Commission Decision of 30 April 2008 on the clearance of the accounts of the paying agencies of Member States concerning expenditure financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) for the 2007 financial year (notified under document number C(2008) 1712) (2008/397/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 of 21 June 2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy^f1, and in particular Articles 30 and 33 thereof,

After consulting the Fund Committee,

Whereas:

On the basis of the annual accounts submitted by the Member States, accompanied by the information required, the accounts of the paying agencies referred to in Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 are to be cleared. The clearance covers the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the accounts transmitted in the light of the reports established by the certification bodies.

Pursuant to Article 16 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 883/2006^f2 on data to be transmitted by the Member States and intermediate payments of expenditure financed under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), account is taken of the 2007 financial year of expenditure incurred by the Member States between 16 October 2006 and 15 October 2007.

The time limits granted to the Member States referred to in Article 7(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 885/2006^f3 laying down detailed rules for the application of the procedure for the clearance of accounts of the EAFRD for the submission to the Commission of the documents referred to in Article 8(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 and in Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 885/2006, have expired.

The Commission has checked the information submitted and communicated to the Member States before 31 March 2008 the results of its verifications, along with the necessary amendments.

In accordance with the first and third subparagraphs of Article 10(1) of Regulation (EC) No 885/2006, the accounts clearance decision referred to in Article 30(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 determines, without prejudice to decisions taken subsequently in accordance with Article 31(1) of the Regulation, the amount of expenditure effected in each Member State during the financial year in question recognised as being chargeable to the EAFRD, on the basis of the accounts referred to in Article 8(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 and the reductions and suspensions of intermediate payments for the financial year concerned, including the reductions referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 16(4) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2006.

In the light of the verifications made, the annual accounts and the accompanying documents permit the Commission to take, for certain paying agencies, a decision on the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the annual accounts submitted. The details of these amounts were described in the Summary Report that was presented to the Fund Committee at the same time as this Decision.

In the light of the verifications made, the information submitted by certain paying agencies requires additional inquiries and their accounts cannot be therefore cleared in this Decision.

The second subparagraph of Article 10(2) of Regulation (EC) No 885/2006 lays down that the amounts that are recoverable from, or payable to, each Member State, in accordance with the accounts clearance decision referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 10(1) of the said Regulation, shall be determined by deducting the intermediate payments paid during the financial year in question, i.e. 2007, from expenditure recognised for that year in accordance with paragraph 1. Such amounts are to be deducted from, or added to, the following intermediate payment or the final payment.

Pursuant to Article 33(8) of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005, 50 % of the financial consequences of non-recovery of irregularities shall be borne by the Member State concerned and 50 % by the Community budget if the recovery of those irregularities has not taken place prior to the closure of a rural development programme within four years of the primary administrative or judicial finding, or within eight years if the recovery is taken to the national courts, or on the closure of the programme if those deadlines expire prior to such closure. Article 33(4) of the said Regulation obliges Member States to submit to the Commission, together with the annual accounts, a summary report on the recovery procedures undertaken in response to irregularities. Detailed rules on the application of the Member States' reporting obligation of the amounts to be recovered are laid down in Regulation (EC) No 885/2006. Annex III to the said Regulation provides the model tables 3 and 4 that have to be provided in 2008 by the Member States. On the basis of the tables completed by the Member States, the Commission should decide on the financial consequences of non-recovery of irregularities older than four or eight years respectively. This decision is without prejudice to future conformity decisions pursuant to Article 33(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005.

Pursuant to Article 33(7) of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005, after closure of a rural development programme Member States may decide not to pursue recovery. Such a decision may only be taken if the costs already and likely to be incurred total more than the amount to be recovered or if the recovery proves impossible owing to the insolvency, recorded and recognised under national law, of the debtor or the persons legally responsible for the irregularity. If that decision has been taken within four years of the primary administrative or judicial finding, or within eight years if the recovery is taken to the national courts, 100 % of the financial consequences of the non-recovery should be borne by the Community budget. In the summary report referred to in Article 33(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 the amounts for which the Member State decided not to pursue recovery and the grounds for the decision are shown. These amounts are not charged to the Member States concerned and are consequently to be borne by the Community budget. This decision is without prejudice to future conformity decisions pursuant to Article 33(5) of the said Regulation.

In accordance with Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005, this Decision does not prejudice decisions taken subsequently by the Commission excluding from Community financing expenditure not effected in accordance with Community rules,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: