98/324/EC: Commission Decision of 29 April 1998 on the clearance of the accounts presented by the Member States in respect of the expenditure for 1997 of the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund
Date: 1998-04-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EAGGF Guarantee Section, EU Member State, EU financing, budgetary control, closing of accounts

L 141/38

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

13. 5. 98

COMMISSION DECISION

of 29 April 1998

on the clearance of the accounts presented by the Member States in respect of the
expenditure for 1997 of the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural
Guidance and Guarantee Fund

(98/324/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

EAGGF Guarantee Section (4), as amended by
Regulation (EC) No 896/97 (5), have expired;

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 agricul-
tural policy (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
1287/95 (2), and in particular Article 5(2)(b) thereof,

After consulting the Fund Committee,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

under Article 5(2)(b) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/
70, the Commission, on the basis of the annual
accounts submitted by the Member States, accom-
panied by the information required for clearance
and a certificate regarding the veracity, complete-
ness, and accuracy of the accounts transmitted, and
reports drawn up by the certifying bodies, clears
the accounts of the paying agencies referred to in
Article 4(1) of that Regulation;

with regard to Article 7(1) of Commission Regula-
tion (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 European Agricultural
Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and
repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2776/88 (3), account
is taken for the 1997 financial year of expenditure
incurred by the Member States between 16 October
1996 and 15 October 1997;

the time limits granted to the Member States for
the submission to the Commission of the docu-
ments referred to in Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation
(EEC) No 729/70 and in Article 4(1), (3) and (4) 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 accounts of the

(4)

(5)

(6)

the Commission has checked the information
submitted and communicated to the Member States
before the 31 March 1998 the results of its verifica-
tions with the necessary amendments;

to decisions

under the first subparagraph of Article 7(1) of
Regulation (EC) No 1663/95, the accounts clear-
ance decision referred to in Article 5(2)(b) of Regu-
lation (EEC) No 729/70 must determine, without
prejudice
taken subsequently in
accordance with paragraph 2(c) of that Article, the
amount of expenditure effected in each Member
State during the financial year in question recog-
nised as being chargeable to the EAGGF Guarantee
Section, on the basis of the accounts referred to in
Article 5(1)(b) of the abovementioned Regulation
and the reductions and suspensions of advances for
the financial year concerned, including the reduc-
tions referred to in the second subparagragh of
Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No 296/96; under
Article 102 of
the Financial Regulation of 21
December 1977 (6), as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 2444/97 (7), the outcome of the clearance
decision, that is to say, any discrepancy which may
occur between the total expenditure booked to the
accounts for a financial year pursuant to Articles
100 and 101 and the total expenditure taken into
consideration by the Commission in this Decision,
is to be booked, under a single article, as additional
expenditure or a reduction in expenditure;

for certain paying agencies, the annual accounts
and the accompanying documents permit
the
Commission to take a decision on the complete-
accounts
ness,
submitted; whereas in the light of the verifications
made some of the accounts do not fulfil this con-
the expenditure
dition and therefore part of

accuracy and veracity of

the

(1) OJ L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.
(2) OJ L 125, 8. 6. 1995, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 39, 17. 2. 1996, p. 5.

(4) OJ L 158, 8. 7. 1995, p. 6.
(5) OJ L 128, 21. 5. 1997, p. 8.
(6) OJ L 356, 31. 12. 1977, p. 1.
(7) OJ L 340, 11. 12. 1997, p. 1.

