ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(76)412
Vol.1976/0124

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenneetdelaCommunautéeuropéennedel'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiésconformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
InaccordancewithCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
CommunityandtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity(OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocumentsinthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung(EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeitzugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(76)412final.
Brussels,27July1976.
S \
\
PROPOSAL FORACOUNCILDIRECTIVE
onthescrutiny,"byMemberStates,oftransactions
formingpartofthesystemoffinancing "bytheGua­
ranteeSectionoftheEuropeanAgricultural Guidance
andGuaranteeFund
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission)/
COM(76)412final.

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Ithasbeen found that there isconsiderable variation from oneMember State to
another asregards thescrutiny ,inparticular bymeans oftheinspection of
commercial documents andaccounts ,ofundertakings .which receive orpaysums under
thesystem offinancing bytheEAGGP .While insome Member States this type of
scrutiny isfairly widespread ,inothers itisnever used oronly inclearly de­
fined cases ,mainly where anirregularity issuspected .
Examination ofcases ofirregularities notified byMember States totheCommission
pursuant toArticle 3ofRegulation (EEC)No283/72(l),shows ,however ,that most
ofthem were discovered following scrutiny ofundertakings onthebasic ofall
commercial documents ,inparticular theaccounts ,correspondence andether informa­
tion regarding their business activities .Further ,more irregularities have been
discovered andsums recovered fortheEAGGF inthose Member States with asystem
ofinspecting thecommercial documents ofundertakings than inthose without such
asystem (2).
Therefore ,provision should bemade forthis type ofinspection inallMember States
oftheCommunity tobetter protect EAGGP funds andtoreinforce thecampaign against
irrtegularities inagriculture .This initiative indeed reflects awish expressed
bytheSpecial Committee ofInquiry which hasalso stressed theimportance it
attaches togeneralizing the inspection ofcommercial documents andaccounts .
Therefore ,theproposal foradirective requires Member States toscrutinize on
their ownresponsibility andonascale and atapace tobedecided bythem ac­
..wording tocircumstances ,thecommercial documents ofundertakings that receive
orpay sums inconnection with transactions financed bytheEAGGP .Further ,a
Community threshold isfixed after which such inspection becomes mandatory .
While thenewinspection system isbeing launched ,theobligation will belimited
topart oftheundertakings concerned toenable Member States toconstitute the
teams ofinspectors required .Further ,theproposal specifies some ofthepowers
which inspectors must begiven toenable them toperform their duties .
(1)Council Regulation of7February 1972concerning irregularities andthe
recovery ofsuras wrongly paid inconnection with thefinancing ofthecommon
agricultural policy andtheorganization ofaninformation system inthis
field ,OJNoL36,10.2.1972 ,p.1.
(2)Details aregiven intheAnnex .

ANNEX
Summarisedstate*i»ntoftheirregularities casescommunicated bytheMemberStates
nndorArticle3ofRelation(BSC)No383/72(years1973,1974and1975).
Bote;Incertaincasesthescrutinyofcommercialdocumentsmaybeappliedfollowing
informationorothertypesofcontrol.Incertaincasesthenumberofirregula­
ritiesdetectedbythescrutinyofcommercialdocumentation couldbegreater
thanisrevealedinthetable "below,sincetheinformation availabletothe
EAGGFdoesnotalwaysallowthemethodofdetectionoftheirregularities to
bedetermined withexactitude ,
MemberStatesCasesrecordedbytheMember
StatesNumberofcasesestablished by
thescrutinyofcommercial do­
cuments
Number AmountsinUA
(rounded)
Belgium 8 11.000
IDenmark 331.000.00031
Germany i1682.540.000168
FranceI20;3.320.00018
i
UnitedKingdom 1438.000 1
–
Ireland 522.000 I
Italy i3011 .1 1
400.000 !
Luxer,'îburg
TheNetherlands 106.0005
Total 2917.437.OOO 223 I
certainamountsnotyetcommunicated .
UndertakingsreceivingfromorpayingtotheEAGGFGuaranteeSectionmorethan
50.000UAperyear.
MemberStates 50.000-100.000UA100.000-500.000UAmorethan
500.000UATOTAL
Belgium 62 101 66 229
Denmark 70 125 110 305
IGermany I500800 4301.730
[France 176 338 210 i724
UnitedKingdom 1.023 360 104 1.487
jlrelami81 115 99"
ι 1i_poC
r
»
JItaly 1.294 904 1362.334
Luxemburg
TVipTTp+.herlnndsI
2
1226 !
151.1
_.JLZ1 T–h–cTYl
Total 3.3301-^771(.1

Proposalfora
C0yNCIL_5IRECTIVE
theinspectionbyMemberStatesoftransactions formingpartofthesystem
financingbytheGuaranteeSectionoftheEuropeanAgricultural Guidance
N.andGuarantee Fund
HECOUNCILOFTHEEUROPEANCOMM^jIES ,
avingregardtotheTreatyestablish"w%^he EuropeanEconomicCommunity,and
nparticularArticle43thereof;
"dtotheproposalfromtheCommissiotf'Sv ^;
-χ--.
Χι\
HavingregardtotheOpinionoftheEuropeanParliaments -
WhereasArticle8ofRegulation (EEC)No729/70onthefinar\ingQfthecommon
2)agriculturalpolicy,aslastamendedbyRegulation(EEC)No^^8/72provides
thatMemberStatesshalltakethemeasuresnecessarytosatisfythemselvesthat
transactions financedbytheEuropeanAgricultural GuidanceandGuaranteeFund
(EAGGF)areactuallycarriedoutandareexecutedcorrectly,topreventanddeal
withirregularities andtorecoversumslostasaresultofirregularities or
negligence;
Whereastheinspectionofthecommercialdocumentsofundertakings receivingor
makingpaymentsisaveryeffectivemeansofcheckingthetransactions financed
,^'jHheGuaranteeSectionoftheEAGGFandshouldthereforebemadegeneral
L"SOCommunitybylayingdownminimumnumberof'inspectionstobecarried
outbytheMembe.ôtdttc
whereasthebasicdocumentsforsuchinspectionsshouldbethosewhichaUowa
fullinspectionofthebusinessactivitiesconcerned;
WhereasHemberStatesshouldinthefirstplacedeterminethefrequencyand
scopeoftheseinspectionsinthelightofthenatureofthetransactionsthat
takeplaceundertheirresponsibility;whereas,however,aminimumfrequency
shouldbelaiddownforinspectingthecommercialdocumentsincasesofspecial
interestbecauseoftheirfinancialscale;
Whereasthespecificstockrecordskeptbyundertakingsshouldnotonlybe
inspectedbutshouldalsobecomparedwithotherinformationtoverifytheir
accuracy;
1)
2)0JNoL94,28.4.1970,p.13.
3)0JNoL25,30.12.1972,p.1.

-2-
Whereasthepowersoftheofficialsresponsiblefortheinspectionandthe
obligations ofundertakings tomakethecommercialdocumentsavailableto
themduringaspecificperiodshouldbespecified;whereasprovisionshould
bemadefortheseizureofcommercialdocumentsincertaincases;
Whereastheinternational structureofthetradeagricultural products
requiresadegreeofcooperation betweentheMemberStates;
Whereasinformation shouldbeexchangedatCommunitylevelsothattheresults
ofapplyingthisDirectivemaybeusedtothebestadvantage;
Whereasthecommercialandindustrialsecrecyoftheundertakings thathave
beensubjecttoinspectionmustberespected;
WhereaspursuanttothisDirectivetheMemberStatesmustsetupanewsystem
ofinspectionwhichwillrequireateamofspecializedinspectors;whereasthere
shouldthereforebeatransitional periodduringwhichthenumberofinspections
mayberestricted,
HASADOPTEDTHISDIRECTIVE :
Article 1
1.ThisDirectiverelatestotheinspectionofthecommercialdocumentsof
undertakings receivingormakingpayments,hereinafter referredtoas
"theundertakings",toascertainthattransactions formingpartofthe
systemoffinancingoftheGuaranteeSectionoftheEAGGFhaveactually
beencarriedoutandexecutedcorrectly.
2.ForthepurposesofthisDirective"commercialdocuments"meansallthe
books,registers,vouchersandsupportingdocuments,accountsandcorrespondence
relatingtothebusinessactivityoftheundertaking .
Article2
1.Withoutprejudicetotherighttomakerandomchecksorspecialinspections,
particularly inthecaseofasuspectedirregularity,MemberStatesshall
carryouttheinspectionofthecommercialdocumentsoftheundertakings .
Thescopeandfrequencyofsuchinspectionshallbedetermined bythecompetent
authorities intheMemberStates,accountbeingtakenofthetypeoftransactions
tobeinspected. •

-3-
,Nevertheless /where thereceipts ofasingle undertaking oritspayments tothe
Guarantee Section oftheEAGGF ,orthetotal thereof ,exceed 100000units ofaccount
peryear ,thecommercial documents shall "beInspected atleast once every two
yearG .Th6inspection shall extend over aappropriate period tobedetermined by
thecompetent authorities ofthe .Member States .
Article 3
/here undertakings keep specific stock records inaccordance with Community
>rnational provisions ,theinspection ofthese records shall inappropriate cases in-
jlude acomparison with thecommercial documents and ,ifnecessary ,theactual quan­
tities instock .
Article 4
Member States shall require undertakings tokeep theoommeroial documents referred toin
Article 1(2)foratleast five years .
Article 5
1.Member States shall take allnecessary steps to 1ensure that theofficials respon­
sible fortheinspection have access tothepremises and commercial documents of
theundertakings .
2.;TomberStates shall provide that theofficials responsible fortheinspection may
take extracts orcopies ofthedocuments referred toinparagraph 1.
Article 6
./here itissuspected that anirregularity which maygive rise tolegal oradministra­
tive proceedings hasbeen committed byanundertaking undergoing inspection ,the
officials responsible fortheinspection shall beauthorized totake possession ofthe
commercial documents concerned ,ortoarrange forthecompetent persons todoso.
Article 7
Member States shall assist each other incarrying outtheinspection provided forin
Articles 2and3when anundertaking isestablished inaMember State other than that
inwhich thepayment oftheamount concerned hasbeen orshould have been made or
received .

Article 3
1.Inthereports drawn uppursuant toArticle 4(3)ofRegulation (EEC)No729/70
Member States shall devote aspecial chapter totheapplication ofthis Directive
V
I
2.Attherequest oftheCommission ,Member States shall forward inspection reports o
specific sectors ortransactions .
Article 9
1.Information collected inthecourse ofinspections inpursuance ofthis Directive
shall becovered "bytheobligation ofprofessional secrecy .Itmaynotbecommu­
nicated toanypersons other than those who "byreason oftheir duties inthe
Member States orCommunity institutions arerequired tohave knowledge thereof .
2.Inexchanges ofinformation between Member States andbetween them andthe
Commission ,information jeopardizing thecommercial andindustrial secrecy of
undertakings shall notbeforwarded unless this isnecessary inorder forthe
inspection referred tointhis Directive tobecarried out .
Article 10
During thefirst three years following theyear when this Directive i3putinto
effect asprovided inArticle 11,theinspection referred toinArticle 2(2)may,
atthe choice oftheMember State ,becinfined to:
-undertakings where theamount referred to .therein isnot less than
250000units ofaccount ;or
-arepresentative number oftheundertakings referred therein ,such number being
atleast onethird ofsuch undertakings .
Article 11
Member States shall bring into force themeasures necessary tocomply with this
Directive within twelve months ofitsnotification and shall inform theCommission
thereof ..ithout delay .

-5-
Article 12
Thi3 Directive is .addressed ,totheMember States .
Done atFor the Council
The President