Definition
For the purpose of this Chapter the following definitions shall apply:
(1)
‘payment’ means any financial contribution to be paid out by the Commission following a payment request submitted by a Member State during or at the end of the implementation of an operational programme under Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 or of a project covered by Article 8(a) of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006;
(2)
‘interruption’ means disrupting the running of the payment’s deadline;
(3)
‘suspension’ means suspension of the payments pursuant to specific payment requests as referred to in Article 103(1) of the Control Regulation;
(4)
‘cancellation’ means annulling all or part of the suspended Union contribution to an operational programme under Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 or to a specific project covered by Article 8(a) of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006.
Interruption of the payment deadline
1. The deadline for a payment may be interrupted by the authorising officer by delegation as defined in Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 ( 34 ) for a maximum period of 6 months if:
(a)
there are findings of non-compliance with CFP rules; or
(b)
the authorising officer by delegation has to carry out additional verifications following findings indicating that there are failures in the control system of a Member State and/or non-compliance with CFP rules of fishery and fishery-related activities.
2. The concerned Member State shall be informed in writing as referred to in Article 103(3) of the Control Regulation of the reasons for the interruption of the payment deadline. It shall be asked to communicate to the Commission within 1 month of receipt of that letter the remedial actions taken and/or information concerning the financial assistance granted to the fisheries related activities subject matter of the non-compliance as set out in Annex XXXI to this Regulation.
3. Where the Member State concerned does not respond to the Commission’s request within the period mentioned in paragraph 2, or where it provides an unsatisfactory response, the Commission may send a reminder allowing an additional period of maximum 15 days.
4. The interruption shall be ended where the Member State demonstrates in its reply that it has taken remedial actions to ensure compliance with CFP rules or that the findings indicating that there are failures in its control system and/or non-compliance with CFP rules of fishery and fishery-related activities were unfounded.
Suspension of payments
1. 1. Where the Member State concerned does not respond to the Commission’s request within the period mentioned in Article 136 of this Regulation, or where it provides an unsatisfactory response, the Commission may adopt on the basis of the information available at that time a decision to suspend all or part of payments of the Union financial assistance to that Member State (hereinafter referred to as ‘suspension decision’) as referred to in Article 103(1) of the Control Regulation.
2. The suspension decision shall summarise the relevant issues of fact and law, shall include the assessment of the Commission with regard to the conditions referred to in Article 103(1) and (6) of the Control Regulation and shall set the part of the payment that is suspended. The suspension decision shall call upon the Member State concerned to take remedial actions within a prescribed period which shall not exceed 6 months.
3. The amount of payments to be suspended shall be decided by applying a rate which shall be determined taking into account the criteria set in Article 103(5) of the Control Regulation.
Cancellation of financial assistance
1. Where, during the suspension period, the Member State still fails to demonstrate that it has corrected the situation which led to the suspension decision, as referred to in Article 103(2) of the Control Regulation, the Commission may inform it of its intention to adopt a cancellation decision. Article 136(2) and (3) of this Regulation shall apply in a corresponding manner.
2. Where the Member State concerned does not respond to the Commission’s request referred to in paragraph 1, or where it provides an unsatisfactory response, the Commission may adopt on the basis of the information available at that time a decision to cancel all or part of suspended payments to that Member State.
3. The cancellation decision referred to in paragraph 2 may include the recovery of part of or all of the advance, if any, on the financial contribution already paid for in relation to the projects covered by Article 8(a) of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 for which payments were suspended.
4. The amount of the suspended payments to be cancelled shall be decided by applying a rate which shall be determined taking into account the criteria set in Article 103(5) of the Control Regulation.
5. The amount of the advance on the financial contribution to be recovered on projects for which payments were suspended shall be repaid to the Commission by a recovery procedure as set in Article 28(2) of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 and Article 72 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002.
