296/96 - - - I
1This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its con-
tents
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 296/96
of 16 February 1996
on data to be forwarded by the Member States and the monthly booking of expenditure
financed under the Guarantee Section of the Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund
(EAGGF) and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2776/88
(OJ No L 39, 17. 2. 1996, p. 5)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1391/97 of 18 July 1997 L 190 20 19. 7. 1997
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2236/98 of 16 October 1998 L 281 9 17. 10. 1998
296/96 - - - I
ICOMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 296/96
of 16 February 1996
on data to be forwarded by the Member States and the monthly booking of expenditure
financed under the Guarantee Section of the Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund
(EAGGF) and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2776/88
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the T reaty establishing the EuropeanCommunity,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 of
21 April 1970 on the financing of the common agricultural
policy (
1), as last amended by Regulation (EC)
No 1287/95 (2), and in particular Articles 4 and 5 thereof,
Having regard to Council Decision 94/729/EC of 31 Oc-
tober 1994 on budgetary discipline (3), and in particular
Article 13 thereof,
Whereas Article 4 (5) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70
stipulates that the Member States must themselves mobi-
lize the funds to cover the expenditure of the Guarantee
Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guar-
antee Fund, hereafter referred to as the ‘EAGGF Guaran-
tee Section’; whereas under the same Regulation, the
Commission grants only monthly advances against booking
of the expenditure effected by the Member States;
Whereas, with a view to ensuring the proper management
of the appropriations entered in the budget of the
Communities for the EAGGF Guarantee Section, each
paying agency must keep accounts relating exclusively to
expenditure to be financed by the EAGGF Guarantee Sec-
tion;
Whereas the transmission by the Member States to the
Commission of all data relating to the expenditure to be
financed by the EAGGF Guarantee Section must be or-
ganized; whereas, in this respect, it is appropriate to recog-
nize that the communication of data relating to quantities
should benefit from a certain margin of imprecision which
may be explained, among other things, by administrative
difficulties linked to their establishment; whereas, this
applies also to the estimates of expenditure which, while
they must be reliable, are by their nature of an approxima-
tive character; whereas, furthermore, it is inappropriate to
request the communication of data relating to recoveries
where this would constitute a heavy administrative burden;
(1) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.
(2) OJ No L 125, 8. 6. 1995, p. 1.
(3) OJ No L 293, 12. 11. 1994, p. 14.
296/96 - - - I
IIWhereas the common agricultural regulations include
deadlines for payment of aids to beneficiaries by Member
States; whereas all payments effected after those deadlines,
and for which the delay in payment is unjustified, must be
regarded as ineligible, and therefore cannot, in principle be
the subject of an advance on the booking of expenditure;
whereas, however, in order to modulate the financial im-
pact in proportion to the delay incurred in payment, the
reduction in the advances should be graduated as a func-
tion of the size of the delay recorded;
Whereas, where Member States fail to meet the deadlines
agreed for the notification of data relating to expenditure
or to ensure the consistency of such data, the Commission
may, pursuant to Article 13 of Decision 94/729/EC defer
accordingly the payment of the advances against booking;
Whereas Article 4 of Council Regulation (EEC)
No 1883/78 of 2 August 1978 on general rules on the fi-nancing of EAGGF Guarantee Section intervention (
1), as
last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1571/93 (2), stipu-
lates that where an intervention measure entails buying-in
and storage of products, the amount financed is to be de-
termined by the annual accounts established by the inter-
vention agencies; whereas Council Regulation (EEC)
No 3492/90 (3) laid down rules and conditions governing
these accounts; whereas the procedures according to which
the financing of such measures fits into the system of ad-
vances against booking should be made clear;
Whereas the last subparagraph of Article 5 (2) (a) of Re-
gulation (EEC) No 729/70 stipulates that expenditure for
October is related to October if made between 1 and
15 October and to November if made from 16 to 31 Oc-
tober; whereas it is preferable to avoid the division of the
accounts provided for in Article 4 of Regulation (EEC)
No 1883/78, in view of their complexity; whereas, accord-
ingly, it should be stipulated that expenditure deriving
from September operations is to be treated in the accounts
by the paying agencies on the basis of 50% in respect of
the first 15 days of October, and the rest, including any
adjustments or corrections, in respect of the last 16 days of
October;
Whereas Article 5a of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 auth-
orizes remuneration of the funds mobilized by certain
Member States; whereas procedures for declaration by
these Member States of interest chargeable to the Com-
munity should be laid down;
Whereas the concept of expenditure to be declared month-
ly by the paying agencies should be properly defined;
(1) OJ No L 216, 5. 8. 1978, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 154, 25. 6. 1993, p. 46.
(3) OJ No L 337, 4. 12. 1990, p. 3.
296/96 - - - I
IIIWhereas a uniform presentation of documents to be sent
in by the Member States is needed; whereas in view of the
need for frequent adaptation of such documents to
changes in management requirements, the Commission
must be in a position to adopt and adapt without delay,
under a simplified procedure, the forms to be used;
Whereas in order to facilitate the application of the provi-
sions in this matter it is advisable to replace Commission
Regulation (EEC) No 2776/88 (1), as last amended by Re-
gulation (EEC) No 775/90 (2), with a new Regulation;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are
in accordance with the opinion of the Committee of the
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund
(EAGGF),
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
(1) OJ No L 249, 9. 9. 1988, p. 9.
(2) OJ No L 83, 30. 3. 1990, p. 85.
296/96 - - - I
1Article 1
1. After approval of the advances, in accordance with
the last subparagraph of Article 5 (2) (a) of Regulation
(EEC) No 729/70, the Commission shall place at the dis-
posal of the Member States, within the framework of the
budget appropriations, the funds needed to cover expendi-
ture to be financed by the EAGGF Guarantee Section, on
an account opened for that purpose by each Member State
with its T reasury or any other financial institution.
2. The name and number of this account shall be noti-
fied by each Member State to the Commission.
Article 2
Each paying agency shall keep accounts covering only the
use of the funds made available to it to defray the ex-
penditure referred to in Article 1 (2) of Regulation (EEC)
No 729/70.
Article 3
1. Not later than the second working day of each week,
the Member States shall notify the Commission by fax or
electronically of the total expenditure effected from the be-ginning of the month until the end of the preceding week.
T wo notifications shall be made where the week runs over
two months.
2. The final notification of each month shall include, in
addition to details of expenditure, any information explain-ing any substantial difference between the estimates drawn
up pursuant to paragraph 5 and expenditure actually in-
curred.
3. For the 10th day of each month, the Member States
shall communicate to the Commission, by fax or
electroni-
cally, details of the total amount of expenditure effectedduring the preceding month.
However, the communication in relation to the expenditure
effected between 1 and 15 October must be notified for
the 25th day of the same month at the latest.
4. The notification referred to in paragraph 3 shall in-
clude a breakdown by chapters of the nomenclature of the
budget of the European Communities.
However, where budgetary monitoring is subject to excep-
tional conditions, the Commission may request a more de-
tailed breakdown.296/96
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1391/97
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25. For the 20th day of each month, the Member States
shall transmit to the Commission, electronically and in two
paper copies, a set of documents permitting the booking to
the Community budget of expenditure effected during the
preceding month.
However, the set of documents permitting the booking of
expenditure effected between 1 and 15 October is to be
submitted by 10 November, at the latest.
6. The set of documents referred to in paragraph 5 shall
consist of:
(a) a statement, established by each paying agency, broken
down according to the nomenclature of the budget of
the European Communities and by type of expendi-
ture, of:
— expenditure effected during the preceding month,
— total expenditure effected from the beginning of
the year until the end of the preceding month,
— the quantities (tonnes, hectolitres, hectares, head,
etc.) to which the expenditure referred to in the
second indent relates, where mentioned in the de-
tailed budgetary nomenclature,
— estimates of expenditure in accordance with a list
drawn up by the Commission after discussions in
the EAGGF Committee. The estimates may cover,
as appropriate:
— the current month and the following two
months,
— the current month, the following two months
a n dt ot h ee n do ft h ey e a r ;
(b) where appropriate, a summary of the data referred to
in (a);
(c) where appropriate, justification for the difference be-
tween expenditure effected during the preceding month
as indicated in the current communication and as indi-
cated in the communication referred to in paragraph 3.
7. Expenditure for October shall be related to October
if effected from 1 to 15 October and to November if ef-
fected from 16 to 31 October.
8. (a) Member States participating in the euro may
choose, during the transitional period referred to
in the sixth indent of Article 1 of Regulation (EC)
No 974/98, to keep the accounts at the level of the
paying agency:
— either solely in euro,296/96
2236/98
296/96 - - - I
3— in euro for the payments effected in euro and
in units of national currency for the payments
effected in units of national currency,
— or solely in units of national currency.
(b) The choice of currency for the accounts as well as
the declarations to be furnished to the EAGGF by
the participating Member States must be main-
tained for the whole of the financial year. However
for the first year of application this choice applies
from 1 January 1999.
(c) The same choice must be maintained for the decla-
rations made under the clearance of accounts pro-
cedure.
9. (a) The paying agencies of non-participating Member
States in the euro must maintain separate accounts
according to the currency in which the payments
have been made to the beneficiaries. The sameseparation must be maintained for the declarations
made under the clearance of accounts procedure.
(b) However, if the paying agency of a non-participat-
ing Member State is capable of converting into na-
tional currency the amounts paid to beneficiaries in
e u r oa tt h ee x c h a n g er a t ea p p l i e do nt h ed a yo f
payment, the complete accounts of that paying
agency may be maintained in national currency.
Recoveries, where arising, of amounts paid in euro
must correspond to the national currency booked
on the day of payment.
10. If, in accordance with paragraphs 8 and 9, the paying
agencies of a Member State may choose between the euro,
units of national currency and the national currency for
their accounts, it is not obligatory that they all adopt the
same choice.
11. The communications referred to in Article 3 shall be
established in the currency or currencies in which the ac-
counts are maintained.
Article 4
1. On the basis of data sent in accordance with Article
3, the Commission shall adopt decisions and make the
monthly advances against booking of expenditure, without
prejudice to the provisions Article 13 of Deci-
sion 94/729/EC.
1a. The advances against the booking of expenditure ofthe EAGGF-Guarantee are:
(a) drawn up and paid in euro to participating Member
States;
(b) for the non-participating Member States, drawn up and
paid:2236/98
296/96
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296/96 - - - I
4— in euro for the payments effected by the Member
State in euro,
— in national currency for the payments effected by
the Member State in national currency.
However, if the conversion to national currency of pay-
ments in euro is made at the exchange rate applied on
the day of payment to the beneficiary (as provided for
in Article 3(9)(b)), the advances relating to these pay-
ments in euro may also be effected in national
currency;
(c) paid in units of national currency or in national
currency for the expenditure effected by the participat-
ing and non-participating Member States between 16
October and 30 November 1998.
2. Advances against booking shall be reduced for ex-penditure effected after the deadlines laid down as follows:
(a) where expenditure effected after the deadlines is equal
to 4 % or less of the expenditure effected before the
deadlines, no reduction shall be made, irrespective of
the number of months’ delay,
(b) above the threshold of 4 %, all further expenditure ef-
fected with a delay of up to:
— one month shall be reduced by 10 %,
— two months shall be reduced by 25 %,
— three months shall be reduced by 45 %,
— four months shall be reduced by 70 %,
— five months or more shall be reduced by 100 %.
However, the Commission will apply a different time scale
and/or lower reductions or none at all, if exceptional man-
agement conditions are encountered for certain measures,
or if well-founded justifications are introduced by the
Member States.
The reductions referred to in this Article shall be made in
accordance with the rules laid down in Article 13 of Deci-
sion 94/729/EC.
3. Checks on compliance with the deadlines for the pur-
poses of the payment of advances against booking shall be
made three times each budget year:
— on expenditure effected by 31 January,
— on expenditure effected by 30 April,
— on expenditure effected by 31 August.2236/98
296/96
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5Any overrun of deadlines during September and October
shall be taken into account in the accounts clearance deci-
sion except where noted before the final decision of the
financial year relating to advances.
4. Any reductions made pursuant to Article 13 of Deci-
sion 94/729/EC and particularly those resulting from over-
runs of deadlines shall be made without prejudice to the
subsequent accounts clearance decision.
5. The Commission, having informed the Member States
concerned, may defer payment of the advances to the
Member States as provided for in Article 5 (2) (a) of Re-
gulation (EEC) No 729/70 where the notifications referred
to in Article 3 arrive late or contain discrepancies which
necessitate supplementary verification.
Article 5
1. The expenditure referred to in Article 4 (1) of Re-
gulation (EEC) No 1883/78 shall be determined according
to the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 3492/90.
This expenditure, that arising from the application of
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3730/87 (1), and that re-
ferred to in Article 37 of Council Regulation (EEC)
No 822/87 (2), must be calculated on the basis of support-
ing statements according to a uniform method established
by the Commission pursuant to Article 8.
2. The amounts of expenditure referred to in paragraph
1 shall be entered in the accounts by the paying agencies
during the month following that to which the operations
refer. The operations to be covered in the accounts
adopted at the end of each month shall be those occurring
between the beginning of the financial year and the end of
that month.
However, for the operations carried out in September,
50% of the expenditure shall be entered in the accounts in
respect of October, the balance in respect of November.
Supporting statements concerning the operations shall be
attached to the sets of documents to be sent to the Com-
m i s s i o nf o r1 0N o v e m b e ra n df o r2 0D e c e m b e r .
3. For the overall depreciation amounts established in
accordance with Article 8 (5) of Regulation (EEC)
No 1883/78, paragraph 2 shall not apply, and such amounts
shall be entered in the accounts on dates determined by
the regulation providing for them.
(1) OJ No L 352, 15. 12. 1987, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 84, 27. 3. 1987, p. 1.296/96
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6Article 6
Those Member States for which the charging of interest
has been approved pursuant to Article 5a of Regulation
(EEC) No 729/70 shall enter such interest into the ac-
counts, in accordance with the rules fixed in Commission
Regulation (EEC) No 2775/88 of 7 September 1988, laying
down detailed rules of application of Article 5a of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 (1).
Article 7
1. Expenditure declared in respect of a given month
must fall within payments and receipts actually effected
during this month. However:
(a) expenditure which can be paid prior to implementation
of the provision permitting it to be wholly or partially
borne by the EAGGF Guarantee Section may only be
declared:
— in the month during which the provision was im-
plemented,
or
— in the month following implementation of that
provision.
(b) expenditure part-financed by national funds must be
declared by, at the latest, the second month following
payment to the beneficiary.
Expenditure declared in accordance with the first subpara-
graph may include corrections to data reported for previ-
ous months in the same year.
For a year “n”, account shall be taken of expenditure de-
clared by the Member States in accordance with the pres-
ent paragraph from 16 October of year “n - - - 1” to 15 Oc-
t o b e ro fy e a r“ n ” .
2. For the purposes of the first subparagraph of para-graph 1, and without prejudice to the specific provisions of
Community rules, the following dates shall be referred to:
(a) for expenditure referred to in Article 5 (1), the dates
on which the paying agency enters them into the ac-
counts in accordance with paragraph 2 of that Article;
(b) for the amounts referred to in Article 10 (6) of Com-
mission Regulation (EEC) No 3813/89 (
2):
— for expenditure to be booked under the first year,
t h ed a t eo nw h i c ht h ec a p i t a l i z e dp a y m e n t sw e r e
made,
— for expenditure to be booked under following
years, the sixth month of the financial year;
(c) for all other types of expenditure:
(1) OJ No L 249, 8. 9. 1988, p. 8.
(2) OJ No L 371, 20. 12. 1989, p. 17.296/96
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296/96
296/96 - - - I
7— the date on which the account of the agency has
been debited, or,
— the date on which the agency concerned has issued
and sent the payment document to a financial in-
stitute or to the beneficiary.
3. Payment orders not executed and payments debited to
the account and then re-credited shall be shown in the ac-
counts as deductions from expenditure in respect of the
month during which the failure to execute or the cancella-
tion is reported to the paying agency.
4. Where payments due under the EAGGF Guarantee
Section are encumbered by claims, they shall be deemed to
have been effected in their entirety within the meaning of
paragraph 1:
— on the date of the payment of the sum still due to the
beneficiary, if the claim is less than the expenditure
settled,
— on the date of the settlement of the expenditure, if the
latter is less than or equal to the claim.
5. Cumulative data relating to expenditure that can be
r e f e r r e dt oas p e c i f i cy e a r ,t ob es u b m i t t e dt ot h eC o m m i s -
sion by 10 November, may be corrected only in the annual
accounts to be sent to the Commission in accordance with
Article 5 (1) (b) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.
6. However, corrections effected by the Commission to
data referred to in Article 5 concerning the full year shall
be notified to the EAGGF Committee and indicated in an
annex to a decision relating to advances and shall be en-
tered into the accounts by the agencies during the month
indicated by the said decision.
Article 8
The form of the documents referred to in Article 3 (6)
and Article 5 (1) shall be determined by Commission deci-
sion taken after consultation of the Committee.
Article 9
Regulation (EEC) No 2776/88 is hereby repealed with ef-
fect from 16 October 1995.
Article 10
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the Euro-
pean Communities.
It shall apply for the first time to the expenditure for the
second half of October 1995.296/96