Commission Regulation (EC) No 745/96 of 24 April 1996 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1469/95 on measures to be taken with regard to certain beneficiaries of operations financed by the Guarantee Section of the EAGGF

25.4.1996 EN Official Journal of the European Communities L 102/15
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 745/96
of 24 April 1996
laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1469/95 on measures to be taken with regard to certain beneficiaries of operations financed by the Guarantee Section of the EAGGF
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1469/95 of 22 June 1995 on measures to be taken with regard to certain beneficiaries of operations financed by the Guarantee Section of the EAGGF (1), and in particular Article 5 thereof,
Whereas Regulation (EC) No 1469/95 introduces a Community system allowing all the competent authorities of the Member States and the Commission to identify, as quickly as possible, operators presenting, in the light of experience acquired with them as regards the proper execution of their previous obligations, a risk of non-reliability, in connection with tendering procedures, the grant of export refunds or sales at reduced prices of intervention products; whereas application of the system is restricted to operators who have deliberately or as a result of serious negligence committed an irregularity prejudicial to Community funds or who are suspected on solid grounds of having done so; whereas, on that basis, there must be determined, in the light of the seriousness of the offence and depending on whether it has been established or suspected, a series of varied measures ranging from tighter controls to the exclusion of the operators concerned from taking part in operations to be determined when their fraudulent actions are established;
Whereas certain of the rules to be adopted for the implementation of the said system may, particularly with regard to the definition of irregularities in accordance with Article 1 (3) of Regulation (EC) No 1469/95, with regard to the determination of operators within the meaning of the second indent of Article 5 of that Regulation and with regard to the rules on the limitation period, henceforth refer to the pertinent horizontal provisions of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities financial interests (2); whereas, with regard to the further specifications to be made regarding cases of founded suspicion of an irregularity requiring application of the system, it is necessary to define the ‘preliminary administrative or judicial report’ within the meaning of point (b) of Article 1 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 1469/95; whereas, however, the Member States should apply their relevant national rules to determine whether the irregularity has been committed or attempted, deliberately or through gross negligence;
Whereas, in order to ensure the proper functioning of the system and without prejudice to the Member States' obligation to prevent and prosecute all irregularities, the application of this system should be restricted to cases of irregularities of a certain magnitude; whereas, in order to apply the measures to be taken in the event of suspected or established irregularities as uniformly as possible, the scope of such measures and the criteria for their duration should be fixed;
Whereas rules governing the content and follow-up of notifications made under Regulation (EC) No 1469/95 must be adopted, including provisions for immediately removing from the current closed system of confidential identification and notification those operators who are no longer suspected on solid grounds of having committed an irregularity or with respect to whom the duration of application of the measure or measures within the meaning of Article 3 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 1469/95 has expired;
Whereas, lastly, in accordance with the third indent of Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1469/95, it is necessary to determine the conditions under which operators may avoid the suspension of payments by lodging a security in cases where none of the advance payment arrangements referred to in Article 18 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 of 22 July 1985 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of securities for agricultural products (3), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3403/93 (4), apply,
Whereas information exchanged as provided for in the system introduced by Regulation (EC) No 1469/95 concerns mainly natural persons; whereas the system is subject therefore to the rules for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms contained in Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (5), and, mutatis mutandis, in the provisions laid down to that end relating to mutual assistance in customs and agricultural matters;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF),