Commission Decision

of 4 February 2004

excluding from Community financing certain expenditure incurred by the Member States under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)

(notified under document number C(2004) 194)

(Only the Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Finnish and Swedish texts are authentic)

(2004/136/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 of 21 April 1970 on the financing of the common agricultural policy(1), and in particular Article 5(2)(c) thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy(2), and in particular Article 7(4) thereof,

Having consulted the Fund Committee,

Whereas:

(1) Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70, Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 and Article 8(1) and (2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 of 7 July 1995 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 regarding the procedure for the clearance of the accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section(3) provide that the Commission is to carry out the necessary checks, forward its findings to the Member States, consider any comments from the latter, enter into bilateral discussions with a view to reaching an agreement with the Member States concerned and formally communicate its conclusions to them, referring to Commission Decision 94/442/EC of 1 July 1994 setting up a conciliation procedure in the context of the clearance of the accounts of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) Guarantee Section(4).

(2) The Member States have had an opportunity to request that a conciliation procedure be initiated. That procedure has been applied in some cases and the reports issued on the outcome have been examined by the Commission.

(3) Under Articles 2 and 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 and Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999, only refunds on exports to third countries and intervention to stabilise agricultural markets, respectively granted and undertaken according to Community rules within the framework of the common organisation of the agricultural markets, may be financed.

(4) In the light of the checks carried out, the outcome of the bilateral discussions and the conciliation procedures, part of the expenditure declared by the Member States does not fulfil these requirements and cannot, therefore, be financed under the EAGGF Guarantee Section.

(5) The amounts that are not recognised as being chargeable to the EAGGF Guarantee Section should be indicated. Those amounts do not relate to expenditure incurred more than 24 months before the Commission's written notification of the results of the checks to the Member States.

(6) As regards the cases covered by this Decision, the assessment of the amounts to be excluded on grounds of non-compliance with Community rules was notified by the Commission to the Member States in a summary report on the subject.

(7) This Decision is without prejudice to any financial conclusions that the Commission may draw from the judgments of the Court of Justice in cases pending on 30 October 2003 and relating to its content,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The expenditure itemised in the Annex hereto that has been incurred by the Member States' accredited paying agencies and declared under the EAGGF Guarantee Section shall be excluded from Community financing because it does not comply with Community rules.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Finland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Done at Brussels, 4 February 2004.

For the Commission

Franz Fischler

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 94, 28.4.1970, p. 13. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1287/95 (OJ L 125, 8.6.1995, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.

(3) OJ L 158, 8.7.1995, p. 6. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2025/2001 (OJ L 274, 17.10.2001, p. 3).

(4) OJ L 182, 16.7.1994, p. 45. Decision as last amended by Decision 2001/535/EC (OJ L 193, 17.7.2001, p. 25).

ANNEX

Total corrections

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