WRITTEN QUESTION E-1375/98 by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (7 May 1998)

Subject: Establishment of a new agency for the payment and control of Community EAGGF aid

The Greek Government has tabled a bill establishing an agency for the payment and control of Community EAGGF aid which will be responsible for managing and controlling European Agricultural Fund appropriations and carrying out the necessary primary-level technical controls.

Given that Council Regulation (EC) No. 1287/95 ((OJ L 125, 8.6.1995, p. 1.)) states: '... decentralized management of Community funds, in particular following reform of the common agricultural policy, leads to the designation of several paying agencies ...' and Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 ((OJ L 158, 8.7.1995, p. 6.)) states: 'The limit to the number of paying agencies ...shall be set by the Member State after consulting the Commission ...', will the Commission say:

1. Does it consider that the Greek Government's decision to set up a single paying agency which will manage, and carry out technical controls on, all the products and actions covered by the EAGGF is compatible with the spirit of Regulation 1287/95 which promotes the establishment of more than one paying agency?

2. Does it take the view that the proposed agency will satisfactorily perform the payment and control procedures in respect of Community EAGGF aid, given that with the reform of the CAP production aid will steadily decrease, while direct and structural aid which mainly requires regional and local - rather than centralized - management will increase?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (9 June 1998)

1. The provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1287/95 of 22 May 1995 amending Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 on the financing of the common agricultural policy make it clear that the Member States are not obliged to create several paying agencies. Indeed, while the new Article 4(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 of 21 April 1970 on the financing of the common agricultural policy ((OJ L 94, 28.4.1970. )) refers to 'accredited paying agencies', this takes into account cases where there are several without excluding cases where there is only one, because paragraph 2 of the same Article states explicitly that: 'Each Member State shall, taking into account its constitutional and institutional structures, limit the number of accredited paying agencies to the minimum necessary in order to effect the expenditure referred to in Articles 2and 3 under satisfactory administrative and accounting conditions.'

The situation of Greece is therefore fully compatible with the spirit and the letter of Regulation (EC) No 1287/95.

Six other Member States have only one paying agency (Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Finland and Sweden).

2. The paying agency has to satisfy the obligations of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 of 7 July 1995 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 regarding the procedure for the clearance of the accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section, which sets out the accreditation criteria in its Annex. The provisions of this Annex allow a large number of different organisations and procedures, that the Member State sets up according to what it considers necessary.

In fact, the provisions of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 enable (see point 4) the paying agency to delegate to other bodies all or part of the authorisation function (which has the aim of establishing the amount to be paid to a beneficiary in accordance with the Community rules) and the technical service function (which has the aim of checking the facts on which the payments to the beneficiaries are based) provided that certain conditions are met. These provisions make it possible to tailor management as closely as possible to the needs on the ground, and thus to answer the concerns of the Honourable Member.