13. 5. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 141/39

(7)

(8)

(9)

concerned cannot be recognised as chargeable to
the EAGGF Guarantee Section; whereas Annex I
lists the amounts cleared for each paying agency;

in the light of the verifications made, the informa-
tion submitted by certain other paying agencies
requires additional
inquiries and their accounts
therefore be cleared in this Decision;
cannot
the paying agencies
whereas Annex II
concerned;

lists

Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 296/96,
in
liaison with Article 13 of Council Decision 94/
729/EC of 31 October 1994 on budgetary dis-
cipline (1), lays down that advances against booking
are to be reduced for expenditure effected by the
Member States after the limits or deadlines laid
down; whereas, however, pursuant to Article 4(3) of
Regulation (EC) No 296/96, any overrun of dead-
lines during September and October are to be
taken into account
in the accounts clearance
decision except where noted before the last
decision of the financial year relating to advances;
whereas part of the expenditure claimed by certain
Member States during the abovementioned period
was effected after the limits or deadlines laid down;
this Decision should therefore lay down the rel-
evant reductions; whereas a decision will be taken
at a later date, in accordance with Article 5(2)(c) of
Regulation (EEC) No 729/70,
regarding those
reductions, definitively fixing the expenditure for
which Community financing will not be granted;

the 1997 financial year

the Commission, in accordance with Article 13 of
Decision 94/729/EC and Article 4(2) of Regulation
(EC) No 296/96, reduced or suspended a number of
monthly advances on entry into the accounts of
expenditure for
and
proceeds in this Decision to the reductions laid
down in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No 296/96;
whereas, notwithstanding their clearance under this
Decision, a decision will be taken at a later date on
the expenditure concerned in accordance with
Article 5(2)(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70;
whereas, in the light of the above, to avoid any
premature or even only temporary reimbursement
of the amounts in question, they should not be
recognised in this Decision, without prejudice to
further examination according to Article 5(2)(c) of
Regulation (EC) No 729/70;

(10)

(11)

the second subparagraph of Article 7(1) of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1663/95 lays down that the amounts
which are recoverable from, or payable to, each
Member State in accordance with Annex III to this
Decision are to be deducted from, or added to,
advances against expenditure from the second
month following that in which the accounts clear-
ance decision is taken;

subparagraph of
in accordance with the final
Article 5(2)(b) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 and
Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1663/95, this
Decision, adopted on the basis of accounting infor-
mation, does not prejudice decisions taken subse-
the Commission excluding from
quently by
Community financing expenditure not effected in
accordance with Community rules,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The accounts of the paying agencies of the Member States
concerning expenditure financed by the EAGGF Guar-
antee Section in respect of the 1997 financial year are
hereby cleared as shown in Annex I.

Article 2

The accounts of the paying agencies of the Member States
concerning expenditure financed by the EAGGF Guar-
antee Section in respect of
the 1997 financial year
referred to in Annex II are disjoined from the present
Decision and shall be the subject of a future decision.

Article 3

The amounts which are recoverable from, or payable to,
each Member State in accordance with the present clear-
ance of accounts are determined in Annex III of the
present Decision.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 29 April 1998.

For the Commission
Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 293, 12. 11. 1994, p. 14.

L 141/40

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

13. 5. 98

ANNEX I

CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES’ ACCOUNTS (cid:190) FINANCIAL YEAR 1997

List of paying agencies for which the accounts are cleared as follows

Member
State

Paying agency

B

DK

D

EL

E

BIRB
Ministerie van Landbouw (cid:190) DG3
Organisme payeur de la Région wallonne

EU-direktoratet

B1-370 clearance

BLE
Hamburg-Jonas
Baden-Württemberg MLR
Bayern StMELF
Bayern StMLU
Berlin SenWiTech
Brandenburg MELF
Bremen
Hamburg
Hessen HMILFN
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern LM
Niedersachsen MELF
Nordrhein-Westfalen LfEJ
Nordrhein-Westfalen LfA
Nordrhein-Westfalen Rheinland
Nordrhein-Westfalen Westfalen
Rheinland-Pfalz MWVLW
Saarland MUEV
Sachsen
Sachsen-Anhalt ML
Schleswig-Holstein MELFF
Schleswig-Holstein MNU
Thüringen TLVwA

GEDIDAGEP

FEGA
FROM
Andalucía
Aragón
Baleares
Canarias
Castilla - La Mancha
Castilla - Léon
Cataluña
Extremadura
La Rioja
Madrid
Murcia

B1-370 clearance

Amounts cleared
in national currency

27 176 547 276,00
12 059 810 898,00
16 948 713,00

9 190 083 341,36
– 94 271,25

1 505 532 091,59
1 701 256 044,84
579 278 935,91
1 484 357 440,86
6 041 546,06
4 425 636,84
674 142 792,35
2 896 597,86
6 924 243,90
344 617 428,70
761 465 871,78
1 115 764 839,33
18 512 582,05
2 599 931,35
169 578 932,53
504 111 042,75
234 217 895,86
26 244 637,73
540 086 960,84
663 773 183,12
494 842 116,07
2 299 588,04
483 656 011,47
– 75 064 197,07

838 160 189 878,00

176 622 424 025,00
997 862 387,00
158 749 077 854,00
56 996 912 693,00
2 002 618 728,00
20 203 182 543,00
107 607 253 191,00
101 909 395 948,00
41 124 257 471,00
65 813 869 858,00
3 329 208 597,00
5 653 252 192,00
4 682 126 868,00

13. 5. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 141/41

Member
State

Paying agency

Navara
País Vasco
Valencia

B1-370 clearance

CNASEA
FIOM
FIRS
ODEADOM
OFIVAL
ONIC
ONIFLHOR
ONILAIT
ONIVINS
SAV
Services déconcentrés du Trésor et services déconcentrés du
ministère de l’agriculture, de la pêche et de l’alimentation
SIDO

B1-370 clearance

DAF

AIMA
DCCC
ENR
IGFOR

Ministère de l’agriculture

B1-370 clearance

DLG
HPA
LASER
MVO
PT
PVE
PVis
PZ
STOAS

AMA
BMLF Abt. VI B 8 (Wein)
ZA Salzburg
Landesamt Salzburg
Landesamt Tirol
Landesamt Vorarlberg

INGA
IFADAP

MMM

SJV

B1-370 clearance

B1-370 clearance

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

Amounts cleared
in national currency

11 998 565 946,00
5 154 070 222,00
17 398 240 968,00
– 32 487 405 069,00

1 526 689 252,83
63 082 667,99
4 148 363 155,14
748 616 162,82
6 126 108 661,34
25 948 719 407,57
1 608 911 698,37
5 924 630 655,57
548 285 198,79
949 107 896,19
3 633 110 517,79

9 335 823 714,86
– 403 799 738,30

1 525 117 390,50

10 196 745 153 861,00
663 368 728 149,00
21 444 587 915,00
189 688 274 010,00
– 758 842 187 217,00

908 885 653,00

10 400 783,08
857 456 060,39
1 400 677 863,39
94 496,06
13 061 474,68
455 372 433,20
257 461,90
1 142 552 375,74
3 592 837,00
– 14 324 136,39

10 903 960 880,19
13 076 095,76
859 728 147,00
6 506 473,10
7 090 955,00
339 022 ,00
12 163 722,02

111 408 949 689,00
17 541 197 843,00

3 324 841 560,72

6 392 399 066,57

L 141/42

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

13. 5. 98

Paying agency

Member
State

UK

CCW
DANI
FC
IBEA
MAFF
SOAEFD
WOAD

Amounts cleared
in national currency

1 257 614,84
148 223 938,92
8 174 280,00
991 157 457,58
1 504 858 766,12
349 879 994,23
163 790 853,24

The amount ‘B1-370 clearance' is mentioned only if it was not included in the declaration initially sent in by the Member
State.

ANNEX II

CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES’ ACCOUNTS (cid:190) FINANCIAL YEAR 1997

List of paying agencies for which the accounts are disjoined and are subject of a later clearance
decision

Paying agency

Member
State

E

Asturias
Cantabria
Galicia

13. 5. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 141/43

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