Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - 2nd financial Report on the financial implementation of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) Year 2008
Date: 2009-10-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agricultural expenditure, aid to agriculture, common agricultural policy, implementation of the budget, report, rural development

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 21.10.2009 
COM(2009)547 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

2nd financial report on the financial implementation of the European Agricultural Fund 
for Rural Development (EAFRD) 
Year 2008 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

Procedure and budgetary monitoring ........................................................................... 3 

Management of appropriations and financial implementation..................................... 5 

2.1. 

Commitment appropriations......................................................................................... 5 

2.1.1.  Commitment appropriations for operational rural development programmes............. 5 

2.1.2.  Commitment appropriations available for technical assistance ................................... 6 

2.2. 

Payment appropriations................................................................................................ 6 

2.2.1.  Appropriations available for operational rural development programmes .................. 6 

2.2.2.  Appropriations available for technical assistance ...................................................... 11 

3. 

Rate of implementation of EAFRD programmes (% of EAFRD 2007 and 2008 
subsidies paid by the Commission) by Member State ............................................... 14 

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1. 

PROCEDURE AND BUDGETARY MONITORING 

On 2 May 2007 the Commission adopted the preliminary draft budget (PDB) for the year 
2008. The PDB for the EAFRD was submitted to the budget authority with the following 
financial resources (in EUR): 

Budget line 

05.040501 (Rural Development 
programmes) 

Commitment 
appropriations 

Payment 
appropriations 

12 542 462 561.00 9 396 700 000.00

05.040502 (Technical assistance) 

22 089 328.00

10 000 000.00

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  378/2007  laying  down  rules  for  voluntary 
modulation of direct payments was adopted on 27 March 2007. Its direct impact 
on  the  EAFRD  budget  is  an  increase  of  EUR  362 000 000.00  in  commitment 
appropriations. 

As  a  result,  the  general  budget  for  2008  was  adopted  by  the  Parliament  at  its 
second  reading  on  13  December  2007  with  the  following  amounts  for  the 
EAFRD: 

Budget line 

05.040501 (Rural Development 
programmes) 

Commitment 
appropriations 

Payment 
appropriations 

12 904 462 561.00 9 396 700 000.00

05.040502 (Technical assistance) 

22 089 328.00

10 000 000.00

At the end of 2007 only 54 EAFRD programmes out of a total of 94 were approved by 
the Commission. The other 40 programmes were approved in 2008 as follows: 

– 

– 

25  EAFRD  programmes  were  approved  at  the  start  of  2008  having 
benefited 
the  commitment 
appropriations  from  the  year  2007  to  2008,  for  a  total  amount  of 
EUR 1 360 517 165.00. 

from  a  non-automatic  carry-over  of 

15  EAFRD  programmes  for  which  the  appraisal  work  had  not  been 
completed  by  the  Commission  before  the  end  of  2007  were  part  of  the 
2007  instalment  which  was  reassigned  to  the  years  2008-2013  by 
application  of  paragraph  48  of  the  Interinstitutional  Agreement  (IIA)  on 
budgetary discipline. 

For these last 15 EAFRD programmes, the appropriations entered in the 2007 budget for 
the 2007 annual instalment were cancelled and the budgetary authority approved, in May 
2008,  a  corrected  budget  for  an  additional  amount  of  EUR  370 376 764.00  in 
commitment appropriations which corresponds to the 2008 share of the reassigned 2007 
annual instalment. 

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It  should  be  noted  that  the  application  of  paragraph  48  of  the  IIA  also  necessitated  the 
revision  of  the  financial  framework  for  rural  development  with  the  amendment  of 
Council  Decision  2006/493/EC  determining  the  level  of  Community  aid  for  rural 
development during the period 2007-2013 and its annual allocation, and the amendment 
of  Decision  2006/636/EC  establishing,  by  Member  State,  the  annual  allocation  of  the 
amount for rural development for the same period. 

The  above  situation  means  that  the  amount  of  commitment  appropriations  finally 
available  for  the  budget  line  for  operational  EAFRD  programmes  (excluding  technical 
assistance) is EUR 14 635 356 490.00. 

It should be noted that the payment appropriations stayed at the same level during 2008 
as  that  included  in  the  budget  adopted  by  the  Parliament  at  its  second  reading  on  13 
December 2007, with the exception of a total transfer of EUR 82 995 000.00 which was 
made  at  the  end  of  the  year  to  increase  the  budget  lines  for  the  EAGGF  Guidance 
Section. The table below illustrates the situation per budget line (in EUR): 

Financial instrument / budget line 

EAFRD (05.040501) 

EAGGF Guidance Section Objective 1 
(05.04.02.01) and  

EAGGF Guidance Section Leader + 
(05.040206) 

Total variation (increase, decrease) for rural 
development 

Increase (‘+’) or Decrease (‘-‘) of the 
available payment appropriation (in EUR) 

- 82 995 000.00

+ 82 995 000.00

0.00

The following section describes how these funds have been used.

