Commission Regulation (EC) No 1974/2006 (repealed)Show full title

Section 3 U.K. Changes in rural development programmes

Article 6 U.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;

(c) other changes not covered by points (a) and (b) 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.

Article 7 U.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;

(d) the revision introduces changes relating to the exceptions referred to in Article 5(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005.

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.

Article 8 U.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.

Article 9 U.K.

1. 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, the withdrawal of existing measures, 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.

Article 10 U.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 11 U.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 12 U.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.