Commission Regulation (EC) No 2252/2001 of 20 November 2001 amending Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 laying down financial rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development in the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe in the pre-accession period (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2001-11-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Central and Eastern Europe, EU aid, accession to the European Union, aid to agriculture, financing of aid, rural development

L 304/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21.11.2001

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2252/2001

of 20 November 2001

amending Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 laying down financial rules for the application of Council
Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture
and rural development in the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe in the pre-accession
period

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 of 21
June 1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures
for agriculture and rural development in the applicant coun-
tries of central and eastern Europe in the pre-accession
period (1), and in particular Article 9(2) and Article 12(2)
thereof,

Whereas:

and to enable concerned parties to benefit properly from
it, it is appropriate to exclude from this provision expen-
diture on feasibility and related studies concerning
selected projects and expenditure incurred under tech-
nical assistance.

Article 11(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 provides
for no charges to be levied on interest earned by the
Sapard euro account, except those of a fiscal nature.
However, in order to ensure the full use of Community
funds for Sapard objectives, this exception should also
be eliminated.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the Committee of the
European Agriculture Guarantee and Guidance Fund
(EAGGF),

(4)

(5)

(1)

(2)

(3)

Article 2(g) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2222/
2000 (2) laying down financial rules for the application
of Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 indicates that the
financing agreement amends, as appropriate,
annual
provisions laid down in the multi-annual
financing
agreement. A possibility for an annual financing agree-
ment also to amend, as appropriate, provisions laid
down in another prior annual financing agreement, inter
alia, the period of commitment, should be provided for.

Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 provides
that the Commission shall apply the decommitment rule
set out in Article 31(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No
1260/1999 (3), as amended by Regulation (EC) No
1447/2001 (4), laying down general provisions on the
Structural Funds. As no Commission decision conferring
management to agencies in applicant countries could be
taken in 2000 it is appropriate to extend the limit date
for decommitment of the 2000 commitment.

Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 limits
eligibility to expenditure paid by beneficiaries from the
date of the Commission decision conferring financial
management on the agency designated by the applicant
country. In order to permit a smooth introduction of the
system provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 87.
(2) OJ L 253, 7.10.2000, p. 5.
(3) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 198, 21.7.2001, p. 1.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 is amended as follows:

1. Article 2(g) is replaced by the following:

‘(g) “annual

financing agreement” means the agreement
setting out the financial allocation for the year in ques-
tion on the basis of the appropriations entered in the
Community budget and supplementing and amending,
as appropriate, provisions laid down either in the multi-
annual
in a prior annual
financing agreement;’.

financing agreement or

2. The following subparagraph is added to Article 7(3):

‘By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, the
Commission shall automatically decommit any part of the
commitment corresponding to the year 2000 which has not
been settled by the payment on account or for which it has
not received an acceptable payment application, by 31
December 2003 at the latest.’

21.11.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 304/9

3. Article 9(1), second indent,

is replaced by the following:

4. Article 11(3) is replaced by the following:

‘— be based on declarations of expenditure incurred by the
beneficiary. Such declarations shall include only projects
selected and expenditure paid from the date of the
Commission decision referred to in Article 3(1), except
for feasibility and related studies concerning the selected
projects and for technical assistance.’

‘3.
Interest earned on the Sapard euro account shall be
used exclusively for the programme. Such interest shall not
be subject to reduction due to any charges.’

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the third day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 20 November 2001.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission