2006/678/EC: Commission Decision of 3 October 2006 on the financial treatment to be applied, in the context of clearance of expenditure financed by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Section, in certain cases of irregularity by operators (notified under document number C(2006) 4324)
Date: 2006-10-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Community budget, EAGGF Guarantee Section, EU Member State, EU control, closing of accounts, fraud

L 278/24

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

10.10.2006

COMMISSION DECISION

of 3 October 2006

on the financial treatment to be applied, in the context of clearance of expenditure financed by the
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Section, in certain cases of irregularity by operators

(notified under document number C(2006) 4324)

(Only the Spanish, German, English, French, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese texts are authentic)

(2006/678/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(3)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 of 21
April 1970 on the financing of
the common agricultural
policy (1), and in particular Article 8(2) thereof,

After consulting the Fund Committee,

Whereas:

the Commission has evaluated the recovery
To date,
proceedings
carried out by the Member States as
regards irregularities communicated under Council Regu-
lation (EEC) No 595/91 of 4 March 1991 concerning
irregularities and the recovery of sums wrongly paid in
connection with the financing of
the common agri-
cultural policy and the organisation of an information
system in this field and repealing Regulation (EEC) No
283/72 (6) before 1 January 1999 and involving amounts
of more than EUR 500 000 in order to decide on the
financial
in
of
accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation (EEC) No
729/70. In so doing, the Commission has followed the
procedure set out in Article 5 of that Regulation and in
Article 8 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 of
7 July 1995 laying down detailed rules for the appli-
cation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70
regarding the procedure
the
accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section (7).

consequences

clearance of

irregularities

those

the

for

(1)

(2)

a

as

lost

sums

result of

Article 8(1)(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 provides
for the Member States to take the measures necessary to
recover
irregularities or
negligence. Pursuant to Article 8(2) of Regulation (EEC)
No 729/70, in the absence of total recovery, the financial
irregularities or negligence are to be
consequences of
borne by the Community, with the exception of
the
consequences of irregularities or negligence attributable
to administrative authorities or other bodies of
the
Member States.

in

its

Italy

Cases

C-34/89,

judgments

In
v
Commission (2), C-54/95, Germany v Commission (3)
and C-277/98 France v Commission (4), the Court of
Justice has held that the Member States must take steps
to rectify irregularities promptly. It follows in particular
from the judgment in Case C-34/89 that a Member State
cannot be inactive for a period of four years from the
indication of an irregularity (5).
moment of
Within that period the investigation should generally be
conducted and a decision be taken on the initiation of
recovery procedure. In Case C-54/95 the Court indicated
that,
in principle, the Member States have to start the
recovery procedure within one year after the all relevant
facts are known with regard to the irregularity.

the first

(1) OJ L 94, 28.4.1970, p. 13. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1287/95 (OJ L 125, 8.6.1995, p. 1).

(2) Judgment of 11.10.1990, ECR 1990, p. I-3603.
(3) Judgment of 21.1.1999, ECR 1999, p. I-35.
(4) Judgment of 13.11.2001, ECR 2001, p. I-8453.
(5) Points 12 and 13.

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

The verifications and the bilateral discussions with the
Member States have shown that
in certain cases the
Member States did not act with the necessary promptness
and diligence. Therefore, the financial consequences of
non-recovery should in such cases not be borne by the
Community budget.

In all other cases the financial consequences of the irre-
gularities examined should be borne by the Community
budget.

Cases notified under Regulation (EEC) No 595/91 in
which undue payments have been recovered in full or
for which it has been found that no undue payment was
made should be removed from the list of notifications
provided for in Articles 3 and 5 of that Regulation.

The Commission has informed the Member States in a
summary report of the amounts to be excluded from the
Community financing and of the grounds on which such
exclusion should be decided,

(6) OJ L 67, 14.3.1991, p. 11.
(7) OJ L 158, 8.7.1995, p. 6. Regulation as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 465/2005 (OJ L 77, 23.3.2005, p. 6).

10.10.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 278/25

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 4

Article 1

The cases listed in Annex I are hereby cleared and the corre-
sponding amounts charged to the Member State concerned.

This Decision is addressed to the Federal Republic of Germany,
the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Italian Republic,
the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Portuguese Republic and
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Article 2

The cases listed in Annex II are hereby cleared and the corre-
sponding amounts charged to the Community budget.

Done at Brussels, 3 October 2006.

Article 3

The cases listed in Annex III are removed from the list of
notifications provided for in Articles 3 and 5 of Regulation
(EEC) No 595/91.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission

L 278/26

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

10.10.2006

ANNEX I

Amounts to be charged to the Member States

(budget item 6 7 0 1 )

Germany

Italy

Case

Amount in EUR

Case

Amount in EUR

DE/1998/247

686 190,80

Spain

Case

Amount in EUR

ES/1996/092

ES/1996/123

1 489 982,69

963 758,23

Total

2 453 740,92

France

Case

Amount in EUR

FR/1998/020

FR/1998/117

789 514

551 743

Total

1 341 257

United Kingdom

Case

Amount in GBP

UK/1998/202/M

UK/1998/202/P

UK/1998/202/T

360 758

749 039

274 045

Total

1 383 842

Italy

Case

Amount in EUR

IT/1982/009

IT/1982/012

IT/1982/013

IT/1982/017

IT/1984/004

IT/1985/001

IT/1985/013

IT/1985/028

IT/1985/034

1 408 128,65

1 366 417,81

629 935,56

910 013,88

41 316,55

1 910 890,53

601 357,97

700 525,75

519 830,66

IT/1985/037

IT/1986/017

IT/1986/035

IT/1986/046

IT/1986/048

IT/1987/009

IT/1987/106

IT/1987/118

IT/1987/119

IT/1987/129

IT/1987/130

IT/1988/029

IT/1988/059

IT/1988/067

IT/1988/069

IT/1988/123

IT/1989/003(A)

IT/1989/010

IT/1989/011

IT/1989/012

IT/1989/013

IT/1989/017

IT/1989/049

IT/1989/052

IT/1989/055

IT/1989/062

IT/1989/076

IT/1989/078

IT/1989/087

IT/1989/094

IT/1989/097

IT/1989/109

1 719 677,84

1 249 635,88

436 082,41

1 051 645,09

2 346 406,28

942 061,74

2 964 559,78

952 185,05

886 233,53

3 134 051,95

3 019 712,80

3 092 803,26

2 707 017,35

13 944 336,28

16 860 045,01

1 139 567,43

3 166 518,37

4 451 687,38

880 239,40

954 560,47

1 756 811,95

1 151 573,35

607 978,47

801 021,02

729 996,93

533 048,34

7 190 795,74

3 702 297,02

2 763 062,49

873 448,66

883 185,79

882 625,37

10.10.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 278/27

Italy

Italy

Case

Amount in EUR

Case

Amount in EUR

IT/1989/120

IT/1989/130

IT/1989/141

IT/1989/184

IT/1989/185

IT/1989/187

IT/1989/188

IT/1989/208

IT/1990/001

IT/1990/002

IT/1990/004

IT/1990/021

IT/1990/053

IT/1990/059

IT/1990/064

IT/1990/066

IT/1990/077

IT/1990/079

IT/1990/080

IT/1990/081

IT/1990/083

IT/1990/084

IT/1990/086

IT/1990/092

IT/1990/094

IT/1991/002(A)

IT/1991/004

IT/1991/006

IT/1991/008

IT/1991/009

IT/1991/014

IT/1991/017

IT/1991/024

IT/1991/056

IT/1991/071

IT/1991/075

505 074,81

952 185,05

2 353 482,58

585 745,67

3 153 808,48

1 182 320,05

5 015 307,87

1 528 863,48

1 893 038,98

648 746,26

889 279,64

560 702,00

531 953,50

8 384 948,04

2 139 322,74

667 339,28

13 964 478,09

652 412,16

997 851,72

2 950 584,42

1 226 694,20

695 687,06

1 037 481,54

0,00

3 064 059,49

2 421 612,13

3 004 248,14

1 799 675,37

3 052 599,57

1 208 081,21

1 593 129,84

790 899,43

329 539,37

1 078 101,49

688 707,00

1 021 325,69

IT/1992/006

IT/1992/011

IT/1992/012

IT/1992/060

IT/1992/061

IT/1992/071

IT/1992/098

IT/1992/117

IT/1992/118

IT/1992/230

IT/1992/232

IT/1992/237

IT/1992/239

IT/1992/245

IT/1992/249

IT/1992/253

IT/1992/254

IT/1992/256

IT/1992/257

IT/1992/258

IT/1992/264

IT/1992/272

IT/1992/275

IT/1992/284

IT/1992/285

IT/1992/338

IT/1994/047

IT/1994/063

IT/1994/092

IT/1994/095

IT/1994/151

IT/1994/224

IT/1994/235

IT/1994/245

IT/1994/246

IT/1994/250

87 000,11

619 240,02

371 440,00

2 187 059,94

417 761,97

535 447,07

1 428 011,50

895 504,86

1 363 978,00

1 456 448,72

2 422 558,12

3 814 620,91

4 420 095,25

1 715 396,91

1 022 645,34

1 878 926,73

844 269,29

1 031 347,46

950 810,66

609 296,43

558 279,79

107 354,19

431 051,94

5 284 145,77

82 039,00

342 141,68

744 987,49

11 726 016,74

1 202 986,10

1 776 176,16

654 664,50

866 412,91

824 501,93

1 540 155,94

519 777,15

187 310,38

L 278/28

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

10.10.2006

Italy

Italy

Case

Amount in EUR

Case

Amount in EUR

IT/1994/419

IT/1994/439

IT/1994/445

IT/1995/031

IT/1995/053

IT/1995/054

IT/1995/060

IT/1995/099

IT/1995/103

IT/1995/117

IT/1995/120

IT/1995/160

IT/1995/259

IT/1995/277

IT/1995/342

IT/1995/350

IT/1995/363

IT/1995/390

IT/1995/391

IT/1996/004

IT/1996/006

IT/1996/009

IT/1996/019

8 760 422,48

757 184,91

2 540 892,25

1 043 415,42

5 230 746,31

3 235 621,62

1 725 150,04

1 197 629,77

2 595 717,93

808 330,66

647 980,61

941 259,59

1 252 608,76

951 752,36

570 807,35

849 611,86

623 105,53

1 040 032,33

538 652,15

871 048,24

3 450 089,59

5 708 680,07

70 153,80

IT/1996/022

IT/1996/025

IT/1996/067

IT/1996/189

IT/1996/205

IT/1996/207

IT/1996/210

IT/1996/254

IT/1996/271

IT/1996/282

IT/1996/301

IT/1996/302

IT/1996/388

IT/1997/074

IT/1997/123

IT/1997/193

IT/1998/037

IT/1998/059

IT/1998/070

IT/1998/103

IT/1998/114

3 645 678,08

513 677,10

2 852 184,42

691 863,13

5 615 994,15

650 060,45

1 078 676,85

71 572,77

6 856 477,88

666 899,01

3 524 942,01

2 247 646,99

1 425 735,47

583 123,58

729 996,93

5 513 248,86

2 286 015,73

1 175 865,75

881 768,99

503 889,09

570 848,01

Total

310 849 495,98

10.10.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 278/29

ANNEX II

Amounts to be charged to the EAGGF Guarantee Fund

Germany

Italy

Case number

Amount in EUR

Case number

Amount in EUR

DE/1995/174

DE/1996/210

3 644 689,38

102 911,19

Total

3 747 600,57

Spain

Case number

Amount in EUR

ES/1995/069

ES/1996/073

ES/1996/085

ES/1997/255

ES/1998/056

145 393,60

71 481,48

1 617 401,34

2 275 730,27

509 809,96

Total

4 619 816,55

Netherlands

Case number

Amount in EUR

NL/1997/066

NL/1998/038

532 080

1 922 727

2 454 807

Total

Portugal

Case number

Amount in EUR

PT/1996/014

PT/1998/015

PT/1998/038

1 654 408,37

608 155,28

1 417 853,86

Total

3 680 417,51

Italy

Case number

Amount in EUR

IT/1981/014

IT/1982/011

598 645,14

858 791,39

IT/1988/008

IT/1988/013

IT/1988/023

IT/1988/068

IT/1988/078

IT/1989/001

IT/1989/016

IT/1990/028

IT/1990/037

IT/1991/002(S)

IT/1993/004

IT/1994/004

IT/1994/005

IT/1994/008

IT/1994/253

IT/1994/449

IT/1995/057

IT/1995/384

IT/1995/387

IT/1996/007

IT/1996/015

IT/1996/020

IT/1996/211

IT/1996/303

IT/1997/022

IT/1997/159

IT/1998/014

6 951 704,49

1 628 505,84

4 121 803,13

1 792 260,77

124 280,67

4 926 732,53

538 117,76

202 927,48

2 174 169,20

2 451 649,46

500 852,00

617 469,18

29 851 834,89

41 760 653,21

10 089 425,06

1 500 425,25

2 144 502,97

1 283 089,70

1 698 575,15

10 949 621,58

1 040 113,00

491 865,00

6 322 642,50

25 206 583,61

950 412,40

516 228,65

531 544,83

Total

161 825 426,84

L 278/30

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

10.10.2006

ANNEX III

Irregularity cases to be removed from the list under Regulation (EEC) No 595/91

Germany

Case number

DE/1996/016

DE/1996/144

DE/1996/260

DE/1997/015

DE/1997/095

DE/1997/136

DE/1998/040

DE/1998/195

DE/1998/214

Spain

Case number

ES/1995/066

ES/1995/071

ES/1996/089

ES/1997/002

ES/1997/040

ES/1997/041

ES/1997/062

France

Case number

FR/1996/031

FR/1996/056

FR/1998/010

FR/1998/024

Netherlands

Case number

NL/1995/127

NL/1997/059

NL/1998/078

Portugal

Case number

PT/1995/036

United Kingdom

Case number

UK/1998/271

Italy

Case number

IT/1986/019(D)

IT/1986/040

IT/1986/043

IT/1987/020

IT/1987/091

IT/1987/092

IT/1988/024

IT/1988/053(D)

IT/1988/070

IT/1989/075

IT/1989/106

IT/1989/136

IT/1989/140

IT/1989/183

IT/1990/016

IT/1990/018

IT/1990/019

IT/1990/024

IT/1990/025

IT/1990/040

IT/1990/048

IT/1990/052

IT/1990/065

IT/1990/071

IT/1990/075

IT/1991/003(A)

IT/1991/011

IT/1991/012

IT/1991/053

IT/1991/055

IT/1991/060

IT/1991/063

IT/1992/005

IT/1992/021

IT/1992/022

IT/1992/023

IT/1992/024

IT/1992/025

IT/1992/026

IT/1992/048

IT/1992/065

IT/1992/066

IT/1992/067

IT/1992/084

IT/1992/097

IT/1992/102

IT/1992/103

IT/1992/234

IT/1992/263

IT/1992/274

IT/1992/276

IT/1992/300

IT/1992/322

IT/1992/323

IT/1992/325

IT/1992/339

IT/1992/343

IT/1992/345

IT/1992/346

IT/1993/008

IT/1994/006

IT/1994/007

IT/1994/068(D)

IT/1994/142

IT/1994/217

IT/1994/219

IT/1994/233

IT/1994/392

IT/1994/430

IT/1994/431

IT/1994/433

IT/1994/450

IT/1995/004

IT/1995/020

IT/1995/023

IT/1995/034

IT/1995/035

IT/1995/036

IT/1995/037

IT/1995/038

IT/1995/118

IT/1995/158

IT/1995/293

IT/1995/296

IT/1995/329

IT/1995/336

IT/1995/356

10.10.2006

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Official Journal of the European Union

L 278/31

IT/1995/365

IT/1995/385

IT/1995/386

IT/1996/002

IT/1996/008(A)

IT/1996/008(S)

IT/1996/014

IT/1996/015(D)

IT/1996/277

IT/1996/289

IT/1996/292

IT/1996/304

IT/1996/387

IT/1997/004

IT/1997/008

IT/1997/158

IT/1997/167

IT/1997/192

IT/1998/006

IT/1998/020

IT/1998/021

IT/1998/025

IT/1998/026

IT/1998/027

IT/1998/032

IT/1998/036

IT/1998/045

IT/1998/056

IT/1998/062

IT/1998/068

IT/1998/071

IT/1998/426

IT/2000/059