) leasing within the limits of the net market value of the item and within
the conditions laid down in paragraph 3 of Rule No 10 of Regulation(EC) No 1685/2000;
(m) hire as an alternative to purchase where economically justified;
(n) real estate purchase within the conditions laid down in paragraphs 2.1, 2.2
and 2.3 of Rule No 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1685/2000;
(o) investments or actions on individual holdings, on condition that:
(i) the collective nature of the operational programme in the sense of
Article 3(3) of this Regulation is not weakened, and
(ii) appropriate provisions are made in order to recover the investment or
its value if the member leaves the organisation;
(p) replacements for investments, provided that the residual value of the
replaced investments is either:
(i) added to the operational fund of the producer organisation, or
(ii) subtracted from the cost of the replacement.
Investments, including those under leasing contracts, whose repayment period
exceeds the length of the operational programme may be carried over to a
subsequent operational programme on duly justified economic grounds, and
in particular in cases where the fiscal depreciation period is longer than fiveyears.
3. Proposed operational programmes shall not cover operations or
expenditure on the non-exhaustive list of ineligible operations andexpenditure given in Annex I.
4. Proposed operational programmes shall be admissible only if accom-
panied by:
(a) evidence of the setting-up of an operational fund as referred to in Article
3;
(b) a written undertaking from the producer organisation to comply with
Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 and this Regulation, and for neither it nor itsmembers to receive, directly or indirectly, duplicate Community or
national funding in respect of measures and/or operations qualifying for
Community financing under this Regulation.
CHAPTER III
COMMUNITY FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Article 9
Estimates of operational funds
1. Each year on or before 15 September and, where applicable, at the same
time as proposed operational programmes as referred to in Article 4 of this
Regulation or requests for changes as referred to in Article 6(2) are submitted,
producer organisations implementing operational programmes shall forwardthe estimated amounts of the operational funds for the following year to theMember States in accordance with Article 16(2) of Regulation (EC) No
2200/96.
Calculation of the estimated amount of operational funds shall be based on:
(a) the factors referred to in Article 16(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96
and contained in the proposed operational programmes and on estimated
expenditure on withdrawals as referred to in Article 15(3) thereof;!B
(1) The competent national authority may set additional conditions to Rule No 5 of
Regulation (EC) No 1685/2000 for the acceptance of this type of expenditure in
order to avoid all speculation; these conditions may include in particular
forbidding the sale of the investment/land during a minimum period and the
setting of a maximum correlation between the value of the land and the value of the
investment.2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 10
(b) the value of marketed production established in accordance with Article
2(5) of this Regulation.
2. When proposed programmes are being approved, Member States shall
establish the approved amount of financial assistance as referred to in the first
subparagraph of Article 16(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96.
3. Member States shall notify the producer organisations on or before 15
December of:
(a) the approved amount of financial assistance referred to in paragraph 2 of
this Article;
(b) the decisions on the operational programmes as referred to in Article 5(1)
or changes to the operational programmes as in Article 6(2) of this
Regulation, in accordance with Article 16(2) of Regulation (EC) No2200/96.
4. Member States shall report estimates of operational funds to the
Commission within the framework provided for under Article 17 of thisRegulation.
Article 10
Advance payments
1. Producer organisations may on application be granted advance payments
on the proportion of the operational fund to be used to finance an operationalprogramme.
Applications for advance payments shall be made in January, April, July and
October. They shall cover foreseeable expenditure arising from operationalprogrammes for the three-month period starting in the month in which the
application is submitted. Total advance payments made for a given year may
not exceed 90 % of the approved amount of financial assistance for theoperational programme.
2. Advances shall be paid subject to the furnishing of a security equivalent
to 110 % thereof and according to conditions to be set by Member States:
(i) to ensure that financial contributions to the operational fund have been
levied in accordance with Article 3(2), (3) and (4);
(ii) to ensure previous advance payments have actually been spent.
Applications for the release of securities may be submitted during the year
and shall be accompanied by the relevant supporting documents. Securities
shall be released in respect of up to 80 % of advances paid.
3. Securities shall be furnished in accordance with the conditions laid down
in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 (
1).
The primary requirement within the meaning of Article 20 of that Regulation
shall cover the performance of the operations set out in the operational
programmes subject to the undertakings set out in Article 8(4)(b) of thisRegulation.
In the event of failure to comply with the primary requirement or of serious
failure to meet the obligations referred to in Article 8(4)(b) the security shallbe forfeited, without prejudice to other penalties to be applied in accordance
with Article 48 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 and Article 15 of this
Regulation.
In the event of failure to comply with other requirements, the security shall be
forfeited in proportion to the gravity of the irregularity that has been
established.
4. Alternatively, at their request producer organisations may opt for a system
of applications for a proportion of the Community financial assistancecovering:
(a) expenditure resulting from the operational programme. Applications shall
be submitted in April, July and October and shall cover expenditureincurred during the three preceding months. They shall be accompanied
by suitable supporting documents.!B
(1) OJ L 205, 3.8.1985, p. 5.2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 11
Total payments in respect of applications for a proportion of the financial
assistance may not exceed 90 % of the approved amount of financialassistance for the operational programme or of the real expenditure,whichever is less;
(b) withdrawals. Applications may, where applicable, be submitted together
with applications as referred to in paragraph 4(a). Such applications shall
be subject to the limits laid down in the third subparagraph of Article
15(3) and in Article 23(3), (4) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96.
Article 11
Producer organisation applications for aid
1. Applications for financial assistance or the balance thereof shall be
submitted, one only in respect of each programme, no later than 31 January ofthe year following that to which they relate.
2. Applications shall be accompanied by supporting documents showing:(a) the value of the marketed production within the meaning of Article 2(5);
(b) the financial contributions levied on members and paid into the
operational fund, in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article
15(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 and Article 3 of this Regulation, formarketed production within the meaning of Article 2(5) of thisRegulation;
(c) the expenditure incurred in respect of the operational programme;(d) the proportion of the operational fund spent on the financing of market
withdrawals in accordance with Article 15(3) of Regulation (EC) No
2200/96, the level of compensation and/or supplements paid to members,
and also compliance with the limits laid down in the third subparagraphof Article 15(3) and in Article 23(3), (4) and (5) of that Regulation.
3. Applications for financial assistance or the balance thereof may cover
expenditure programmed but not incurred relating to operations for which it isproved to the satisfaction of the competent national authority that:
(i) these operations could not be carried out on or before 31 December of the
year of implementation of the operational programme for reasons beyond
the control of the producer organisation concerned, and that they can be
carried out on or before 30 April of the following year;
(ii) an equivalent contribution from the producer organisation is maintained
in the operational fund.
The assistance shall be paid out and the security lodged in accordance with
Article 10(2) shall be released only on condition that proof of implementationof the programmed expenditure referred to in the preceding subparagraph is
provided on or before 30 April of the year following that for which the
expenditure in question was programmed, and on the basis of the entitlementto the assistance actually established.
4. Applications and their supporting documents are subject to administrative
checks. Member States shall pay the financial assistance due to the producer
organisations at the latest on 30 June of the year following the year of
implementation of the programme. However Member States may postponethis date until 31 August.
5. Where applications for financial assistance or the balance thereof are
submitted later than the date set in paragraph 1, the aid is reduced by 1 % foreach day late.
6. In exceptional and duly justified cases, Member States may accept
applications for financial assistance or the balance thereof after the date set in
paragraph 1, and not apply the provisions of paragraph 5, if this does not
prejudice either the carrying out of the checks or the payment deadline byMember States set in paragraph 4.
Article 12
Reporting applications for aid
Member States shall report details on applications for aid to the Commission
within the framework provided for under Article 17 of this Regulation.!B2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 12
CHAPTER IV
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 13
Producer organisation reports
1. The implementation of operational programmes and withdrawal oper-
ations eligible for Community financing under an operational fund shall be
the subject of annual reports, which shall:
(a) accompany applications for financial assistance or, as appropriate,
applications for the balance;
(b) cover operational programmes implemented during the preceding year
and withdrawals;
(c) contain reasoned details of
(i) main changes to operational programmes, and(ii) variances between estimated and actual aid applied for.
2. Final reports shall replace the reports referred to in the first paragraph for
the final year of application of operational programmes.
Such final reports shall be accompanied by an assessment of the operational
programmes, prepared, where applicable, with the assistance of a specialisedconsultancy office. Such assessments must verify attainment of the objectives
pursued by the programmes and, where appropriate, detail changes to
operations and/or methods which have been or will be considered whensubsequent operational programmes are drawn up.
Article 14
Checks
1. Member States shall carry out checks on producer organisations, with
little or no prior notification and including checks on the spot, so as to ensure
effective verification of compliance with the conditions for grant of
assistance, and in particular on:
(a) implementation of the measures in the operational programme, and in
particular relating to investments;
(b) real costs and expenses incurred compared with declared amounts.2. The checks referred to in paragraph 1 shall relate at least to a significant
sample of applications each year. The sample must represent at least 20 % of
producer organisations and 30 % of total Community assistance.
Should the checks reveal significant irregularities in a region or part of a
region or a specific producer organisation, the competent authorities shall
carry out additional checks during the year in question and shall increase thepercentage of corresponding applications to be checked the following year.
3. The competent authorities shall determine which producer organisations
to check on the basis, in particular, of a risk analysis and the representative-
ness of the assistance. The risk analysis shall take account of:
(a) the amount of assistance;(b) the trend of annual programmes in relation to the previous year;
(c) the findings of the checks in previous years;
(d) other parameters to be determined by Member States.4. At least one check must be made on each producer organisation before
the payment of aid or the balance thereof relating to the final year of its
operational programme.
5. Member States shall report details on checks to the Commission within
the framework provided for under Article 17 of this Regulation.!B2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 13
Article 15
Recovery and sanctions
1. Amounts unduly paid shall be recovered and sanctions shall be applied to
the producer organisations concerned, in particular where:
(a) the real value of marketed production within the meaning of Article 2(5)
is less than the amount used to calculate the Community financial
assistance; or
(b) the operational fund has been maintained in a manner which does not
comply with Article 15(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 or has been
used for purposes other than those referred to in Article 15(2) of that
Regulation; or
(c) the operational programme has been implemented in a manner which
does not comply with the conditions for its approval by the Member State
concerned, without prejudice to Article 6 of this Regulation.
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 7(4) of Council Regulation
(EC) No 1258/1999 (1), in the case of a measure which is subsequently found
to be ineligible, and which has been implemented in conformity with an
operational programme approved by the Member State, the latter may:
(a) pay the relevant aid due, or(b) not proceed to the recovery of aid already paid out,
if it would proceed in such a way for comparable cases financed from the
national budget and if the producer organisation has not acted negligently.
3. Where recovery and/or sanctions apply as in paragraph 1, the recipi-
ent/applicant shall be required:
(a) in cases where aid has already been paid:
(i) in the case of obvious error, to reimburse the amounts unduly paid
out, plus interest,
(ii) in the case of fraud, to reimburse double the amounts unduly paid
out, plus interest;
(iii) in all other cases, to reimburse the amounts unduly paid out,
increased by 20 %, plus interest;
(b) in cases where applications for financial assistance have been submitted
according to Article 11 of this Regulation but no aid has been paid:
(i) in the case of fraud, to pay the amounts unduly applied for,(ii) in all cases other than those of obvious error, to pay 20 % of the
amounts unduly applied for.
4. The interest referred to in paragraph 3(a) shall be calculated:(a) on the basis of the period elapsing between payment and reimbursement
by the recipient;
(b) at the rate applied by the European Central Bank to its main refinancing
operations published in the ‘C’ series of the Official Journal of the
European Communities and in force on the date on which the undue
payment is made, plus three percentage points.
5. Sums recovered, with the interest accrued, shall be paid to the responsible
paying agency and deducted by it from expenditure financed by the EuropeanAgricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund.
6. In the event of a false declaration made deliberately or by serious
negligence, the producers’ organisation concerned shall be debarred fromreceiving Community financial assistance for the year following that inrespect of which the false declaration was discovered.
7. Paragraphs 1 to 6 shall apply without prejudice to other penalties to be
adopted in accordance with Article 48 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96.
8. Member States shall report details on recovery and sanctions to the
Commission within the framework provided for under Article 17 of this
Regulation.!B
(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 14
CHAPTER V
Article 16
Member State provisions
1. Member States may adopt complementary rules to Regulation (EC) No
2200/96 and to this Regulation concerning operations or expenditure eligiblefor assistance.
2. Member States shall report details on provisions adopted to the
Commission within the framework provided for under Article 17 of thisRegulation.
Article 17
Member State reporting
1. Member States shall report financial and qualitative data on producer
organisations, operational funds and operational programmes and controls as
set out in Annex II.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission all measures and
conditions set by them in the framework of this Regulation, and in particular:
(a) the procedure for financing the operational funds as in Article 8(1)(e)(i),
(ii) and (iii);
(b) conditions set for enabling in-year changes to be made to operational
programmes as in Article 6(3) and (4);
(c) provisions made, if relevant, for the application of Article 15(2);
(d) the provisions adopted under Article 16(1).
Article 18
Commission Regulation (EC) No 411/97 (
1) is repealed.
However the provisions of Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 411/97 shall
continue to apply for operational funds relating to the year 2000.
Article 19
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities with the
following provisions:
(a) operational programmes approved by Member States before the entry into
force of this Regulation and whose application continues into 2001 must
comply with this Regulation, if necessary by means of an amendment to
be requested by producer organisations on or before 15 September 2001;
(b) member States may provide for the retention of programmes approved
before the entry into force of this Regulation if adjusting them would beinappropriate given their state of advancement;
(c) upon request by interested parties, the provisions of Article 15 may apply
to cases occurring prior to the entry into force of this Regulation.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all
Member States.!B
(1) OJ L 62, 4.3.1997, p. 9.2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 15
ANNEX I
INELIGIBLE OPERATIONS AND EXPENDITURE
As far as they are not covered by Article 8(2), the following operations and expenditure
are ineligible:
1. General production costs, and in particular:
— seeds and plants,
— plant protection products, including integrated control materials, fertilisers
and other inputs,
— packing costs, storage costs, packaging costs, even as part of new processes,
— costs of collection or transport (internal or external),
— operating costs (in particular electricity, fuel and maintenance).
2. Overheads.
3. Income or price supplements.
4. Insurance costs including individual or group insurance premiums and the creation
of insurance funds within a producer organisation.
5. Reimbursement (especially in the form of annual payments) of loans taken out for
an operation carried out in full or in part before the beginning of the operationalprogramme.
6. Purchase of land not built on.
7. Payments to producers, participating in meetings and training programmes, to
compensate for loss of income.
8. Operations or costs relating to the quantities produced by the members of the
producer organisation outside the Community.
9. Operations that could distort competition in the other economic activities of the
producer organisation; operations or measures which profit directly or indirectlyother economic activities of the producer organisation should be financed inproportion to their use by the sectors or products for which the producer
organisation is recognised.
10. Second-hand equipment.
11. Investment in means of transport to be used for marketing or distribution by the
producer organisation.
12. Hire as an alternative to purchase; the operating cost of the goods hired.
13. Expenditure linked to leasing contracts (taxes, interest, insurance costs, etc.) and
operating costs.
14. Promotion of individual commercial labels or containing geographic references.
15. Subcontracting contracts relating to the operations or expenditure mentioned in
this list.
16. V AT and other taxes or charges within the conditions laid down in paragraph 4 of
Rule No 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1685/2000.
17. Investments for the processing of fresh products (operations carried out by
producer organisations concerning preparation of the product, in particularcleaning, cutting, trimming, drying and packaging, with a view to its marketing,are not deemed processing).!
B2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 16
ANNEX II
MEMBER STATE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Information to be forwarded by Member States to the Commission by 1 June of each
year, according to formats to be provided by the Commission
PART 1 : Producer organisations
1. Administrative information (in particular concerning recognition number, legal
form, number of physical and legal members).
2. Production information (including the calculation of the value of marketed
production calculation and information on key products).
PART 2 : Operational funds and operational programmes
1. Reference period(s) used.
2. Aid estimates (Article 9).3. Applications for aid and final aid payments actually made (Article 11) including
the percentage of operational fund spent on withdrawals.
4. Main categories of expenditure (including significant changes made in-year).
PART 3 : Checks (Article 14); recovery and sanctions (Article 15)
1. Producer organisations checked.
2. Checking authority and summary including results of controls (key points only).Updated final figures relating to final aid payments actually made as in Part 2(3) may
be submitted up to 1 October at the latest.!
B2001R0609 — EN — 02.04.2001 — 000.001 — 17