Article 46Special provisions as regards specific support
1.As regards the specific support provided for under Article 68 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, the Member States shall, apply the provisions of this Title. However, if this is not appropriate because of the structure of the scheme concerned, the Member States shall provide controls ensuring a control level equivalent to that laid down in this Title.
The Member States shall in particular verify;
(a)when controlling applications for payments by mutual funds as provided for in Article 68(1)(e) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, that:
farmers were effectively eligible to the compensation paid by the fund;
the compensation was effectively paid to affiliated farmers in accordance with Article 71 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009;
(b)when checking on-the-spot investment operations to be supported under specific support provided for in Article 68 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, that the investment has been realised.
The checks referred to in point (a) of the second subparagraph may be carried out by using a sample of at least 10 % of the farmers concerned.
2.Provided that the Member State ensures that the effectiveness of the controls is at least equal to that achieved when the controls are carried out by on-the-spot checks, controls at farm level may be replaced by administrative controls or checks at the level of services, bodies or organisations which provide evidence to verify the respect of eligibility criteria as referred to in Article 29(2).