Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Council Regulation (EC) No 485/2008 on scrutiny by Member States of transactions forming part of the system of financing by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund
Date: 2010-12-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EAGGF Guarantee Section, EU control, EU financing, financial control, fraud, management audit

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 17.12.2010 
COM(2010) 761 final 

2010/0366 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Council Regulation (EC) No 485/2008 on scrutiny by Member States of 
transactions forming part of the system of financing by the European Agricultural 
Guarantee Fund

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

•  Grounds for and objectives of the proposal 

To  align  The  Commission  implementing  powers  in  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 
485/20081 to the differentiation between delegated and implementing powers of the 
Commission introduced by Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of 
the European Union (TFUE). 

•  General context 

Articles  290  and  291  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union 
(TFUE) distinguish two different types of Commission acts: 

–  Article 290 of the TFUE allows the legislator to delegate to the Commission the 
power to adopt non-legislative acts of general application to supplement or amend 
certain  non-essential  elements  of  a  legislative  act.  Legal  acts  adopted  by  the 
Commission in this way are referred to in the terminology used by the Treaty as 
"delegated acts" (Article 290(3)). 

–  Article 291 of the TFUE allows Member States to adopt all measures of national 
law  necessary  to  implement  legally  binding  Union  acts.  Those  acts  can  confer 
implementing  powers  on  the  Commission  where  uniform  conditions  for 
implementing them are needed. Legal acts adopted by the Commission in this way 
are  referred  to  in  the  terminology  used  by  the  Treaty  as  "implementing  acts" 
(Article 291(4)) 

•  Existing provisions in the area of the proposal 

Articles  290  and  291  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union 
(TFUE). 

•  Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the Union 

Not applicable. 

2. 

CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

•  Consultation of interested parties 

•  Collection and use of expertise 

There  was  no  need  for  consultation  of  interested  parties  or  for  external  expertise 
since  the  proposal  to  align  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  485/2008  to  the  Lisbon 
Treaty is an inter-institutional matter that will concern all Council Regulations. The 

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OJ L 143, 3.06.2008, p. 1. 

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amendments  aiming  at  simplification  are  of  limited  scope  and  purely  technical 
nature. 

•  Impact assessment 

No need of impact assessment since the proposal to align Council Regulation (EC) 
No 485/2008 to the Lisbon Treaty is an inter-institutional matter that will concern all 
Council Regulations. The amendments aiming at simplification are of limited scope 
and purely technical nature. 

3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

•  Summary of the proposed action 

Identify  the  delegated  and  implementing  powers  of  the  Commission  in  Council 
Regulation  (EC)  No  485/2008  and  establish  the  corresponding  procedure  for 
adoption of these acts.  

•  Legal basis 

Article 43 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. 

•  Subsidiarity principle 

Agricultural policy is of shared competence between the EU and the Member States. 
This  means  that  as  long  as  the  EU  does  not  legislate  in  the  sector  Member  States 
maintain their competence. As regards controls, assistance and cooperation between 
the  competent  authorities  of  the  Member  States  and  the  Commission,  an  European 
approach  should  be  adopted,  and  it  is  justified  to  reinforce  uniform  rules  on  the 
exchange of information. 

•  Proportionality principle 

The proposal complies with the proportionality principle. 

•  Choice of instruments 

Proposed instrument: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. 

Other means would not be adequate for the following reason: a Regulation must be 
amended by a Regulation. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

This measure does not involve any additional EU expenditure.  

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2010/0366 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Council Regulation (EC) No 485/2008 on scrutiny by Member States of 
transactions forming part of the system of financing by the European Agricultural 
Guarantee Fund 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the 
first subparagraph of Article 42 and Article 43(2) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission2, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee3, 

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure4, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

Council Regulation (EC) No 485/20085 confers powers on the Commission in order to 
implement some of the provisions of that Regulation. 

As a consequence of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the powers conferred on 
the  Commission  under  Regulation  (EC)  No  485/2008  need  to  be  aligned  to  Articles 
290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (the Treaty). 

The  Commission  should  have  the  power  to  adopt  delegated  acts  in  accordance  with 
Article  290  of  the  Treaty  in  order  to  supplement  or  amend  certain  non-essential 
elements of Regulation (EC) No 485/2008. The elements for which that power may be 
exercised should be defined, as well as the conditions to which that delegation is to be 
subject. 

In  order  to  guarantee  a  uniform  application  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  485/2008  in  all 
Member States, the Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts in 
accordance  with  Article  291  of  the  Treaty.  The  Commission  should  in  particular  be 
empowered to adopt uniform rules on the exchange of information. The Commission 
should  adopt  those  implementing  acts  with  the  assistance  of  the  Committee  on  the 

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OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ L 143, 3.06.2008, p. 1.. 

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Agricultural  funds  established  by  Article  41d(1)  of  Council  Regulation  (EC) 
1290/2005  of  21  June  2005  on  the  financing  of  the  common  agricultural  policy6  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  XX/XXXX  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  the  Council  on…[to  be  completed  following  the  adoption  of  the 
regulation  on  control  mechanisms,  as  referred  to  in  Article  291(3)  of  the  TFEU, 
currently the subject of discussion by the European Parliament and the Council]. 

(5) 

Regulation (EC) No 485/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EC) No 485/2008 is amended as follows: 

(1) 

In Article 1(2), the second sentence is replaced by the following: 

"In order to exclude from the application of this Regulation those measures which are by their 
nature  unsuited  for  ex-post  control  by  way  of  scrutiny  of  commercial  documents,  the 
Commission may, by means of delegated acts in accordance with the conditions referred to in 
Articles 13a, 13b and 13c of this Regulation, establish a list of other measures to which this 
Regulation does not apply." 

(2) 

Article 7 is amended as follows: 

(a) 

in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, the second sentence is deleted; 

(b)  paragraph 5 is deleted. 

(3) 

Article 13 is deleted. 

(4) 

The following Articles are inserted: 

"Article 13a 

The powers to adopt the delegated acts referred to in this Regulation shall be conferred on the 
Commission for an indeterminate period of time. 

As  soon  as  it  adopts  a  delegated  act,  the  Commission  shall  notify  it  simultaneously  to  the 
European Parliament and to the Council. 

The  delegation  of  power  referred  to  in  Article  13a  may  be  revoked  by  the  European 
Parliament or by the Council. 

Article 13b 

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OJ L 209, 11.8.2005, p. 1. 

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The  institution  which  has  commenced  an  internal  procedure  for  deciding  whether  to  revoke 
the delegation of power shall endeavour to inform the other institution and the Commission 
within  a  reasonable  time  before  the  final  decision  is  taken,  indicating  the  delegated  powers 
which could be subject to revocation and possible reasons for a revocation. 

The decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the powers specified in that 
decision. It shall take effect immediately or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect 
the validity of the delegated acts already in force. It shall be published in the Official Journal 
of the European Union. 

Article 13c 

The European Parliament and the Council may object to the delegated act within a period of 
two months from the date of notification. At the initiative of the European Parliament or the 
Council this period shall be extended by one month. 

If, on expiry of that period, neither the European Parliament nor the Council has objected to 
the delegated act, it shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall 
enter into force at the date stated therein. 

The delegated act may be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter 
into force before the expiry of that period if the European  Parliament and the  Council have 
both informed the Commission of their intention not to raise objections. 

If  the  European  Parliament  or  the  Council  objects  to  a  delegated  act,  it  shall  not  enter  into 
force. The institution which objects shall state the reasons for objecting to the delegated act. 

Article 13d 

The Commission shall, where necessary, by means of implementing acts in accordance with 
the  procedure  referred  to  in  Article  42d(2)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1290/2005,  adopt  the 
provisions  aiming  at  reaching  a  uniform  application  of  this  Regulation  in  the  Union,  in 
particular relating to the following: 

(a) the coordination of joint actions referred to in Article 7(1); 

(b) details and specifications regarding the content, form and way of submission of requests, 
the  content,  form  and  way  of  notification  and  the  submission  and  exchange  of  information 
required in the framework of this Regulation; 

(c) conditions and means of publication or specific rules and  conditions for  the diffusion or 
making available by the Commission to the competent authorities of the Member States of the 
information needed in the framework of this Regulation." 

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

Article 2 

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

Done at […], 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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