Commission Regulation (EC) No 2208/2002 of 12 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 on information measures relating to the common agricultural policy
Date: 2002-12-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EAGGF, EU financing, action programme, common agricultural policy, economic support, information, invitation to tender, private-sector liquidity

13.12.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 337/21

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2208/2002

of 12 December 2002

laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 on information
measures relating to the common agricultural policy

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 of 17
April 2000 on information measures relating to the common
agricultural policy (1), and in particular Article 9 thereof,

Whereas:

of measures financed under this Regulation will facilitate
the coordination of measures
implemented by the
Member States with those supported by the Community.

(9)

Taking into account the time limits for publishing the
call for proposals, this Regulation should enter into force
with immediate effect.

(10)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the EAGGF Committee,

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

In the light of experience gained in 2000, 2001 and
2002, the detailed rules for applying Regulation (EC) No
814/2000 laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No
1557/2001 (2), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1366/
2002 (3), should be amended to improve the scheme. In
view of the extent of the amendments needed, and to
achieve transparency for all the interested parties, Regu-
lation (EC) No 1557/2001 should be replaced.

Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 defines the type and
content of information measures relating to the common
agricultural policy.

A call for proposals is the most efficient and transparent
way of ensuring that the grants provided for in Regula-
tion (EC) No 814/2000 receive the widest publicity and
that the best measures are selected.

The eligibility requirements for applicants, the grounds
the general criteria for selecting
for disqualification,
measures and the criteria for awarding grants, as referred
to in Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 814/2000,
should be laid down in detail.

In order to protect the financial interests of the Commu-
nity, when an advance on the grant is to be paid, a bank
guarantee of an equivalent amount must be provided.

In order to make the available financial resources acces-
sible to the largest possible number of potential recipi-
ents, a part-financing rate of more than 50 % must be an
exception.

The Commission draws up a list of beneficiaries and
information measures financed. In order to fix the rights
and obligations arising from decisions to award a grant,
the Commission concludes an agreement with the bene-
ficiary. Each agreement must include explicit provisions
relating to the Commission's right to carry out checks.

Notifying the Committee for the European Agricultural
Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), established by
Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999
on the financing of the common agricultural policy (4),

(1) OJ L 100, 20.4.2000, p. 7.
(2) OJ L 205, 31.7.2001, p. 25.
(3) OJ L 198, 27.7.2002, p. 29.
(4) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Scope

This Regulation lays down detailed rules for applying informa-
tion measures relating to the common agricultural policy in the
form of work programmes and specific measures eligible for a
Community grant, as referred to in Article 2(1)(a) and (b) of
Regulation (EC) No 814/2000.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) ‘specific information measures’ as referred to in Article
2(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 means information
events limited in time and space and implemented on the
basis of a single budget;

(b) ‘annual work programmes’ as referred to in Article 2(1)(a)
of Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 means sets of two to five
specific information measures;

(c) ‘information measures’ means

specific

information

measures and annual work programmes.

Article 3

Call for proposals

By 31 July each year, the Commission shall publish in the Offi-
cial Journal of the European Communities a call for proposals for
information measures specifying, inter alia, the priority topics,
types of measure and target audiences, the means of imple-
menting them,
the
period allowed for implementing the operations involved in the
measures, the eligibility requirements, the selection and award
criteria, the eligible costs and the method for evaluating appli-
cations with a view to awarding grants.

the deadlines for submitting proposals,

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For 2002, the call for proposals shall be published no later than
31 December 2002.

Article 4

Eligibility criteria for applicants

The organisations and associations referred to in Article
the

1.
2(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 must meet
following conditions:

(a) be private;

in the case of organisations or associations
bringing together other organisations or associations, these
latter must also be private; where an annual work
programme is implemented in partnership,
the partners
must also be private;

(b) be non-profit-making;

(c) have been established in a Member State for at least two

years.

2.
The parties referred to in Article 2(1)(b) of Regulation
(EC) No 814/2000 must be legal persons legally constituted in
a Member State for at least two years.

3. Where the agreement referred to in Article 8 provides for
the payment of an advance on the grant, the applicant shall
provide a bank guarantee of an equivalent amount, in accor-
dance with the specimen provided by the Commission.

This guarantee shall not be required where the applicant is a
public body.

Article 5

Grounds for disqualifying applicants

Grants may not be awarded to applicants who are, at the time
of a grant award procedure, in one of the following situations:

(a) they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their
affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an
arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activ-
ities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those
matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a
similar procedure provided for in national
legislation or
regulations;

(b) they have been convicted of an offence concerning their
professional conduct by a judgment which has the force of
res judicata;

(c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct
proven by any means which the contracting authority can
justify;

(d) they have not fulfilled obligations relating to the payment
of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in
accordance with the legal provisions of the country in
which they are established or with those of the country of
the contracting authority or those of the country where the
contract is to be performed;

(e) they have been the subject of a judgment which has the
force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a
criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detri-
mental to the Communities' financial interests;

(f) following another procurement procedure or grant award
procedure financed by the Community budget, they have
been declared to be in serious breach of contract for failure
to comply with their contractual obligations;

(g) they have knowingly submitted false declarations

in

providing the information required.

Article 6

Selection and award criteria for measures

In order to qualify for Community financing, applicants

1.
must demonstrate their technical and financial capacity.

Grants shall be awarded on the basis of

2.
the criteria
relating to quality and value for money defined in the call for
proposals.

Article 7

Financing rates

The maximum rate of Community financing for measures

1.
selected for financing shall be 50 % of the eligible costs.

2.
For each specific information measure, the maximum rate
of Community financing may, at the request of the applicant,
be increased to 75 % of the eligible costs where it is of excep-
tional interest, as defined in the call for proposals.

Article 8

Agreement

On the basis of the criteria provided for in this Regulation
1.
and in the call for proposals, the Commission shall draw up a
list of beneficiaries of Community financing and the amounts
to be awarded.

The rights and obligations resulting from the Commission
2.
decision to award a grant shall be the subject of an agreement
between the Commission and the beneficiaries.

Article 9

Annual nature of grants

Grants shall be awarded on a strictly annual basis and shall
imply no right in subsequent years, even where the measure
concerned forms part of a multiannual strategy.

Article 10

Notification to the EAGGF Committee

The EAGGF Committee shall be notified of:

(a) the content of the call for proposals before its publication;

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(b) the

specific

information measures

and annual work

programmes which have been awarded a grant;

(c) the activities implemented on the Commission's initiative as
provided for in Article 2(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 814/
2000.

Article 11

Publicity

A list of the beneficiaries and information measures financed
under this Regulation and the amounts and rates of financial
support shall be published each year in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

Article 12

Repeal

Regulation (EC) No 1557/2001 is hereby repealed.
It shall
continue to apply to information measures approved by the
Commission before the entry into force of this Regulation.

Article 13

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publica-
tion 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, 12 December 2002.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission