Article 106 Exchange rate and operative event
1. The prices and amounts referred to in Article 105(2) shall be converted in the Member States which have not adopted the euro into the national currency by means of an exchange rate. 2. The operative event for the exchange rate shall be: (a) the completion of customs import or export formalities in the case of amounts collected or granted in trade with third countries; (b) the event whereby the economic objective of the operation is attained in all other cases. 3. Where a direct payment as provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 is made to a beneficiary in a currency other than the euro, Member States shall convert the amount of aid expressed in euro into the national currency on the basis of the most recent exchange rate set by the European Central Bank prior to 1 October of the year for which the aid is granted. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, Member States may decide, in duly justified cases, to carry out the conversion on the basis of the average of the exchange rates set by the European Central Bank during the month prior to 1 October of the year for which the aid is granted. Member States that choose that option shall set and publish that average rate before 1 December of that year. 4. As regards EAGF, when drawing up their declarations of expenditure, Member States which have not adopted the euro shall apply the same exchange rate as that which they used to make payments to beneficiaries or receive revenue, in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. 5. In order to specify the operative event referred to in paragraph 2 or to fix it for reasons peculiar to the market organisation or the amount in question, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 115, containing rules on those operative events and the exchange rate to be used. The specific operative event shall be determined taking account of the following criteria: (a) actual applicability as soon as possible of adjustments to the exchange rate; (b) similarity of the operative events for analogous operations carried out under the market organisation; (c) coherence in the operative events for the various prices and amounts relating to the market organisation; (d) practicability and effectiveness of checks on the application of suitable exchange rates. 6. In order to avoid the application by the Member States which have not adopted the euro of different exchange rates in accounts of revenue received or aid paid to beneficiaries in a currency other than the euro, on the one hand, and in the establishment of the declaration of expenditure drawn up by the paying agency, on the other, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 115 laying down rules on the exchange rate applicable when declarations of expenditure are drawn up and when public storage operations are recorded in the accounts of the paying agency.
Article 107 Safeguard measures and derogations
1. The Commission may adopt implementing acts safeguarding the application of Union law if exceptional monetary practices related to national currency are likely to jeopardise it. Those implementing acts may only derogate from the existing rules for a period of time which is strictly necessary. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 116(3). The European Parliament, the Council and the Member States shall be notified forthwith of the measures referred to in the first subparagraph. 2. Where exceptional monetary practices concerning a national currency are liable to jeopardise the application of Union law, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 115 derogating from this Section, in particular in the following cases: (a) where a country uses abnormal exchange techniques such as multiple exchange rates or operates barter agreements; (b) where countries have currencies which are not quoted on official foreign exchange markets or where the trend in such currencies is likely to create distortion in trade.
Article 108 Use of the euro by non-euro Member States
1. If a Member State which has not adopted the euro decides to pay the expenditure resulting from sectoral agricultural legislation in euro rather than in its national currency, the Member State shall take measures to ensure that the use of the euro does not provide a systematic advantage compared with the use of national currency. 2. The Member State shall notify the Commission of the measures planned before they come into effect. The measures may not take effect until the Commission has notified its agreement thereto.
Article 109 Annual financial report
By end September of each year following the budget year, the Commission shall draw up a financial report on the administration of the Funds during the previous financial year, which it shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council.
Article 110 Monitoring and evaluation of the CAP
1. A common monitoring and evaluation framework shall be established with a view to measuring the performance of the CAP, and in particular of: (a) the direct payments provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013; (b) the market measures provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013; (c) the rural development measures provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 and of, (d) the provisions of this Regulation. The Commission shall monitor these policy measures based on reporting by Member States in accordance with the rules laid down in the Regulations referred to in the first subparagraph. The Commission shall establish a multiannual evaluation plan including periodic evaluations of specific instruments which it will carry out. In order to ensure an effective performance measurement, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 115 regarding the content and construction of that framework. 2. The performance of the CAP measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall be measured in relation to the following objectives: (a) viable food production, with a focus on agricultural income, agricultural productivity and price stability; (b) sustainable management of natural resources and climate action, with a focus on greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, soil and water; (c) balanced territorial development, with a focus on rural employment, growth and poverty in rural areas. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts, laying down the set of indicators specific to the objectives referred to in the first subparagraph. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 116(3). The indicators shall be linked to the structure and objectives of the policy and shall allow for the assessment of the progress, effectiveness and efficiency of the policy against objectives. 3. The monitoring and evaluation framework shall reflect the structure of the CAP in the following way: (a) for the direct payments provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, the market measures provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and the provisions of this Regulation, the Commission shall monitor these instruments based on reporting by Member States in accordance with the rules laid down in these regulations. The Commission shall establish a multi-annual evaluation plan with periodic evaluations of specific instruments to be carried out under Commission responsibility. Evaluations shall be carried out timely and by independent evaluators. (b) the monitoring and evaluation of rural development policy intervention will be carried out according to Articles 67 to 79 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013. The Commission shall ensure that the combined impact of all CAP instruments referred to in paragraph 1 is measured and assessed in relation to the common objectives referred to in paragraph 2. The performance of the CAP in achieving its common objectives shall be measured and assessed on the basis of common impact indicators, and the underlying specific objectives on the basis of result indicators. Based on evidence provided in evaluations on the CAP, including evaluations on rural development programmes, as well as other relevant information sources, reports on measuring and assessing the joint performance of all CAP instruments shall be prepared by the Commission. 4. Member States shall provide the Commission with all the information necessary to permit the monitoring and evaluation of the measures concerned. As far as possible, such information shall be based on established sources of data, such as the Farm Accountancy Data Network and Eurostat. The Commission shall take into account the data needs and synergies between potential data sources, in particular their use for statistical purposes when appropriate. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts, laying down rules on the information to be sent by the Member States, taking into account the need to avoid any undue administrative burden, as well as rules on the data needs and synergies between potential data sources. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 116(3). 5. The Commission shall present an initial report on the implementation of this Article, including first results on the performance of the CAP, to the European Parliament and the Council by 31 December 2018. A second report including an assessment of the performance of the CAP shall be presented by 31 December 2021.
Article 111 Publication of beneficiaries
1. Member States shall ensure annual ex-post publication of the beneficiaries of the Funds. The publication shall contain: (a) without prejudice to the first paragraph of Article 112 of this Regulation, the name of the beneficiary, as follows: (i) the first name and the surname where the beneficiary is a natural person; (ii) the full legal name as registered where the beneficiary is a legal person with the autonomous legal personality pursuant to the legislation of the Member State concerned; (iii) the full name of the association as registered or otherwise officially recognised where the beneficiary is an association without an own legal personality; (a) without prejudice to the first paragraph of Article 112 of this Regulation, the name of the beneficiary, as follows: (i) the first name and the surname where the beneficiary is a natural person; (ii) the full legal name as registered where the beneficiary is a legal person with the autonomous legal personality pursuant to the legislation of the Member State concerned; (iii) the full name of the association as registered or otherwise officially recognised where the beneficiary is an association without an own legal personality; (b) the municipality where the beneficiary is resident or is registered and, where available, the postal code or the part thereof identifying the municipality; (c) the amounts of payment corresponding to each measure financed by the Funds received by each beneficiary in the financial year concerned; (d) the nature and the description of the measures financed by either of the Funds and under which the payment referred to in point (c) is awarded. The information referred to in the first subparagraph shall be made available on a single website per Member State. It shall remain available for two years from the date of the initial publication. 2. As regards the payments corresponding to the measures financed by the EAFRD as referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, the amounts to be published shall correspond to the total public funding, including both the Union and the national contribution.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The Financial Regulation 1 sets out the principles and procedures governing the establishment and implementation of the EU budget and the control of the EU funds. Over the last 30 years, the number of general financial rules contained in the Financial Regulation has increased sharply 2 . In addition, a number of sectoral financial rules have emerged: the rules for participation to the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 3 , the Common Provisions to the European Structural and Investment Funds 4 and the Common Implementing Rules for the External Action 5 . Users of EU funds have repeatedly complained about the proliferation of rules both at general and at sectoral level, their heterogeneity and their complexity due to the fact that they follow the architecture of the programme and multiple layers of controls. In addition, the complexity of the financial set of rules has slowed down implementation of the EU funds, making it costly and prone to errors. A first step towards more coherent and simpler financial rules was achieved in 2012: the Commission tabled proposals for the programmes covered by the MFF 2014-2020 which reduced the number of programmes and instruments, grouped them under a single framework with common rules, simplified procedures for application and declaration of costs by final beneficiaries, facilitated the deployment of innovative financial instruments, enabled EU Trust-Funds and improved the cost-efficiency of controls. Recent revisions have aligned the Financial Regulation on the results of the negotiation to the MFF 2014-2020 (2013 revision) as well as to the new Procurement Directive (2015 revision). However, there is room for further simplification . This is confirmed by the experience gained since 2014 and by the work of the High Level Group of Independent Experts on Monitoring Simplification for Beneficiaries of the European Structural and Investment Funds 6 . The public consultation on the revision of the Financial Regulation 7 also shows stakeholders’ clear expectations in the area. Efforts must therefore continue in order to remove bottlenecks, ensure synergies and complementarities between ESI Funds and the other EU funds and improve efficiency of delivery and control requirements. Simpler and more flexible financial rules will contribute to optimising spending and impact of the MFF 2014-2020 and constitute as such one of the key elements of the Commission's initiative for a Budget Focused on Results (BFOR) which aims at making sure that resources are allocated to priorities and that every action delivers maximum performance and added value 8 . In addition, this will reduce the costs related to implementation of EU rules as well the number of errors. Simpler and more flexible EU financial rules are key in enhancing EU budget’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances and to respond to unexpected developments. The present legislative proposal forms an integral part of the mid-term review/revision of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2014-2020 9 . It contributes to two of its main objectives: simplification and flexibility . The Commission therefore proposes in a single act an ambitious revision of the general financial rules accompanied by corresponding changes to the sectorial financial rules set out in 15 legislative acts concerning multiannual programmes. The inclusion of sectoral changes in the same legislative proposal aims at ensuring a coherent negotiation process as well as at facilitating a speedy adoption by the legislator. The focus is put on the following key areas: 1 . Simplification for recipients of EU funds: many measures aim at simplifying life for recipients of EU funds. They relate to grants (removal of the non-cumulative award check for low-value grants and of the non-profit principle; simpler rules for "contribution in kind" valuation ; recognition of volunteer work ; grant awards without calls for proposal under specific conditions) and simplified forms of grants (Title VIII). 2 . From multi ple layers of controls to cross reliance on audit, assessment or authorisation, and harmonisation of reporting requirements: the aim of these measures is to encourage reliance as far as possible on one single audit, assessment or authorisation (conformity to State aids for instance), when the audit , assessment or authorisation meet s the necessary conditions to be taken into account in the EU system. More generally, rules for implementing partners (international organisations, EIB/EIF, national promotional banks, national agencies, NGOs) will be simplified by relying increasingly on their procedures and policies once assessed positively. Financial f ramework partnership agreements concluded with long term partners will allow progressing in the harmonisation of audit, reporting and other administrative requirements among donors (Title V Articles 122, 123 and 126). 3 . Allowing the application of only one set of rules to hybrid actions or in the case of combination of measures or instruments: the proposal aims at achieving further simplification for the partners of the EU by a number of measures to avoid the parallel application of different rules and procedures, notably through facilitating the combination of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) funding with financial instruments and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (Title V). 4 . More effective use of financial instruments: optimise use of reflows, ensuring a level playing field among key EU implementing partners, reducing burdensome requirements related to publication of individual data of final recipients or to the exclusion criteria (Title X). 5 . More flexible budget management: the proposal sets out several ways for more budgetary flexibility, in order to allow the Union to respond to unforeseen challenges and new tasks more effectively and to achieve swifter crisis management - among which the creation of a " flexibility cushion" for unforeseen needs and new crises in the external actions geographic instruments budget , a more efficient activation of the solidarity and globalization adjustment funds, and the extension of Trust-Funds to internal policies (Articles 14 and 22 7 ) , the creation of a EU crisis reserve with the reuse of decommitted appropriations, and for the next Multiannual Financial Framework, the possibility that financial operations other than financial instruments generate a contingent liability for the Union exceeding the financial assets provided to cover the financial liability of the Union (Article 203) and the creation of a common provisioning fund holding the resources provisioned for financial operations (Article 2 05 ). R ecent initiatives (such as the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) or the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD)), have indeed shown the need to fully use the leverage of the EU budget by creating non-provisioned contingent liabilities. Title X sets the framework to authorise, manage and control these financial risks. 6 . F ocus on results and streamlining of reporting: a stronger focus on results through lump sums, prizes, payment based on output and results rather than on reimbursement of costs, payment against conditions to be fulfilled (Article 121, Title X III ). This should contribute to further reducing the costs of implementing EU funds as well as the number of errors. On the reporting side, reports are regrouped around the draft budget and the integrated financial reporting package, in order to increase efficiency and transparency both towards the general public and the budgetary authority (Articles 39 and 23 9 -24 5 ). 7. Simpler and leaner EU administration: facilitating agreements or delegations between Institutions or bodies in order to pool the implementation of administrative appropriations in European Offices or within Executive Agencies (Articles 57, 58, 64, 65 and 6 8 ); merging consultative panels competent for financial irregularities (Article 73 (6)) with the EDES panel (Article 139 ) and moving from annual to multiannual financing decisions (Article 10 8 ). 8. Providing possibility for citizen engagement : t he proposal provides a possibility for citizens to be consulted on the implementation of the Union budget by the Commission, Member States and any other entity implementing the Union budget (А rticle 54 ) . In simplifying and making EU financial rules more flexible, the present proposal paves the way for the preparation of the next generation of spending programmes (post-2020).
Revised version (Article 111 Publication of beneficiaries):
1. Member States shall ensure annual ex-post publication of the beneficiaries of the Funds. The publication shall contain: (a) without prejudice to the first paragraph of Article 112 of this Regulation, the name of the beneficiary, as follows: (i) the first name and the surname where the beneficiary is a natural person; (ii) the full legal name as registered where the beneficiary is a legal person with the autonomous legal personality pursuant to the legislation of the Member State concerned; (iii) the full name of the association as registered or otherwise officially recognised where the beneficiary is an association without an own legal personality; (b) the municipality where the beneficiary is resident or is registered and, where available, the postal code or the part thereof identifying the municipality; (c) the amounts of payment corresponding to each measure financed by the Funds received by each beneficiary in the financial year concerned; (d) the nature and the description of the measures financed by either of the Funds and under which the payment referred to in point (c) is awarded. The information referred to in the first subparagraph shall be made available on a single website per Member State. It shall remain available for two years from the date of the initial publication. 2. As regards the payments corresponding to the measures financed by the EAFRD as referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, the amounts to be published shall correspond to the total public funding, including both the Union and the national contribution.
Article 112 Threshold
Member States shall not publish the name of a beneficiary as provided for in point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 111(1) of this Regulation in the following situations: (a) in the case of Member States establishing the Small farmers scheme provided for in Title V of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, where the amount of aid received in one year by a beneficiary is equal to or less than the amount fixed by the Member State as referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 63(1) or the second subparagraph of Article 63(2) of that Regulation; (b) in the case of Member States not establishing the Small farmers scheme provided for in Title V of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, where the amount of aid received in one year by a beneficiary is equal to or less than EUR 1 250 . Where point (a) of the first subparagraph applies, the amounts fixed by the Member States pursuant to Article 63 of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 and notified to the Commission under that Regulation shall be made public by the Commission in accordance with the rules adopted under Article 114. Where the first paragraph of this Article applies the Member States shall publish the information referred to in points (b), (c) and (d) of the first subparagraph of Article 111(1) and the beneficiary shall be identified by a code. Member States shall decide on the form of that code.
Article 113 Information of the beneficiaries
Member States shall inform the beneficiaries that their data will be made public in accordance with Article 111 and that the data may be processed by auditing and investigating bodies of the Union and the Member States for the purpose of safeguarding the Union's financial interests. In accordance with the requirements of Directive 95/46/EC, where personal data is concerned, the Member States shall inform the beneficiaries of their rights under the data protection rules and of the procedures applicable for exercising those rights.
Article 114 Commission powers
The Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down rules on: (a) the form, including the way of presentation by measure, and the calendar of the publication foreseen in Articles 111 and 112; (b) the uniform application of Article 113; (c) the cooperation between the Commission and Member States. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 116(3).
Article 115 Exercise of the delegation
1. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Articles 8, 20, 40, 46, 50, 53, 57, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 72, 76, 77, 79, 84, 89, 93, 101, 106, 107, 110 and 120 is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article. 2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Articles 8, 20, 40, 46, 50, 53, 57, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 72, 76, 77, 79, 84, 89, 93, 101, 106, 107, 110 and 120 shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of seven years from the date of entry into force of this Regulation. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the seven-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period. 3. The delegation of powers referred to in Articles 8, 20, 40, 46, 50, 53, 57, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 72, 76, 77, 79, 84, 89, 93, 101, 106, 107, 110 and 120 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force. 4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council. 5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to in Articles 8, 20, 40, 46, 50, 53, 57, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 72, 76, 77, 79, 84, 89, 93, 101, 106, 107, 110 and 120 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months on the initiative of the European Parliament of the Council.
Article 116 Committee procedure
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee named the Committee on the Agricultural Funds. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. For the purposes of Articles 15, 58, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 75, 77, 78, 89, 90, 96, 101 and 104, as regards matters relating to direct payments, rural development and/or the common organisation of markets, the Commission shall be assisted by the Committee on the Agricultural Funds, the Committee for Direct Payments, the Rural Development Committee and/or the Committee for the Common Organisation of the Agricultural Markets established by this Regulation, Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, respectively. Those committees shall be committees within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply. 3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply. In the case of acts referred to in Article 8, where the committee delivers no opinion, the Commission shall not adopt the draft implementing act and the third subparagraph of Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.
Article 117 Processing and protection of personal data
1. Member States and the Commission shall collect personal data for the purpose of carrying out their respective management, control, audit as well as monitoring and evaluation obligations under this Regulation and, in particular, those laid down in Chapter II of Title II, Title III, Chapters III and IV of Title IV, Titles V and VI and Chapter III of Title VII, as well as for statistical purposes, and shall not process this data in a way that is incompatible with that purpose. 2. Where personal data are processed for monitoring and evaluation purposes under Chapter III of Title VII, as well as for statistical purposes, they shall be made anonymous and processed in aggregated form only. 3. Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rules of Directive 95/46/EC and Regulation (EC) No 45/2001. In particular, such data shall not be stored in a form which enables data subjects to be identified for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which those data were collected or for which they are further processed, taking into account the minimum retention periods laid down in the applicable national and Union law. 4. Member States shall inform the data subjects that their personal data may be processed by national and Union bodies in accordance with paragraph 1 and that in this respect they enjoy the rights set out in the respective data protection rules of Directive 95/46/EC and Regulation (EC) No 45/2001. 5. This Article shall be subject to Articles 111 to 114.
Article 118 Level of implementation
Member States shall be responsible for implementing programmes and carrying out their tasks under this Regulation at the level they deem appropriate, in accordance with the institutional, legal and financial framework of the Member State and subject to compliance with this Regulation and other relevant Union rules.
Article 119 Repeal
1. Regulations (EEC) No 352/78, (EC) No 165/94, (EC) No 2799/98, (EC) No 814/2000, (EC) No 1290/2005 and (EC) No 485/2008 are repealed. However, Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 and the relevant implementing rules shall continue to apply until 31 December 2014 and Articles 30 and 44a of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 and the relevant implementing rules shall continue to apply to expenditure incurred and payments made for agricultural financial year 2013, respectively. 2. References to the repealed Regulations shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table set out in Annex III.
Article 119a Derogation from Regulation (EU) No 966/2012
By way of derogation from Article 59(5) of Regulation (EU) No 966/2012 and from Article 9(1) of this Regulation, for agricultural financial year 2014, it shall not be necessary for the opinion of the certification body to establish whether the expenditure in respect of which reimbursement has been requested from the Commission is legal and regular.
Article 120 Transitional measures
In order to ensure the smooth transition from the arrangements provided for in the repealed Regulations referred to in Article 119 to those laid down in this Regulation, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 115 concerning the cases in which derogations from, and additions to, the rules provided for in this Regulation may apply.
Article 121 Entry into force and application
1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . It shall apply from 1 January 2014. 2. However, the following provisions shall apply as follows: (a) Articles 7, 8, 16, 25, 26 and 43, from 16 October 2013; (b) Article 52, Title III, Chapter II of Title V and Title VI, from 1 January 2015. 3. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2: (a) Articles 9, 18, 40 and 51 shall apply to expenditure effected from 16 October 2013; (b) Chapter IV of Title VII shall apply to payments made from agricultural financial year 2014 onwards. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.