Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/920 of 28 June 2018 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 as regards certain provisions on checks, notifications and annual reporting and on amendments to the POSEI programmes
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/920of 28 June 2018amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 as regards certain provisions on checks, notifications and annual reporting and on amendments to the POSEI programmesTHE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 March 2013 laying down specific measures for agriculture in the outermost regions of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 247/2006OJ L 78, 20.3.2013, p. 23., and in particular Article 6(2), the second paragraph of Article 8 and Articles 12(3) and 14(1) thereof,Whereas:(1)Experience gained with the application of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 of 20 February 2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific measures for agriculture in the outermost regions of the Union (OJ L 63, 4.3.2014, p. 13). has shown that certain provisions relating to checks, notifications and annual reporting need to be clarified and simplified.(2)Articles 2, 3 and 5 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 lay down the provisions for the import licences, exemption certificates, aid certificates and payment relating to products imported from third countries or supplied from the Union. Article 4(1) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239 of 18 May 2016 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the system of import and export licences (OJ L 206, 30.7.2016, p. 44). makes the use of the Economic Operators Registration and Identification number ("EORI number") mandatory for import licences. It is appropriate to provide the same requirement for the import licences, exemption certificates and aid certificates covered by Articles 2, 3 and 5 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 respectively.(3)Article 8 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 contains the rules on the documents to be presented by operators and the validity of licences and certificates. It is appropriate to ease the electronic transmission of the accompanying documents of the licences and certificates.(4)Article 16 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 lays down the rules for the administrative and physical checks on the import, entry, export and dispatch of agricultural products. It is appropriate to separate the type of physical checks for import and entry from the type of physical checks for export and dispatch. The wording of that Article should make explicit the obligation of applying a representative sample when performing checks on export and dispatch operations provided for in Section 5 of that Regulation.(5)Article 22 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 provides the general principles for the checks in respect of aid applications for the measures to support local agricultural products. Taking into account the heterogeneity and different level of complexity of actions within the measures and to further ensure that all areas of expenditure are covered and represented in the sampling, it is necessary to specify that the competent authorities are to perform on-the-spot checks at the level of each action by sampling at least 5 % of the aid applications. The sample should also represent at least 5 % of the amounts covered by the aid for each action.(6)Article 24 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 provides the rules for the selection of aid applicants to be subject to on-the-spot checks. As in the outermost regions there might be a small number of applicants, Member States should have the possibility to select only one applicant.(7)Article 38(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 requires certain data relating to the specific supply arrangements balance to be notified at the end of each quarter of the year. That periodicity is burdensome and a notification only once per year is deemed sufficient.(8)Article 39 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 sets out the elements to be included in the annual reports on the implementation of the measures. In its report of 15 December 2016Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the scheme of specific measures for agriculture in favour of the outermost regions of the Union (POSEI) (COM(2016)797 final). the Commission concluded that the reporting on the implementation of the POSEI programmes should be improved, particularly to better assess compliance with the objectives, including for specific supply arrangements, and to better describe the situation of the agricultural sector and its development, including price monitoring and the competitive position of local production with regard to imports. As it is also opportune to clarify the reporting obligations and provide a new structure of the annual reports, the relevant details should be specified in a new Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014.(9)Article 40 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 sets out the procedures for amending the POSEI programmes. Taking into account the experience gained with its application, those procedures need to be simplified in order to ensure a more flexible and smoother adaptation to the actual conditions relating to the supply arrangements and the local agricultural conditions. Therefore, it is appropriate to require that amendments covered by Article 40(1) and (2) of that Regulation be presented at the same time by 31 July.(10)In general, amendments to POSEI programmes do not need formal approval by the Commission. It is appropriate to revise the wording of Article 40(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 in order to express that principle in a more explicit way.(11)However, "major" amendments to the programmes covered by Article 40(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 do need formal approval by the Commission. On the basis of the experience with that procedure, it is necessary to extend the deadline for approval to five months after the notification of the amendment. In addition, in order to simplify the procedure, the formal approval by the Commission should be limited to the first two cases currently covered by that provision.(12)Article 40(3) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 concerns "minor" amendments. To ease the financial adjustment procedure within the Member States, the deadline for the notification of adjustments up to 20 % of the financial allocation should be extended to 31 May.(13)Finally, the definition of "measure" in Article 40(5)(a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 should be simplified.(14)Several Commission regulations have been repealed and replaced by delegated and implementing regulations. For reasons of clarity and legal certainty, it is appropriate to update the references to those regulations. In particular, as regards the system of import and export licences, references to Commission Regulation (EC) No 376/2008Commission Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 of 23 April 2008 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products (OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3). should be replaced by references to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 of 18 May 2016 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the rules for applying the system of import and export licences and supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the rules on the release and forfeit of securities lodged for such licences, amending Commission Regulations (EC) No 2535/2001, (EC) No 1342/2003, (EC) No 2336/2003, (EC) No 951/2006, (EC) No 341/2007 and (EC) No 382/2008 and repealing Commission Regulations (EC) No 2390/98, (EC) No 1345/2005, (EC) No 376/2008 and (EC) No 507/2008 (OJ L 206, 30.7.2016, p. 1). and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239.(15)As regards the notifications to the Commission, references to Commission Regulation (EC) No 792/2009Commission Regulation (EC) No 792/2009 of 31 August 2009 laying down detailed rules for the Member States' notification to the Commission of information and documents in implementation of the common organisation of the markets, the direct payments' regime, the promotion of agricultural products and the regimes applicable to the outermost regions and the smaller Aegean islands (OJ L 228, 1.9.2009, p. 3). should be replaced by references to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1183Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1183 of 20 April 2017 on supplementing Regulations (EU) No 1307/2013 and (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the notifications to the Commission of information and documents (OJ L 171, 4.7.2017, p. 100). and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1185Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1185 of 20 April 2017 laying down rules for the application of Regulations (EU) No 1307/2013 and (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards notifications to the Commission of information and documents and amending and repealing several Commission Regulations (OJ L 171, 4.7.2017, p. 113)..(16)As regards the rules based on Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council 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 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 549). references to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1122/2009Commission Regulation (EC) No 1122/2009 of 30 November 2009 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 as regards cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system, under the direct support schemes for farmers provided for that Regulation, as well as for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards cross-compliance under the support scheme provided for the wine sector (OJ L 316, 2.12.2009, p. 65). should be replaced by references to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system and conditions for refusal or withdrawal of payments and administrative penalties applicable to direct payments, rural development support and cross compliance (OJ L 181, 20.6.2014, p. 48). and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014 of 17 July 2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the integrated administration and control system, rural development measures and cross compliance (OJ L 227, 31.7.2014, p. 69)..(17)As regards provisions relating to the Union Customs Code, references to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1). should be replaced by references to Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 269, 10.10.2013, p. 1). to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 of 28 July 2015 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards detailed rules concerning certain provisions of the Union Customs Code (OJ L 343, 29.12.2015, p. 1). or to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 of 24 November 2015 laying down detailed rules for implementing certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code (OJ L 343, 29.12.2015, p. 558)..(18)Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly.(19)The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Direct Payments,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: