Commission Regulation (EC) No 188/2003 of 31 January 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 laying down financial rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development in the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe in the pre-accession period (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2003-01-31
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Central and Eastern Europe, EU aid, accession to the European Union, aid to agriculture, financing of aid, rural development

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Official Journal of the European Union

1.2.2003

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 188/2003

of 31 January 2003

amending Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 laying down financial rules for the application of Council
Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture
and rural development in the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe in the pre-acces-
sion period

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 of 21
June 1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures
for agriculture and rural development in the applicant countries
of central and eastern Europe in the pre-accession period (1), as
amended by Regulation (EC) No 2500/2001 (2), and in parti-
cular Article 12(2) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

One of the objectives of Article 1(2)(b) of Regulation
(EC) No 1268/1999 is to solve priority and specific
problems for the sustainable adaptation of the agricul-
tural sector and rural areas in the applicant countries.
Damage caused to agriculture and rural areas by excep-
tional natural disasters can constitute such problems as
demonstrated by the flooding which in August 2002
caused considerable damage in various applicant coun-
tries. The Community needs to be able to respond
appropriately to such exceptional natural disasters using
various instruments including the pre-accession instru-
ment set up under Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 (the
pre-accession instrument).

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 (3), as
amended by Regulation (EC) No 2252/2001 (4), does not
contain any particular provisions
the
management of aid where the granting of such aid is
related to, or affected by, an exceptional natural disaster.
Such provisions should be laid down to permit appro-
priate and rapid action by the Community in the wake
of such disasters.

concerning

The second indent of Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No
2222/2000 lays down that one of
the
Sapard agency is project selection. Experience has shown
task need not be
that
handled by that agency.

in certain circumstances that

the tasks of

Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 lays down
the rules regarding automatic decommitment of unused
reflecting those in Article 31(2) of
appropriations,

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 87.
(2) OJ L 342, 27.12.2001, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 253, 7.10.2000, p. 5.
(4) OJ L 304, 21.11.2001, p. 8.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June
1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural
Funds (5), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1447/
2001 (6). For those rules to be applied under Sapard in
conditions equivalent
to those for Member States it
should be taken into account that in the absence of
Commission decisions conferring management of aid to
the applicant countries,
the instrument may not be
applied, no eligible expenditure on projects may be
generated and consequently none of the appropriations
for the countries concerned may be the subject of any
payment order. The timing of such decisions is likely to
have repercussions on use of appropriations in the initial
years of application of the pre-accession instrument in
each applicant country.

As implementation of Sapard Programmes has only
started for most Candidate Countries in 2002, whereas
appropriations were first entered in the budget in 2000,
it is appropriate to extend for two years the time limit
for use of appropriations for the annual allocations
2000 to 2002 and thereafter to move progressively
towards
rules of automatic decommitment as
provided in Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999. Moreover,
where a risk of decommitment is invoked, applications
for payment should also be admissible by the end of the
quarter concerned.

the

Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the Committee of the
European Agriculture and Guidance Fund (EAGGF),

(5)

(6)

(7)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 is amended as follows:

1. In Article 2, the following point is added:

‘(j) “exceptional natural disaster” means a natural disaster
on an unusually large scale and causing intense damage
and destruction.’

(5) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 198, 21.7.2001, p. 1.

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2. In Article 5(1), the second and third indents are replaced by

4. In Article 9(1),

the second indent

is replaced by the

the following:

‘— project selection, except where for the measure in ques-
tion in the approved Sapard agriculture and rural devel-
referred to as the
opment programme (hereinafter
programme), there is only one designated beneficiary or
the task of project selection has been granted to a desig-
nated body or bodies;

— checking of applications for approval of projects against
terms and conditions, eligibility and against the content
of the programme, including, where appropriate, public
procurement provisions.’

3. Article 7(3) is replaced by the following:

‘3.
Taking account of the requirements of Article 10, the
Commission shall decommit any part of a commitment
which has not been settled by the payment on account or
for which it has not received an acceptable payment appli-
cation by the following dates:

(a) for appropriations corresponding to the 2000 annual

allocation: 31 December 2004;

(b) for appropriations corresponding to the annual alloca-

tion for 2001: 31 December 2005;

(c) for appropriations corresponding to the annual alloca-

tions for 2002 and 2003: 31 December 2006;

(d) for appropriations corresponding to the annual alloca-
tions for any year after 2003: 31 December of the
second year following the year of the financial commit-
ment concerned.’

shall

Such declarations

following:
‘— be based on declarations of expenditure incurred by the
beneficiary.
include only
projects selected and expenditure paid from the date of
the Commission decision referred to in Article 3(1),
except for feasibility and related studies concerning the
selected projects and for technical assistance. However,
where the Commission determines that an exceptional
natural disaster has occurred, payments to beneficiaries
for projects related to that disaster may benefit from a
derogation replacing
concerning
requirement
declarations of
expenditure by the possibility of
payment of advances.’

the

5. Article 10(1) is replaced by the following:

‘1.
The Commission shall take into consideration only
payment applications drawn up by the Sapard agency on a
quarterly basis, presented in accordance with a form estab-
lished by the Commission and transmitted by the national
authorizing officer to the Commission within one month of
the end of each quarter. However, supplementary applica-
tions may be submitted if justified on the basis of the risk
of:
— the net balance in the Sapard euro account being
exhausted before the next quarterly application has been
processed, or

— decommitment being invoked as set out in Article 7(3).’

Article 2

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

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

Done at Brussels, 31 January 2003.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission