Monitoring procedures
1. The Managing Authority and the Monitoring Committee referred to in Article 47 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 shall monitor the quality of the implementation of the programme.
2. The Managing Authority and the Monitoring Committee shall carry out monitoring of each rural development programme by means of financial, output and target indicators.
Monitoring Committee
Member States with regional programmes may establish a national Monitoring Committee to coordinate the implementation of these programmes in relation to the National Framework and the uptake of financial resources.
Responsibilities of the Monitoring Committee
The Monitoring Committee shall satisfy itself as to the performance of the rural development programme and the effectiveness of its implementation. To that end, in addition to the functions referred to in Article 49 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 the Monitoring Committee shall:
(a)
be consulted and shall issue an opinion, within four months of the decision approving the programme, on the selection criteria for financed operations, which shall be revised according to programming needs;
(b)
examine the activities and outputs related to the progress in the implementation of the evaluation plan of the programme;
(c)
examine, in particular, actions in the programme relating to the fulfilment of ex ante conditionalities, which fall within the responsibilities of the Managing Authority, and be informed of actions relating to the fulfilment of other ex ante conditionalities;
(d)
participate in the national rural network to exchange information on programme implementation; and
(e)
consider and approve the annual implementation reports before they are sent to the Commission.
Annual implementation report
1. By 30 June 2016 and by 30 June of each subsequent year until and including 2024, the Member State shall submit to the Commission an annual implementation report on implementation of the rural development programme in the previous calendar year. The report submitted in 2016 shall cover the calendar years 2014 and 2015.
2. In addition to complying with the requirements of Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 annual implementation reports shall include information inter alia on financial commitments and expenditure by measure, and a summary of the activities undertaken in relation to the evaluation plan.
3. In addition to complying with the requirements of Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the annual implementation report submitted in 2017 shall also cover a description of the implementation of any sub-programmes included within the programme.
4. In addition to complying with the requirements of Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, the annual implementation report submitted in 2019 shall also cover, a description of the implementation of any sub-programmes included within the programme and an assessment of progress made in ensuring an integrated approach to use of the EAFRD and other EU financial instruments to support the territorial development of rural areas, including through local development strategies.
5. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts, laying down rules concerning the presentation of the annual implementation reports. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 84.