Commission Regulation (EC) No 1386/2002 of 29 July 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 as regards the management and control systems for assistance granted from the Cohesion Fund and the procedure for making financial corrections
Date: 2002-07-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Cohesion Fund, data transmission, document, expenditure, financial control, information, management, supervisory body

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1386/2002

of 29 July 2002

laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 as
regards the management and control systems for assistance granted from the Cohesion Fund and
the procedure for making financial corrections

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 of 16
May 1994 establishing a Cohesion Fund (1), as amended by
Regulations (EC) No 1264/1999 and (EC) No 1265/1999 (2),
and in particular Article 12(4) thereof and Article H(4) of
Annex II thereto,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 requires
Member States to take a number of measures to ensure
that the Cohesion Fund is used efficiently and correctly
and in accordance with the principle of sound financial
management.

For this purpose, it is necessary for Member States to
provide adequate guidance regarding the organisation of
the relevant functions of the bodies responsible for the
implementation of projects,
for certifying expenditure
and for the general management and coordination of
State
Cohesion Fund operations
concerned.

in the Member

Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 requires the Member States
to cooperate with the Commission in ensuring that they
have
and control
systems and to give it all necessary assistance to under-
take checks, including sample checks.

running management

smoothly

In order to harmonise standards for the certification of
expenditure for which payments from the Fund are
claimed, the content of such certificates should be laid
down and the nature and quality of the information on
which they rely specified.

To enable the Commission to carry out
the checks
referred to in Article 12(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1164/
94, Member States should supply it on request with data
which the bodies responsible for the implementation of
projects and for the general management and coordina-
tion of Cohesion Fund operations require in order to
fulfil
the management, monitoring and evaluation
requirements of that Regulation. It is necessary to lay
down the content of such data and the format and
means of transmission of computer files when data is
supplied in electronic form. The Commission should
ensure that computerised and other data is kept confi-
dential and secure.

(6)

This Regulation should apply without prejudice to the
provisions of Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No

2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot
checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in
order to protect the European Communities’ financial
interests against fraud and other irregularities (3).

This Regulation should apply without prejudice to the
provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1831/94
of 26 July 1994 concerning irregularities and the
recovery of sums wrongly paid in connection with the
financing of the Cohesion Fund and the organisation of
an information system in this field (4).

Detailed provisions should be laid down concerning the
procedure under Article H of Annex II to Regulation
(EC) No 1164/94,
including the recovery of amounts
paid unduly, repayment to the Commission and default
interest,

(7)

(8)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

Subject matter and scope

Article 1

This Regulation lays down detailed rules for the implementation
of Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 as regards the management and
control systems for assistance granted from the Cohesion Fund
(hereinafter referred to as the Fund) for eligible measures that
fall within Article 3 of that Regulation and were first approved
after 1 January 2000, and as regards the procedure for making
financial corrections to such assistance.

CHAPTER II

Management and control systems

Article 2

1.
Each Member State shall ensure that adequate guidance
on the provision of management and control systems necessary
to ensure the sound management of the Fund in accordance
with generally accepted principles and standards is given to the
following bodies and authorities:

(a) the bodies responsible for the implementation of projects
under Article 10(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 (herein-
after called implementing bodies);

(1) OJ L 130, 25.5.1994, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, pp. 57 and 62.

(3) OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2.
(4) OJ L 191, 27.7.1994, p. 9.

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(b) the authorities or bodies responsible for certifying state-
ments of expenditure for which payments from the Fund
are claimed under Article 12(1)(d) of Regulation (EC) No
1164/94 and Article D(4) of Annex II to that Regulation,
including, where these are different,
the authorities or
bodies designated under Article D(1) of Annex II to the
Regulation (hereinafter called paying authorities);

(c) the authorities responsible for the general management and
coordination of Fund operations in the Member State (here-
inafter called managing authorities), and

(d) public or private bodies or services acting under the respon-
sibility of managing or paying authorities or performing
tasks on their behalf in relation to implementing bodies
(hereinafter called intermediate bodies).

