Proposal for a Council Decision laying down the amount of Community support to rural development for the period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013, its annual breakdown and the minimum amount to be concentrated in regions eligible under the Convergence Objective
Date: 2006-05-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, aid to agriculture, financial aid, fund (EU), rural development

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 24.5.2006 
COM(2006) 238 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

laying down the amount of Community support to rural development for the period 
from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013, its annual breakdown and the minimum 
amount to be concentrated in regions eligible under the Convergence Objective 

(presented by the Commission) 

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2. 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

Article  69(1)  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1698/2005  of  20  September  2005  on 
support  for  rural  development  by  the  European  Agricultural  Fund  for  Rural 
Development  (EAFRD)1  states  that  the  amount  for  Community  support  to  rural 
development  under  this  Regulation  for  the  period  from  1  January  2007  to 
31 December  2013,  its  annual  breakdown  and  the  minimum  amount  to  be 
concentrated  in  regions  eligible  under  the  Convergence  Objective  shall  be  fixed  by 
the  Council,  acting  by  a  qualified  majority  on  a  proposal  from  the  Commission,  in 
accordance  with  the  financial  framework  for  the  period  2007  to  2013  and  the 
Interinstitutional Agreement on budgetary discipline and sound financial management 
for the same period. The Interinstitutional Agreement was signed on … Its Annex I 
establishing  the  Financial  Framework  for  2007–2013,  sets  down  the  commitment 
appropriations also for Heading 2 which includes the amount for rural development. 

Point  63  of  the  December  2005  European  Council  agreement  on  the  Financial 
Perspective  2007–2013  reads  as  follows:  “The  allocation  for  the  new  Rural 
Development instrument, consisting essentially of amounts transferred from the funds 
supporting  the  regional  component  of  the  Convergence  objective  and  amounts 
currently disbursed under the guarantee section of the EAGGF, will be €69.75 billion 
before modulation, of which €41.23 billion is currently disbursed under the guarantee 
section  of  the  EAGGF.  The  Commission  will  allocate  total  Rural  Development 
expenditure,  including  transfers  from  the  EAGGF,  and  will  ensure  that  at  least 
€33.01 billion  is  allocated  to  the  EU-10,  Bulgaria  and  Romania.  Of  the  remaining 
€36.74 billion, €18.91 billion shall be allocated to the EU-15 according to a key to be 
proposed  by  the  Commission  and  agreed  by  the  Council  in  line  with  the  Rural 
Development  Regulation  (1698/2005)  adopted  on  20  September  2005  and  the  other 
€4.07  billion  will  be  allocated  to  Austria  (€1.35  billion),  Finland  (€0.46  billion), 
Ireland  (€0.50  billion),  Italy  (€0.5  billion),  Luxembourg  (€20  million),  France 
(€0.1 billion)  Sweden  (€0.82  billion),  and  Portugal  (€0.32  billion)  which  owing  on 
the  specific  difficulties  of  the  Portuguese  agriculture  outlined  in  the  European 
Council  conclusions  on 
the  Commission's  report  on  Portuguese  agriculture 
(doc. 10859/03) shall not be subject to the national co-financing requirement.” 

3. 

Article 69(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 provides for the following: 

The  Commission  shall  make  the  annual  breakdown  per  MS  of  Community  support 
for  rural  development  (after  deducting  the  0.25%  for  Commission  technical 
assistance) taking into account: 

(a) 

the amounts reserved for regions eligible under the Convergence Objective, 

(b)  past performance, and 

(c) 

particular situations and needs based on objective criteria. 

4. 

The  amounts  reserved  for  regions  eligible  under  the  Convergence  Objective 
[criterion (a)] are calculated for each Member State from its Convergence envelope, 
i.e.  the  EAGGF  Guidance  origin  money  transferred  from  heading  1b  to  rural 
development  under heading 2 of the 2007–2013 Financial Framework. This amount 

1 

OJ L 277, 21.10.2005, p. 1. 

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must  be  net  of  the  0.25%  Commission’s  technical  assistance  according  to 
Article 69(2)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 1698/2005  and  of  the  part  of  the  EAGGF 
Guidance origin amount for Leader+. The December 2005 European Council decided 
on criterion (c) by allocating specific amounts to eight Member States. Criterion (b) 
will  be  applied  by  the  Commission  to  the  amounts  not  yet  distributed.  Past 
performance  [criterion  (b)]  in  this  context  means  use  of  the  historical  shares  of 
Member States in the EAGGF Guarantee envelop for rural development in the period 
2000/2006 (2004/2006 for the new Member States) and in Leader+. 

5. 

The amount for rural development according to Article 69(1) of the Regulation and 
its annual breakdown (including the minimum amount reserved for the Convergence 
regions)  is  in  annex  to  the  Council  Decision.  This  amount  should  also  take  into 
account Bulgaria and Romania insofar as they will be members of the Community on 
1 January 2007. However, in case where one or both of these countries do not become 
member(s)  of  the  Community  at  that  date  this  Decision  should  be  adapted 
accordingly. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

laying down the amount of Community support to rural development for the period 
from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013, its annual breakdown and the minimum 
amount to be concentrated in regions eligible under the Convergence Objective 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1698/2005  of  20  September  2005  on  support 
for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)1, 
and in particular Article 69(1) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

The  amount  of  commitment  appropriations  for  Community  support  to  rural 
development under Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, for the period from 1 January 2007 
to  31  December  2013,  its  annual  breakdown  and  the  minimum  amount  to  be 
concentrated  in  regions  eligible  under  the  Convergence  Objective  should  be  fixed  in 
accordance with the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the 
Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management 
of […]2. 

The total amount should include the amount for Bulgaria and Romania  provided that 
the Treaty of Accession of those countries enters into force on 1 January 2007. If the 
Treaty  of  Accession  does  not  enter  into  force  on  1  January  2007  for  one  or  both  of 
those countries the total amount should be adapted accordingly, 

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

Sole Article 

The total amount of commitment appropriations for Community support to rural development 
for  the  period  from  1  January  2007  to  31  December  2013  under  Regulation  (EC) 
No 1698/2005, its annual breakdown and the minimum amount to be concentrated in regions 
eligible under the Convergence Objective referred to in Article 2(j) of that Regulation, are set 
out in the Annex to this Decision. 

1 
2 

OJ L 277, 21.10.2005, p. 1. [Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No …./…. (OJ L …..)] 
OJ C …, …, p. …. 

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Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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ANNEX 

Total amount of commitment appropriations for 2007–2013, its annual breakdown and 
the minimum amount to be concentrated in the regions eligible under the Convergence 
Objective and its annual breakdown* 

EUR million,  
2004 prices** 

Total amount EU-25, 
plus Bulgaria and 
Romania 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

Total 

10 710 

10 447 

10 185 

9 955 

9 717 

9 483 

9 253 

69 750 

Minimum amount for regions eligible under the Convergence Objective 

27 699 

* 

Before compulsory modulation and other transfers from market-related expenditure and direct payments of 
the common agricultural policy to rural development  

**  The amounts stated are rounded to the nearest million, while programming will be done to the nearest euro. 

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1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

5.0 

FINANCIAL STATEMENT 

BUDGET HEADING: 
05 04 05 01  

APPROPRIATIONS PDB 2007: 
CA: EUR 12 343 028 111  
(including modulation and transfers 
R 1782/2003) 
PA: EUR 6 182 000 000  

TITLE: 
Council Decision laying down the amount of Community support to rural development for the period from 
1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013, its annual breakdown and the minimum amount to be concentrated 
in regions eligible under the Convergence Objective 
LEGAL BASIS: 
Art. 69(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 
AIMS: 
To lay down the amount of Community support to rural development for the period 2007–2013, its annual 
breakdown  and  the  minimum  amount  to  be  concentrated  in  regions  eligible  under  the  Convergence 
Objective  
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS (1)  

FOLLOWING 
FINANCIAL 
YEAR 2007 
(EUR million) 
CA: 10 710 
PA: 4 973 

CHARGED TO THE EC BUDGET 

EXPENDITURE (2004 prices) (2) 
– 
(REFUNDS/INTERVENTIONS) 
– 
– 

NATIONAL AUTHORITIES 
OTHER 

5.1  REVENUE 

OWN RESOURCES OF THE EC  

– 
(LEVIES/CUSTOMS DUTIES) 
NATIONAL 
– 

5.0.1  ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE (2004 prices) 

CA (2) 
PA 

5.1.1  ESTIMATED REVENUE 
5.2  METHOD OF CALCULATION: 

– 

– 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

2012 

2013 

10 447 
6 231 
– 

10 185 
6 761 
– 

9 955 
7 919 
– 

9 717 
9 150 
– 

9 483 
9 664 
– 

9 253 
9 861 
– 

6.0  CAN THE PROJECT BE FINANCED FROM APPROPRIATIONS ENTERED IN THE 

RELEVANT CHAPTER OF THE CURRENT BUDGET? 

6.1  CAN THE PROJECT BE FINANCED BY TRANSFER BETWEEN CHAPTERS OF 

THE CURRENT BUDGET? 

6.2  WILL A SUPPLEMENTARY BUDGET BE NECESSARY? 
6.3  WILL APPROPRIATIONS NEED TO BE ENTERED IN FUTURE BUDGETS? 
OBSERVATIONS: 
(1) 

The 2007–2013 financial envelop for rural development has been fixed in the agreement of the European 
Council on the Financial Perspective 2007–2013 as far as commitment appropriations are concerned.  
The figures mentioned are excluding compulsory modulation and other 1st pillar transfers. 

(2) 

YES NO 

YES NO 
YES NO 
YES NO 

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