Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1. Social policy European Social Fund Financial assistance for vocational training Accuracy of facts and accounts in final payment claims to be certified by the Member States Meaning Scope

(Council Regulation No 2950/83, Arts 5(4) and 6(1))

2. Social policy European Social Fund Financial assistance for vocational training Meaning of ineligible expenditure Decision as to ineligibility Exclusive power of the Commission Effects of reducing or withdrawing Community assistance on the amount of the balance of the national contribution

(Council Regulation No 2950/83, Arts 1 and 6)

3. Social policy European Social Fund Financial assistance for vocational training Repayment, at the request of the Member State concerned, as a protective measure, of the national contribution and the Community aid Whether permissible Application of national law

4. Social policy European Social Fund Financial assistance for vocational training Accuracy of facts and accounts in final payment claims to be certified by the Member States Subsequent reassessment of such claims Whether permissible

(Council Regulation No 2950/83, Art. 5(4); Commission Decision 83/673, Art. 7)

Summary

1. A Member State, when it undertakes, pursuant to Article 5(4) of Regulation No 2950/83 on the implementation of Decision 83/516 on the tasks of the European Social Fund, certification of the accounts submitted to it by the recipient of financial assistance from the European Social Fund, cannot confine itself to carrying out a mere technical check of the expenditure incurred but must, to the contrary, ensure that the expenditure corresponds to the operation actually undertaken and to the price of goods and services on the domestic market and satisfy itself as to the reasonableness of the costs charged within a complex structure. It must therefore satisfy itself, first, that the expenditure incurred by the recipient of the aid is reasonable and, second, that that person has displayed sound financial management.

That being so, it is nevertheless the case that, under Article 6(1) of the said regulation, it is the Commission which adopts the final decision, and it alone assumes responsibility in law vis-à-vis the beneficiaries. Therefore, since the final decision concerning the grant of Community assistance lies exclusively with the Commission, which applies the same criteria to economic operators from the various Member States, the risk of their being treated differently is removed.

( see paras 27, 30-32, and operative part 1 )

2. It is clear from Regulation No 2950/83 on the implementation of Decision 83/516 on the tasks of the European Social Fund that it is not only expenditure which cannot, under Article 1 of the regulation, be financed by the European Social Fund which must be classified as ineligible, but also expenditure which, although eligible under that provision, cannot, under Article 6 of the regulation, be taken into account in the final settlement on the ground that the assistance from the Fund has not been used in conformity with the conditions set out in the decision of approval. In that regard, a decision by the competent authorities of a Member State not to certify the accuracy of the facts and accounts concerning a portion of the expenditure in respect of a training operation to which the European Social Fund has contributed, on the ground that the expenditure cannot be justified or is disproportionate, must be regarded as a proposal addressed to the Commission for that portion of the expenditure to be held to be ineligible. Therefore, the reduction or withdrawal of the national contribution proposed by the competent authorities of a Member State pursuant to a decision not to certify the accuracy of the facts or accounts as regards certain expenditure must be made the subject of a final decision by the Commission concerning the portion of the contribution corresponding to the assistance from the European Social Fund. That final decision of the Commission approving the balance to be paid determines the amount of the balance to be paid from the national contribution.

( see paras 36, 40, 48, and operative part 2-3 )

3. Community law does not preclude the competent authorities of a Member State from requiring, as a purely protective measure, repayment of the national contribution and of the European Social Fund assistance before the adoption by the Commission of its final decision approving the balance. Whether those authorities may claim such repayment is a question of national law.

( see paras 56-57, and operative part 4 )

4. Certification, for the purposes of the second sentence of Article 5(4) of Regulation No 2950/83 on the implementation of Decision 83/516 on the tasks of the European Social Fund, of the accuracy of the facts and accounts in the final payment claim in respect of a training operation does not preclude a Member State from undertaking a subsequent reassessment of the final payment claim and from submitting to the Commission, if necessary, a revised application proposing that the assistance be reduced. When they exercise that power, the competent national authorities are not in any way undertaking a second certification, within the meaning of that article, in respect of the facts and accounts but are exercising their powers under Article 7 of Decision 83/673 concerning the management of the European Social Fund.

( see paras 61-62, and operative part 5 )