In particular,
that guidance shall assist those authorities or
bodies in establishing the systems necessary not only to provide
adequate assurance of the correctness, regularity and eligibility
of claims on Community assistance but also to ensure that
projects are carried out in accordance with the terms of the
relevant decision and with the objectives assigned to those
projects.

2.
For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘implementing bodies’
shall include, where the implementing body is not the final reci-
pient of funding, bodies and firms involved in the implementa-
tion of the project, whether as concession-holders, appointees
or otherwise.

For the purposes of this Regulation, and except where
3.
otherwise specified, ‘project’ means any individual project, stage
of a project or group of projects falling within Article 1(3) of
Regulation (EC) No 1164/94, or any measure falling within
Article 3(2) of that Regulation which is the subject of a decision
taken under Article 10(6) thereof (hereinafter referred to as a
granting Decision).

the project

from its
expenditure claimed and execution of
preparatory stage through to the entry into service of the
financed investment in accordance with the terms of the rele-
vant granting Decision, with the objectives assigned to the
project, and with applicable national and Community rules on,
in particular, the eligibility of expenditure for support from the
Fund, protection of the environment, transport, trans-European
networks, competition and public procurement.

Verifications shall cover all aspects, whether of a financial, tech-
nical or administrative nature, that determine the effective utili-
sation of the funds committed.

2.
The procedures shall require the recording of verifications
of projects on the spot. The records shall state the work done,
the results of the verification and the measures taken in respect
of discrepancies. Where any physical or administrative verifica-
tions are not exhaustive, but are performed on a sample of
works or transactions, the records shall identify the works or
transactions selected and shall describe the sampling method.

Article 5

1. Member States shall, in respect of projects first approved
after 1 January 2000,
inform the Commission, within three
months of the entry into force of this Regulation, of the organi-
sation of the managing and paying authorities and intermediate
bodies responsible for Fund operations in their country, of the
management and control systems in place in these authorities
and bodies and of
to the
guidance referred to in Article 2(1).

improvements planned pursuant

2.
The communication shall contain the following informa-
tion in respect of each managing and paying authority and
intermediate body:

Article 3

(a) the functions vested in them;

The management and control systems of managing and paying
authorities, intermediate bodies and implementing bodies shall,
subject to proportionality in relation to the volume of assis-
tance administered, provide for:

(a) a clear definition, a clear allocation and,

insofar as it is
necessary for sound management, an adequate separation
of functions within the organisation concerned;

(b) effective systems

for ensuring that

the functions are

performed in a satisfactory manner;

(c) in the case of

reporting to the
intermediate bodies,
authority responsible on the performance of their tasks and
the means employed.

Article 4

1.
3 shall

The management and control systems referred to Article
include procedures to verify the authenticity of the

(b) the allocation of functions between or within their depart-
including between the managing and paying

ments,
authority where they are the same body;

(c) the procedures for the inspection and acceptance of works
and by which claims for reimbursement of expenditure are
received, verified and validated, and by which payments to
beneficiaries are authorized, executed and accounted for;

(d) the provisions for the audit of management and control

systems.

3.
The Commission shall, in cooperation with the Member
State, satisfy itself that the management and control systems
presented under paragraphs 1 and 2 meet
the standards
required by Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 and by this Regula-
tion, and shall make known any obstacles which they present
to the transparency of checks on the operation of the Fund and
to the Commission’s discharge of
its responsibilities under
Article 274 of the Treaty. Reviews of the operation of the
systems shall be undertaken on a regular basis.

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Article 6

The management and control systems shall provide a

1.
sufficient audit trail.

An audit

2.
permits:

trail shall be considered sufficient where it

(a) reconciliation of the summary amounts certified to the
Commission with the individual expenditure records and
supporting documents held at the various administrative
levels and by implementing bodies;

(b) verification of the allocation and transfer of the available

Community and national funds;

(c) verification of the correctness of the information supplied
on the execution of the project in accordance with the
terms of the granting Decision and the objectives assigned
to the project.

An indicative description of the information requirements

3.
for a sufficient audit trail is given in Annex I.

The managing authority shall

4.
following points:

satisfy itself on the

(a) that there are procedures to ensure that documents that are
relevant to specific items of expenditure incurred, payments
made, works undertaken and verifications of them carried
out in connection with the project, and which are required
for a sufficient audit trail, are held in accordance with the
requirements of Article G(3) of Annex II to Regulation (EC)
No 1164/94 and with Annex I to this Regulation;

(b) that a record is maintained of the body holding them and

its location;

(c) that the documents are made available for inspection by the
persons and bodies who would normally have the right to
inspect such documents.

The persons and bodies referred to in paragraph 4(c) shall

5.
be:

(a) the staff of the managing and paying authority, of inter-
mediate bodies and of the implementing body who process
payment claims;

(b) the services undertaking audits of management and control

systems;

(c) the person or department of the paying authority respon-
sible for certifying interim and final payment claims under
Article 12(1)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 and Article
D(2)(d) of Annex II to that Regulation, and the person or
department which issues the declaration under Article
12(1)(f) of the Regulation;

(d) mandated officials of national audit institutions and the

Community.

They may require that extracts or copies of the documents or
accounting records referred to in paragraph 4 be supplied to
them.

Article 7

The paying authority shall keep an account of amounts recover-
able from payments of Community assistance already made,

and ensure that the amounts are recovered without unjustified
delay. After recovery,
it shall repay the irregular payments
recovered, together with interest received on account of late
payment, by deducting the amounts concerned from its next
statement of expenditure and request
to the
Commission in respect of the project concerned. If this is insuf-
ficient, the Commission may request that the excess amount be
refunded to it.

for payment

The paying authority shall send the Commission once a year, in
annex to the fourth quarterly report on recoveries supplied
under Regulation (EC) No 1831/94, a statement of the amounts
awaiting recovery at that date, classified by the year of initiation
of the recovery proceedings.

CHAPTER III

Certification of expenditure

Article 8

1.
The certificates of statements of interim and final expendi-
ture referred to in Article 12(1)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 1164/
94 and in the fourth indent of Article D(2)(d) of Annex II
thereto shall be drawn up in the form prescribed in Annex II to
this Regulation by a person or department within the paying
authority that is functionally independent of any services that
approve claims.

2.
Before certifying any statement of expenditure, the paying
authority shall satisfy itself that the following conditions are
fulfilled:

(a) the managing authority, intermediate bodies and the imple-
menting body have fulfilled the requirements of Regulation
(EC) No 1164/94,
in particular Article 12(1)(c) and (e)
thereof and Article D(2)(b) and (d) of Annex II thereto, and
observed the terms of the granting Decision;

(b) the statement of expenditure includes only expenditure:

(i) that has been actually effected within the eligibility
period laid down in the granting Decision and can be
supported by receipted invoices or accounting docu-
ments of equivalent probative value;

(ii) relating to works

that had not been essentially
completed at the time the application for assistance
was lodged;

(iii) that are justified by the progress or completion of the
project in accordance with the terms of the granting
Decision and the objectives assigned to the project.

So that the sufficiency of the control systems and the
3.
audit trail can always be taken into account before a statement
of expenditure is presented to the Commission, the managing
authority shall ensure that
the paying authority is kept
informed of the procedures operated by it, by intermediate
bodies and by the implementing body to:

(a) verify the authenticity of expenditure claimed and execution
of the project in accordance with the terms of the relevant
granting Decision and the objectives assigned to the
project;

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(b) ensure compliance with the applicable rules;

(c) maintain the audit trail.

(c) for an adequate number of accounting records, the corre-
spondence of those records with supporting documents
held by intermediate bodies, and the implementing body;

In cases where the managing authority and the paying
4.
authority are or belong to the same body, this body shall ensure
that procedures offering equivalent standards of control
to
those stipulated in paragraphs 2 and 3 are applied.

CHAPTER IV

Sample checks

Article 9

1. Member States shall organise checks on projects on an
appropriate sampling basis, designed in particular to:

(a) verify the effectiveness of the management and control

systems in place;

(b) verify selectively, on the basis of risk analysis, expenditure

declarations made at the various levels concerned.

The checks carried out for the period 2000-2006 shall
2.
cover at least 15 % of the total eligible expenditure incurred on
projects first approved during that period. This percentage may
be reduced in proportion to the expenditure incurred before
the entry into force of this Regulation. The checks shall be
taking
based on a representative sample of
account of the requirements of paragraph 3.

transactions,

Member States shall endeavour to spread the implementation of
the checks evenly over the period concerned. They shall ensure
an appropriate separation of tasks as between such checks and
implementation or payment procedures concerning projects.

The selection of the sample of transactions to be checked

3.
shall take into account:

(a) the need to check an appropriate mix of types and sizes of

projects;

(b) any risk factors which have been identified by national or

Community checks;

(c) the need to ensure that the different types of body involved
in the management and implementation of projects and the
two sectors of activity (transport and the environment) are
satisfactorily checked.

Article 10

Through the checks, the Member States shall endeavour to
verify the following:

(d) the presence of a sufficient audit trail;

(e) for an adequate number of expenditure items, that the
nature and timing of the relevant expenditure comply with
Community provisions and correspond to the approved
specifications of
the project and the works actually
executed;

(f) that the appropriate national co-financing has in fact been

made available; and

(g) that

the cofinanced projects have been implemented in
accordance with Community rules and policies as required
by Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1164/94.

Article 11

The checks shall establish whether any problems encountered
are of a systemic character, entailing a risk for other or all
projects carried out by the same implementing body or in the
Member State concerned. They shall also identify the causes of
such situations, any further examination which may be required
and the necessary corrective and preventive action.

Article 12

In accordance with Article G(1) of Annex II to Regulation (EC)
No 1164/94, Member States shall inform the Commission by
30 June each year, and for the first time by 30 June 2003, of
their application of Articles 9 to 11 of this Regulation in the
previous calendar year and in addition provide any necessary
amplification or updating of the description of their manage-
ment and control systems communicated under Article 5(1).

CHAPTER V

Declaration at winding-up of projects

Article 13

The person or department designated to issue declarations on
the winding-up of projects under Article 12(1)(f) of Regulation
(EC) No 1164/94 shall have a function independent of:

(a) the managing authority, the implementing body and inter-

mediate bodies;

(b) the person or department within the paying authority
responsible for drawing up the certificates referred to in
Article 8(1).

(a) the practical application and effectiveness of the manage-

ment and control systems;

(b) the execution of projects in accordance with the terms of
the granting Decision and the objectives assigned to the
projects;

It shall conduct its examination according to internationally
accepted auditing standards. It shall be supplied by the imple-
menting body, the managing and paying authority and inter-
mediate bodies with all information required and shall be given
access to the records and supporting evidence necessary for
drawing up the declaration.

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Article 14

Declarations shall be based on an examination of the manage-
ment and control systems, of the findings of checks already
carried out and, where necessary, of a further sample check of
transactions, and of the final report drawn up under Article
F(4) of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1164/94. The person or
department issuing the declaration shall make all necessary
enquiries to obtain reasonable assurance that the certified state-
ment of expenditure is correct, that the underlying transactions
are legal and regular and that the project has been carried out
in accordance with the terms of the granting Decision and the
objectives assigned to the project.

Declarations shall be drawn up on the basis of the indicative
model shown in Annex III and shall be accompanied by a
report which shall include all relevant information to justify the
declaration, including a summary of the findings of all checks
carried out by national and Community bodies to which the
declarant has had access.

