Checks
1. Without prejudice to specific provisions of this Regulation or other Union legislation, Member States shall introduce checks and measures in so far as they are necessary to ensure the proper application of the rules for the support programmes in the wine sector laid down in Section 4 of Chapter II of Title I of Part II of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1149 and this Regulation. They shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive so that they provide adequate protection for the financial interests of the Union.
2. In particular, Member States shall ensure that:
(a)
all eligibility criteria established by Union or national legislation or the national framework can be checked;
(b)
only operations that are verifiable and controllable are selected;
(c)
the competent authorities responsible for carrying out checks have a sufficient number of suitably qualified and experienced staff to carry out the checks effectively;
(d)
provision is made for checks to avoid irregular duplicated financing of the measures under Section 4 of Chapter II of Title I of Part II of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and other Union or national schemes;
(e)
the definition of methods and means for verification that are in line with the nature of the support measure concerned and specify who shall be subject to checks;
(f)
in the case of sampling, Member States shall ensure that, by their number, nature and frequency, on-the-spot checks are representative of the entirety of their territory and correspond, where applicable, to the volume of the wine products marketed or held with a view to their marketing.
Administrative checks
1. Administrative checks shall be carried out on all applications for support, payment claims or other declarations and requests of modification submitted by a beneficiary or a third party, and shall cover all elements that can be checked and are appropriate to be checked by means of administrative checks.
Where relevant, administrative checks shall include cross-checks with, inter alia, data from the integrated administration and control system provided for in Chapter 2 of Title V of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013.
The procedures shall require recording of the control work undertaken, the results of the verification and the measures taken in the event of discrepancies.
2. Administrative checks on applications for support shall ensure the compliance of the operation with applicable obligations established by Union or national law or by the support programme. The checks shall include verification of:
(a)
the eligibility of the beneficiary;
(b)
the eligibility criteria, commitments and other obligations of the operation for which an application for support is submitted;
(c)
the eligibility of the costs of the operation and compliance with the category of costs or calculation method to be used where support is paid on the basis of standard scales of unit costs or of supporting documents to be submitted by the beneficiary, as well as, where applicable, contributions in kind, personnel and administrative costs referred to in Articles 45, 46 and 47 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1149 respectively;
(d)
where support is paid on the basis of supporting documents to be submitted by the beneficiary, the reasonableness of the costs submitted, which shall be evaluated using at least one of the following evaluation systems:
(i)
reference costs;
(ii)
a comparison of different offers;
(iii)
an evaluation committee;
(e)
where applicable, the compliance with the priority criteria and the attribution of weighting for the purposes of the selection procedure referred to in Article 23 of this Regulation.
3. Administrative checks on payment claims shall be systematic and include, where appropriate for the claim in question, verification of:
(a)
the completed operation compared with the operation for which the application for support was submitted and granted;
(b)
the costs incurred and the payments made by the beneficiary.
4. Administrative checks shall include procedures to avoid irregular double financing with other Union or national schemes.
On-the-spot checks
1. Member States shall organise on-the-spot checks on selected operations using an appropriate sample basis where a sample based control is provided for in this Chapter.
Those checks shall be carried out before the final payment is made for an operation.
2. On-the-spot checks may be announced provided that the prior notice does not interfere with their purpose or effectiveness. Any announcement shall be strictly limited to the minimum time period necessary and shall not exceed 14 days.
3. Where applicable, the on-the-spot checks provided for in this Regulation shall be carried out in conjunction with any other checks provided for by Union legislation.
Control rate and sampling of on-the-spot checks
1. On-the-spot checks after the implementation of the operations shall be systematic for the measures referred to in Articles 46, 47, 50, 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 respectively.
As regards the measures referred to in Articles 45, 48, 49 and 52 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 respectively, a sample based control after the implementation of the operations is allowed. The sample size shall be at least 5 % of the applications, selected in accordance with Article 34 of this Regulation. This sample shall also represent at least 5 % of the amounts covered by the support.
However, in relation to the measure referred to in Articles 45 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, the operations for which the beneficiaries communicated their intention to produce a certificate on the financial statements in accordance with Article 41 of this Regulation shall be systematically checked on the spot at least once before the final payment.
2. Where on-the-spot checks reveal any significant non-compliance in the context of a given support measure at national level or in a region or part of a region, the competent authority shall appropriately increase the percentage of beneficiaries to be checked on-the-spot in the following year.
However, Member States may decrease the minimum level of on-the-spot checks where the management and control systems function properly and the error rates remain at an acceptable level.
Content of the on-the-spot checks
1. Article 51(1), (2) and (3) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014 ( 13 ) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the measures referred to in Articles 45 to 52 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
2. In all appropriate cases, Member States shall make use of the integrated administration and control system provided for in Chapter 2 of Title V of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013.
Selection of the control sample
1. Control samples for on-the-spot checks allowed under this Chapter shall be selected every year by the competent authority on the basis of a risk analysis and of representativeness of the applications for support submitted. The effectiveness of risk analysis shall be assessed and updated on an annual basis:
(a)
by establishing the relevance of each risk factor;
(b)
by comparing the results of the risk based and randomly selected sample referred to in paragraph 2;
(c)
by taking into account the specific situation in the Member State.
2. To provide the element of representativeness, Member States shall select randomly between 20 and 25 % of the minimum number of beneficiaries to be subjected to on-the-spot checks.
3. The competent authority shall keep records of the reasons why specific beneficiaries were selected for on-the-spot checks. The inspector performing the on-the-spot check shall be informed of those reasons before beginning the check.
Control report
1. Every on-the-spot check shall be the subject of a control report which enables the review of all details of the checks carried out.
As far as checks concern Union financing, the report shall indicate in particular:
(a)
the support measures and operations checked;
(b)
the persons present;
(c)
where applicable, the agricultural areas checked, the agricultural areas measured, the results of the measurements per parcel measured and the measuring methods used;
(d)
the quantities which are covered by the check and their results;
(e)
whether advance notice was given to the beneficiary of the visit and, if so, how much;
(f)
any further control measures carried out.
2. Where discrepancies are found between the information in the application and the actual situation found during the check carried out on the spot or by remote sensing, the beneficiary shall receive a copy of the control report and shall have the opportunity to sign it before the competent authority draws its conclusions from the findings with regard to any resulting reductions or exclusions.
Control bodies
1. Where a Member State designates several competent bodies to check compliance with the rules governing the support measures in the wine sector, it shall coordinate the work of those bodies.
2. Each Member State shall designate a single liaison body responsible for contacts with the liaison bodies of other Member States and with the Commission. In particular, the liaison body shall receive and forward requests for cooperation with a view to implementing this Chapter, and shall represent its Member State vis-à-vis other Member States or the Commission.
Powers of control officials
Each Member State shall take all appropriate measures to facilitate the work of the officials of its competent bodies. It shall ensure in particular that such officials, where appropriate in conjunction with officials of other departments which it authorises for the purpose:
(a)
have access to vineyards, wine-making and storage installations, installations for processing wine-sector products and vehicles for transporting those products;
(b)
have access to the commercial premises or warehouses and vehicles of anyone holding with a view to sale, marketing or transporting wine-sector products or products which may be intended for use in the wine sector;
(c)
may take samples of wine-sector products, substances or products which may be used for the preparation of such products and products held with a view to sale, marketing or transport;
(d)
have access to accounting data and other documents of use in control procedures, and make copies or extracts thereof.
Assistance on request
1. Where a competent body of a Member State undertakes control activities on its territory, it may request information from a competent body of any other Member State liable to be affected directly or indirectly. Where such a request is made the assistance shall be provided in a timely manner.
The requested body shall provide all such information as may enable the requesting body to carry out its duties.
2. Where a reasoned request is made by the requesting body, the requested body shall perform special supervision or checks with a view to achieving the aims pursued, or shall take the necessary steps to ensure that such supervision or checks are performed.
3. The requested body shall act as though on its own behalf.
4. In agreement with the requested body, the requesting body may designate officials:
(a)
either to obtain, on the premises of the administrative authorities coming under the Member State in which the requested body is established, information or copies of documents relating to the application of the rules in the wine sector or to control activities;
(b)
or to be present during operations requested under paragraph 2, after advising the requested body in good time before the start of those operations.
The copies referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph may be made only with the agreement of the requested body.
5. The officials of the requested body shall remain in charge of the control operations at all times.
6. The officials of the requesting body shall:
(a)
produce a written order indicating their identity and official position;
(b)
be accorded, without prejudice to the limits imposed by the Member State of the requested body on its own officials in carrying out the controls in question:
(i)
the rights of access provided for in points (a), (b) and (d) of Article 37;
(ii)
the right to be informed of the results of checks carried out by the officials of the requested body on the samples taken under point (c) of Article 37;
(c)
in the course of checks, conduct themselves in a way compatible with the rules and professional practices which officials of the Member State are expected to follow, and observe professional confidentiality.
7. The requests referred to in this Article shall be forwarded to the requested body in the Member State in question via the liaison body of that Member State. The same procedure shall apply to:
(a)
replies to such requests;
(b)
communications concerning the application of paragraphs 2 and 4.
8. Notwithstanding paragraph 7 and in the interests of quicker and more effective cooperation between them, Member States may permit a competent body to:
(a)
make its request or communication directly to a competent body of another Member State;
(b)
reply directly to requests or communications received from a competent body of another Member State.
Persons subject to checks
Natural or legal persons and groups of such persons whose professional activities may be the subject of the checks referred to in this Chapter shall not obstruct such checks and shall be required to facilitate them at all times.
Recovery of undue payments
1. Article 7 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014 shall apply mutatis mutandis .
2. The implementation of penalties and recovery of unduly paid amounts shall be without prejudice to the notification of irregularities to the Commission pursuant to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1848/2006 ( 14 ) .
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
