# Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/916 of 27 June 2018 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 as regards certain provisions on checks, notifications and annual reporting and on amendments to the programme for the smaller Aegean islands, Introduction: Introductory text

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/916
of 27 June 2018
amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 as regards certain provisions on checks, notifications and annual reporting and on amendments to the programme for the smaller Aegean islands
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (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, and in particular Article 6(2) and the second paragraph of Article 7 and Articles 11(3) and 13(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Experience gained with the application of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 has shown that certain provisions relating to checks, notifications and annual reporting need to be clarified and simplified.
(2)
Article 3 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 lays down the provisions for aid certificates and payment relating to products supplied from the Union. Article 4(1) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239 makes the use of the Economic Operators Registration and Identification number (‘EORI number’) mandatory for import licences. It is appropriate to provide the same requirement for the aid certificates covered by Article 3 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014.
(3)
Article 13 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 lays down the rules for the administrative and physical checks on the entry, export and dispatch of agricultural products. It is appropriate to separate the type of physical checks for entry from the type of physical checks for export and dispatch. The wording of that Article should make explicit the obligation of applying a representative sample when performing checks on export and dispatch operations provided for in Section 3 of that Regulation.
(4)
Article 20 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 provides the general principles for the checks in respect of aid applications for the measures to support local agricultural products. Taking into account the heterogeneity and different level of complexity of actions within the measures and to further ensure that all areas of expenditure are covered and represented in the sampling, it is necessary to specify that the competent authorities are to perform on-the-spot checks at the level of each action by sampling at least 5 % of the aid applications. The sample should also represent at least 5 % of the amounts covered by the aid for each action.
(5)
Article 22 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 provides the rules for the selection of aid applicants to be subject to on-the-spot checks. As in the smaller Aegean islands there might be a small number of applicants, Greece should have the possibility to select only one applicant.
(6)
Article 30(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 requires certain data relating to the specific supply arrangements balance to be notified at the end of each quarter of the year. That periodicity is burdensome and a notification only once per year is deemed sufficient.
(7)
Article 31 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 sets out the elements to be included in the annual report on the implementation of the measures. In its report of 15 December 2016 the Commission concluded that the content of the annual report should be clarified and simplified in order to facilitate the reporting process. As it is therefore opportune to amend the reporting obligations and provide a new structure of the annual report, the relevant details should be specified in a new Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014.
(8)
Article 32 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 sets out the procedures for amending the programme. Taking into account the experience gained with its application, those procedures need to be simplified in order to ensure a more flexible and smoother adaptation to the actual conditions relating to the supply arrangements and the local agricultural conditions. Therefore, it is appropriate to require that amendments covered by Article 32(1) and (2) of that Regulation be presented at the same time by 31 July.
(9)
In general, amendments to the programme do not need formal approval by the Commission. It is appropriate to revise the wording of Article 32(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 in order to express that principle in a more explicit way.
(10)
However, ‘major’ amendments to the programme covered by Article 32(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 do need formal approval by the Commission. On the basis of the experience with that procedure, it is necessary to extend the deadline for approval to five months after the notification of the amendment. In addition, in order to simplify the procedure, the formal approval by the Commission should be limited to the first case currently covered by that provision.
(11)
Article 32(3) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 concerns ‘minor’ amendments. To ease the financial adjustment procedure within the Member State, the deadline for the notification of adjustments up to 20 % of the financial allocation should be extended to 31 May.
(12)
Finally, the definition of ‘measure’ in Article 32(5)(a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 should be simplified.
(13)
Several Commission regulations have been repealed and replaced by delegated and implementing regulations. For reasons of clarity and legal certainty, it is appropriate to update the references to those regulations. In particular, as regards the system of import and export licences, references to Commission Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 should be replaced by references to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239.
(14)
As regards the notifications to the Commission, references to Commission Regulation (EC) No 792/2009 should be replaced by references to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1183 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1185.
(15)
As regards the rules based on Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council references to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1122/2009 should be replaced by references to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014.
(16)
Implementing Regulation (EU) No 181/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(17)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Direct Payments,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2018/916/introduction (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2018-916/introduction
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.