COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1844/94 of 27 July 1994 on detailed rules for the financing of aid granted by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, Guidance Section, submitted under common measures as defined in Council Regulations (EEC) No 866/90 and (EEC) No 867/90

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 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 last amended by Regulation (EC) No 3669/93 (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 measures instituted by Regulation (EEC) No 866/90 may be applied for the purposes of developing or rationalizing the marketing and processing of forestry products;

Whereas Article 2 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 866/90 provides that the financing of investments must take place within the framework of plans designed to improve the structures relating to the various products in question to be drawn up by the Member States, and on the basis of Community support frameworks;

Whereas Article 2 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 866/90 stipulates that measures under that Regulation must be included in the plans drawn up and presented by the Member States for the Objective 1 regions as referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 (4), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2081/93 (5), in accordance with Article 8 (7) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 and Article 5 (2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 (6), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2082/93 (7);

Whereas Article 2 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 866/90 stipulates that in the case of regions not eligible under Objective 1 the plans must distinguish between Objective 5 (b) areas, as referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, and the rest of the territory;

Whereas Article 17 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 866/90 provides that payment of the aid is to be carried out in accordance with Article 21 of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 and in accordance with the aforementioned Article 17;

Whereas, in order to standardize aid applications, the Commission should introduce a system of declarations of expenditure which can also be used for other assistance from the Structural Funds wherever possible;

Whereas applications for the payment of balances must include certain information in order to facilitate verification that the expenditure complies with the provisions of the operational programmes concerned and with Regulations (EEC) No 866/90 and (EEC) No 867/90;

Whereas, therefore, Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3206/91 on applications for commitment of advances on and payment of the balance of aid granted by the EAGGF Guidance Section for operational programmes involving investmens to improve the conditions under which agricultural and forestry products are processed and marketed (8) should be replaced;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Agricultural Structures and Rural Development,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Quarterly statements The quarterly statements of the payments made to recipients as referred to in Article 17 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 866/90 must be presented in accordance with the declaration of expenditure in Annex I.

Article 2

Annual reports The annual implementation reports referred to in Article 17 (4) of Regulation (EEC) No 866/90 must be presented in accordance with the table in Annex II.

Article 3

Payment applications 1. In the regions covered by Objective 1 as referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88, where the measures provided for in Regulations (EEC) No 866/90 and (EEC) No 867/90 are implemented on the basis of a decision to grant aid which also covers other measures, payments shall be made within the framework of the financial implementation of the said decision to grant aid.

2. In other cases, payment applications must be presented to the Commission in accordance with the declaration of expenditure in Annex I.

3. Payment of the balance of the EAGGF contribution for annual instalments of operational programmes under Regulations (EEC) No 866/90 and (EEC) No 867/90 shall be subject to presentation of Annex II.

Article 4

Management and control arrangements Member States shall include with their first application for payment of the balance a description of the management and control arrangements introduced to ensure the effective implementation of the measures, in accordance with Article 23 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88.

Article 5

Regulation (EEC) No 3206/91 is hereby repealed.

Article 6

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following 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.

Done at Brussels, 27 July 1994.

For the Commission

René STEICHEN

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ No L 91, 6. 4. 1990, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 338, 31. 12. 1993, p. 26.

(3) OJ No L 91, 6. 4. 1990, p. 7.

(4) OJ No L 185, 15. 7. 1988, p. 9.

(5) OJ No L 193, 31. 7. 1993, p. 5.

(6) OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1988, p. 1.

(7) OJ No L 193, 31. 7. 1993, p. 20.

(8) OJ No L 303, 1. 11. 1991, p. 59.

ANNEX I

DECLARATIONS TO BE PRESENTED WITH ALL PAYMENT APPLICATIONS IT IS HEREBY CONFIRMED THAT:

(a) the expenditure declared eligible has been carried out in accordance with the relevant regulations;

(b) the expenditure is real, regular and was incurred after the date of receipt by the Commission of the aid application in question, without prejudice to the application of Article 33 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 and of Article 19 of Regulation (EEC) No 866/90.

In the case of operational programmes approved before 1 January 1994, work did not commence more than six months before the date of receipt by the Commission of the aid application in question;

(c) payments to the final beneficiaries were made without deduction or withholding of any amount which might reduce the amount of financial assistance to which they are entitled;

(d) the amounts recovered in respect of sums wrongly paid have been deducted from the declared expenditure; the Commission has been informed of any irregularities in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 1681/94 (1) on irregularities and the recovery of sums wrongly paid within the framework of the financing of the structural policies and the organization of information arrangements in this area;

(e) the Member State possesses the means to effectively check the information determining the grant and the calculation of aid eligible for EAGGF financing;

(f) the aid granted by the Member State in national currency remains within the limits laid down by the Community rules;

(g) where the payment application is presented in ecus, the amount of expenditure carried out in national currency is converted into ecus using the rate applicable in the month during which the expenditure was entered in the accounts of the bodies responsible for the financial management of the implementation of the measures;

(h) the supporting documents are and will remain available under the terms of Article 23 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88;

(i) the operations financed are consistent with the Treaties and the acts adopted pursuant thereto, as well as with the Community's policies;

(j) measures receiving Community financial assistance have been the subject of adequate publicity directed at public opinion and potential and actual beneficiaries.

Done at , .................... (date)

Signature and stamp

of the competent authority of the Member State

(1) PB nr. L 178, 12. 7. 1994, p. 43.

(2) OJ No L 178, 12. 7. 1994, p. 43.

ANNEX II

ANNEX III

SECTOR CODES - PROCESSING AND MARKETING BRANCH (Regulations (EEC) No 866/90 and (EEC) No 867/90) "" ID="1">Foresty products> ID="2">1000> ID="3">Forestry products> ID="4">1010> ID="5">Timber> ID="6">1011"> ID="5">Cork> ID="6">1012"> ID="5">Other foresty products> ID="6">1019"> ID="1">Animal products> ID="2">2000> ID="3">Meat> ID="4">2010> ID="5">Slaughtering and cutting> ID="6">2011"> ID="5">Processing> ID="6">2012"> ID="5">Non-edible products> ID="6">2013"> ID="5">Other meats> ID="6">2019"> ID="3">Milk and milk products> ID="4">2020> ID="5">Milk collection> ID="6">2021"> ID="5">Liquid milk> ID="6">2022"> ID="5">Milk products> ID="6">2023"> ID="5">Other dairy products> ID="6">2029"> ID="3">Eggs and poultry> ID="4">2030> ID="5">Eggs> ID="6">2031"> ID="5">Poultry> ID="6">2032"> ID="5">Other (including rabbits)> ID="6">2039"> ID="3">Sundry animals> ID="4">2990> ID="5">Livestock markets> ID="6">2991"> ID="5">Honey> ID="6">2992"> ID="5">Other animal products> ID="6">2999"> ID="1">Vegetable products> ID="2">3000> ID="3">Cereals> ID="4">3010> ID="5">Cereals (excluding rice)> ID="6">3011"> ID="5">Rice> ID="6">3012"> ID="3">Sugar> ID="4">3020"> ID="3">Oil seeds> ID="4">3030> ID="5">Olive oil> ID="6">3031"> ID="5">Oil-bearing seeds> ID="6">3032"> ID="5">Other oil seeds> ID="6">3039"> ID="3">Protein plants> ID="4">3040"> ID="3">Wine and alcohol> ID="4">3050"> ID="3">Fruit and vegetables> ID="4">3060> ID="5">Fresh fruit and vegetables> ID="6">3061"> ID="5">Processed fruit and vegetables> ID="6">3062"> ID="5">Other fruit and vegetables> ID="6">3069"> ID="3">Flowers and plants> ID="4">3070"> ID="3">Seeds> ID="4">3080"> ID="3">Potatoes> ID="4">3090> ID="5">Unprocessed potatoes> ID="6">3091"> ID="5">Processed potatoes> ID="6">3092"> ID="3">Tobacco> ID="4">3100"> ID="3">Sundry vegetables> ID="4">3990"> ID="1">Various products> ID="2">4000> ID="3">Multi-purpose markets and distribution> ID="4">4010"> ID="3">Animal feedingstuffs> ID="4">4020"> ID="3">Other> ID="4">4990"> ID="1">Misceallaneous marketing and> ID="3">Miscellaneous marketing and"> ID="1">processing> ID="2">9000> ID="3">processing> ID="4">9990">