COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 3206/91  of 31 October 1991  on applications for commitment of, advances on and payment of the balance of aid granted by the EAGGF Guidance Section for operational programmes involving investments to improve the  conditions under which agricultural and forestry products are processed and marketed
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 866/90 of 29 March 1990 on improving the processing and marketing conditions for agricultural products (1), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3577/90 (2), and in particular Article 23 thereof,
Whereas, pursuant to Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 867/90 of 29 March 1990 on improving the processing and marketing conditions for forestry products (3), the common measure introduced by Regulation (EEC) No 866/90 is extended to cover the  development or rationalization of the marketing and processing of forestry products;
Whereas applications for commitment of, advances on and payment of the balance submitted by the competent authorities to the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), Guidance Section, must contain certain data to make it easier to  ascertain whether expenditure complies with the provisions of the operational programmes concerned and Regulations (EEC) No 866/90 and (EEC) No 867/90;
Whereas, with a view to standardizing payment applications, the Commission should make a computerized system available to the competent authorities;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Agricultural Structures and Rural Development,
1. Applications for commitment of an annual instalment and for payment of a first annual advance in respect of operational programmes pursuant to Regulations (EEC) No 866/90 and (EEC) No 867/90 must be presented to the Commission by the  competent authority in accordance with Annex II hereto. However the first annual instalment shall be committed and the first advance on that instalment shall be paid automatically when the decision approving the operational programme is adopted.
2. Each quarter the competent authority shall forward to the Commission a statement of payments made to recipients during the preceding quarter in accordance with Annex III.
3. The Commission shall pay the second advance on an annual instalment automatically where the quarterly statement shows that at least 50 % of the first advance on the same instalment has been used.
However the sum of the two advances must not exceed 80 % of the expenditure forecast for that instalment.
4. After receipt of the second quarterly statement relating to an annual instalment, the Commission shall, at the request of the competent authority or of the Member State, commit the following annual instalment and the first advance thereon in so far  as budgetary resources allow.
5. In accordance with Annex IV, the competent authority shall forward the application for payment of the balance of an annual instalment no later than the time of presentation of the quarterly statement showing that at least 50 % of the first advance on  the following instalment has been used. In the absence of such a statement, the application must be forwarded in any case before 30 June of the year following the end of the year of execution of that instalment.
The amounts paid by the Commission which remain available to the competent authority shall be taken into account when the following advance is paid.
1. No later than when it sends the first quarterly statement, the competent authority shall forward to the Commission, the forms on which the recipients submit their payment applications. The forms must include at least a description of the  methods for financing the investment, a summary of expenditure effected and a comparative table of investments planned and investments made, on the basis of quantitative and physical indicators in accordance with point 3 of Annex I. It shall inform the  Commission, within the same time limit, of the verification methods and national implementing provisions, in so far as such information has not been forwarded previously pursuant to Article 5 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 866/90, together with any other  document on the administrative implementation of the measure. It shall also notify subsequent updatings of the documents referred to in this paragraph.
2. The competent authority shall forward the report on the execution of an annual instalment in accordance with Annexes Va and Vb no later than 30 June of the year following the end of the year of execution of the instalment in question.
The date in Annexes II to Vb shall in principle be forwarded by means of a computerized system. The Commission shall decide on the necessary software to be made available to each competent authority. The Commission may also undertake to make  equipment available and train a certain number of users.
The commitment and payment applications and the quarterly statements must take account of the introductory remarks contained in Annex I.
These applications and statements shall be sent to the Commission by the competent authority, either directly or via the Member State.
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.