Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to the Treaty of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania, and in particular Article 29 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 of 21 June 1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development in the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the pre-accession period^f1, and in particular Article 12(2) thereof,

Whereas:

Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 introduced Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development in the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the pre-accession period (the Sapard programme) including Bulgaria and Romania in particular.

Article 29 of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania provides that where the period for multi-annual commitments made under the Sapard programme in relation to certain measures extends beyond the final permissible date for payments under Sapard, the outstanding commitments will be covered within the 2007-2013 rural development programme.

The Sapard programme comprises several measures to be supported after accession by Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 of 20 September 2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)^f2.

To facilitate the transition between these two types of support, the period during which commitments can be made to beneficiaries under the Sapard programme should be specified.

The conditions under which projects approved under Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 but which can no longer be financed under that Regulation can be transferred to rural development programming should be specified.

This Regulation is without prejudice to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1423/2006 of 26 September 2006 establishing a mechanism for appropriate measures in the field of agricultural spending in respect of Bulgaria and Romania^f3.

In accordance with the provisions of Article 12 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2759/1999 of 22 December 1999 laying down rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999^f4, an ex-post evaluation of the Sapard programme must be carried out. It has to be ensured that these evaluations may still be carried out and financed after 2006, beyond the period of eligibility under Sapard in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999.

Multi-annual Financing Agreements (MAFAs) and Annual Financing Agreements (AFAs) were concluded between the European Commission, representing the European Community, on the one hand and Bulgaria and Romania on the other.

In areas falling within the scope of the Treaty establishing the European Community, the relationship between Bulgaria and Romania and the Community, as of 1 January 2007, when these States accede to the European Union, is governed by Community law. In principle, bilateral agreements, without any particular legal acts being necessary, continue to apply as far as they do not contradict obligatory Community law. In certain areas, the MAFAs and AFAs provide for rules which are different from Community law whilst not being contrary to any binding provisions. However, it is appropriate to foresee that in respect of Sapard the new Member States should, as far as possible, follow the same rules as those which apply to any other areas of Community law.

It is therefore appropriate to provide for the continuation of the applicability of the MAFAs and AFAs subject to certain derogations and amendments. At the same time, certain provisions are no longer needed given the fact that the Community is no longer dealing with third countries but with Member States and that the new Member States will be directly submitted to provisions under Community law. Such MAFA provisions should therefore no longer apply. In order to ensure continuity in the application of the MAFAs and AFAs, these changes should apply from 1 January 2007.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1266/1999 of 21 June 1999 on coordinating aid to the Applicant Countries in the framework of the pre-accession strategy and amending Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89^f5 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 of 7 June 2000 laying down financial rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development in the Applicant Countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the pre-accession period^f6 have been the legal bases for the Commission to confer the management of aid under the Sapard programme on implementing agencies in the Applicant Countries on a case-by-case basis. The MAFAs were concluded based on that possibility. However, in relation to Member States, Community law does not require a conferral of management procedure but an accreditation procedure at national level for paying agencies referred to in Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy^f7. The MAFAs provide for basically an identical accreditation procedure in their Article 4 of Section A of the Annex. With regard to Member States there is, therefore, no more a need to provide for a conferral of the management of aid. Therefore, derogation from these provisions is appropriate.

Multi-annual Financing Agreements (MAFAs) and Annual Financing Agreements (AFAs) were also concluded between the European Commission, representing the European Community, on the one hand and the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia (the 2004 accession Member States) on the other.

Provisions similar to those contained in this Regulation as regards the MAFAs and AFAs as regards Bulgaria and Romania were adopted in relation to the MAFAs and AFAs as regards the 2004 accession Member States in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1419/2004 of 4 August 2004 on the continuation of the application of the Multi-annual Financing Agreements and the Annual Financing Agreements concluded between the European Commission, representing the European Community, on the one hand and the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia on the other, and providing for certain derogations from the Multi-annual Financing Agreements and from Council Regulation (EC) No 1266/1999 and Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000^f8. However these measures were adopted as measures to facilitate the transition from the Sapard programme to rural development and so expire on 30 April 2007.

In the light of experience it has been established that these measures do not solely concern the transition from the Sapard programme to rural development but concern predominantly the finalisation of the programmes started under the Sapard programme for the 2004 accession Member States. Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 states in its Article 1(1) that it remains applicable in this case.

It is therefore appropriate to provide in this Regulation for the adoption of measures identical to those set out in Regulation (EC) No 1419/2004 in order to provide for the finalisation of the programmes started under the Sapard programme for the 2004 accession Member States, since these programmes are not yet finalised. These measures should apply once those contained in Regulation (EC) No 1419/2004 cease to apply, namely from 1 May 2007.

According to Article 12(7) of Section A of the Annex of the MAFA the amount to be recovered in accordance with a conformity clearance Decision shall be deducted from the next application for payment to the Commission. Article 12(8) provides that the amount to be recovered in accordance with the conformity clearance Decision shall not be reallocated to the Programme. The application of both provisions would result in a double deduction of the amount from a Sapard allocation to a Beneficiary country. Therefore, the provision that this amount shall be deducted from the next application for payment to the Commission should be deleted.

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

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