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Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 808/2014 of 17 July 2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)

EU Regulation No 808/2014 · Adopted 17 July 2014 · Extends to United Kingdom

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Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 808/2014

of 17 July 2014

laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

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

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005f1, and in particular Article 8(3), Article 12, Article 14(6), Article 41, Articles 54(4) and 66(5), Article 67, Articles 75(5) and 76(1),

Whereas:

(1)

Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 lays down general rules governing Union support for rural development financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), complementing the common provisions for the European Structural and Investment Funds laid down in Part Two of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and the Councilf2. In order to ensure that the new legal framework established by those Regulations functions smoothly and applies uniformly, the Commission has been empowered to adopt certain rules for its implementation.

(2)

Rules for the presentation of the content of rural development programmes, based in particular on the requirements of Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 and Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 should be laid down. It should also be established which of those rules for the presentation also apply to programmes dedicated to joint instruments for uncapped guarantees and securitisation providing capital relief implemented by the European Investment Bank (‘EIB’) referred to in Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013. Rules for the content of national frameworks should also be laid down.

(3)

The procedures and timetables for the approval of national frameworks should be established.

(4)

In order to systematise the amendment of rural development programmes, rules for their submission as well as for the frequency of amendments should be established. This should be done in order to reduce as much as possible the administrative burden while leaving flexibility for clearly defined emergencies and specific situations.

(5)

Rules for amendments to national frameworks including on timing and in particular to facilitate the amendment of national frameworks of Member States which have regional programmes should be established.

(6)

In order to ensure the good use of EAFRD resources, voucher systems or equivalent systems for payment of participants’ costs for knowledge transfer and information actions should be established to ensure that reimbursed expenditure is clearly connected to a specific, eligible training or knowledge transfer action provided to the participant.

(7)

In order to ensure that the service provider offering best value for money is chosen, the selection of authorities or bodies offering advisory services should follow the applicable national public procurement rules.

(8)

As final payments should only be granted upon the correct implementation of business plans, common parameters for such assessments should be established. Additionally, in order to facilitate the access for young farmers setting up for the first time to other measures under the farm and business development measure referred to in Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, rules for the coverage of several measures in the business plans as well as for the approval procedure of the related applications should be established.

(9)

Member States should be allowed to calculate support for commitments under the agri-environment-climate, organic farming and animal welfare measures on the basis of other units than those established in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 because of the specific nature of those commitments. Rules should be established concerning the compliance with the maximum amounts allowed, the exception for payments per livestock unit and the conversion rates of different categories of animals to livestock units.

(10)

In order to ensure that the calculation of additional costs and income foregone for measures referred to in Articles 28 to 31, 33 and 34 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 is done in a transparent and verifiable manner certain common elements for the calculation that apply across Member States should be established.

(11)

In order to avoid overcompensation and an increased administrative burden, rules for the combination of certain measures should be set up.

(12)

Rules regarding the start of the operation of the national rural networks as well as on their structure should be established in order to ensure that the networks can work efficiently and in a timely manner in order to accompany the programme implementation.

(13)

In order to ensure information and publicity on the rural development activities benefitting from support by the EAFRD, the Managing Authority has responsibilities to fulfil which should be further specified in this Regulation. The Managing Authority should systemise its overall information and publicity efforts in a strategy, and through the establishment of a single website or website portal raise awareness regarding the objectives of rural development policy and strengthen accessibility and transparency of information about funding opportunities. Provision on the responsibility of beneficiaries to inform about the EAFRD support provided for their projects should be made.

(14)

In order to facilitate the setting up of the common monitoring and evaluation system, the common elements of that system including the indicators and the evaluation plan should be defined.

(15)

The central elements of the annual implementation report referred to in Article 75 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 and the minimum requirements for the evaluation plan referred to in Article 56 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 should be established.

(16)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Rural Development Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

JO L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 487.

f2

Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 320).

Contents

  1. 1Subject matter
  2. 2Content of rural development programmes
  3. 3Adoption of national frameworks Repealed
  4. 4Amendments of rural development programmes
  5. 5Amendment of national frameworks Repealed
  6. 6Knowledge transfer and information actions
  7. 7Selection of authorities or bodies offering advisory services Repealed
  8. 8Business plans
  9. 9Article 9
  10. 10Standard assumption of additional costs and income foregone
  11. 11Combination of commitments and combination of measures
  12. 12National rural network
  13. 13Information and publicity
  14. 14Monitoring and evaluation system
  15. 15Annual implementation report
  16. 16Evaluation Plan
  17. 17Entry into force
  18. Signature
  19. Annex I
  20. Part 1: Presentation of the content of rural development programmes
  21. Title of the rural development programme (RDP)
  22. 2... administrative region
  23. 3Ex ante evaluation
  24. 4Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (‘SWOT’) and identification of needs
  25. 5Description of the strategy
  26. 6Division 6
  27. 7...
  28. Description of the measures selected
  29. (1)Description of the general conditions applied to more than one measure including, where relevant, definition of rural area, baselines, ... intended use of financial instruments, intended use of advances and common provisions for investments, including the provisions of Articles 45 and 46 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013.
  30. (2)Description by measure including:
  31. 9Evaluation plan, containing the following sections
  32. (1)Objectives and purpose
  33. (2)Governance and coordination
  34. (3)Evaluation topics and activities
  35. (4)Data and information
  36. (5)Timeline
  37. (6)Communication
  38. (7)Resources
  39. 10Division 10
  40. (a)The annual core contribution
  41. (b)Division (b)
  42. (c)Division (c)
  43. (d)Division (d)
  44. 11Division 11
  45. 12Additional national financing:
  46. 13Elements needed for State aid assessment:
  47. 14Division 14
  48. 15Division 15
  49. 16Actions taken to involve partners
  50. 17National rural network
  51. 18Ex ante assessment of verifiability, controllability and error risk
  52. 19Transitional arrangements
  53. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Repealed
  57. Part 2: Presentation of the content of national frameworks
  59. Part 3: Presentation of the content of the NRN programme
  60. Title of the specific NRN programme
  61. 2... administrative region
  62. Ex ante evaluation
  63. (a)Division (a)
  64. (b)Division (b)
  65. (c)Division (c)
  66. Evaluation plan, containing the following sections
  67. (1)Objectives and purpose
  68. (2)Governance and coordination
  69. (3)Evaluation topics and activities
  70. (4)Data and information
  71. (5)Timeline
  72. (6)Communication
  73. (7)Resources
  74. 5Division 5
  75. 6Division 6
  76. 7NRN
  77. 4Indicative list of priorities/focus areas and measures of particular relevance to ex-ante conditionalities (rural development priority-linked and general) referred to in point 6(b)(ii) of Part 1
  78. 5Measures and sub-measures codes
  79. 6Part 6
  80. Annex IIAnnex II
  81. Annex III: Information and publicity referred to in Article 13 Repealed
  82. Information and publicity actions Repealed
  83. Responsibilities of the Managing Authority Repealed
  84. 1.1Information and publicity strategy Repealed
  85. 1.2Information for the potential beneficiaries Repealed
  86. 1.3Information for the general public Repealed
  87. 1.4Involvement of bodies acting as relays Repealed
  88. 1.5Notification of the award of support Repealed
  89. Responsibilities of beneficiaries Repealed
  90. 2.1Division 2.1 Repealed
  91. 2.2Division 2.2 Repealed
  92. Technical characteristics of information and publicity actions Repealed
  93. 1Logo and slogan Repealed
  94. 2Information and communication material Repealed
  95. Annex IV: Common set of context, result and output indicators referred to in Article 14(2)
  96. 1Context indicators
  97. 2Result indicators
  98. 3RD Output indicators
  99. 4Target indicators
  100. 5Proposed Performance Framework Indicators
  101. Annex V: Common evaluation questions for rural development
  102. Focus area-related evaluation questions
  103. Evaluation questions related to other aspects of the RDP
  104. Evaluation questions related to European Union level objectives
  105. Annex VIMain elements of technical support documents for the monitoring and evaluation system Repealed
  106. Annex VII: Structure and content of annual implementation reports (referred to in Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and Article 75 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013)
  107. Key information on implementation of the programme and its priorities
  108. a)Financial data
  109. b)Common and programme-specific indicators and quantified target values
  110. 2The progress in implementing the evaluation plan shall be presented as follows:
  111. *Division *
  112. 3Issues which affect the performance of the programme and the measures taken
  113. Steps taken to implement technical assistance and programme publicity requirements
  114. a)Division a)
  115. b)Division b)
  116. 5Actions taken to fulfil ex ante conditionalities (in 2017 and in 2016 where relevant)
  117. 6Description of implementation of sub-programmes
  118. 7Assessment of the information and progress towards achieving the objectives of the programme
  119. 8Implementation of actions to take into account the principles set out in Articles 6, 7 and 8 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013
  120. (a)Promotion of equality between men and women and non-discrimination (Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013)
  121. (b)Sustainable development (Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013)
  122. (c)The role of the partners referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 in the implementation of the programme
  123. 9Progress made in ensuring integrated approach
  124. 10Report on Implementation of Financial Instruments (Article 46 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013)