PART ISCOPE AND GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1Scope
This Regulation lays down the detailed rules for the implementation of control procedures as well as cross-compliance in respect of the co-financed rural development support measures established pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005.
Article 2Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation:
- (a)
‘Application for support’ means an application for support or to enter a scheme under Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005;
- (b)
‘Payment claim’ means an application by a beneficiary for payment by the national authorities;
- (c)
‘Other declaration’ means any declaration or document, other than those referred to in points (a) and (b), which has to be submitted or kept by a beneficiary or a third party in order to comply with specific requirements of certain rural development measuresF1;
- (d)
F2‘ Area-related measures ’ means measures or sub-measures for which support is based on the size of the area declared;
- (e)
‘ Animal-related measures ’ means measures or sub-measures for which support is based on the number of animals declared.
Article 3Applications for support, payment claims and other declarations
1.
The Member States shall provide for appropriate procedures for the submission of applications for support.
2.
For measures with multiannual commitments, the beneficiary shall submit an annual payment claim.
However, Member States may dispense with annual physical payment claims if they introduce effective alternative procedures to carry out the administrative checks provided for in Article 11 or 24 as appropriate.
3.
An application for support, payment claim or other declaration may be totally or partially withdrawn at any time. Evidence of such withdrawal shall be recorded by the competent authority.
If the competent authority has already informed the beneficiary of irregularities in the documents referred to in the first subparagraph or if the competent authority has given notice to the beneficiary of its intention to carry out an on-the-spot check, which subsequently reveals irregularities, withdrawals shall not be authorised in respect of the parts affected by the irregularities.
Withdrawals referred to in the first subparagraph shall put beneficiaries in the position they were before submission of the documents in question or part of them.
4.
Applications for support, payment claims and other declarations may be adjusted at any time after their submission in cases of obvious errors recognised by the competent authority.
Article 4General principles of control
1.
Member States shall establish a control system that ensures that all necessary checks are carried out for effective verification of compliance with the terms under which support is granted.
2.
Without prejudice to specific provisions in this Regulation, Member States shall ensure that all the eligibility criteria established by Union or national legislation or by the rural development programmes can be checked according to a set of verifiable indicators to be established by the Member States.
3.
Member States shall ensure that a unique identification system applies with regard to all applications for support, payment claims and other declarations submitted by the same beneficiary. This identification shall be compatible with the system referred to in Article 15(1)(f) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 for recording the identity of each farmer.
4.
Where appropriate, on-the-spot checks provided for in Articles 12, 20 and 25 of this Regulation and other checks provided for in Union rules regarding agricultural subsidies shall be carried out at the same time.
5.
The results of the checks under Articles 11, 12, 24 and 25 shall be assessed to establish whether any problems encountered could in general entail a risk for other similar operations, beneficiaries or other bodies. The assessment shall also identify the causes of such situations, any further examination which may be required and the necessary corrective and preventive action.
6.
Applications for support, payment claims and other declarations shall be rejected if beneficiaries or their representatives prevent checks from being carried out. Any amounts already paid for that operation shall be recovered taking into account the criteria set out in Article 18(2) of this Regulation.
7.
Without prejudice to Article 20(4) of this Regulation, and provided that the purpose of control is not jeopardised, on-the-spot checks may be announced. The announcement shall be strictly limited to the minimum time necessary and shall not exceed 14 days. However, for on-the-spot checks concerning animal-related measures, the announcement shall, except in duly justified cases, not exceed 48 hours.
8.
Without prejudice to specific provisions, no payments shall be made to beneficiaries for whom it is established that they artificially created the conditions required for obtaining such payments with a view to obtaining an advantage contrary to the objectives of the support scheme.
9.
The reductions or exclusions under this Regulation shall be without prejudice to additional penalties pursuant to other provisions of Union or national law.
Article 5Recovery of undue payments
1.
If undue payment is made, the beneficiary shall repay the amount in question plus interest calculated in accordance with paragraph 2.
F32.
Interest shall be calculated for the period elapsing between the payment deadline for the beneficiary indicated in the recovery order, which shall not be set at more than 60 days, and the date of either repayment or deduction.
The rate of interest applicable shall be calculated in accordance with national law but shall not be lower than the interest rate applicable for the recovery of amounts under national provisions.
3.
The repayment obligation referred to in paragraph 1 shall not apply if the payment was made by error of the competent authority or of another authority and if the error could not reasonably have been detected by the beneficiary.
However, where the error relates to factual elements relevant for the calculation of the payment concerned, the first subparagraph shall only apply if the decision to recover was not communicated within 12 months of the payment.