Commission Regulation (EC) No 2355/2002 of 27 December 2002 amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 438/2001 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 as regards the management and control systems for assistance granted under the Structural Funds
Date: 2002-12-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU aid, Structural Funds, financial control, management, supervisory body

L 351/42

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.12.2002

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2355/2002

of 27 December 2002

amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 438/2001 laying down detailed rules for the implemen-
tation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 as regards the management and control systems
for assistance granted under the Structural Funds

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21
June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural
Funds (1), as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1447/
2001 (2), and in particular Article 53(2) thereof,

After consulting the Committee set up pursuant to Article 147
of the Treaty,

After consulting the Committee on Agricultural Structures and
Rural Development,

After consulting the Committee on Structures for Fisheries and
Aquaculture,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Article 38(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 requires
the responsible authorities in the Member States to keep
available for the Commission all the supporting docu-
ments regarding expenditure and checks in respect of
any assistance for a period of three years following the
payment by the Commission of the final balance unless
otherwise decided in the bilateral administrative agree-
ments.

It is desirable to specify the categories of supporting
documents covered by this obligation, the form in which
they may be held and the obligation to determine the
bodies which should hold them.

As the documents in question form part of the audit trail
referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) 438/2001 (3),
it is appropriate to add to this article the necessary
provisions concerning the retention of documents.

The provisions on the retention of documents are
without prejudice to other
specific Community or
national rules.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the Committee for the
Development and Conversion of the Regions,

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 139, 29.7.2001, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 63, 3.3.2001, p. 21.

Article 1

Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 438/2001 is amended as
follows:

(a) a new paragraph is inserted after paragraph 2 as follows:

‘2a.

(a) The supporting documents regarding expenditure
and checks referred to in Article 38(6) of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1260/1999 shall comprise

— documents

relating to specific expenditure
incurred and declared and payments made
under the assistance and required for a suffi-
cient audit trail
including documents consti-
tuting proof of the actual delivery of products
or services co-financed;

— reports and documents

relating to checks
carried out under Articles 4, 9, 10 and 15 of
this Regulation.

The competent national authorities shall deter-
mine by which body the documents are to be
held during the period for which retention is
required.

(b) Documents must be held either as originals or on

commonly accepted data carriers.

Commonly accepted data carriers shall include, in
particular,

— photocopies of original documents;

— microfiches of original documents;

— electronic versions of original documents on
optical data carriers (such as CD-rom, hard
disk or magnetic disk);

— documents existing in electronic version only.

The procedure for certification of conformity of
documents held on commonly accepted data
carriers with the original document shall be laid
down by the national authorities and shall ensure
that the versions held comply with national legal
requirements and can be relied on for audit
in electronic
purposes. Where documents exist
version only, the underlying computer systems on
which electronic versions are held must meet
accepted security standards which ensure that the
documents held comply with national
legal
requirements and can be relied on for audit
purposes.’

28.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 351/43

(b) paragraph 3(a) is replaced by the following text:

‘(a) that there are procedures to ensure that the documents referred to in paragraph 2a are held in
accordance with the requirements of Article 38(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 and with
Annex I to this Regulation;’

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal
of the European Communities.

Article 2

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

Done at Brussels, 27 December 2002.

For the Commission

Michel BARNIER

Member of the Commission