Commission Regulation (EC) No 27/2004 of 5 January 2004 laying down transitional detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 as regards the financing by the EAGGF Guarantee Section of rural development measures in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia
Date: 2004-01-05
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Baltic States, Central and Eastern Europe, Cyprus, EAGGF Guarantee Section, Malta, accession to the European Union, rural development

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 27/2004

of 5 January 2004

laying down transitional detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/
1999 as regards the financing by the EAGGF Guarantee Section of rural development measures in
the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and
Slovakia

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to the Treaty of Accession of
the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta,
Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia (1), and in particular Article 2(3)
thereof,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland,
Slovenia and Slovakia (2), and in particular the first paragraph
of Article 41 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Articles 47a(2) and (3) and 47b of Council Regulation
(EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for
from the European Agricultural
rural development
Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending
and repealing certain Regulations (3), as amended by the
Act of Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus,
Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and
Slovakia, lay down special rules for the financing by the
EAGGF Guarantee Section of
the rural development
measures referred to in Article 47a(1) of that Regulation.
In particular, they lay down that certain provisions of
Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June
1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural
Funds (4), as last amended by that Act of Accession,
should apply.

In order

These rules enter into force on the accession of the new
to facilitate the transition
Member States.
between the existing rules on the operation of
the
EAGGF Guarantee Section,
laid down in particular in
Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999
on the financing of the common agricultural policy (5)
and the rules of application, and the special rules laid
down by Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, implementing
measures should be laid down.

Since the new Member States have not adopted the
single currency, special provisions should be laid down
on, among other things, the exchange rate to be used
in derogation from
for declarations of expenditure,

(1) OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 17.
(2) OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 33.
(3) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.
(4) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1.
(5) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2808/98 of 22
December 1998 laying down detailed rules for the appli-
cation of the agrimonetary system for the euro in agri-
culture (6).

Commission Regulation (EC) No 445/2002 of 26
February 2002 laying down detailed rules for the appli-
cation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on
support for rural development from the European Agri-
cultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (7) lays
down financial provisions that are incompatible with the
special rules laid down in Articles 47a and 47b of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1257/1999. Those provisions should not
be applied to the rural development programming docu-
ments of the new Member States.

Articles 33h and 33i of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999
provide respectively for part-financing under rural devel-
to direct
opment programming of
payments and complements to State aid in Malta. Given
the very specific nature of these measures, special provi-
sions should be laid down for their administration and
control.

complements

Since the accession of the new Member States will take
place on 1 May 2004 rather than at the beginning of
the year, special measures should be laid down for the
submission of applications for support for aid to less-
favoured areas in 2004 so as to ensure that the new
Member States fulfil their obligations as regards controls.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the Committee for the
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund,

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Field of application

This Regulation lays down transitional detailed rules for the
application of the financial provisions laid down in Articles
47a and 47b of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 applicable to
the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania,
Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia (hereafter
referred to as the ‘new Member States’).

(6) OJ L 349, 24.12.1998, p. 36. Regulation last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 816/2003 (OJ L 116, 13.5.2003, p. 12).

(7) OJ L 74, 15.3.2002, p. 1. Regulation last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 963/2003 (OJ L 138, 5.6.2003, p. 32).

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Article 2

Eligibility of expenditure

1.
For the purposes of the second subparagraph of Article
30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999, the final date for the
eligibility of expenditure laid down in the Commission deci-
sions approving the rural development programming docu-
ments of the new Member States shall relate to payments made
by the paying agencies referred to in Article 4 of Regulation
(EC) No 1258/1999.

2. Without prejudice to Article 33(5) of the Act of Acces-
sion, only expenditure relating to operations selected for part-
financing under Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 in accordance
with the selection criteria and procedures laid down and which
have been subject to Community rules over the whole period
during which they have been incurred shall be eligible.

Article 3

Payments

1.
References to the paying authority in Article 32 of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1260/1999 shall be understood as being refer-
ences to the paying agencies referred to in Article 4 of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1258/1999.

For the purpose of Article 32(1) of Regulation (EC) No
2.
1260/1999,
the final
balance shall relate to payments actually made by the paying
agencies.

interim payments and payments of

For the application of Article 32(3) of Regulation (EC) No
rural development
to the following

3.
1260/1999,
programming documents shall be subject
conditions:

interim payments under

(a) submission to the Commission of the latest annual imple-
mentation report due, provided for
in the third sub-
paragraph of Article 48(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1257/
1999;

(b) submission of the latest annual accounts due as required
under Article 6(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999.

the

For the purposes of Article 32(4) of Regulation (EC) No
4.
1260/1999,
rural development
final balance under
programming documents shall be paid on the basis of the latest
clearance of accounts decision provided for in Article 7(3) of
Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999.

Certified payment applications

5.
accordance with the model given in the Annex hereto.

shall be presented in

Article 4

Paying agencies

1.
Each paying agency shall keep accounts covering exclu-
sively the use of the funds made available to it to defray expen-
diture on the measures provided for in the rural development
programming documents.

2.
The paying agencies shall ensure that the Community
contribution is paid to the beneficiary at the same time as or
after the national contribution is paid.

Article 5

Use of the euro

Commission decisions, commitments, declarations of expendi-
ture in support of payment applications and payments shall be
expressed in euro in accordance with Commission Regulation
(EC) No 643/2000 (1).

However, in the case of the measure provided for in Articles
33h of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, the new Member States
shall convert expenditure incurred in national currency into
euro using the exchange rate applicable to direct support
schemes.

Article 6

Statements and forecasts of expenditure

Articles 47, 48 and 49 of Regulation (EC) No 445/2002 shall
not apply to the rural development programming documents
of the new Member States.

Article 7

Clearance of accounts

1.
For the purposes of Article 5(1) of Commission Regu-
lation (EC) No 1663/95 (2), the accounts referred to in Article
4(1) thereof shall include:

(a) annual expenditure summarised by rural development

measure;

(b) a table showing the differences between the expenditure
declared under (a) and that declared for the purpose of the
interim payments referred to in Article 3(3) of this Regu-
lation;

(c) a table, extracted from the debtors'

ledger, showing the
total debts identified but not yet recovered at the end of the
financial year for rural development measures.

2.
For the purposes of the second subparagraph of Article
7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1663/95, amounts recoverable or
payable under the clearance of accounts decision referred to in
Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 shall be
deducted from or added to subsequent payments made by the
Commission.

(1) OJ L 78, 29.3.2000, p. 4.
(2) OJ L 158, 8.7.1995, p. 6. Regulation last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 2025/2001 (OJ L 274, 17.10.2001, p. 3).

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Article 8

Complements to direct payments

1.
Notwithstanding Article 58 of Regulation (EC) No 445/
2002, payments by the paying agency relating to the comple-
ment to direct payments provided for in Article 33h of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1257/1999 shall be made on the basis of the
payment application submitted for the complementary national
direct payment or
the complementary national direct aid
provided for in Article 1c of Council Regulation (EC) No 1259/
1999 (1). In the case of the new Member States who apply
Article 1a of Regulation (EC) No 1259/1999, the paying agency
shall ensure that the complement to direct payments is paid at
the same time as or after the Community direct payment under
the support schemes referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EC)
No 1259/1999.

2.
Notwithstanding Articles 59 to 64 of Regulation (EC) No
445/2002, the Member States shall apply Council Regulation
(EEC) No 3508/92 (2) and Commission Regulation (EC) No
2419/2001 (3)
the measure provided for in
in the case of
Article 33h of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999.

Article 9

Complements to State aid in Malta

Notwithstanding Article 58 of Regulation (EC) No 445/2002,
payments by the paying agency relating to the complements to
State aid in Malta provided for in Article 33i of Regulation (EC)
No 1257/1999 shall be made on the basis of the payment
application submitted for State aid.

Article 10

Transitional provisions for 2004

Beneficiaries must submit applications for the compensatory
allowances provided for in Chapter V of Regulation (EC) No
1257/1999 for 2004 to the competent authorities before 1 July
2004 or by a later date to be laid down by the new Member
States compatible with their control obligations under Section
6 of Chapter II of Regulation (EC) No 445/2002.

Article 11

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 May 2004 subject
to the entry into force of the Treaty of Accession of the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta,
Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.

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

Done at Brussels, 5 January 2004.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 113.
(2) OJ L 355, 5.12.1992, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 327, 12.12.2001, p. 11.

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