Article 67 Annual reports and final reports on implementation
1. By 30 June each year, and for the first time in 2008, the managing authority shall send the Commission an annual report, and by 31 March 2017 a final report, on the implementation of the operational programme. 2. In order to obtain a clear view of the implementation of the operational programme, the reports referred to in paragraph 1 shall include the following information: (a) the progress made in implementing the operational programme and priority axes in relation to their specific, verifiable targets, with a quantification, wherever and whenever they lend themselves to quantification, using the indicators referred to in Article 20(1)(c) at the level of the priority axis; (b) a change in the general situation having a direct impact on the implementation of the assistance, in particular significant socio-economic developments, changes in national, regional or sectoral policies, and, where necessary, their consequences for consistency between assistance from the EFF and from other financial instruments; (c) the financial implementation of the operational programme, detailing separately for the Convergence objective and the Non-Convergence objective for each priority axis: (i) the expenditure paid out by the beneficiaries included in the applications for payment sent to the managing authority and the corresponding public contribution; (ii) the total payments received from the Commission and quantification of the financial indicators referred to in Article 66(2), and (iii) the expenditure paid out by the body responsible for making payments to the beneficiaries; (d) the steps taken by the managing authority and the monitoring committee to ensure the quality and effectiveness of implementation, in particular: (i) monitoring and evaluation measures, including data collection arrangements; (ii) a summary of any significant problems encountered in implementing the operational programme and any measures taken, including the response to comments made under Article 69(2); (iii) the use made of technical assistance; (e) the measures taken to ensure information and publicity for the operational programme; (f) the use made of assistance released following cancellation as referred to in Article 96(2) to the managing authority or to another public authority during the period of implementation of the operational programme. (g) cases where a substantial modification has been detected under Article 56. (h) significant problems relating to compliance with Community law which have been encountered in the implementation of the operational programme and the measures taken to deal with them. The breadth of information transmitted to the Commission shall be proportional to the total amount of public expenditure of the operational programme concerned. Where appropriate, such information may be provided in summary form. Information referred to in points (b), (d), (e), (f) and (g) shall not be included if there has been no significant modification since the previous report. 3. The reports referred to in paragraph 1 shall be judged acceptable if they contain all the information listed in paragraph 2. The Commission shall inform the Member State on the acceptability of those reports within 15 working days. 4. The Commission shall reach a decision on the content of the annual report on implementation submitted by the managing authority within two months. For the final report on implementation, the time limit shall be five months. If the Commission does not respond within the time limit laid down, the report shall be deemed to be accepted.
Amendment rationale: EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 1. background to the proposal - Reasons and objectives for the proposal The sustained financial and economic crisis is increasing the pressure on national financial resources as Member States are reducing their budgets. In this context ensuring a smooth implementation of cohesion programmes is of particular importance as a tool for injecting funds to the economy. Nonetheless, the implementation of the programmes is often challenging as a result of the liquidity problems resulting from budget constraints. This is particularly the case for those Member States which have been most affected by the crisis and have received financial assistance under a programme from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) for the EURO countries or from the Balance of Payments (BoP) mechanism for non EURO countries. To date, six countries - including Greece which has received financial assistance before the establishment of EFSM - have requested financial assistance under these mechanisms and have agreed with the Commission a macro-economic adjustment programme. These countries are Hungary, Romania, Latvia, Portugal, Greece and Ireland, hereafter called "programme countries". It should be noted that Hungary which has entrered the BoP mechanism in 2008 has already exited in 2010. In order to ensure that these Member States continue the implementation of the European Fisheries Fund programmes on the ground and disburse funds to projects, the current proposal contains provisions that would allow the Commission to make increased payments to these countries, for the period they are under the support mechanisms. This will provide additional financial resources to the Member States and will facilitate the continuation of the implementation of the programmes on the ground. - General context The deepening of the financial crisis in some of the Member States is undoubtedly affecting substantially the real economy due to the amount of debt and the difficulties encountered by the Governments to borrow money from the market. In 2008, the Council has adopted (based on a proposal from the Commission) a regulation in response to the crisis and to its socio-economic consequences. In the framework of this package, the regulation foresees a number of regulatory changes aiming to provide additional pre-financing through advance payments to EFF programmes. The additional advance payments paid out to the Member States have provided an immediate cash injection of EUR 293 million, within the financial envelope agreed for each Member State for the 2007-2013 period. The total of advance payments amounts to EUR 586.4 million. - Provisions in force in the policy sphere of the proposal Article 76 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides for two possibilities to calculate interim payments. Paragraph 1, as a general rule, provides that interim payments shall be calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-convergence objective, the co-financing rate established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective. Paragraph 2 allows, in response to a specific and properly grounded request by the Member State, to calculate interim payments as the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of the priority axis and of the objectives. Article 77 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides that the payment of balance shall be limited to whichever of these amounts is smaller: (a) the amount calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the final statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-Convergence objective, the rate of Union co-financing established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective or (b) the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. The latter amount must be specified by the Member State in the last statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. - Consistency with other policies and objectives of the Union The proposal is consistent with other proposals and intitiatives adopted by the European Commission as a response to the financial crisis.
Revised version (Article 67 Annual reports and final reports on implementation):
1. By 30 June each year, and for the first time in 2008, the managing authority shall send the Commission an annual report, and by 31 March 2017 a final report, on the implementation of the operational programme. 2. In order to obtain a clear view of the implementation of the operational programme, the reports referred to in paragraph 1 shall include the following information: (a) the progress made in implementing the operational programme and priority axes in relation to their specific, verifiable targets, with a quantification, wherever and whenever they lend themselves to quantification, using the indicators referred to in Article 20(1)(c) at the level of the priority axis; (b) a change in the general situation having a direct impact on the implementation of the assistance, in particular significant socio-economic developments, changes in national, regional or sectoral policies, and, where necessary, their consequences for consistency between assistance from the EFF and from other financial instruments; (c) the financial implementation of the operational programme, detailing separately for the Convergence objective and the Non-Convergence objective for each priority axis: (i) the expenditure paid out by the beneficiaries included in the applications for payment sent to the managing authority and the corresponding public contribution; (ii) the total payments received from the Commission and quantification of the financial indicators referred to in Article 66(2), and (iii) the expenditure paid out by the body responsible for making payments to the beneficiaries; (c) the financial implementation of the operational programme, detailing separately for the Convergence objective and the Non-Convergence objective for each priority axis: (i) the expenditure paid out by the beneficiaries included in the applications for payment sent to the managing authority and the corresponding public contribution; (ii) the total payments received from the Commission and quantification of the financial indicators referred to in Article 66(2), and (ii) the total payments received from the Commission and quantification of the financial indicators referred to in Article 66(2), (iii) the expenditure paid out by the body responsible for making payments to the beneficiaries; (d) the steps taken by the managing authority and the monitoring committee to ensure the quality and effectiveness of implementation, in particular: (i) monitoring and evaluation measures, including data collection arrangements; (ii) a summary of any significant problems encountered in implementing the operational programme and any measures taken, including the response to comments made under Article 69(2); (iii) the use made of technical assistance; (d) the steps taken by the managing authority and the monitoring committee to ensure the quality and effectiveness of implementation, in particular: (i) monitoring and evaluation measures, including data collection arrangements; (ii) a summary of any significant problems encountered in implementing the operational programme and any measures taken, including the response to comments made under Article 69(2); (iii) the use made of technical assistance; (e) the measures taken to ensure information and publicity for the operational programme; (f) the use made of assistance released following cancellation as referred to in Article 96(2) to the managing authority or to another public authority during the period of implementation of the operational programme. (g) cases where a substantial modification has been detected under Article 56. (h) significant problems relating to compliance with Community law which have been encountered in the implementation of the operational programme and the measures taken to deal with them. The breadth of information transmitted to the Commission shall be proportional to the total amount of public expenditure of the operational programme concerned. Where appropriate, such information may be provided in summary form. Information referred to in points (b), (d), (e), (f) and (g) shall not be included if there has been no significant modification since the previous report. 3. The reports referred to in paragraph 1 shall be judged acceptable if they contain all the information listed in paragraph 2. The Commission shall inform the Member State on the acceptability of those reports within 15 working days. 4. The Commission shall reach a decision on the content of the annual report on implementation submitted by the managing authority within two months. For the final report on implementation, the time limit shall be five months. If the Commission does not respond within the time limit laid down, the report shall be deemed to be accepted.
Article 68 Annual report by the Commission
1. By 31 December each year, and for the first time in 2008, the Commission shall forward to the European Parliament, to the Council, to the European Economic and Social Committee and to the Committee of the Regions a report on the actual implementation of this Regulation during the preceding year. 2. This report shall summarise the main developments, trends and challenges relating to the implementation of the operational programmes. 3. The annual report by the Commission shall also include: (a) a summary of the activities of the EFF by Member State, including a breakdown by Member Sate of the appropriations committed and paid, as well as the use of technical assistance by the Commission and the Member States; (b) an assessment of the coordination of the EFF with the Structural Funds and the EAFRD; (c) as soon as they become available, the findings of the evaluations provided for in Article 49; (d) when the fourth annual report is submitted and, again, when the report covering the final year of programming is submitted, a summary of the audits on management and control systems set up by Member States carried out on behalf of the Commission and of the outcome of audits on EFF assistance carried out by the Member State and, where appropriate, the financial corrections made. 4. The report shall be based on an examination and assessment by the Commission of the Member States' annual report and of any other available information. In particular in 2012, this report shall in addition be based on the outcome of the strategic debate referred to in Article 16(1) and of any other available information. The report shall state the follow-up measures taken or to be taken by the Member States and the Commission which will enable adequate follow-up to be made of the findings in the report.
Article 69 Annual examination of the operational programmes
1. Every year when the annual report on implementation referred to in Article 67 is submitted and taking account of the opinion of the Commission, the Commission and the managing authority shall examine the progress made in implementing the operational programme, the principal results achieved over the previous year, the financial implementation and other factors with a view to improving implementation. Any aspects of the operation of the management and control system raised in the annual control report, referred to in Article 61(1)(e)(i), may also be examined and, where appropriate, this examination shall be carried out with the participation of the audit authority. 2. After the examination referred to in paragraph 1 and, where appropriate, with the participation of the audit authority, the Commission may make comments to the Member State and the managing authority, which shall inform the monitoring committee thereof. The Member State shall inform the Commission of the action taken in response to those comments. 3. When the ex post evaluations of assistance granted over the 2000-2006 programming period are available, the overall results shall be examined in the next annual examination.
Article 70 Management and control
1. Member States shall be responsible for ensuring the management and control of operational programmes, in particular through the following measures: (a) ensuring that the management and control systems for the operational programme are set up in accordance with Articles 57 to 61 and function effectively; (b) preventing, detecting and correcting irregularities and recovering amounts unduly paid together with interest on late payments where appropriate. They shall notify these to the Commission and keep the Commission informed of the progress of administrative and legal proceedings. 2. When amounts unduly paid to a beneficiary cannot be recovered, the Member State shall be responsible for reimbursing the amounts lost to the general budget of the European Union when it is established that the loss has been incurred as a result of fault or negligence on its part.
Article 71 Setting up of management and control systems
1. Before the submission of the first application for interim payment or at the latest within 12 months after the approval of the operational programme, the Member States shall submit to the Commission a description of the systems, covering in particular the organisation and procedures of: (a) the managing and certifying authorities and intermediate bodies; (b) the audit authority and any other bodies carrying out audits under its responsibility. 2. The description referred to in paragraph 1 shall be accompanied by a report setting out the results of an assessment of the setting up of the systems and giving an opinion on their compliance with Articles 57 to 61. If the opinion contains reservations, the report shall indicate the seriousness of the shortcomings. The Member State shall inform the Commission of the corrective measures to be taken and the timetable for their implementation and subsequently provide confirmation of the implementation of the measures and the withdrawal of the corresponding reservations. The report referred to in the first subparagraph shall be deemed to be accepted, and the first interim payment shall be made, in the following circumstances: (a) within three months of the date of receipt of the report when the opinion referred to in the first subparagraph is without reservations and in the absence of observations by the Commission; (b) if the opinion contains reservations, upon confirmation to the Commission that corrective measures concerning key elements of the systems have been implemented, and the corresponding reservations withdrawn, and in the absence of observations by the Commission within three months of the date of confirmation. Where the reservations concern only a single priority axis, the first interim payment shall be made as regards the other priority axes of the operational programme for which there is no reservation. 3. The report and the opinion referred to in paragraph 2 shall be drawn up by the audit authority or by a public or private body functionally independent of the managing and certifying authorities, which shall carry out its work taking account of internationally accepted audit standards.
Article 72 Responsibilities of the Commission
1. The Commission shall satisfy itself in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 71 that the Member States have set up management and control systems that comply with Articles 57 to 61 and on the basis of the annual control reports and the annual opinion of the audit authority and its own audits, that the systems function effectively during the period of implementation of the operational programmes. 2. Without prejudice to audits carried out by Member States, Commission officials or authorised Commission representatives may carry out on-the-spot audits to verify the effective functioning of the management and control systems, which may include audits on operations included in the operational programme, with a minimum of 10 working days' notice, except in urgent cases. Officials or authorised representatives of the Member State may take part in such audits. Commission officials or authorised Commission representatives, duly empowered to carry out on-the-spot audits, shall have access to the books and all other documents, including documents and metadata drawn up or received and recorded on an electronic medium, relating to expenditure financed by the EFF. The aforementioned powers of audit shall not affect the application of national provisions which reserve certain acts for agents specifically designated by national legislation. Authorised Commission representatives shall not take part, inter alia , in home visits or the formal questioning of persons within the framework of the national legislation of the Member State concerned. However, they shall have access to information thus obtained. 3. The Commission may require a Member State to carry out an on-the-spot audit to verify the effective functioning of the systems or the correctness of one or more transactions. Commission officials or authorised Commission representatives may take part in such audits.
Article 73 Cooperation with the audit authorities of the Member States
1. The Commission shall cooperate with the audit authority of the operational programme to coordinate their respective audit plans and audit methods and shall immediately exchange the results of audits carried out on management and control systems in order to make the best possible use of resources and to avoid unjustified duplication of work. The Commission and the audit authority shall meet on a regular basis and at least once a year, unless otherwise agreed between them, in order to examine together the annual control report and opinion presented under Article 61 and to exchange views on other issues relating to the improvement of the management and control of the operational programme. 2. In determining its own audit strategy, the Commission shall identify those operational programmes for which the opinion on the compliance of the system under Article 71(2) is without reservations, or where reservations have been withdrawn following corrective measures, where the audit strategy of the audit authority is satisfactory and where reasonable assurance has been obtained that the management and control systems function effectively on the basis of the results of audits carried out by the Commission and the Member State. 3. For those operational programmes, the Commission may conclude that it can rely principally on the opinion referred to in Article 61(1)(e)(ii) with regard to the effective functioning of the systems and that it will carry out on-the-spot audits only if there is evidence to suggest shortcomings in the system affecting expenditure certified to the Commission in a year for which the opinion under Article 61(1)(e)(ii), which contain no reservations in respect of such shortcomings, has been provided. Where the Commission reaches such a conclusion, it shall inform the Member State concerned accordingly. Where there is evidence to suggest shortcomings, it may require the Member State to carry out audits in accordance with Article 72(3) or it may carry out its own audits under Article 72(2).
Article 74 Budget commitments
The Community budget commitments in respect of the operational programmes (hereinafter referred to as budget commitments) shall be effected annually and separately for the Convergence and Non-Convergence objectives during the period between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2013. The first budget commitment shall be made before the adoption by the Commission of the decision approving the operational programme. Each subsequent commitment shall be made by the Commission, as a general rule by 30 April each year, on the basis of the decision to grant a contribution from the EFF referred to in Article 17.
Article 75 Common rules for payments
1. Payments by the Commission of the contribution from the EFF shall be made in accordance with the budget appropriations. Each payment shall be posted to the earliest open budget commitment. 2. Payments shall take the form of pre-financing, interim payments and payment of the balance. They shall be made to the body designated by the Member State. 3. At the latest by 30 April each year, Member States shall send the Commission a provisional forecast of their likely applications for payment for the current financial year and the subsequent financial year. 4. All exchanges concerning financial transactions between the Commission and the authorities and bodies designated by the Member States shall be made by electronic means, in accordance with the implementing rules referred to in Article 102. In cases of force majeure , and in particular of malfunction of the common computerised system or a lack of a lasting connection, the Member State may forward the statement of expenditure and the application for payment in hard copy.
Article 76 Rules for calculating interim payments
1. Interim payments shall be calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-Convergence objective, the rate of Community co-financing established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective. 2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, in response to a specific and properly grounded request by the Member State, an interim payment shall be the amount of Community assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of the priority axis and of the objective. This amount must be specified by the Member State in the statement of expenditure.
Amendment rationale: EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 1. background to the proposal - Reasons and objectives for the proposal The sustained financial and economic crisis is increasing the pressure on national financial resources as Member States are reducing their budgets. In this context ensuring a smooth implementation of cohesion programmes is of particular importance as a tool for injecting funds to the economy. Nonetheless, the implementation of the programmes is often challenging as a result of the liquidity problems resulting from budget constraints. This is particularly the case for those Member States which have been most affected by the crisis and have received financial assistance under a programme from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) for the EURO countries or from the Balance of Payments (BoP) mechanism for non EURO countries. To date, six countries - including Greece which has received financial assistance before the establishment of EFSM - have requested financial assistance under these mechanisms and have agreed with the Commission a macro-economic adjustment programme. These countries are Hungary, Romania, Latvia, Portugal, Greece and Ireland, hereafter called "programme countries". It should be noted that Hungary which has entrered the BoP mechanism in 2008 has already exited in 2010. In order to ensure that these Member States continue the implementation of the European Fisheries Fund programmes on the ground and disburse funds to projects, the current proposal contains provisions that would allow the Commission to make increased payments to these countries, for the period they are under the support mechanisms. This will provide additional financial resources to the Member States and will facilitate the continuation of the implementation of the programmes on the ground. - General context The deepening of the financial crisis in some of the Member States is undoubtedly affecting substantially the real economy due to the amount of debt and the difficulties encountered by the Governments to borrow money from the market. In 2008, the Council has adopted (based on a proposal from the Commission) a regulation in response to the crisis and to its socio-economic consequences. In the framework of this package, the regulation foresees a number of regulatory changes aiming to provide additional pre-financing through advance payments to EFF programmes. The additional advance payments paid out to the Member States have provided an immediate cash injection of EUR 293 million, within the financial envelope agreed for each Member State for the 2007-2013 period. The total of advance payments amounts to EUR 586.4 million. - Provisions in force in the policy sphere of the proposal Article 76 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides for two possibilities to calculate interim payments. Paragraph 1, as a general rule, provides that interim payments shall be calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-convergence objective, the co-financing rate established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective. Paragraph 2 allows, in response to a specific and properly grounded request by the Member State, to calculate interim payments as the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of the priority axis and of the objectives. Article 77 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides that the payment of balance shall be limited to whichever of these amounts is smaller: (a) the amount calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the final statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-Convergence objective, the rate of Union co-financing established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective or (b) the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. The latter amount must be specified by the Member State in the last statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. - Consistency with other policies and objectives of the Union The proposal is consistent with other proposals and intitiatives adopted by the European Commission as a response to the financial crisis.
Revised version (Article 76 Rules for calculating interim payments):
1. Interim payments shall be calculated by applying — to the public contribution declared in the statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each convergence/non-convergence objective — the co-financing rate established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective. 2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, in response to a specific and properly grounded request by the Member State, an interim payment shall be calculated as the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of the priority axis and of the objective. This amount must be specified by the Member State in the statement of expenditure. 3. By way of derogation from Article 53(3), at the request of a Member State, interim payments shall be increased by an amount corresponding to 10 percentage points above the co-financing rate applicable to each priority axis, up to a maximum of 100 %, to be applied to the amount of eligible public expenditure newly declared in each certified statement of expenditure submitted during the period in which a Member State fulfils one of the following conditions: (a) financial assistance is made available to it under Council Regulation (EU) No 407/2010 of 11 May 2010 establishing a European financial stabilisation mechanism ( 23 ), or is made available to it by other euro area Member States before the entry into force of that Regulation; (b) medium-term financial assistance is made available to it in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 of 18 February 2002 establishing a facility providing medium-term financial assistance for Member States’ balances of payments ( 24 ); (c) financial assistance is made available to it in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism signed on 2 February 2012. 4. For the purpose of calculating interim payments after the Member State ceases to benefit from the Union financial assistance referred to in paragraph 3, the Commission shall not take into account the increased amounts paid in accordance with that paragraph. However, those amounts shall be taken into account for the purpose of Article 79(1). 5. The increased interim payments resulting from the application of paragraph 3 shall be made available within the shortest period of time to the managing authority and shall only be used for making payments in connection with the implementation of the operational programme. 6. In the context of the annual reporting in accordance with Article 67(1), the Member States shall provide the Commission with appropriate information on the use of the derogation referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, showing how the increase in the amounts of support has contributed to the promotion of competitiveness, growth and jobs in the Member State concerned. This information shall be taken into account by the Commission in the preparation of the annual reporting provided for by Article 68(1).
Article 77 Rules for calculating payments of the balance
Payment of the balance shall be limited to whichever of the following two amounts is smaller: (a) the amount calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the final statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-Convergence objective, the rate of Community co-financing established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective; (b) the amount of Community assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. The latter amount must be specified by the Member State in the last statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority in respect of each priority axis and for each objective.
Amendment rationale: EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 1. background to the proposal - Reasons and objectives for the proposal The sustained financial and economic crisis is increasing the pressure on national financial resources as Member States are reducing their budgets. In this context ensuring a smooth implementation of cohesion programmes is of particular importance as a tool for injecting funds to the economy. Nonetheless, the implementation of the programmes is often challenging as a result of the liquidity problems resulting from budget constraints. This is particularly the case for those Member States which have been most affected by the crisis and have received financial assistance under a programme from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) for the EURO countries or from the Balance of Payments (BoP) mechanism for non EURO countries. To date, six countries - including Greece which has received financial assistance before the establishment of EFSM - have requested financial assistance under these mechanisms and have agreed with the Commission a macro-economic adjustment programme. These countries are Hungary, Romania, Latvia, Portugal, Greece and Ireland, hereafter called "programme countries". It should be noted that Hungary which has entrered the BoP mechanism in 2008 has already exited in 2010. In order to ensure that these Member States continue the implementation of the European Fisheries Fund programmes on the ground and disburse funds to projects, the current proposal contains provisions that would allow the Commission to make increased payments to these countries, for the period they are under the support mechanisms. This will provide additional financial resources to the Member States and will facilitate the continuation of the implementation of the programmes on the ground. - General context The deepening of the financial crisis in some of the Member States is undoubtedly affecting substantially the real economy due to the amount of debt and the difficulties encountered by the Governments to borrow money from the market. In 2008, the Council has adopted (based on a proposal from the Commission) a regulation in response to the crisis and to its socio-economic consequences. In the framework of this package, the regulation foresees a number of regulatory changes aiming to provide additional pre-financing through advance payments to EFF programmes. The additional advance payments paid out to the Member States have provided an immediate cash injection of EUR 293 million, within the financial envelope agreed for each Member State for the 2007-2013 period. The total of advance payments amounts to EUR 586.4 million. - Provisions in force in the policy sphere of the proposal Article 76 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides for two possibilities to calculate interim payments. Paragraph 1, as a general rule, provides that interim payments shall be calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-convergence objective, the co-financing rate established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective. Paragraph 2 allows, in response to a specific and properly grounded request by the Member State, to calculate interim payments as the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of the priority axis and of the objectives. Article 77 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides that the payment of balance shall be limited to whichever of these amounts is smaller: (a) the amount calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the final statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-Convergence objective, the rate of Union co-financing established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective or (b) the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. The latter amount must be specified by the Member State in the last statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. - Consistency with other policies and objectives of the Union The proposal is consistent with other proposals and intitiatives adopted by the European Commission as a response to the financial crisis.
Revised version (Article 77 Rules for calculating payments of the balance):
1. Payments of the balance shall be limited to whichever of the following two amounts is smaller: (a) the amount calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the final statement of expenditure, certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each convergence/non-convergence objective, the co-financing rate established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective; (b) the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. This amount must be specified by the Member State in the final statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. 2. By way of derogation from Article 53(3), at the request of a Member State, payments of the final balance shall be increased by an amount corresponding to 10 percentage points above the co-financing rate applicable to each priority axis, up to a maximum of 100 %, to be applied to the amount of eligible public expenditure newly declared in each certified statement of expenditure submitted during the period in which a Member State fulfils one of the conditions laid down in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 76(3). 3. For the purpose of calculating the payment of the final balance after the Member State ceases to benefit from the Union financial assistance referred to in Article 76(3), the Commission shall not take into account the increased amounts paid in accordance with that paragraph.
Article 78 Statement of expenditure
1. All statements of expenditure shall include, for each priority axis and for each objective, the total amount of eligible expenditure paid by beneficiaries in implementing the operations and the corresponding public contribution paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries, according to the conditions governing the public contribution. Expenditure paid by beneficiaries shall be supported by receipted invoices or accounting documents of equivalent probative value. As regards operations not involving expenditure by the beneficiary, the expenditure certified by the certifying authority and submitted to the Commission shall be the public aid paid to the beneficiary. 2. With regard to Articles 76(2) and 77(b), the statements of expenditure shall also highlight the total amount of Community assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries.
Article 79 Accumulation of pre-financing and interim payments
1. The cumulative total of pre-financing and interim payments made shall not exceed 95 % of the contribution from the EFF to the operational programme. 2. When this ceiling is reached, the certifying authority shall continue transmitting to the Commission any certified statement of expenditure on the 31 December of year n, as well as the amounts recovered during the year for the EFF, at the latest by the end of February of year n+1.
Article 80 Wholeness of payment to beneficiaries
Member States shall satisfy themselves that the bodies responsible for making the payments ensure that the beneficiaries receive the total amount of the public contribution as quickly as possible and in full. No amounts shall be deducted or withheld, nor shall any further specific charge or other charge with equivalent effect be levied that would reduce these amounts for the beneficiaries.
Article 81 Payment
1. Following the Commission decision approving a contribution from the EFF to an operational programme, a single pre-financing amount for the period 2007 to 2013 shall be paid by the Commission to the body designated by the Member State. This pre-financing amount shall represent 7 % of the contribution from the EFF to that operational programme. It may be spread to two financial years in accordance with the available budget of the EFF. 2. The total amount paid as pre-financing shall be reimbursed to the Commission by the body designated by the Member State if no application for payment under the operational programme is sent within 24 months from the date on which the Commission paid the first instalment of the pre-financing amount. 3. Any interest generated by the pre-financing shall be posted to the operational programme, being regarded as a resource for the Member State in the form of national public contribution and shall be declared to the Commission at the time of the final closure of the operational programme. 4. The amount paid as pre-financing shall be totally cleared from the Commission accounts when the operational programme is closed in accordance with Article 86.
Article 82 Interim payments
Interim payments shall be made for the operational programme. The first interim payment shall be made in accordance with the provisions of Article 71(2).
Article 83 Acceptability of applications for payment
1. Each interim payment made by the Commission shall be subject to the following conditions being met: (a) the Commission must have been sent an application for payment and a statement of expenditure, in accordance with Article 78; (b) no more than the maximum amount of assistance from the EFF, as laid down in the current financing plan, has been paid by the Commission during the whole period for each priority axis and for each objective; (c) the managing authority must have sent the Commission the most recent annual report on implementation, in accordance with Article 67(1) and (3); (d) there is no reasoned opinion by the Commission in respect of an infringement under Article 226 of the Treaty, as regards the operation(s) for which the expenditure is declared in the application for payment in question. 2. If one or more of the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 are not met, the Member State and the certifying authority shall be informed by the Commission within a deadline of one month, so that the necessary steps can be taken to remedy the situation.
Article 84 Procedure for payment
1. The certifying authority shall ensure that requests for interim payments for the operational programme are grouped together and sent to the Commission, as far as possible, on three separate occasions a year. For a payment to be made by the Commission in the current year, the latest date on which an application for payment shall be submitted is 31 October. 2. Subject to available funding and the absence of the interruption of the payment deadline or suspension of payments in accordance with Articles 88 and 89 respectively, the Commission shall make the interim payment no later than two months after the date on which an application for payment meeting the conditions referred to in Article 83 is registered with the Commission.
Article 85 Partial closure
1. Partial closure of the operational programme may be made at periods to be determined by the Member State. Partial closure shall relate to operations completed during the period up to 31 December of the previous year. For the purpose of this Regulation, an operation shall be deemed completed where the activities under it have been actually carried out and for which all expenditure by the beneficiaries and the corresponding public contribution have been paid. 2. Partial closure shall be made on condition that the Member State sends the following to the Commission by 31 December of a given year: (a) a statement of expenditure relating to operations referred to in paragraph 1; (b) a declaration for partial closure in accordance with Article 61(1)(e)(iii). 3. Any financial corrections made in accordance with Articles 96 and 97 concerning operations subject to a partial closure shall be net financial corrections.
Article 86 Conditions for the payment of the balance
1. The Commission shall pay the balance, provided that: (a) the Member State has sent an application for payment comprising the following documents by 31 March 2017: (i) an application for payment of the balance and a statement of expenditure in accordance with Article 78; (ii) the final report on implementation for the operational programme, including the information set out in Article 67; (iii) a closure declaration in accordance with Article 61(1)(f); and (b) there is no reasoned opinion by the Commission in respect of an infringement under Article 226 of the Treaty, as regards the operation(s) for which the expenditure is declared in the application for payment in question. 2. Failure to send any of the documents referred to in paragraph 1 to the Commission shall automatically result in the decommitment of the balance, in accordance with Article 90. 3. The Commission shall inform the Member State of its opinion on the content of the closure declaration referred to in paragraph 1(a)(iii) within five months of the date of its receipt. The closure declaration shall be deemed to be accepted in the absence of observations by the Commission within that five-month period. 4. Subject to available funding, the Commission shall pay the balance within no more than 45 days from the later of the following dates: (a) the date on which it accepts the final report in accordance with Article 67(4); or (b) the date on which it accepts the closure declaration referred to in paragraph 1(a)(iii). 5. Without prejudice to paragraph 6, the balance of the budgetary commitment shall be decommitted 12 months after the payment has been made. The Commission shall inform the Member States about the date of the closure of the operational programme within a deadline of two months. 6. Notwithstanding the results of any audits performed by the Commission or the European Court of Auditors, the balance paid by the Commission for the operational programme may be amended within nine months of the date on which it is paid or, where there is a negative balance to be reimbursed by the Member State, within nine months of the date on which the debit note is issued. Such amendment of the balance shall not change the date of the closure of the operational programme communicated in accordance with paragraph 5.
Amendment rationale: EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 1. background to the proposal - Reasons and objectives for the proposal The sustained financial and economic crisis is increasing the pressure on national financial resources as Member States are reducing their budgets. In this context ensuring a smooth implementation of cohesion programmes is of particular importance as a tool for injecting funds to the economy. Nonetheless, the implementation of the programmes is often challenging as a result of the liquidity problems resulting from budget constraints. This is particularly the case for those Member States which have been most affected by the crisis and have received financial assistance under a programme from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) for the EURO countries or from the Balance of Payments (BoP) mechanism for non EURO countries. To date, six countries - including Greece which has received financial assistance before the establishment of EFSM - have requested financial assistance under these mechanisms and have agreed with the Commission a macro-economic adjustment programme. These countries are Hungary, Romania, Latvia, Portugal, Greece and Ireland, hereafter called "programme countries". It should be noted that Hungary which has entrered the BoP mechanism in 2008 has already exited in 2010. In order to ensure that these Member States continue the implementation of the European Fisheries Fund programmes on the ground and disburse funds to projects, the current proposal contains provisions that would allow the Commission to make increased payments to these countries, for the period they are under the support mechanisms. This will provide additional financial resources to the Member States and will facilitate the continuation of the implementation of the programmes on the ground. - General context The deepening of the financial crisis in some of the Member States is undoubtedly affecting substantially the real economy due to the amount of debt and the difficulties encountered by the Governments to borrow money from the market. In 2008, the Council has adopted (based on a proposal from the Commission) a regulation in response to the crisis and to its socio-economic consequences. In the framework of this package, the regulation foresees a number of regulatory changes aiming to provide additional pre-financing through advance payments to EFF programmes. The additional advance payments paid out to the Member States have provided an immediate cash injection of EUR 293 million, within the financial envelope agreed for each Member State for the 2007-2013 period. The total of advance payments amounts to EUR 586.4 million. - Provisions in force in the policy sphere of the proposal Article 76 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides for two possibilities to calculate interim payments. Paragraph 1, as a general rule, provides that interim payments shall be calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-convergence objective, the co-financing rate established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective. Paragraph 2 allows, in response to a specific and properly grounded request by the Member State, to calculate interim payments as the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of the priority axis and of the objectives. Article 77 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides that the payment of balance shall be limited to whichever of these amounts is smaller: (a) the amount calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the final statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-Convergence objective, the rate of Union co-financing established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective or (b) the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. The latter amount must be specified by the Member State in the last statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. - Consistency with other policies and objectives of the Union The proposal is consistent with other proposals and intitiatives adopted by the European Commission as a response to the financial crisis.
Revised version (Article 86 Conditions for the payment of the balance):
1. The Commission shall pay the balance, provided that: (a) the Member State has sent an application for payment comprising the following documents by 31 March 2017: (i) an application for payment of the balance and a statement of expenditure in accordance with Article 78; (ii) the final report on implementation for the operational programme, including the information set out in Article 67; (iii) a closure declaration in accordance with Article 61(1)(f); and (a) the Member State has sent an application for payment comprising the following documents by 31 March 2017: (i) an application for payment of the balance and a statement of expenditure in accordance with Article 78; (ii) the final report on implementation for the operational programme, including the information set out in Article 67; (iii) a closure declaration in accordance with Article 61(1)(f); (b) there is no reasoned opinion by the Commission in respect of an infringement under Article 226 of the Treaty, as regards the operation(s) for which the expenditure is declared in the application for payment in question. 2. Failure to send any of the documents referred to in paragraph 1 to the Commission shall automatically result in the decommitment of the balance, in accordance with Article 90. 3. The Commission shall inform the Member State of its opinion on the content of the closure declaration referred to in paragraph 1(a)(iii) within five months of the date of its receipt. The closure declaration shall be deemed to be accepted in the absence of observations by the Commission within that five-month period. 4. Subject to available funding, the Commission shall pay the balance within no more than 45 days from the later of the following dates: (a) the date on which it accepts the final report in accordance with Article 67(4); or (a) the date on which it accepts the final report in accordance with Article 67(4); (b) the date on which it accepts the closure declaration referred to in paragraph 1(a)(iii). 5. Without prejudice to paragraph 6, the balance of the budgetary commitment shall be decommitted 12 months after the payment has been made. The Commission shall inform the Member States about the date of the closure of the operational programme within a deadline of two months. 6. Notwithstanding the results of any audits performed by the Commission or the European Court of Auditors, the balance paid by the Commission for the operational programme may be amended within nine months of the date on which it is paid or, where there is a negative balance to be reimbursed by the Member State, within nine months of the date on which the debit note is issued. Such amendment of the balance shall not change the date of the closure of the operational programme communicated in accordance with paragraph 5.
Article 87 Availability of documents
1. The managing authority shall ensure that all the supporting documents regarding expenditure and audits on the operational programme concerned are kept available for the Commission and the European Court of Auditors for: (a) a period of three years following the closure of an operational programme; (b) a period of three years following the year in which partial closure took place, in the case of documents regarding expenditure and audits on the operations referred to in paragraph 2. These periods shall be interrupted either in the case of legal proceedings or at the request duly motivated of the Commission. 2. The managing authority shall make available to the Commission, on request, a list of completed operations which have been subject to partial closure under Article 85. 3. The documents shall be kept either in the form of the originals or in versions certified to be in conformity with the originals on commonly accepted data carriers.
Article 88 Interruption of the payment deadline
1. The payment deadline may be interrupted by the authorising officer by delegation within the meaning of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 for a maximum period of six months if: (a) in a report of a national or Community audit body there is evidence to suggest significant deficiency in the functioning of the management and control systems; or (b) the authorising officer by delegation has to carry out additional verifications following information coming to his attention which alerted him that expenditure in a certified statement of expenditure is linked to a serious irregularity which has not been corrected. 2. The Member State and the certifying authority shall be informed immediately of the reasons for the interruption. The interruption shall be ended as soon as the necessary measures have been taken by the Member State.
Amendment rationale: EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 1. background to the proposal - Reasons and objectives for the proposal The sustained financial and economic crisis is increasing the pressure on national financial resources as Member States are reducing their budgets. In this context ensuring a smooth implementation of cohesion programmes is of particular importance as a tool for injecting funds to the economy. Nonetheless, the implementation of the programmes is often challenging as a result of the liquidity problems resulting from budget constraints. This is particularly the case for those Member States which have been most affected by the crisis and have received financial assistance under a programme from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) for the EURO countries or from the Balance of Payments (BoP) mechanism for non EURO countries. To date, six countries - including Greece which has received financial assistance before the establishment of EFSM - have requested financial assistance under these mechanisms and have agreed with the Commission a macro-economic adjustment programme. These countries are Hungary, Romania, Latvia, Portugal, Greece and Ireland, hereafter called "programme countries". It should be noted that Hungary which has entrered the BoP mechanism in 2008 has already exited in 2010. In order to ensure that these Member States continue the implementation of the European Fisheries Fund programmes on the ground and disburse funds to projects, the current proposal contains provisions that would allow the Commission to make increased payments to these countries, for the period they are under the support mechanisms. This will provide additional financial resources to the Member States and will facilitate the continuation of the implementation of the programmes on the ground. - General context The deepening of the financial crisis in some of the Member States is undoubtedly affecting substantially the real economy due to the amount of debt and the difficulties encountered by the Governments to borrow money from the market. In 2008, the Council has adopted (based on a proposal from the Commission) a regulation in response to the crisis and to its socio-economic consequences. In the framework of this package, the regulation foresees a number of regulatory changes aiming to provide additional pre-financing through advance payments to EFF programmes. The additional advance payments paid out to the Member States have provided an immediate cash injection of EUR 293 million, within the financial envelope agreed for each Member State for the 2007-2013 period. The total of advance payments amounts to EUR 586.4 million. - Provisions in force in the policy sphere of the proposal Article 76 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides for two possibilities to calculate interim payments. Paragraph 1, as a general rule, provides that interim payments shall be calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-convergence objective, the co-financing rate established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective. Paragraph 2 allows, in response to a specific and properly grounded request by the Member State, to calculate interim payments as the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of the priority axis and of the objectives. Article 77 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides that the payment of balance shall be limited to whichever of these amounts is smaller: (a) the amount calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the final statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-Convergence objective, the rate of Union co-financing established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective or (b) the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. The latter amount must be specified by the Member State in the last statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. - Consistency with other policies and objectives of the Union The proposal is consistent with other proposals and intitiatives adopted by the European Commission as a response to the financial crisis.
Revised version (Article 88 Interruption of the payment deadline):
1. The payment deadline may be interrupted by the authorising officer by delegation within the meaning of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 for a maximum period of six months if: (a) in a report of a national or Community audit body there is evidence to suggest significant deficiency in the functioning of the management and control systems; or (a) in a report of a national or Community audit body there is evidence to suggest significant deficiency in the functioning of the management and control systems; (b) the authorising officer by delegation has to carry out additional verifications following information coming to his attention which alerted him that expenditure in a certified statement of expenditure is linked to a serious irregularity which has not been corrected. 2. The Member State and the certifying authority shall be informed immediately of the reasons for the interruption. The interruption shall be ended as soon as the necessary measures have been taken by the Member State.
Article 89 Suspension of payments
1. All or part of the interim payments at the level of priority axes or the operational programme may be suspended by the Commission where: (a) there is a serious deficiency in the management and control system of the operational programme which affects the reliability of the procedure for certification of payments and for which corrective measures have not been taken; or (b) expenditure in a certified statement of expenditure is linked to a serious irregularity which has not been corrected; or (c) there is a serious breach by a Member State of its obligations under Article 70. 2. The Commission may decide to suspend all or part of interim payments after having given the Member State the opportunity to present its observations within a period of two months. 3. The Commission shall end suspension of all or part of interim payments where the Member State has taken the necessary measures to enable the suspension to be lifted. Where the required measures are not taken by the Member State, the Commission may adopt a decision to cancel all or part of the Community contribution to the operational programme in accordance with Article 97.
Amendment rationale: EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 1. background to the proposal - Reasons and objectives for the proposal The sustained financial and economic crisis is increasing the pressure on national financial resources as Member States are reducing their budgets. In this context ensuring a smooth implementation of cohesion programmes is of particular importance as a tool for injecting funds to the economy. Nonetheless, the implementation of the programmes is often challenging as a result of the liquidity problems resulting from budget constraints. This is particularly the case for those Member States which have been most affected by the crisis and have received financial assistance under a programme from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) for the EURO countries or from the Balance of Payments (BoP) mechanism for non EURO countries. To date, six countries - including Greece which has received financial assistance before the establishment of EFSM - have requested financial assistance under these mechanisms and have agreed with the Commission a macro-economic adjustment programme. These countries are Hungary, Romania, Latvia, Portugal, Greece and Ireland, hereafter called "programme countries". It should be noted that Hungary which has entrered the BoP mechanism in 2008 has already exited in 2010. In order to ensure that these Member States continue the implementation of the European Fisheries Fund programmes on the ground and disburse funds to projects, the current proposal contains provisions that would allow the Commission to make increased payments to these countries, for the period they are under the support mechanisms. This will provide additional financial resources to the Member States and will facilitate the continuation of the implementation of the programmes on the ground. - General context The deepening of the financial crisis in some of the Member States is undoubtedly affecting substantially the real economy due to the amount of debt and the difficulties encountered by the Governments to borrow money from the market. In 2008, the Council has adopted (based on a proposal from the Commission) a regulation in response to the crisis and to its socio-economic consequences. In the framework of this package, the regulation foresees a number of regulatory changes aiming to provide additional pre-financing through advance payments to EFF programmes. The additional advance payments paid out to the Member States have provided an immediate cash injection of EUR 293 million, within the financial envelope agreed for each Member State for the 2007-2013 period. The total of advance payments amounts to EUR 586.4 million. - Provisions in force in the policy sphere of the proposal Article 76 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides for two possibilities to calculate interim payments. Paragraph 1, as a general rule, provides that interim payments shall be calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-convergence objective, the co-financing rate established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective. Paragraph 2 allows, in response to a specific and properly grounded request by the Member State, to calculate interim payments as the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of the priority axis and of the objectives. Article 77 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides that the payment of balance shall be limited to whichever of these amounts is smaller: (a) the amount calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the final statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-Convergence objective, the rate of Union co-financing established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective or (b) the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. The latter amount must be specified by the Member State in the last statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. - Consistency with other policies and objectives of the Union The proposal is consistent with other proposals and intitiatives adopted by the European Commission as a response to the financial crisis.
Revised version (Article 89 Suspension of payments):
1. All or part of the interim payments at the level of priority axes or the operational programme may be suspended by the Commission where: (a) there is a serious deficiency in the management and control system of the operational programme which affects the reliability of the procedure for certification of payments and for which corrective measures have not been taken; or (a) there is a serious deficiency in the management and control system of the operational programme which affects the reliability of the procedure for certification of payments and for which corrective measures have not been taken; (b) expenditure in a certified statement of expenditure is linked to a serious irregularity which has not been corrected; or (b) expenditure in a certified statement of expenditure is linked to a serious irregularity which has not been corrected; (c) there is a serious breach by a Member State of its obligations under Article 70. 2. The Commission may decide to suspend all or part of interim payments after having given the Member State the opportunity to present its observations within a period of two months. 3. The Commission shall end suspension of all or part of interim payments where the Member State has taken the necessary measures to enable the suspension to be lifted. Where the required measures are not taken by the Member State, the Commission may adopt a decision to cancel all or part of the Community contribution to the operational programme in accordance with Article 97.
Article 90 Principles
1. The Commission shall automatically decommit any part of a budget commitment in an operational programme that has not been used for payment of the pre-financing or interim payments, or for which an application for payment has not been sent in conformity with Article 83, by 31 December of the second year following the year of the budget commitment under the operational programme. 2. The part of budget commitment still open on 31 December 2015 shall be automatically decommited if the Commission has not received an acceptable application for payment for it by 31 March 2017. 3. If this Regulation enters into force after 1 January 2007, the period after which the first automatic decommitment as referred to in paragraph 1 may be made shall be extended, for the first commitment, by the number of months between 1 January 2007 and the date of the first budget commitment.
Article 91 Exceptions for time limits on decommitment
If a Commission decision subsequent to the decision approving the operational programme is needed for authorisation of assistance or of an aid scheme, the period leading to automatic decommitment shall run from the date of that subsequent decision. The amounts in question shall be established on the basis of a schedule provided by the Member State.
Article 92 Period of interruption for legal proceedings and administrative appeals
The amount potentially concerned by automatic decommitment shall be reduced by the amounts that the certifying authority has not been able to declare to the Commission because of operations suspended by legal proceedings or an administrative appeal having suspensory effect, on condition that the Member State sends the Commission information stating the reasons by 31 December of the second year following the year of the budget commitment as laid down in Article 90. For that part of commitments still open on 31 December 2015, the time limit referred to in Article 90(2) shall be interrupted under these same conditions in respect of the amount relating to the operations concerned. The abovementioned reduction may be requested once if the suspension has lasted up to one year or several times for the number of years between the legal or administrative decision suspending the implementation of the operation and the date of the final legal or administrative decision.
Article 93 Exceptions to the automatic decommitment
The following shall be disregarded in calculating the automatic decommitment: (a) that part of the budget commitment for which an application for payment has been made but whose reimbursement has been interrupted or suspended by the Commission on 31 December of the second year following the year of the budget commitment pursuant to Article 90 and in accordance with Articles 88 and 89. When the problem resulting in the interruption or suspension has been resolved, the automatic decommitment rule shall be applied to that part of the budget commitment which is concerned; (b) that part of the budget commitment for which an application for payment has been made but whose reimbursement has been capped in particular due to a lack of budget resources; (c) that part of the budget commitment for which it has not been possible to make an acceptable application for payment for reasons of force majeure seriously affecting implementation of the operational programme. The national authorities claiming force majeure must demonstrate its direct consequences on the implementation of all or part of the operational programme.
Article 94 Procedure
1. The Commission shall inform the Member State and the authorities concerned in good time whenever there is a risk of application of automatic decommitment under Article 90. 2. The Commission shall inform the Member State and the authorities concerned of the amount of the automatic decommitment resulting from the information in its possession. 3. The Member State shall have two months from the date of receipt of that information to agree to the amount or submit its observations. The Commission shall carry out the automatic decommitment not later than nine months after the time limit referred to in Article 90. 4. The contribution from the EFF to the operational programme shall be reduced, for the year concerned, by the amount automatically decommitted. The Member State shall produce within two months of the date of decommitment a revised financing plan reflecting the reduced amount of assistance over one or several of the priority axes of the operational programme. Failing this, the Commission shall reduce the amounts allocated to each priority axis proportionately.
Article 95 Use of the euro
1. Amounts set out in the operational programme submitted by the Member State, certified statements of expenditure, applications for payment and expenditure mentioned in the annual and final reports of implementation shall be denominated in euro. 2. Commission decisions on operational programmes and Commission commitments and payments, shall be denominated and carried out in euro. 3. Member States which have not adopted the euro as their currency on the date of an application for payment shall convert into euro the amounts of expenditure incurred in national currency. These amounts shall be converted in euro using the monthly accounting rate of the Commission in the month during which the expenditure was registered in the accounts of the certifying authority of the operational programme concerned. This rate shall be published electronically by the Commission each month. 4. When the euro becomes the currency of a Member State, the conversion procedure set out in the preceding paragraph shall continue to apply to all expenditure recorded in the accounts by the certifying authority before the date of entry into force of the fixed conversion rate between the national currency and the euro.
Article 96 Financial corrections by Member States
1. The Member State shall in the first instance bear the responsibility for investigating irregularities, acting upon evidence of any major change affecting the nature of the conditions for the implementation or control of operations or the operational programme and making the financial corrections required. 2. The Member State shall make the financial corrections required in connection with individual or systemic irregularities detected in operations or the operational programme. The corrections made by the Member State shall consist of cancelling all or part of the public contribution to the operational programme. The Member State shall take into account the nature and gravity of the irregularities and the financial loss to the EFF. Without prejudice to paragraph 3, the resources of the EFF released in this way may be re-used by the Member State until 31 December 2015 for the operational programme. 3. The contribution cancelled in accordance with paragraph 2 may not be re-used for the operation or operations that were the subject of the correction, nor, where a financial correction is made for a systemic irregularity, for existing operations within whole or part of the priority axis where the systemic irregularity occurred. 4. In the case of systemic irregularity, the Member State shall extend its enquiries to cover all operations liable to be affected.
Article 97 Criteria for the corrections
1. The Commission may make financial corrections by cancelling all or part of the Community contribution to an operational programme where, after carrying out the necessary examination, it concludes that: (a) there is a serious deficiency in the management and control system of the programme which has put at risk the Community contribution already paid to the programme; (b) expenditure contained in a certified statement of expenditure is irregular and has not been corrected by the Member State prior to the opening of the correction procedure under this paragraph; (c) a Member State has not complied with its obligations under Article 96 prior to the opening of the correction procedure under this paragraph. 2. The Commission shall base its financial corrections on individual cases of irregularity identified, taking account of the systemic nature of the irregularity to determine whether a flat rate or extrapolated correction should be applied. 3. The Commission shall, when deciding the amount of a correction, take account of the nature and gravity of the irregularity and the extent and financial implications of the deficiencies found in the operational programme. 4. Where the Commission bases its position on the facts established by auditors other than those of its own services, it shall draw its own conclusions regarding their financial consequences, after examining the measures taken by the Member State concerned under Article 96(2), the information supplied under Article 70(1)(b) and any replies from the Member State.
Article 98 Procedure
1. Before taking a decision on a financial correction, the Commission shall open the procedure by informing the Member State of its provisional conclusions and requesting the Member State to submit its comments within two months. Where the Commission proposes a financial correction on the basis of extrapolation or at a flat rate, the Member State shall be given the opportunity to demonstrate, through an examination of the documentation concerned, that the actual extent of irregularity was less than the Commission's assessment. In agreement with the Commission, the Member State may limit the scope of this examination to an appropriate proportion or sample of the documentation concerned. Except in duly justified cases, the time allowed for this examination shall not exceed a further period of two months after the two-month period referred to in the first subparagraph. 2. The Commission shall take account of any evidence supplied by the Member State within the time limits referred to in paragraph 1. 3. Where the Member State does not accept the provisional conclusions of the Commission, the Member State shall be invited to a hearing by the Commission, in which both sides in cooperation based on the partnership shall make efforts to reach an agreement concerning the observations and the conclusions to be drawn from them. 4. In case of an agreement, the Member State may re-use the EFF resources concerned in conformity with the second subparagraph of Article 96(2). 5. In the absence of agreement, the Commission shall take a decision on the financial correction within six months of the date of the hearing taking account of all information and observations submitted during the course of the procedure. If no hearing takes place, the six-month period shall begin to run two months after the date of the letter of invitation sent by the Commission.
Article 99 Obligations of Member States
A financial correction by the Commission shall not prejudice the Member State's obligation to pursue recoveries under Article 96(2) and to recover State aid under Article 87 of the Treaty and under Article 14 of Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999 of 22 March 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 88 of the EC Treaty ( 23 ) .
Article 100 Repayment
1. Any repayment due to be made to the general budget of the European Union shall be effected before the due date indicated in the order for recovery drawn up in accordance with Article 72 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002. This due date shall be the last day of the second month following the issuing of the recovery order. 2. Any delay in effecting repayment shall give rise to interest on account of late payment, starting on the due date and ending on the date of actual payment. The rate of such interest shall be one and a half percentage points above the rate applied by the European Central Bank in its main refinancing operations on the first working day of the month in which the due date falls.
Article 101 Committee
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the European Fisheries Fund Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee). 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 3 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply. 3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply. The period referred to in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months. 4. The Committee shall adopt its own Rules of Procedure.
Article 102 Implementing rules
The implementing rules for this Regulation shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 101(3).
Article 103 Transitional provisions
1. This Regulation shall not affect the continuation or modification, including the total or partial cancellation, of assistance approved by the Commission on the basis of Council Regulations (EEC) No 4028/86 ( 24 ) , (EC) No 3699/93 ( 25 ) , (EC) No 2468/98 ( 26 ) and (EC) No 2792/1999 ( 27 ) or of any other legislation which applies to such assistance on 31 December 2006, which shall consequently apply thereafter to that assistance until its closure. 2. By way of derogation from Articles 31(2), 32(4) and 37(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds ( 28 ) , sums committed for assistance co-financed by the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG), established by Council Regulation (EC) No 1263/1999 of 21 June 1999 on the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance ( 29 ) , approved by the Commission between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2006 for which the certified statement of expenditure actually paid, the final report on implementation, comprising also the progress report referred to in Article 1(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 366/2001 ( 30 ) , and the declaration referred to in Article 38(1)(f) of Regulation (EC) 1260/1999 have not been sent to the Commission within 15 months after the final date of eligibility of expenditure laid down in the decision granting a contribution from the FIFG, shall be automatically decommitted by the Commission not later than six months after that deadline, giving rise to the repayment of amounts unduly paid. 3. If specific measures are necessary in order to facilitate the transition from the system in force to that established by this Regulation, such measures shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 101(3). Such measures shall, in particular, be adopted in order to integrate existing Community support approved by the Commission for the period 2000 to 2006 into the EFF support provided for by this Regulation.
Article 104 Repeals
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 103(1), Regulations (EC) No 1263/1999 and (EC) No 2792/1999 are hereby repealed with effect from 1 January 2007. 2. References to the repealed Regulations shall be construed as references to this Regulation.
Article 105 Review
The Council shall review this Regulation by 31 December 2013 at the latest in accordance with Article 37 of the Treaty.
Article 106 Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Amendment rationale: EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 1. background to the proposal - Reasons and objectives for the proposal The sustained financial and economic crisis is increasing the pressure on national financial resources as Member States are reducing their budgets. In this context ensuring a smooth implementation of cohesion programmes is of particular importance as a tool for injecting funds to the economy. Nonetheless, the implementation of the programmes is often challenging as a result of the liquidity problems resulting from budget constraints. This is particularly the case for those Member States which have been most affected by the crisis and have received financial assistance under a programme from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) for the EURO countries or from the Balance of Payments (BoP) mechanism for non EURO countries. To date, six countries - including Greece which has received financial assistance before the establishment of EFSM - have requested financial assistance under these mechanisms and have agreed with the Commission a macro-economic adjustment programme. These countries are Hungary, Romania, Latvia, Portugal, Greece and Ireland, hereafter called "programme countries". It should be noted that Hungary which has entrered the BoP mechanism in 2008 has already exited in 2010. In order to ensure that these Member States continue the implementation of the European Fisheries Fund programmes on the ground and disburse funds to projects, the current proposal contains provisions that would allow the Commission to make increased payments to these countries, for the period they are under the support mechanisms. This will provide additional financial resources to the Member States and will facilitate the continuation of the implementation of the programmes on the ground. - General context The deepening of the financial crisis in some of the Member States is undoubtedly affecting substantially the real economy due to the amount of debt and the difficulties encountered by the Governments to borrow money from the market. In 2008, the Council has adopted (based on a proposal from the Commission) a regulation in response to the crisis and to its socio-economic consequences. In the framework of this package, the regulation foresees a number of regulatory changes aiming to provide additional pre-financing through advance payments to EFF programmes. The additional advance payments paid out to the Member States have provided an immediate cash injection of EUR 293 million, within the financial envelope agreed for each Member State for the 2007-2013 period. The total of advance payments amounts to EUR 586.4 million. - Provisions in force in the policy sphere of the proposal Article 76 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides for two possibilities to calculate interim payments. Paragraph 1, as a general rule, provides that interim payments shall be calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-convergence objective, the co-financing rate established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective. Paragraph 2 allows, in response to a specific and properly grounded request by the Member State, to calculate interim payments as the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of the priority axis and of the objectives. Article 77 of the Council Regulation (EC) 1198/2006 provides that the payment of balance shall be limited to whichever of these amounts is smaller: (a) the amount calculated by applying to the public contribution declared in the final statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority under each priority axis and under each Convergence/Non-Convergence objective, the rate of Union co-financing established under the current financing plan for that priority axis and that objective or (b) the amount of Union assistance paid or due to be paid to the beneficiaries in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. The latter amount must be specified by the Member State in the last statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority in respect of each priority axis and for each objective. - Consistency with other policies and objectives of the Union The proposal is consistent with other proposals and intitiatives adopted by the European Commission as a response to the financial crisis.
Revised version (Article 106 Entry into force):
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.