Article 15

If the presence of important management or control weak-
nesses, or the high frequency of irregularities encountered or
doubt about whether the project has been properly imple-
mented does not allow the provision of a positive overall assur-
ance as to the validity of the request for payment of the final
balance and the final certificate of expenditure, the declaration
shall refer to these circumstances and shall estimate the extent
of the problem and its financial impact.

In such a case the Commission may ask that a further check be
carried out with a view to the identification and rectification of
irregularities within a specified period of time.

CHAPTER VI

Form and content of accounting information to be held
and communicated to the Commission on request

Article 16

1.
The accounting records on projects referred to in Annex I
shall as far as possible be held in computerised form. Such
records shall be made available to the Commission at
its
specific request for the purpose of carrying out documentary
and on-the-spot checks, without prejudice to the requirement
to supply annual reports under Article F(4) of Annex II to Regu-
lation (EC) No 1164/94.

The Commission shall agree with each Member State the
2.
content of computer records to be made available under para-
graph 1, the means by which they are communicated, and the
length of
the period required to develop any necessary
computer systems. The scope of the information that may be
requested, and the preferred technical specifications for the
transfer of computer files to the Commission, are indicated in
Annexes IV and V.

At the written request of the Commission, the Member
3.
States shall deliver to the Commission the records referred to in

paragraph 1 within 10 working days of receipt of the request.
A different period may be agreed between the Commission and
the Member State, particularly where the records are not avail-
able in computerised form.

The Commission shall ensure that

4.
the information
forwarded by the Member States or collected by it in the course
of on-the-spot inspections is kept confidential and secure, in
accordance with Article 287 of the Treaty.

5.
Subject to the relevant national laws, Commission officials
shall have access to all documents prepared either with a view
to or following controls carried out under this Regulation and
to the data held, including those stored in computer systems.

CHAPTER VII

Financial corrections

Article 17

The amount of

1.
financial corrections made by the
Commission under Article H(2) of Annex II to Regulation (EC)
No 1164/94 for individual or systemic irregularities shall be
assessed, wherever this is possible and practicable, on the basis
of individual files and shall be equal to the amount of expendi-
ture wrongly charged to the Fund, having regard to the prin-
ciple of proportionality.

2. When it is not possible or practicable to quantify the
amount of irregular expenditure precisely, or when it would be
disproportionate to cancel entirely the expenditure in question,
and the Commission therefore bases its financial corrections on
extrapolation or a flat rate, it shall proceed as follows:

(a) in the case of extrapolation,

it shall use a representative

sample of transactions with like characteristics;

(b) in the case of a flat rate, it shall assess the importance of
the infringement of rules and the extent and financial impli-
cations of any shortcomings in the management and
control system that have led to the irregularity established.

3. Where the Commission bases its position on the facts
established by auditors other than those of its own services, it
shall draw its own conclusions regarding their financial conse-
quences, after examining the measures taken by the Member
State concerned under Article 12(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC)
No 1164/94 and Article G(1) of Annex II thereto, the reports
supplied under Regulation (EC) No 1831/94, and any replies
from the Member State.

Article 18

The period of

time within which the Member State
1.
concerned may respond to a request under the first subpara-
graph of Article H(1) of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1164/
94 to submit its comments shall be two months, except in duly
justified cases where a longer period may be agreed by the
Commission.

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2. Where the Commission proposes financial corrections on
the basis of extrapolation or at a flat rate, the Member State
shall be given the opportunity to demonstrate, through an
examination of the files concerned, that the actual extent of
irregularity was less than the Commission’s assessment.
In
agreement with the Commission, the Member State may limit
the scope of this examination to an appropriate proportion or
sample of the files concerned.

Except in duly justified cases, the time allowed for this examina-
tion shall not exceed a further period of two months after the
two-month period referred to in paragraph 1. The results of
such examination shall be examined in the manner specified in
the second subparagraph of Article H(1) of Annex II to Regula-
tion (EC) No 1164/94. The Commission shall take account of
any evidence supplied by the Member State within the time
limits.

3. Whenever the Member State objects to the observations
made by the Commission and a hearing takes place under the
second subparagraph of Article H(1) of Annex II to Regulation
(EC) No 1164/94, the three-month period within which the
Commission may take a decision under Article H(2) of Annex II
to that Regulation shall begin to run from the date of the
hearing.

Article 19

In cases in which the Commission has suspended payments
under Article G(2) of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1164/94,
the Commission and the Member State concerned shall endea-
vour to reach agreement in accordance with the procedure and
time limits set out in Article 18(1) and (2) of this Regulation. If
no agreement is reached, Article 18(3) shall apply.

Article 20

1.
Any repayment due to be made to the Commission
pursuant to Article H(3) of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No
1164/94 shall be effected before the due date indicated in the
order for recovery drawn up in accordance with the Financial
Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European
Communities. This due date shall be the last day of the second
month following the issuing of the order.

Any delay in effecting repayment shall give rise to interest
2.
on account of late payment, starting on the due date referred to
in paragraph 1 and ending on the date of actual payment. The
rate of such interest shall be one and a half percentage points
above the rate applied by the European Central Bank in its
main refinancing operations on the first working day of the
month in which the due date falls.

3.
A financial correction under Article H(2) of Annex II to
Regulation (EC) No 1164/94 shall not prejudice the Member
State’s obligation to pursue recoveries under Article 12(1)(h) of
that Regulation.

4. When amounts are to be recovered following an irregu-
initiate recovery
larity, the competent service or body shall
proceedings and notify the implementing body and the mana-
ging and paying authorities thereof.

CHAPTER VIII

General and final provisions

Article 21

Nothing in this Regulation shall prevent Member States from
applying national rules more rigorous than those prescribed
herein.

Article 22

This Regulation shall be without prejudice to the obligations of
Member States in respect of projects first approved before 1
January 2000 to ensure that the projects have been properly
carried out, to prevent irregularities and take action against
them, and to recover any amounts lost as a result of irregularity
or negligence.

Article 23

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day
following that of 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, 29 July 2002.

For the Commission

Michel BARNIER

Member of the Commission

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ANNEX I

INDICATIVE DESCRIPTION OF INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR A SUFFICIENT AUDIT TRAIL

(Article 6)

A sufficient audit trail, as referred to in Article 6(2), is present when, for a given project, including individual projects
within a group of projects:

1. Accounting records kept at the appropriate management level provide detailed information about expenditure actu-
ally incurred in the cofinanced project by the implementing body, including, where the latter is not the final recipient
of funding, the bodies and firms involved in the implementation of the project, whether as concession-holders,
appointees or otherwise. The accounting records show the date they were created, the amount of each item of expen-
diture, the nature of the supporting documents and the date and method of payment. The necessary documentary
evidence (e.g. invoices) is attached.

2. For items of expenditure relating only partly to the cofinanced project, the accuracy of the allocation of the expendi-
ture between the cofinanced project and the rest is demonstrated. The same applies to types of expenditure that are
considered eligible only within certain limits or in proportion to other costs.

3. The technical specifications and financial plan of the project, progress reports, documents concerning tendering and
contracting procedures, and reports on inspections of the execution of the project in accordance with Article 4 are
also kept at the appropriate management level.

4. For declaring expenditure actually incurred in the cofinanced project to the paying authority, the information referred
to in paragraph 1 is aggregated into a detailed statement of expenditure broken down by category. The detailed state-
ments of expenditure constitute supporting documents for the accounting records of the paying authority and are the
basis for the preparation of declarations of expenditure to the Commission.

5. Where there is one or more intermediate bodies between the implementing body or the bodies or firms involved in
implementation of the project and the paying authority, each intermediate body for its area of responsibility requires
detailed statements of expenditure from the body below it as supporting documentation for its own accounting
records, from which it provides at least a summary of the expenditure incurred on the project to the body above it.

6. In the case of computerised transfer of accounting data, all the authorities and bodies concerned obtain sufficient
information from the lower level to justify their accounting records and the sums reported upwards, so as to ensure a
sufficient audit trail from the total summary amounts certified to the Commission down to the individual expenditure
items and the supporting documents at the level of the implementation body and the other bodies and firms involved
in the implementation of the project.

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ANNEX II

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Annex to statement of expenditure: recoveries effected since the last certified statement of expenditure and
included in the present statement of expenditure

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ANNEX III

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ANNEX IV

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PREFERRED TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE TRANSFER OF COMPUTER FILES TO THE
COMMISSION

ANNEX V

1. TRANSFER MEANS

Most means in current use can be employed, subject to prior agreement with the Commission. The following is a
non-exhaustive list of the preferred means.

1.1. Magnetic medium

— floppy disk: 3,5 inch 1,4 Mb (DOS/Windows)

optional compression into ZIP format

— DAT cartridge

4 mm DDS-1 (90 m)

— CD-ROM (WORM).

1.2. Electronic file transfer

— direct messaging by e-mail

for files of 5 Mb or less

optional compression into ZIP format

— transfer by FTP

optional compression into ZIP format.

2. PREFERRED STANDARD FOR THE COMPILATION OF AN EXTRACT FROM MEMBER STATES' COMPUTER FILES

The preferred standard file has the following characteristics:

1. every record starts with a three character code identifying the information contained in this record. There are two

types of records:

1.(a) records on the project identified by the code ‘PRJ’ containing general information on the project. The record

attributes (Fields 1 to 30) are those described in Annex IV, 1.A;

1.(b) expenditure records identified by the code ‘PAY’ containing detailed information on expenditure declared on

the project. The record attributes (Fields 31 to 64) are those described in Annex IV, 1.B;

2.

‘PRJ’ records containing information for a project are immediately followed by several ‘PAY’ records containing
expenditure information for the project, or else PRJ and PAY records may be supplied in separate files;

3. the fields will be separated by a semi-colon (‘;’). Two consecutive semi-colons indicate that no data is given for the

field (‘empty field’);

4. records will vary in length. Each record will end with a code ‘CR LF’ or ‘Carriage Return — Line Feed’ (in

hexadecimal: 0D 0A);

5. the file will be in ASCII code;

6. numeric fields representing amounts:

(a) decimal separator:

‘.’;

(b) when necessary, the symbol (+ or −) will appear on the far left, followed immediately by the figures;

(c) fixed number of decimals;

(d) no spaces between digits; no spaces between thousands;

7. date field:

‘DDMMYYYY’ (day in two digits, month in two digits, year in four digits);

8. data in text format must not be put between quotation marks (‘

’). It goes without saying that the semi-colon

separator ‘;’ must not be used in data in text format;

9. all fields: no spaces at the beginning or end of a field;

31.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 201/23

10. files satisfying the above rules will

look like the following (example):

PRJ;2001E16COE001;Dublin Region Waste Water Treatment Scheme — Stage V;29122000;Department of
Finance;Dublin Corporation;
PAY;
2001E16COE001;Dublin
V;1234;10000000;8000000;80%;

Treatment

Scheme

Region

Waste

Water

Stage

—

11.

in the case of files from Greece, either ELOT-928 or ISO 8859-7 coding should be applied.

3. DOCUMENTATION

Each file must be accompanied by check sums for the following:

1. number of records;

2. total amount;

3. sum of subtotals for each project.

For each field expressed by a code, the meanings of the codes used will be attached to the file.

The sum of the records in the computer file by project must correspond to the payment declarations submitted to the
Commission for the period specified in the request for information. Any discrepancies are to be justified in a note
attached to the file.