Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127 of 7 December 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 of the European Parliament and of the Council with rules on paying agencies and other bodies, financial management, clearance of accounts, securities and use of euro
Modified by
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/57of 31 October 2022amending and correcting Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 of the European Parliament and of the Council, 32023R0057, January 6, 2023
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1309of 26 April 2023amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127 as regards transitional rules and correcting that Regulation as regards certain provisions for the EAGF and the EAFRD, 32023R1309, June 28, 2023
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127of 7 December 2021supplementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 of the European Parliament and of the Council with rules on paying agencies and other bodies, financial management, clearance of accounts, securities and use of euroCHAPTER IPaying agencies and other bodiesArticle 1Conditions for the accreditation of paying agencies1.Member States shall accredit as paying agencies departments or bodies, which fulfil the conditions laid down in this paragraph and meet the criteria referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3. Paying agencies carrying out the management and control of expenditure as provided for in Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall provide, in respect of payments made by them and as regards communicating and keeping information, sufficient guarantees that:(a)as regards types of intervention referred to in Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, the expenditure matches the corresponding reported output and that it has been effected in accordance with the applicable governance systems;(b)payments are legal and regular as regards the measures laid down in Regulations (EU) No 228/2013Regulation (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 247/2006 (OJ L 78, 20.3.2013, p. 23)., (EU) No 229/2013Regulation (EU) No 229/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 March 2013 laying down specific measures for agriculture in favour of the smaller Aegean islands and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1405/2006 (OJ L 78, 20.3.2013, p. 41)., (EU) No 1308/2013 and (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on information provision and promotion measures concerning agricultural products implemented in the internal market and in third countries and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 3/2008 (OJ L 317, 4.11.2014, p. 56).;(c)accurate and exhaustive accounts are kept of the payments made;(d)the checks laid down by Union legislation are made;(e)the requisite documents are presented within the time limits and in the form set out by Union rules;(f)the documents are accessible and kept in a manner which ensures their completeness, validity and legibility over time, including with regard to electronic documents within the meaning of Union rules.2.In order to be accredited, a paying agency shall have an administrative organisation and a system of internal control which comply with the criteria set out in Annex I regarding:(a)internal environment;(b)control activities;(c)information and communication;(d)monitoring.3.Member States may lay down further accreditation criteria to take account of the size, responsibilities and other specific features of the paying agency.Article 2Conditions for the accreditation of coordinating bodies1.Where more than one paying agency is accredited, in accordance with Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, the Member State concerned shall accredit as coordinating bodies departments or bodies, which fulfil the conditions laid down in paragraph 2 and meet the criteria referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4. That Member State shall, by a formal act at ministerial level, decide on the accreditation of the coordinating body after it has satisfied itself that the administrative arrangements of that body guarantee that it is capable of fulfilling the tasks referred to in that Article.2.In order to be accredited, the coordinating body shall ensure that:(a)declarations to the Commission are based on information from properly authorised sources;(b)the annual performance report referred to in Article 54(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 and Article 134 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 is covered by the scope of the opinion referred to in Article 12(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 and its transmission is accompanied by a management declaration covering the compilation of the entire report;(c)declarations to the Commission are properly authorised before transmission;(d)a proper audit trail exists to support the information transmitted to the Commission;(e)a record of information received and transmitted is securely stored in computerised format.3.In order to be accredited, a coordinating body shall have an administrative organisation and a system of internal control as regards the compilation of the annual performance report, which complies with requirements set by the competent authority as regards the procedures involved, and especially the criteria on information and communication as set out in Annex II.4.Member States may lay down further accreditation criteria to take account of the size, responsibilities and other specific features of the coordinating body.Article 3Obligations of the paying agency as regards public intervention1.The paying agencies referred to in Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall manage and ensure control of the operations linked to intervention measures relating to public storage for which they are responsible, under the terms laid down in Annex III to this Regulation and, where appropriate, in the sectoral agricultural legislation, in particular on the basis of the minimum checking rates fixed in that Annex.The paying agencies may delegate their powers in relation to public intervention measures to intervention agencies which meet the conditions of approval laid down in point 1.D of Annex I to this Regulation or act through other paying agencies.2.The paying agencies or intervention agencies may, without prejudice to their overall responsibility relating to public storage:(a)entrust the management of certain public storage measures to natural or legal persons storing bought-in agricultural products ("storers");(b)mandate natural or legal persons to carry out certain specific tasks laid down by the sectoral agricultural legislation.If the paying agencies entrust the management to storers as referred to in the first subparagraph, point (a), such management shall be carried out under storage contracts on the basis of the obligations and general principles set out in Annex IV.3.The obligations of paying agencies with regard to public storage shall be, in particular, as follows:(a)to keep stock accounts and financial accounts for each product covered by an intervention measure involving public storage, based on the operations they carry out from 1 October of one year to 30 September of the following year, this period being referred to as an "accounting year";(b)to keep an up-to-date list of the storers with whom they have concluded public storage contracts. This list shall contain references allowing the exact identification of all storage points, their capacity, the number of warehouses, cold stores and silos, and drawings and diagrams thereof;(c)to make available to the Commission the standard contracts used for public storage, the rules laid down for the taking-over of products, their storage and removal from the storehouses of the storers, and the rules applicable to the liability of storers;(d)to keep centralised, computerised stock accounts of all stocks, covering all storage places, all products and all the quantities and qualities of the different products, specifying in each case the weight (net and gross, where applicable) or the volume;(e)to perform all operations relating to the storage, conservation, transport or transfer of intervention products in accordance with Union and national legislation, without prejudice to the responsibility of the purchasers, of the other paying agencies involved in an operation and of any other persons acting on instruction in this regard;(f)to conduct checks on places where intervention stocks are held, throughout the year, at irregular intervals and without prior warning. However, provided that the purpose of the control is not jeopardised, advance notice may be given, but shall be strictly limited to the minimum time-period necessary. Such notice shall not exceed 24 hours, except in duly justified cases;(g)to conduct an annual stocktaking in accordance with Article 4.Where, in a Member State, management of the public storage accounts for one or more products is carried out by more than one paying agency, the stock accounts and financial accounts referred to in the first subparagraph, points (a) and (d), shall be consolidated at Member State level before the corresponding information is notified to the Commission.4.The paying agencies shall ensure:(a)that products covered by Union intervention measures are properly conserved by checking the quality of stored products at least once a year;(b)the integrity of intervention stocks.5.The paying agencies shall inform the Commission immediately:(a)of cases where extending the storage period of a product is likely to result in its deterioration;(b)of quantitative losses or deterioration of the product due to natural disasters.Where situations referred to in the first subparagraph are applicable, the Commission shall adopt the appropriate decision:(a)as regards the situations referred to in the first subparagraph, point (a), in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 229(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013;(b)as regards the situations referred to in the first subparagraph, point (b), in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 102(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.6.The paying agencies shall bear any financial consequences of poor conservation of products covered by Union intervention measures, in particular those resulting from unsuitable storage methods. Without prejudice to any recourse against storers, the paying agencies shall bear financial responsibility for failure to comply with their undertakings or obligations.7.The paying agencies shall make the public storage accounts and all documents, contracts and files drawn up or received in the context of intervention operations permanently available to Commission agents or persons mandated by the Commission, either electronically or at the premises of the paying agencies.Article 4Inventory1.During each accounting year, the paying agencies shall draw up an inventory for each product, which has been the subject of Union intervention.They shall compare the results of the inventory with the accounting data. Any differences in quantities found, and the amounts resulting from differences in quality found during checks, shall be accounted for in accordance with the rules adopted pursuant to Article 47(3), point (a) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.2.For the purposes of paragraph 1, missing quantities resulting from normal storage operations shall be equal to the difference between the theoretical stock shown by the accounts inventory, on the one hand, and the actual physical stock as established on the basis of the inventory provided for in paragraph 1 or the stock shown as remaining on the books after the physical stock of a store has been exhausted, on the other hand and shall be subject to the tolerance limits set out in Annex V.