2001/889/EC: Commission Decision of 12 December 2001 excluding from Community financing certain expenditure incurred by Italy under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (notified under document number C(2001) 4008)
Date: 2001-12-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EAGGF Guarantee Section, EU financing, Italy, application of EU law

L 329/68

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

14.12.2001

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 12 December 2001

excluding from Community financing certain expenditure incurred by Italy under the Guarantee
Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)

(notified under document number C(2001) 4008)

(Only the Italian text is authentic)

(2001/889/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

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 agricultural
policy (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1287/95 (2),
and in particular Article 5(2)(c) thereof,

After consulting the Committee for the European Agricultural
Guidance and Guarantee Fund,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Article 5(2)(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 stipulates
that the Commission is to exclude expenditure from
Community financing where it finds that it has not been
incurred in accordance with Community rules.

The above Article of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 and
Article 8(1) and (2) 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
accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section (3), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 2025/2001 (4), provide
the necessary
that
checks,
forward its findings to the Member States,
consider any comments from the latter, enter into bilat-
eral discussions to reach an agreement with the Member
States concerned and formally communicate its conclu-
sions to them, referring to Commission Decision 94/

the Commission is to carry out

the clearance of

(1) OJ L 94, 28.4.1970, p. 13.
(2) OJ L 125, 8.6.1995, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 158, 8.7.1995, p. 6.
(4) OJ L 274, 17.10.2001, p. 3.

442/EC of 1 July 1994 setting up a conciliation proce-
dure in the context of the clearance of the accounts of
the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund
(EAGGF) Guarantee Section (5), as last amended by
Decision 2001/535/EC (6).

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

The Member States have had the opportunity to request
that a conciliation procedure be initiated. That proce-
dure has been applied and the report issued on the
outcome has been considered by the Commission.

Articles 2 and 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 provide
that refunds on exports to third countries and interven-
tion intended to stabilise agricultural markets may be
financed only where they are, respectively, granted and
undertaken in accordance with the Community rules
governing the common organisation of the agricultural
markets.

The findings of checks performed, the results of bilateral
discussions and the outcome of the conciliation proced-
ures have shown that some expenditure declared by Italy
does not meet those conditions and cannot therefore be
financed under the EAGGF Guarantee Section.

The Annex to this Decision sets out the amounts that
are not recognised as being chargeable to the EAGGF
Guarantee Section. Those amounts do not relate to
expenditure incurred more than 24 months before the
Commission's written notification of the results of the
checks to Italy.

(5) OJ L 182, 16.7.1994, p. 45.
(6) OJ L 193, 17.7.2001, p. 25.

14.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 329/69

(7)

(8)

As regards the cases covered by this Decision, the assess-
ment of the amounts to be excluded on grounds of
non-compliance with Community rules was notified by
the Commission to Italy and is set out in a summary
report on the subject.

This Decision is without prejudice to any financial
conclusions that the Commission may draw from the
judgments of the Court of Justice in cases pending on 1
November 2001 and relating to the subject thereof,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The expenditure itemised in the Annex that has been incurred
by Italy's accredited paying agency and declared under the

EAGGF Guarantee Section is hereby excluded from Community
financing because it does not comply with Community rules.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Italian Republic.

Done at Brussels, 12 December 2001.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

ANNEX

Total corrections

(National currency)

Sector

Member State

Budget heading

Reason

2071-102

Additional levy due less amounts already declared
and amounts subject to judicial review at national
level

Milk and milk products

Milk and milk products

Milk and milk products

Milk and milk products

IT

IT

IT

IT

2071-122

Interest due for late payment

– 51 838 864 550,00

0,00

– 51 838 864 550,00

1996

2071-103

Additional levy due less amounts already declared
and amounts subject to judicial review at national
level

– 187 104 014 608,00

– 151 107 377 003,00

– 35 996 637 605,00

1997

2071-123

Interest due for late payment

– 26 277 651 252,00

0,00

– 26 277 651 252,00

1997

IT Total

– 511 491 809 622,00

– 397 378 656 215,00

– 114 113 153 407,00

(1) This amount represents ITL 291 416 642 411 being the amount already deducted less ITL 45 145 363 199 to be held in reserve with regard to cases subject to judicial review at national

level

Expenditure to be excluded
from financing
(national currency)

Already deducted
(national currency)

Financial consequences of
this decision
(national currency)

Financial year

– 246 271 279 212,00

– 246 271 279 212,00 (1)

0,00

1996

L

3
2
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Total corrections in euro

Sector

Member State

Budget heading

Reason

2071-102

Additional levy due less amounts already declared
and amounts subject to judicial review at national
level

Expenditure to be excluded
from financing
(euro)

Already deducted
(euro)

Financial consequences of
this decision
(euro)

Financial year

– 127 188 501,20

– 127 188 501,20 (1)

0,00

1996

2071-122

Interest due for late payment

– 26 772 539,24

0,00

– 26 772 539,24

1996

2071-103

Additional levy due less amounts already declared
and amounts subject to judicial review at national
level

– 96 631 159,19

– 78 040 447,36

– 18 590 711,84

1997

2071-123

Interest due for late payment

– 13 571 274,28

0,00

– 13 571 274,28

1997

IT Total

– 264 163 473,91

– 205 228 948,55

– 58 934 525,35

Milk and milk products

Milk and milk products

Milk and milk products

Milk and milk products

IT

IT

IT

IT

(1) This amount represents EUR 150 504 135,48 being the amount already deducted less EUR 23 315 634,29 to be held in reserve with regard to cases subject to judicial review at national

level

.

1
4
1
2
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1

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