CELEX: 51995PC0161(01)
Language: en
Date: 1995-05-02
Title: Amended proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 on the financing of the common agricultural policy

Avis juridique important

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51995PC0161(01)

Amended proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 on the financing of the common agricultural policy  /* COM/95/161FINAL - CNS 94/0143 */  

Official Journal C 150 , 17/06/1995 P. 0003

Amended proposal for a Council Regulation amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 on  the financing of the common agricultural policy(95/C  150/03)COM(95) 161 final -  94/0143(CNS)(Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 189A (2) of the EC Treaty on 2  May 1995)THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43  thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission  (1), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament  (2), Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors  (3), Whereas the practical  (4) responsibility for checking EAGGF Guarantee Section expenditure lies  essentially with the Member States, which designate the authorities and bodies empowered to effect  expenditure; whereas the Member States should carry out this task fully and effectively; whereas  the Commission, being responsible for implementing the Community budget, must check on the  conditions under which payments and checks have been made; whereas the Commission can only finance  expenditure where those conditions offer all necessary guarantees regarding compliance with  Community rules; whereas in a decentralized system of management of Community expenditure, it is  essential that the Commission, as the institution responsible for funding, is entitled and enabled  to carry out all checks on the management of expenditure it considers necessary and that there  should be full and effective transparency and mutual assistance between the Member States and the  Commission; Whereas, during the clearance of accounts, the Commission is able to determine within a reasonable  time the total expenditure to be entered against the Guarantee Section in the general account only  if it has satisfactory assurance that the national controls are adequate and transparent and that  the paying agencies verify the legality and regularity of the payment requests which they execute;  whereas provision should therefore be made for the accreditation of paying agencies by Member  States, whereas in order to ensure consistency in the standards required for accreditation in the  Member States, the Commission must set out detailed instructions on the criteria to be applied, and  ensure that they are respected throughout the Community; whereas it should be stipulated that only  expenditure effected by paying agencies accredited by the Member States should be financed; whereas  in order to ensure the transparency of national controls, in particular as regards authorization,  validation and payment procedures, the number of authorities and bodies to which these  responsibilities are delegated should, where appropriate, be restricted taking account of the  constitutional arrangements of each Member State; Whereas the decentralized management of Community finances, in particular following the reform of  the common agricultural policy, leads to the designation of several paying agencies; whereas,  therefore, where a Member State accredits more than one paying agency, it must designate a single  contact body to ensure that financial management is consistent, to provide liaison between the  Commission and the various approved paying agencies and to ensure that the information requested by  the Commission concerning the operations of several paying agencies is made rapidly available; Whereas the time limit for the clearance of accounts decision must be shortened; whereas,  therefore, information technology must be used as fully as possible for producing the information  to be sent to the Commission; whereas, when carrying out checks, the Commission must have full and  immediate access to information on expenditure held in both documents and magnetic files; Whereas a single annual clearance of accounts decision creates numerous difficulties in that, for a  given financial year, in respect of all measures covered by the Guarantee Fund and in all the  Member States, it fulfils simultaneously an accounting objective and a recognition that expenditure  has been effected in accordance with Community rules; whereas considerable time lags accompany the  taking of this single decision, which is nevertheless subject to reservations and disjunctions;  whereas it is accordingly necessary to separate the procedure into two types of decision, one  concerning the clearance of the accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section of the Fund, the other  determining the consequences, including financial corrections, to be drawn from the results of the  checks on conformity; Whereas the checks on conformity and ensuing clearance decisions will therefore no longer be linked  to the implementation of the budget in a particular financial year; whereas the maximum period to  which the consequences to be drawn from the checks on conformity may be applied must be  determined; Whereas certain provisions laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70  (1) have become  irrelevant and may be repealed, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 is hereby amended as follows: 1. Article 4 shall be replaced by the following: 'Article 41.  Each Member State shall communicate to the Commission: (a) details of the authorities and bodies it accredits to pay the expenditure referred to in  Articles 2 and 3, hereinafter referred to as the paying agencies. Paying agencies are authorities and bodies of the Member States, which in respect of the payments  to be effected in their field offer sufficient guarantees that: -  the admissibility of claims and compliance with Community rules are checked before payment is  authorized, - the payments effected are correctly and fully recorded in the accounts, and- the necessary  documents are submitted within the time and in the form laid down in Community rules. The paying agencies must hold the relevant documents recording the payments effected and certifying  that the prescribed administrative and physical controls have been carried out. Where the relevant  documents are kept by the authorizing agencies, those agencies must transmit reports to the paying  agency on the number of checks carried out, their content and the measures taken in the light of  the results; (b) where more than one paying agency is accredited, details of the authority or body it charges  with gathering the information to be supplied to the Commission and sending the same, and with  promoting the uniform application of Community rules, hereinafter referred to as the coordinating  body. Only expenditure effected by accredited paying agencies shall be financed. 2.  Each Member State shall limit the number of paying agencies accredited to the minimum  necessary, taking into account its constitutional and institutional structures, to effect the  expenditure referred to in Articles 2 and 3 under satisfactory administrative and accounting  conditions. 3.  Each Member State shall communicate to the Commission the following particulars concerning  those paying agencies: - their name and their statutes, - the administrative, accounting and internal control conditions under which payments are made  relating to the implementation of Community rules within the framework of the common agricultural  policy, - the act of accreditation. The Commission shall be informed forthwith of any change in those particulars. 4.  Where one or more of the conditions of accreditation are not, or are no longer, fulfilled by an  accredited paying agency, the Member State concerned shall inform the Commission, and shall  withdraw the accreditation unless the paying agency makes the necessary adjustments within a time  limit fixed by the Member State in agreement with the Commission corresponding to the minimum  period necessary to fulfil the criteria required for accreditation. 5.  The Commission shall make available to Member States, by means of advances on the provision for  the expenditure effected in a reference period, the financial resources required to cover the  expenditure referred to in paragraph 1 (a). Until the advances are paid, the resources necessary to  meet that expenditure shall be mobilized by the Member States in accordance with the needs of their  accredited paying agencies. 6.  Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the  procedure laid down in Article 13.`2. Article 5 shall be replaced by the following: 'Article 51.  Member States shall at regular intervals transmit to the Commission the following  information, concerning the accredited paying agencies and coordinating bodies referred to in  Article 4 and relating to transactions financed by the Guarantee Section: (a) statements of expenditure and estimates of financial needs; (b) annual accounts, accompanied by the information required for clearance and an attestation  regarding the integrality, exactitude and veracity of the accounts transmitted. 2.  The Commission, after consulting the Fund Committee: (a) shall decide on monthly advances against booking of expenditure effected by the accredited  paying agencies. Expediture for October shall be attached to October if it is effected from 1 to 15  October and to November if it is effected from 16 to 31 October. Advance payments shall be made to  the Member State not later than the third working day of the second month following that in which  the expenditure is effected. Additional advances may be made, the Fund Committee being informed at the next consultation; (b) shall, before 30 April of the year following the financial year concerned, on the basis of the  information referred to in paragraph 1 (b), clear the accounts of the accredited paying agencies.  The accounts clearance decision shall cover the integrality, exactitude and veracity of the  accounts submitted. The decision shall not prejudice the adoption of a subsequent decision pursuant to point (c); (c) shall decide on the expenditure to be excluded from the Community financing referred to in  Articles 2 and 3 where it finds that the expenditure has not been effected in compliance with  Community rules. The results of the Commission's checks and the replies of the Member States concerned shall be  notified in writing, after which the two parties shall endeavour to reach agreement on the action  to be taken, before a decision is taken to refuse financing. If no agreement is reached, the Member State may ask for a procedure to be initiated with a view to  mediating between the respective positions within a period of four months, the results of which  shall be set out in a report sent to and examined by the Commission, before a decision to refuse  financing is taken. The Commission shall evaluate the amounts to be excluded having regard in particular to the  significance of non-compliance found. A refusal to finance may not involve expenditure effected prior to the 24 months preceding the  Commission's written communication of the results of those checks to the Member State concerned.  This provision shall not apply to the financial consequences: - of irregularities as referred to in Article 8  (2), - concerning national aids, or infringements, for which the procedures referred to in Articles 93  and 169 of the Treaty have been initiated. 3.  Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the  procedure laid down in Article 13. Those rules shall cover in particular the attestation of the accounts referred to in paragraph 1,  and the procedures relating to the decisions referred to in paragraph 2.`3. Article 5a shall be  replaced by the following: 'Article 5aTo accommodate any difficulties which certain Member States might encounter in setting  up the system provided for in Article 4  (5), appropriate measures enabling some or all of the  interest to be charged to the Community may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down  in Article 13.`4. The second subparagraph of Article 8  (2) shall be replaced by the following: 'The sums recovered shall be paid to the accredited paying agencies and deducted by them from the  expenditure financed by the Fund. The interest on sums recovered or paid too late shall be paid  into the Fund.`5. The first sentence of Article 9  (2) shall be replaced by the following: 'Without prejudice to inspection effected by Member States in accordance with national provisions  laid down by law, regulation or administrative action and without prejudice to Article 188c of the  Treaty, or to any inspection organized on the basis of Article 209c of the Treaty, authorized  representatives appointed by the Commission to carry out inspections on the spot shall have access  to the books and all other documents including information created or stored in electronic form  relating to expenditure financed by the Fund.`Article 2 1.  This Regulation shall enter into  force on the seventh day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European  Communities. It shall apply from the financial year beginning on 16 October 1995. 2.  The monthly advance referred to in Article 5  (2)  (a) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 as amended  by this Regulation may be made in respect of expenditure effected by paying agencies not yet  accredited until 15 October 1995. 3.  Refusal to grant financing as referred to in Article 5  (2)  (c) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70  as amended by this Regulation may not relate to expenditure claimed against a financial year prior  to 16 October 1992, but without prejudice to the decisions regarding the clearance of the financial  years preceding the entry into force of this Regulation. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all  Member States. (1) Communicated to the Council on 1 July 1994 (OJ No C 284, 12. 10. 1994).  (2) Adopted on 17 March 1995.  (3) Adopted on 15 December 1994 (OJ No C 383, 13. 12. 1994).  (4) The amendments proposed by the European Parliament are in italics.  (1) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.