Amended proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 4045/89 on scrutiny by Member States of transactions forming part of the system of financing by the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund
Date: 2002-11-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EAGGF Guarantee Section, EC Regulation, administrative check

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 26.11.2002
COM(2002) 682 final

2001/0264 (CNS)

Amended proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EEC) No 4045/89 on scrutiny by Member States of transactions
forming part of the system of financing by the Guarantee Section of
the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund

(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2)
of the EC-Treaty)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

initial  proposal  was  approved  by 

The 
(COM(2001) 663 final - 2001/0264(CNS)) and sent for opinion to the European Parliament.

ths  Commission  on  13th  November  2001

European  Parliament  voted  in  favour  of  the  rapporteurs'  report  on  24th  September  2002
(A5-0275/2002). Several of the amendments proposed by Parliament elaborate and clarify the
provisions  of  the  Regulation  and  can  be  included  in  the  final  version  of  the  Regulation
amending Regulation (EEC) 4045/89.

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Amended proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EEC) No 4045/89 on scrutiny by Member States of transactions
forming part of the system of financing by the Guarantee Section of
the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular
Article 37 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament2,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

The rules for the selection of undertakings to be scrutinised as laid down in Article 2
of  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  4045/893,  as  last  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)
No 3235/944,  should  be  modified  to  take  account  of  developments  in  the  use  of  risk
analysis  techniques  in  other  control  measures,  in  order  to  take  account  of  inflation
since the last amendment to Regulation (EEC) No 4045/89, and to give Member States
greater flexibility in the selection of undertakings.

Provision  should  be  made  for  cases  where  Member  States  carry  out  joint  actions
involving mutual assistance between Member States. A reduction in the number of
scrutinies,  reflecting  the  selection  of  undertakings  on  the  basis  of  risk  analysis
techniques  and  enhanced  mutual  assistance,  should  not  give  rise  to  a
deterioration in the quality of the scrutinies.

The provisions relating to the communication of requests for mutual assistance under
Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 4045/89 should be simplified.

The provisions dealing with the financial participation of the Community in Member
States'  expenditure  resulting  from  the  application  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  4045/89
have become obsolete and should be deleted.

(5)

Regulation (EEC) No 4045/89 should therefore be amended accordingly,

1

2

3

4

OJ C …, …, p. …
OJ C …, …, p. …
OJ L 388, 30.12.1989, p.18.
OJ L 338, 28.12.1994, p.16.

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 4045/89 is amended as follows:

(1)

Article 1 is amended as follows:

(a)     Paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

"1.  This  Regulation  relates  to  scrutiny  of  the  commercial  documents  of  those
entities  receiving  or  making  payments  relating  directly  or  indirectly  to  the
system  of  financing  by  the  Guarantee  Section  of  the  EAGGF,  or  their
representatives,  hereinafter  called  'undertakings',  in  order  to  ascertain
whether transactions forming part of the system of financing by the Guarantee
Section of the EAGGF have actually been carried out and have been executed
correctly."

(b)     The following paragraph is added:

"  Scrutinies  of  rural  redevelopment  measures  and  projects  not  explicitly
excluded  from  the  scope  of  such  scrutinies,  pursuant  to  the  Annex  to
Regulation  (EC)  No  2311/2000*,  shall  pay  particular  attention  to  the
special  conditions  governing  the  implementation  of  such  measures  and
projects."

_______________________________________

*           OJ L 265, 19.10.2000, p. 10.

(1) (2) Article 2(2) is amended as follows:

(a)

in the first subparagraph, 'ECU 100 000' is replaced by 'EUR 150 000';

(b)

in the fourth subparagraph, 'ECU 300 000' is replaced by 'EUR 350 000';

(c)

in the fifth subparagraph, 'ECU 30 000' is replaced by 'EUR 40 000';

(3)

In article 3(1), the following indent is added :

"- Checks, in relation to bookkeeping, or records of financial movements
showing, at the time of the scrutiny, that the documents held by the paying
agency  as  justification  for  the  payment  of  aid  to  the  beneficiary  are
accurate." ,

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(2) (4) Article 7 is amended as follows:

(a)

In paragraph 1, the following subparagraph is added:

'Where  two  or  more  Member  States  include  in  the  programme  sent  in  under
Article 10(1) a proposal for joint action involving extensive mutual assistance,
the  Commission  may,  on  request,  allow  a  reduction  of  up  to  a  maximum  of
25% of the minimum number of scrutinies as determined under Article 2(2) for
the Member States concerned.’,

(b)

In paragraph 2, the last sentence is replaced by the following:

'An overview of such requests shall be sent to the Commission on a quarterly
basis,  within  one  month  after  the  end  of  each  quarter.  The  Commission  may
demand that a copy of individual requests be provided.’,

(c)

Paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

'4.
If additional information is required in another Member State as part of
the  scrutiny of an  undertaking  in  accordance  with  Article  2,  and  in  particular
cross-checks  in  accordance  with  Article  3,  specific  scrutiny  requests  may  be
made  indicating  the  reasons  for  the  request.  An  overview  of  such  specific
requests shall be sent to the Commission on a quarterly basis within one month
after  the  end  of  each  quarter.  The  Commission  may  demand  that  a  copy  of
individual requests be provided.

The scrutiny request shall be met not later than six months after its receipt; the
results of the scrutiny shall  be communicated  without  delay  to  the  requesting
Member State and to the Commission. The communication to the Commission
shall be on a quarterly basis within one month after the end of each quarter.’

(3) (5) Articles 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 16a, and 17 are deleted.

Article 2

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

It shall apply with effect from the 2002/03 2003/04 scrutiny period.

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

Done at Brussels,

For the Council
The President

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