Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Commission Regulation (EC) No 27/2004 of 5 January 2004 laying down transitional detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 as regards the financing by the EAGGF Guarantee Section of rural development measures in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia^f1 and in particular Article 3(4) thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the structural funds^f2, and in particular Article 32(3) thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations^f3, and in particular 47(3) thereof,

After consulting the Committee on the Agricultural Funds,

Whereas:

Commission Decision 2009/984/EU^f4 laid down the final balance to be paid or recovered at programme closure in the field of transitional rural development financed by the EAGGF of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia.

On the basis of the annual accounts submitted by Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Slovakia concerning expenditure in the field of rural development measures, accompanied by the information required, the accounts of the paying agencies referred to in Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 of 21 June 2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy^f5, have been cleared for the financial years 2005^f6, 2006^f7, 2007^f8, 2008^f9 and 2009^f10. The respective clearance decisions have been adopted.

The final eligibility date for TRDI programmes was set to 31 December 2008. An extension of the final eligibility date was granted to Estonia, Malta and Slovakia. The expenses incurred between 16 October 2008 and 30 June 2009 were declared in the 2009 annual accounts; thus, the clearance of accounts decisions referred to above clear the full expenditure incurred under these programmes.

Article 32(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 provides that the combined total payments which are made in respect of the programme, prior to the payment of the final balance, shall not exceed 95 % of the Community commitment for the programme.

For the rural development expenditure covered by Article 3(4) of Regulation (EC) No 27/2004, the final balance to be paid or recovered shall be calculated on the basis of the latest clearance of accounts decision and additional information provided by Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Slovakia as per recital (6) hereafter.

In the light of the closure of the Transitional Rural Development programmes, the Member States concerned were requested to provide information on the outstanding debts in respect of the programmes. The debt data were verified and taken into consideration by the Commission when calculating the final balance.

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 European Union financing expenditure not effected in accordance with European Union rules,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: