Commission Regulation (EC) No 1974/2006 (repealed)Show full title

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1974/2006 of 15 December 2006 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (repealed)

CHAPTER IIU.K.General rules

Section 1U.K.Complementarity, consistency and conformity

Article 2U.K.

1.Consistency as referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall be ensured:

(a)between rural development support measures on the one hand, and measures implemented under other Community support instruments and in particular measures implemented under direct and other support schemes of the Common Agricultural Policy and animal and plant health measures, on the other hand;

(b)between the different rural development support measures.

2.Where support under Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 may exceptionally be granted in accordance with Article 5(6) of that Regulation, for measures falling within the scope of the support schemes listed in Annex I to this Regulation, Member States shall ensure that a beneficiary may receive support for a given operation only under one scheme.

To that end, Member States, when including measures containing such exceptions in their rural development programmes, shall describe in those programmes the criteria and administrative rules they will apply for the support schemes concerned.

[F13. With the exception of the dairy sector, where a common market organisation, including direct support schemes financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) places restrictions on production or limitations on Community support at the level of individual farmers, holdings or processing plants, no investment shall be supported under Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 which would increase production beyond those restrictions or limitations.]

Textual Amendments

Section 2U.K.Strategy and programming

Article 3U.K.

1.National strategy plans may be updated in the programming period. For such updates one or both of the following elements shall be taken into account:

(a)the update affects one or more of the elements listed in Article 11(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 and/or one or more of the Community strategic guidelines referred to in Article 9 of that Regulation;

(b)the update involves changes of one or more rural development programmes as referred to in Article 6(1) of this Regulation.

2.Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall apply mutatis mutandis to updates of national strategy plans.

3.In order to allow sufficient time for rural development programme adaptations, the last update of a national strategy plan shall be forwarded to the Commission by 30 June 2013 at the latest.

4.The national strategy plans shall be confirmed or updated after approval of the rural development programmes notably in light of the quantification of the objectives and targets stemming from the ex-ante evaluation of those programmes.

[F2Article 3a U.K.

Revisions of national strategy plans in accordance with Article 12a of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall include a revision of the relevant elements set out in Article 11(3) of that Regulation which are related to the priorities foreseen in Article 16a(1) of that Regulation, and, in particular, of the main quantified objectives.

The National Strategy shall identify the approximate and indicative EAFRD contribution referred to in Article 69(5a) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 allocated to each of the priorities referred to in Article 16a(1) of that Regulation in the Member State and shall contain the appropriate explanations related to the allocation.]

Textual Amendments

Article 4U.K.

1.The Commission shall approve the rural development programmes submitted by the Member States within a maximum of six months from the date of receipt of the programmes by the Commission. In the case of rural development programmes submitted before the date of entry into force of this Regulation, the six month period shall start from that date.

In cases of application of the second subparagraph of Article 18(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, the six-month period provided for in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall start from the date the revised proposed programme is compliant with the first subparagraph of Article 18(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005.

2.The dates for determining the time periods provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be fixed in accordance with Article 63(6) and (8), where applicable.

Article 5U.K.

1.[F1The content of rural development programmes as referred to in Articles 16 and 16a of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall be established in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation.]

The ex-ante evaluation referred to in Article 85 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall be annexed to each rural development programme.

2.National frameworks referred to in Article 15(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall contain information common to several measures. For those measures, regional rural development programmes may only contain additional information, provided that information contained jointly under national frameworks and regional programmes complies with the requirements of Annex II to this Regulation.

3.Member States shall make available to the Commission an electronic version of their rural development programmes and national frameworks where applicable, updated following each change, including the standard tables set out in Annex II to this Regulation corresponding to information required in accordance with Article 16(d), (e) and (f) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005. Member States shall forward to the Commission requests for programme changes and national framework changes, where applicable, by electronic means, in accordance with Article 63 of this Regulation.

Textual Amendments

Section 3U.K.Changes in rural development programmes

Article 6U.K.

1.Changes in rural development programmes shall fall under the following categories:

(a)revisions as referred to in Article 19(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005;

(b)revisions stemming from coordination procedures for the uptake of the financial resources as referred to in Article 77(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005;

[F3(ba) changes to the financing plan related to the implementation of Article 70(4b) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005;]

[F4(c) other changes not covered by points (a), (b) and (ba) of this paragraph.]

2.Programme changes as referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 may only be proposed from the second year of implementation of the programme.

3.Proposals for changes in rural development programmes shall be duly substantiated, in particular giving the following information:

(a)the reasons and any implementation problems justifying the change;

(b)the expected effects of the change;

(c)the relationship between the change and the national strategy plan.

Textual Amendments

Article 7U.K.

1.For programme revisions referred to in Article 6(1)(a) of this Regulation, a decision shall be adopted pursuant to the first sentence of Article 19(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, on a request submitted by a Member State, where:

(a)the revision goes above the flexibility ceiling between axes referred to in Article 9(2) of this Regulation;

(b)the revision alters the Community co-financing rates referred to in Article 70 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 as provided for in the approved rural development programme;

(c)the revision changes the total Community contribution for the entire programming period and/or its annual breakdown, without changing contributions for past years;

[F1(d) the revision relates to the first implementation of Article 16a of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005;]

[F2(e) the revision introduces an additional potential effect, not listed in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, related to the priorities mentioned in Article 16a of the same Regulation.]

The decision shall be taken within six months from the date of receipt by the Commission of the Member State's request.

2.Except in cases of emergency measures due to natural disasters, requests for programme revisions referred to in Article 6(1)(a) shall not be submitted more than once per calendar year and per programme.

For revisions as referred to in paragraph 1(c), Member States shall forward requests by 30 September of each year at the latest.

For the revisions referred to in paragraph 1, Member States shall forward their last requests for revisions to the Commission by 30 June 2013 at the latest.

Textual Amendments

Article 8U.K.

1.Member States with regionalised programming may submit programme revisions referred to in Article 6(1)(b) to transfer the contribution of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) between regional programmes for particular years, where:

(a)the total EAFRD contribution per programme for the entire programming period is not altered;

(b)the total EAFRD allocation to the Member State concerned is not altered;

(c)the annual breakdowns of the programme for the years preceding the year of the revision are not altered;

(d)the annual EAFRD allocation to the Member State concerned is respected;

(e)if appropriate, the budget for achieving the Convergence Objective mentioned in the national strategy plan in accordance with Article 11(3)(f) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 is not reduced.

2.The financial tables of the programmes concerned shall be adapted to reflect the transfers referred to in paragraph 1.

The revised financial tables shall be forwarded to the Commission by 30 September at the latest of the calendar year in which a transfer takes place. The last year in which such revisions can be forwarded shall be 2012.

The Commission shall adopt a Decision approving the new financial tables within three months after receipt of the Member State’s request. The procedure referred to in Article 90(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall not apply.

3.Requests for programme revisions referred to in Article 6(1)(b) shall not be submitted more than once per calendar year.

[F3Article 8a U.K.

1. Member States intending to make changes related to the implementation of Article 70(4b) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall notify to the Commission an amended financing plan containing the increased rates of contribution from the EAFRD to be applied in 2009.

The procedure of Article 9 of this Regulation shall apply to changes notified in accordance with the first subparagraph.

2. After receiving the last declaration of expenditure for the year 2009, to be submitted by 31 January 2010 at the latest in accordance with Article 16(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 883/2006 (1) , the Commission shall calculate the maximum EAFRD contribution rates that may be applied for the remaining part of the programming period in order to respect the overall maximum EAFRD contribution rates as provided in paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 70 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005. The details and the result of that calculation shall be communicated to the Member States by 15 February 2010 .

3. Member States shall notify to the Commission, by 15 March 2010 , a new financing plan containing new EAFRD contribution rates for the remainder of the programming period in conformity with the maximum rates calculated by the Commission according to paragraph 2.

If a Member State does not notify the new financing plan by this date or if the financing plan notified is not in conformity with the Commission’s calculation of the maximum rates, the latter shall become automatically applicable to that Member State’s rural development programme as from the declaration corresponding to expenditure incurred by the paying agency during the first quarter of 2010, and up to a revised financing plan compatible with the co-financing rates calculated by the Commission.]

Textual Amendments

Article 9U.K.

[F11. Changes in programmes by Member States as referred to in Article 6(1)(c) may involve changes of financial breakdowns by measure within an axis as well as non-financial changes concerning the introduction of new measures and types of operations, the withdrawal of existing measures and types of operations, the changes relating to the exception referred to in Article 5(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 or information on and description of existing measures in the programme.]

2.Member States shall also be authorised to make changes as referred to in Article 6(1)(c) by transferring within a calendar year from and to any axis up to 1 % of the total EAFRD contribution to the programme for the entire programming period.

3.Programme changes referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 may be made before 31 December 2015 at the latest, provided that Member States notify such changes by 31 August 2015 at the latest.

4.Except in cases of emergency measures due to natural disasters, changes referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be notified no more than three times per calendar year and per programme provided that the 1 % ceiling referred to in paragraph 2 is respected within the calendar year in which the three notifications are made.

5.Changes referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall be compatible with the rates set in Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005.

6.Changes referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be notified to the Commission. The Commission shall assess their:

(a)compliance with Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005;

(b)coherence with the relevant national strategy plan;

(c)compliance with this Regulation.

The Commission shall inform the Member State of the results of that assessment within four months from the date of receipt by the Commission of the request of the programme change. If the changes fail to comply with one or more of the assessment parameters referred to in the first subparagraph, the four-month period shall be suspended until the Commission receives compliant programme changes.

If the Commission does not inform the Member State within the four-month period referred to in the second subparagraph the changes shall be deemed to be accepted and shall enter into force once the four-month period has expired.

Textual Amendments

Article 10U.K.

1.For the purpose of the second subparagraph of Article 71(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, Member States shall bear the responsibility for expenditure between the date on which their request for programme revisions or changes as referred to in Article 6(1) of this Regulation is received by the Commission and the date of the Commission Decision pursuant to Articles 7 and 8 of this Regulation or that of the completion of the compliance assessment of the changes pursuant to Article 9 of this Regulation.

2.In cases of emergency measures due to natural disasters, eligibility of expenditure relating to programme changes as referred to in Article 6(1) may start from a date earlier than the date referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 71(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005.

Article 11U.K.

Changes of national frameworks referred to in Article 15(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 shall fall within the scope of Article 6(1)(c) of this Regulation. Article 9(3) and (6) of this Regulation shall apply mutatis mutandis to such changes.

Article 12U.K.

Where Community legislation is adopted or amended, rural development programmes shall be changed in line with the new or amended legislation as necessary, in accordance with Article 6(1). Such changes shall not be taken into account for the yearly number of changes referred to in Article 7(2), Article 8(3) and Article 9(4). Article 6(2) shall not apply to such changes.

Textual Amendments