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2. 

MANAGEMENT OF APPROPRIATIONS AND FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

2.1. 

Commitment appropriations 

2.1.1.  Commitment appropriations for operational rural development programmes  

the  available  commitment  appropriations 

All  of 
instalment 
(EUR 14 635 356 490.00)  were  used  up  (i.e.  100%  financial  implementation).  The 
following table shows the amounts actually committed in 2008, by Member State, for the 
EAFRD programmes (in EUR): 

the  2008 

for 

Member 
State 

Use of commitment 
appropriations 2008 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

ES 

FI 

FR 

GR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

UK 

594 709 669.00

63 957 784.00

581 200 565.00

24 772 842.00

392 638 892.00

1 186 941 705.00

128 937 144.00

95 569 377.00

1 548 539 790.00

318 959 772.00

959 359 146.00

463 470 078.00

537 525 661.00

355 014 220.00

1 616 756 298.00

248 836 020.00

13 661 411.00

300 635 734.00

23 962 147.00

72 638 338.00

1 932 933 351.00

587 531 051.00

1 146 687 683.00

277 225 207.00

139 868 094.00

286 531 906.00

736 492 605.00

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Grand total 

14 635 356 490.00

2.1.2.  Commitment appropriations available for technical assistance 

Article 69(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 provides for 0.25% of the total 
amount of Community aid for rural development to be allocated to technical assistance 
managed by the Commission. In the 2008 budget the amount available for this purpose 
was  EUR  22 089 328.00  in  commitment  appropriations.  At  the  end  of  2008  the  use  of 
commitment appropriations amounted to EUR 5 250 376.94. 

The table below shows how these commitment appropriations were used. The majority of 
the commitment appropriations for the year 2008 involved actions related to creating the 
European Network for rural development and the development of the SFC2007 computer 
system. 

Item / Description

Commitment 
appropriations used 
in 2008

Comment

Creation of European Network for RD; Leader + 
expert committee (European Network 
framework); Cyprus seminar; Leader + 
magazine (publishing, distribution, translation) 
and web site.
Expert committee - evaluation of RD 
programmes

Development of SFC 2007 computer system

040502-C1-AGRI AGRI-G3

4 879 562 €

05.040502-C1-AGRI AGRI-L4

81 000 €

Sub-total for direct management by 
DG AGRI
05.040502-C1-AGRI/EMPL 
Sub-total for management by DG 
EMPL

General total

4 960 562 €

289 815 €

289 815 €

5 250 377 €

2.2. 

Payment appropriations 

2.2.1.  Appropriations available for operational rural development programmes 

The  payment  appropriations  included  in  the  2008  budget  for  the  EAFRD  programmes 
amount  to  EUR  9 396 700 000.00.  Of  this  available  amount,  EUR  82 995 000.00  were 
transferred  in  November  and  December  2008  to  increase  budget  lines  05.040201  and 
05.040206 (programmes under EAGGF-Guidance Section for Objective 1 and Leader + 
for the programming period 2000-2006 respectively).  

At  the  end  of  the  year  2008,  the  use  of  payment  appropriations  amounted  to 
EUR 8 538 840 673.98, which was used as follows: 

Payments on account: 

EUR 2 475 706 914.50  

Reimbursements 4th quarter 2006 

EUR 21 697 817.73 

Reimbursement 3rd quarter 2007 

EUR 116 058 716.24 

Reimbursement 4th quarter 2007 

EUR 1 697 255 282.24 

Reimbursement 1st quarter 2008 

EUR 1 120 239 109.02  

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Reimbursement 2nd quarter 2008 

EUR 1 303 099 545.58 

Reimbursement 3rd quarter 2008 

EUR 1 804 783 288.67  

Total use 2008 

EUR 8 538 840 673.98 

The 2nd and 3rd quarter 2008 reimbursements for some programmes (see list below) were 
totally or partially pending at the end of the year due to the fact that the commitments for 
2007  and  2008  for  these  programmes  had  already  been  fully  used  by  the  payments  on 
account  and  previous  reimbursements.  The  table  below  shows  the  situation  of  the 
programmes  which  have  used  up  the  commitment  appropriations,  and  for  which  the 
payments have had to await the start of 2009 (in EUR): 

EAFRD Programme – CCI No 

Flanders (2007BE06RPO001) 

North Rhine-Westphalia 
(2007DE06RPO015) 

Aragon (2007ES06RPO002) 
Asturias (2007ES06RPO003) 

La Rioja (2007ES06RPO016) 

Ireland National (2007IE06RPO001) 

Q2 2008  
(2nd quarter) 

Q3 2008  
(3rd quarter) 

Total 

2 634 830.50 

2 634 830.50

10 345 809.87 

10 345 809.87

12 299 213.27

16 291 566.28 

28 590 779.54

1 100 082.61 

1 100 082.61

1 046 530.71 

1 046 530.71

95 219 252.45 

95 219 252.45

Total 

12 299 213.27

126 638 072.42  138 937 285.68

The difference between the total amount of the available payment appropriations and, the 
amount  of  payment  appropriations  used  taken  with  the  amount  transferred  to  increase 
two lines for the previous programming period, was EUR 774 864 326.02. This amount 
represents financial under utilisation of 8.2% of the amount available in the budget. This 
under utilisation is mainly the result of the fact that the declaration of expenditure for the 
third  quarter  fell  below  the  forecasts  initially  sent  by  the  Member  States.  These 
appropriations  have  been  carried  over  to  the  2009  budget  by  means  of  Commission 
Decision SEC(2009) 164 of 13 February 2009 as C2 appropriations (appropriations not 
carried over automatically by means of a Commission decision and to be used before 31 
December 2009). 

The  attached  graph  shows  the  monthly  use of  the  payment  appropriations  during  2008. 
The rate of use is influenced by the dates on which the four payment declarations for the 
year  are  sent  (31  January,  30  April,  31  July,  10  November  for  the  declarations  for  Q4 
2007, Q1 2008, Q2 2008 and Q3 2008 respectively). 

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The  table  below  states  the  amounts  paid  by  the  Commission  during  the  calendar  year 
2008,  by  Member  State,  for  the  payments  on  account  made  and  reimbursements  of  the 
expenditure  incurred  by  the  paying  agencies  during  the  periods  from  16  October  to  31 
December 2007 (Q4 2007), from 1 January 2008 to 31 March 2008 (Q1 2008), from 1 
April 2008 to 30 June 2008 (Q2 2008), from 1 July 2008 to 15 October 2008 (Q3 2008). 

The amounts relating to Q4 2006, which refer to the expenditure declared by the Member 
States  on  the  basis  of  the  provisional  provisions  contained  in  Regulation  (EC)  No 
1290/2005,  are  paid  once  the  corresponding  programmes  are  finally  adopted  by  the 
Commission, which led to payments still being made in 2008. These payments relate to 
programmes  which  were  not  yet  approved  at  the  end  of  the  2007  year  and  which  were 
subject  to  reassignment  (Article  48  of  the  Interinstitutional  Agreement)  or  the  non-
automatic carrying over of commitment appropriations from 2007 to 2008. 

The amounts relating to Q3 2007 (incurred between 1 July 2007 and 15 October 2007) 
concern  programmes  which  have  exhausted  their  commitment  appropriations  for  2007 
and were paid with the appropriations for the year 2008. 

Payments actually made to Member States in 2008 (by Member State, in EUR)

Country
AT
BE
BG
CY
CZ
DE
DK
EE
ES
FI
FR
GR
HU
IE
IT
LT
LU
LV
MT
NL
PL
PT
RO
SE
SI
SK
UK

Q4 2006

Q3 2007

Q4 2007

15 159 448.42

2 771 313.40

9 322 259.39
4 784.52

32 174 706.48
1 846 826.34

371 286 024.65
7 855 796.56

2 861 290.58
82 096 045.38
266 605 351.99
33 713 148.73
1 755 286.53
80 727 937.95
7 789 919.37
229 535 417.99
22 609 906.45
52 944 204.32
72 186 100.35
204 378 448.94
22 119 684.58
2 122 639.25

Q1 2008
14 068 801.75
3 716 421.52
44 623 266.77
2 226 844.54
3 042 845.25
61 315 527.30
23 214 105.75
7 073 589.90
26 293 747.01
2 894 821.36
76 434 955.78
11 896 825.42
16 668 304.04
45 801 218.05
24 746 776.27
8 099 867.33
882 963.35
12 686 328.51

Q2 2008
30 060 501.85
13 468 963.93
12 965 601.61
1 795 210.19
92 557 567.73
51 814 976.17
8 748 958.90
3 343 724.64
271 633 956.77
2 404 210.75
127 587 646.72
55 403 905.41
34 734 352.96
44 475 101.00
38 881 995.32
19 709 731.04
5 003 121.20
23 939 056.24

Q3 2008
47 193 416.95
23 489 466.28
596 961.32
3 573 267.86
34 928 088.97
274 609 584.29
8 726 793.16
11 754 204.47
88 157 101.41
206 885 717.44
346 967 980.17
133 762 669.63
44 538 336.14
78 480 083.47
105 155 811.51
10 884 277.29
925 950.40
14 026 415.28

2 644 989.00
26 878 091.94
26 481 306.80

11 058 938.00
392 164 087.68
116 440 499.47

4 747 847.00
306 562 342.87
37 010 165.52

4 689 292.23
120 925 904.45
74 681 682.84

42 500 466.81
243 945.74
69 737 150.57
68 182 127.76

27 072 386.20
32 148 132.08
24 355 731.70
131 312 123.99

16 526 791.36
32 675 387.55
3 106 306.54
63 942 122.31

88 335 150.09
20 190 493.06
590 903.92
60 713 736.04

9 599 460.42

66 877 735.00

payments

12 866 719.12
182 636 901.72

131 421 515.15
31 126 255.72
25 013 059.92
501 043 604.54
29 631 449.29
91 330 692.29
129 755 654.84

81 897 010.65
304 567 250.20

2 961 487.62
72 877 945.28
5 364 334.84

144 063 955.11
561 575 332.14
15 181 392.86

68 929 632.73
83 462 720.48

Grand total

21 697 817.73

116 058 716.24

1 697 255 282.24

1 120 239 109.02

1 303 099 545.58

1 804 783 288.67

2 475 706 914.50

Grand total
462 608 745.20
61 397 367.41
240 822 731.42
10 456 613.17
212 624 547.33
800 926 403.32
108 300 575.66
48 939 865.46
977 178 607.07
249 610 902.73
871 856 692.95
353 428 961.75
148 885 197.46
355 014 220.00
679 577 108.58
60 813 560.24
11 896 161.82
123 529 745.31
5 364 334.84
23 141 066.23
846 530 426.94
398 677 609.74
561 575 332.14
189 616 187.32
85 257 958.43
166 719 725.46
484 090 026.00

8 538 840 673.98  

For  2008,  the  total  amount  of  reimbursements  (interim  payments)  amounts  to 
EUR 6 063 133 759.48 
is 
EUR 2 475 706 914.50. 

payments 

advance 

amount 

total 

and 

the 

for 

In terms of the change in comparison with 2007, the table below shows a very significant 
increase  (+  40.43%)  of  the  payments  made  to  the  Member  States.  This  increase  is 
explained  by  the  fact  that  the  reimbursements  have  more  than  doubled  in  2008  (+ 
155.21%),  whereas  the  amount  of  advance  payments  has  decreased  slightly  (-33.18%). 
The reduction in advance payments results from the fact that more than half had already 
been paid in 2007. The strong growth in reimbursements in turn shows the progressive 
implementation of the rural development programmes in the Member States. 

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Payments actually made to Member States - Comparison 2008-2007 (by Member State, in EUR)

Country Reimbursements  
79 486 601.40
38 646 666.61

2007
Advance 
payments
273 802 899.44
16 436 002.28

Total

353 289 500.84
55 082 668.89

11 376 650.18
197 085 444.78
436 454 678.63

11 376 650.18
197 085 444.78
812 661 141.60

25 013 059.92
3 930 641.26
115 963 854.19
359 606 865.33
129 755 654.84
266 409 037.44
81 897 010.65
275 873 441.60
122 035 206.50
3 341 160.20

25 013 059.92
7 834 297.11
332 305 211.00
911 930 108.22
323 770 461.76
267 978 286.59
373 683 516.00
445 860 186.02
122 035 206.50
14 421 996.97

Reimbursements  
462 608 745.20
48 530 648.29
58 185 829.70
10 456 613.17
212 624 547.33
669 504 888.17
77 174 319.94
23 926 805.54
476 135 002.53
219 979 453.44
780 526 000.66
223 673 306.91
148 885 197.46
273 117 209.35
375 009 858.38
60 813 560.24
8 934 674.20
50 651 800.03

376 206 462.97

3 903 655.85
216 341 356.81
552 323 242.89
194 014 806.92
1 569 249.15
291 786 505.35
169 986 744.42

11 080 836.77

18 232 811.00

90 261 356.57

34 056 481.68
926 102 670.92
130 988 796.85

52 289 292.68
926 102 670.92
221 250 153.42

23 141 066.23
846 530 426.94
254 613 654.63

179 519 739.08
30 063 136.39

122 297 861.10

112 613 963.92
63 018 671.02
68 929 632.73
50 207 488.90

292 133 703.00
93 081 807.41
68 929 632.73
172 505 350.00

174 434 794.46
85 257 958.43
97 790 092.73
400 627 305.52

2008
Advance 
payments

12 866 719.12
182 636 901.72

131 421 515.15
31 126 255.72
25 013 059.92
501 043 604.54
29 631 449.29
91 330 692.29
129 755 654.84

81 897 010.65
304 567 250.20

2 961 487.62
72 877 945.28
5 364 334.84

144 063 955.11
561 575 332.14
15 181 392.86

68 929 632.73
83 462 720.48

 Total

462 608 745.20
61 397 367.41
240 822 731.42
10 456 613.17
212 624 547.33
800 926 403.32
108 300 575.66
48 939 865.46
977 178 607.07
249 610 902.73
871 856 692.95
353 428 961.75
148 885 197.46
355 014 220.00
679 577 108.58
60 813 560.24
11 896 161.82
123 529 745.31
5 364 334.84
23 141 066.23
846 530 426.94
398 677 609.74
561 575 332.14
189 616 187.32
85 257 958.43
166 719 725.46
484 090 026.00

Reimbursements
383 122 143.80
9 883 981.68
58 185 829.70
10 456 613.17
212 624 547.33
293 298 425.20
77 174 319.94
23 926 805.54

%

482.00%
25.58%

77.96%

472 231 346.68 12097.16%
1.68%
41.32%
15.29%
9387.67%
-6.40%
120.61%

3 638 096.63
228 202 757.77
29 658 499.99
147 315 948.31
-18 669 296.00
205 023 113.96
60 813 560.24
-2 146 162.57
50 651 800.03

-19.37%

26.92%

182.08%

-2.83%
183.60%

227.58%

4 908 255.23
846 530 426.94
164 352 298.06

-5 084 944.62
55 194 822.04
97 790 092.73
278 329 444.42

Variation 2008/2007

Advance payments
-273 802 899.44
-3 569 283.16
182 636 901.72
-11 376 650.18
-197 085 444.78
-305 033 163.48
31 126 255.72
0.00
497 112 963.28
-86 332 404.90
-268 276 173.04
0.00
-266 409 037.44
0.00
28 693 808.60
-122 035 206.50
-379 672.58
72 877 945.28
5 364 334.84
-34 056 481.68
-926 102 670.92
13 075 158.26
561 575 332.14
-97 432 571.06
-63 018 671.02
0.00
33 255 231.58

%
-77.50%
-6.48%

-37.54%

6345.34%
-25.98%
-29.42%
0.00%
-99.41%
0.00%
6.44%

-2.63%

-65.13%

5.91%

-33.35%
-67.70%

19.28%

Total

109 319 244.36
6 314 698.52
240 822 731.42
-920 037.01
15 539 102.55
-11 734 738.28
108 300 575.66
23 926 805.54

%
30.94%
11.46%

-8.09%
7.88%
-1.44%

95.66%
969 344 309.96 12373.09%
-24.89%
-82 694 308.27
-4.39%
-40 073 415.27
9.16%
29 658 499.99
-44.44%
-119 093 089.13
-5.00%
-18 669 296.00
52.42%
233 716 922.56
-50.17%
-61 221 646.26
-17.51%
-2 525 835.15
123 529 745.31
5 364 334.84
-29 148 226.45
-79 572 243.98
177 427 456.32
561 575 332.14
-102 517 515.68
-7 823 848.98
97 790 092.73
311 584 676.00

-35.09%
-8.41%
141.87%
180.62%

-55.74%
-8.59%
80.19%

AT
BE
BG
CY
CZ
DE
DK
EE
ES
FI
FR
GR
HU
IE
IT
LT
LU
LV
MT
NL
PL
PT
RO
SE
SI
SK
UK
Grand 
total

2 375 721 033.28

3 704 899 313.26

6 080 620 346.54

6 063 133 759.48

2 475 706 914.50

8 538 840 673.98

3 687 412 726.20

155.21%

-1 229 192 398.76

-33.18%

2 458 220 327.44

40.43%

EN 

10 

EN 

 
  
2.2.2.  Appropriations available for technical assistance 

the  amount 

the  2008  budget 

In 
this  purpose  was 
EUR 10 000 000.00  in  payment  appropriations.  During  the  global  transfer  exercise  for 
2008 carried out by DG BUDG, a sum of EUR 2 000 000.00 was transferred to another 
budget line outside the perimeters of rural development. At the end of 2008, the use of 
payment appropriations amounted to EUR 3 455 471.11. 

initially  available 

for 

The  following  table  shows  the  amounts  paid  by  budget  line,  and  the  principle  actions 
carried out, such as the creation of the European Network for rural development and the 
monitoring centre for rural areas. 

Item / Description

Payment appropriations 
used in 2008

Comment

040502-C1-AGRI AGRI-G2

23 870 €

040502-C1-AGRI AGRI-G3

3 007 565 €

Sub-total for direct 
management by DG AGRI
05.040502-C1-AGRI/DGT 

05.040502-C1-AGRI/EMPL 

Sub-total for management by 
DG DGT and DG EMPL
General total

3 031 434 €

107 413 €

316 624 €

424 037 €

3 455 471 €

Final payment for RD seminar (3 and 4 Oct 
07 in Brussels)
Creation of European network for RD; 
monitoring centre for rural areas: seminar in 
Corsica and Evora; Leader + magazine 
(publishing, distribution); expert costs  
(Leader + experts committee).

Translation by DGT (Leader + magazine)

Development of SFC 2007 computer system

It  should  be  noted  that  part  of  the  payment  appropriations  used  in  2008  for  the  budget 
line corresponding to the development of the SFC 2007 computer system (EUR 316 624) 
relate to commitments undertaken in the year 2007. 

EN 

11 

   EN 

 
 
ANALYSIS  BY  EAFRD  PRIORITY  AND  MEASURE  OF  THE  AMOUNTS 
DECLARED BY THE PAYING AGENCIES OF THE MEMBER STATES 

The  table  below  shows  the  expenditure  declared  by  the  Member  States  by  rural 
development measure in 2007 (from Q4 2006 to Q3 2007), in 2008 (from Q4 2007 to Q3 
2008),  and  in  comparison  with  the  same  expenditure  since  the  start  of  the  programmes 
(Q4 2006 to Q3 2008), and with the amounts shown in the financing plans for 2007-2013 
(in  millions  of  EUR).  This  comparison  shows  the  extent  to  which  the  actual 
implementation in the field corresponds to the forecasts given in the programmes. 

For  the  year  2008,  it  emerges  that  21.3%  of  these  amounts  relate  to  expenditure  for 
measures  under  Priority 1,  75.0%  for  measures  under  Priority  2,  and  1.9%  to  measures 
under  Priority 3.  This  profile  shows  significant  discrepancies  in  comparison  with  the 
financial  plan  in  force  at  the  end  of  December  2008  for  the  whole  period  2007-2013 
(34% for Priority 1, 43.7% for Priority 2 and 13.4% for Priority 3). 

This situation is explained for the most part by the nature of the measures under Priority 
2, which are often paid either on the basis of contracts during the previous programming 
period,  or  by  means  of  annual  payments.  However,  the  delay  for  Priorities  1  and  3  is 
explained  by  the  fact  that  investment  projects  require  a  longer  approval  procedure 
(publication  of  conditions  of  approval,  receipt  of  applications  from  potential 
beneficiaries, selection procedure, etc.), and for their implementation. 

The  balance  between  the  Priorities  provided  for  in  the  development  strategy  for  each 
programme  will  be  achieved  gradually  as  the  EAFRD  programmes  are  implemented. 
Indeed, the comparison of the percentages for the year 2008 with those for 2007 already 
show a trend in this direction and, by way of example, Priority 2 fell from 81.6% of the 
declared  expenditure  in  2007  to  75.00%  in  2008,  whilst  Priority  1  shows  an  opposite 
trend and increased from 16.0% in 2007 to 21.3% in 2008. 

EN 

12 

   EN 

 
EAFRD requests for payment, by priority and by measure - year 2007 (Q4 2006 to Q3 2007),
EAFRD requests for payment, by priority and by measure - year 2008  (Q4 2007 to Q3 2008),
EAFRD requests for payment, by priority and by measure - year 2007 plus year 2008 (Q4 2006 to Q3 2008),
and financial plans in force at the end of 2008 (period 2007- 2013)

EAFRD axis/measure

2007 (Q4 2006 to Q3 
2007, in millions 
EUR)

2007 (Q4 2006 to Q3 
2007, in %)

2008 (Q4 2007 to Q3 
2008, in millions 
EUR)

2008 (Q4 2007 to Q3 
2008, in %)

2007 and 2008 (Q4 
2006 to Q3 2008, in 
millions EUR)

111 Professional training and information campaigns
112 Establishing young farmers
113 Early retirement
114 Use of advisory services
115 Creation of management, assistance and advisory service
121 Modernisation of farms
122 Improving the economic value of forests
123 Enhancing agricultural and forestry projects
124 Cooperation in the development of new products
125 Infrastructure linked to development and adaptation
126 Restoring the potential of agricultural production
131 Complying with rules based on Community legislation
132 Participation by farmers in food quality programmes
133 Information and promotion activities
141 Semi-subsistance farming
142 Producers' groups
143 Direct payments (BG + RO)
Priority 1
211 Payments to farmers in mountain regions (natural handica
212 Payments to farmers in areas with handicaps, other than…
213 Natura 2000 payments and payments linked to the Directi
214 Agri-environmental payments
215 Animal protection payments
216 Non-productive investments
221 Initial afforestation of agricultural land 
222 Initial establishment of agro-forestry systems on...
223 Initial afforestation of non-agricultural land
224 Natura 2000 payments
225 Forestry-environmental payments
226 Restoring forestry potential and introducing prevention
227 Non-productive investments
Priority 2
311 Diversification to include non-agricultural activities
312 Creation and development of companies
313 Promotion of tourist activities
321 Basic services for the economy and the rural population
322 Renewal and development of villages
323 Conservation and improvement of rural heritage
331 Training and information 
341 Acquisition of skills, animation and implementation of...
Priority 3
411 Implementation of local development strategies. Competit
412 Implementation of local development strategies. Environm
413 Implementation of local development strategies. Quality o
421 Implementation of cooperation projects
431 Directing the local action group, acquiring skills and…
Priority 4
511 Technical Assistance 
611 BG RO Direct payments

15.2
80.4
51.8
0.2
0.46
150.0
13.6
24.1
-
29.4
6.3
30.1
0.0
-
-
-
-
401.6
382.5
323.5
1.8
1 204.0
10.5
0.8
82.8
-
1.5
-
0.4
38.1
8.5
2 054.3
9.6
0.3
4.2
10.7
17.5
7.4
0.4
0.5
50.7
0.0
-
0.2
-
-
0.3
10.6

0.6%
3.2%
2.1%
0.0%
0.0%
6.0%
0.5%
1.0%
0.0%
1.2%
0.2%
1.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
16.0%
15.2%
12.9%
0.1%
47.8%
0.4%
0.0%
3.3%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
1.5%
0.3%
81.6%
0.4%
0.0%
0.2%
0.4%
0.7%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
2.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.4%
0.0%

Grand total (1)

2 517.4

100.0%

(1) 2007 => figure updated after reassignment

EN 

38.1
227.9
371.3
3.6
0.81
550.0
27.2
140.9
0.7
127.4
23.9
32.0
1.8
1.0
136.5
7.3
-
1 690.6
1 261.1
1 334.7
12.2
3 516.0
50.6
4.9
274.6
-
6.8
0.2
5.2
100.9
33.7
6 600.8
20.8
6.2
19.4
32.4
47.1
30.8
2.0
6.5
165.4
0.7
0.0
5.2
0.2
2.4
8.7
72.0
44.9

8 582.3

22.9
147.5
319.5
3.3
0.35
400.0
13.6
116.8
0.7
98.0
17.6
2.0
1.8
1.0
136.5
7.3
-
1 289.0
878.6
1 011.1
10.4
2 312.0
40.1
4.1
191.8
-
5.3
0.2
4.9
62.8
25.2
4 546.5
11.2
5.9
15.2
21.7
29.6
23.4
1.6
6.0
114.7
0.7
0.0
5.0
0.2
2.4
8.4
61.4
44.9

6 064.9

0.4%
2.4%
5.3%
0.1%
0.0%
6.6%
0.2%
1.9%
0.0%
1.6%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
2.3%
0.1%
0.0%
21.3%
14.5%
16.7%
0.2%
38.1%
0.7%
0.1%
3.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
1.0%
0.4%
75.0%
0.2%
0.1%
0.3%
0.4%
0.5%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
1.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
1.0%
0.7%

100.0%

13 

2007 and 2008 (Q4 
2006 to Q3 2008, in 
%)
0.4%
2.7%
4.3%
0.0%
0.0%
6.4%
0.3%
1.6%
0.0%
1.5%
0.3%
0.4%
0.0%
0.0%
1.6%
0.1%
0.0%
19.7%
14.7%
15.6%
0.1%
41.0%
0.6%
0.1%
3.2%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
1.2%
0.4%
76.9%
0.2%
0.1%
0.2%
0.4%
0.5%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
1.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.1%
0.8%
0.5%

100.0%

Financial plans 2007-
2013 (in millions 
EUR)

Financial plans 2007-
2013 (in %)

996.1
2 724.0
2 638.9
662.5
135.1
9 656.9
651.3
5 535.9
336.5
4 867.7
730.2
94.4
294.4
208.8
915.3
325.5
131.8
30 905.2
6 006.7
6 658.2
469.0
20 276.8
342.6
463.1
2 410.5
22.7
360.8
108.3
263.4
1 560.8
808.2
39 751.3
1 436.0
2 185.8
1 300.6
2 692.3
3 045.8
1 265.5
135.8
161.2
12 222.8
448.1
168.2
3 806.6
265.6
844.6
5 533.2
1 925.4
645.6

90 983.5

1.1%
3.0%
2.9%
0.7%
0.1%
10.6%
0.7%
6.1%
0.4%
5.4%
0.8%
0.1%
0.3%
0.2%
1.0%
0.4%
0.1%
34.0%
6.6%
7.3%
0.5%
22.3%
0.4%
0.5%
2.6%
0.0%
0.4%
0.1%
0.3%
1.7%
0.9%
43.7%
1.6%
2.4%
1.4%
3.0%
3.3%
1.4%
0.1%
0.2%
13.4%
0.5%
0.2%
4.2%
0.3%
0.9%
6.1%
2.1%
0.7%

100.0%

EN 

 
  
 
                           
                           
                           
                         
                           
                         
                         
                      
                           
                         
                         
                      
                             
                             
                             
                         
                           
                           
                           
                         
                         
                         
                         
                      
                           
                           
                           
                         
                           
                         
                         
                      
                             
                             
                             
                         
                           
                           
                         
                      
                             
                           
                           
                         
                           
                             
                           
                           
                             
                             
                             
                         
                             
                             
                             
                         
                             
                         
                         
                         
                             
                             
                             
                         
                             
                             
                             
                         
                         
                    
                     
                  
                         
                         
                      
                      
                         
                      
                      
                      
                             
                           
                           
                         
                      
                      
                      
                    
                           
                           
                           
                         
                             
                             
                             
                         
                           
                         
                         
                      
                             
                             
                             
                           
                             
                             
                             
                         
                             
                             
                             
                         
                             
                             
                             
                         
                           
                           
                         
                      
                             
                           
                           
                         
                      
                    
                     
                  
                             
                           
                           
                      
                             
                             
                             
                      
                             
                           
                           
                      
                           
                           
                           
                      
                           
                           
                           
                      
                             
                           
                           
                      
                             
                             
                             
                         
                             
                             
                             
                         
                           
                       
                        
                  
                             
                             
                             
                         
                             
                             
                             
                         
                             
                             
                             
                      
                             
                             
                             
                         
                             
                             
                             
                         
                            
                           
                            
                    
                           
                         
                          
                    
                         
                          
                       
                      
                      
                      
                    
3. 

RATE OF  IMPLEMENTATION OF  EAFRD PROGRAMMES (%  OF EAFRD 2007 AND 
2008 SUBSIDIES PAID BY THE COMMISSION) BY MEMBER STATE 

The graph on the following page shows the level of EAFRD payments from the start of 
the programming period,  including  the amounts paid by the Member States for the last 
quarter  of  2008  (and  therefore  reimbursed  by  the  Commission  under  the  2009  budget), 
compared with subsidies for the years 2007 and 2008. This level is 71.7% across all of 
the EAFRD programmes. 

The graph shows that all the programmes apart from four (Malta, Lithuania, Bulgaria and 
Latvia) had spent more than 50% of the cumulated amount of the appropriations for 2007 
and 2008 at Member State level. 

However,  five  countries  (Ireland,  France,  Luxembourg,  Austria  and  Belgium)  have 
declared expenditure which exceeds the accumulated amount of the instalments for 2007 
and 2008, an excess which has had to be borne by the annual commitment for 2009. 

EN 

14 

   EN 

 
Rate of implementation of the reimbursement payments (% of EAFRD subsidies for 2007 and 2008 paid or being paid by the Commission

 for which the Q4 2008 declarations will be paid by the start of 2009) by Member State**

123%

101% 102%

104%

109%

93% 94%

91%

84% 85%

75%  75%

71% 

64%

66%

59% 60%

57%

48% 

46% 

43% 

51%  51% 52% 53% 53%

22%

MT LT BG  LV  PL EE HU CY IT

NL RO SK PT CZ SI  ES  GR DE UK FI

DK SE BE AT LU FR IE

8
0
0
2

l

s
u
p
7
0
0
2
D
R
F
A
E
y
b
n
o
i
t
u
b
i
r
t
n
o
c

f
o
%

100%

50%

0%

          * - It should be noted that all the payment declarations for Q4 2008 will be paid at the start of 2009; the amounts of these declarations for Q4 2008 are included in the graph.
            - For the UK, the 7% payments on account percentage applies to the amount of the financing plan without the voluntary modulation part.

            - It should be noted that the five Member States which show rates higher than 100% of the commitments for the years 2007 and 2008 used appropriations for  the year 2009.

EN 

15 

EN