Establishment of the declaration of expenditure
1. The amount of the payment to be granted to a beneficiary under the EAGF shall be determined by the Member States in the framework of the control systems as referred to in Title IV of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.
2. The expenditure effected and to be declared to the EAGF shall take account of penalties applied in the framework of Member States’ control systems in case of non-compliances.
3. The amount resulting from the application of paragraph 2 shall serve for types of intervention in the form of direct payments referred to in Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 and the programmes for the outermost regions of the Union and the smaller Aegean islands as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 229/2013, respectively, as a basis for the reduction of payments referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 and for the application of financial discipline referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.
4. The amount resulting from the application of paragraph 2 and in the specific case of direct payments and the programmes referred to in paragraph 3, the amount resulting from the application of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall constitute the amount to be declared to the Commission.
5. The expenditure declared to the EAGF shall serve as a basis for the verification of the financial ceilings set by Union law.
6. The amount resulting from the application of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall serve as a basis for the calculation of administrative penalties in relation to conditionality as referred to in Title IV, Chapters IV and V, of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.
7. By way of derogation from paragraph 3, Member States may pay advances for direct payments without applying the adjustment rate for financial discipline referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 to beneficiaries in respect of the aid applications for a given year. The balance payment to be granted to beneficiaries as from 1 December shall take into account the adjustment rate for financial discipline applicable at that time for the total amount of direct payments in the corresponding calendar year.
Communication of information by Member States
1. In accordance with Article 90(1), point (c)(i) and (ii), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, Member States shall send to the Commission, electronically and by the seventh day of each month at the latest, the information and documents on expenditure and assigned revenue referred to in Articles 11 and 12 of this Regulation, and in particular the declaration of expenditure drawn up in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article.
However, the communication on expenditure effected and assigned revenue received between 1 and 15 October shall be sent by 25 October at the latest.
All relevant information shall be provided on the basis of the model made available by the Commission to Member States through information systems.
2. The declaration of expenditure referred to in paragraph 1 shall consist of at least:
(a)
a statement, drawn up by each paying agency, broken down according to the nomenclature of the Union budget and by expenditure and assigned revenue, based on a detailed nomenclature made available within the information systems to the Member States covering:
(i)
the expenditure effected and assigned revenue received during the preceding month;
(ii)
total expenditure effected and assigned revenue received from the beginning of the financial year until the end of the preceding month;
(iii)
estimates of expenditure and assigned revenue covering separately the next three months and, as appropriate, the total of estimates of expenditure and assigned revenue to the end of the financial year.
Where the estimates for the next three months, as referred to in the first subparagraph, point (iii), fall in the next financial year, only the total per month needs to be provided;
(b)
the accounts evidencing expenditure and revenue relating to public intervention.
3. All the financial information required under this Article shall be communicated in euro.
General rules on the declaration of expenditure and on assigned revenue
1. Without prejudice to the special provisions on declarations of expenditure and revenue relating to public storage referred to in Article 12, expenditure and assigned revenue declared by paying agencies in respect of a given month shall correspond to payments and receipts actually effected during that month.
That expenditure and assigned revenue shall be entered in the accounts of the EAGF budget in respect of the corresponding financial year.
However:
(a)
expenditure which may be paid prior to the implementation of the provision permitting it to be wholly or partially borne by the EAGF may be declared only:
(i)
in respect of the month during which the provision in question was implemented; or
(ii)
in respect of the month following implementation of that provision;
(b)
revenue assigned to the EAGF shall be declared in respect of the month during which the time limit for payment of the corresponding amounts, laid down in Union legislation, expires. Where corrections to assigned revenue lead, at paying agency level, to the declaration of negative revenue assigned for a budget line, surplus corrections shall be carried over to the following month.
2. Expenditure and assigned revenue shall be taken into consideration on the date on which the account of the paying agency was debited or credited. However, for payments, the date to be taken into consideration may be the date on which the agency concerned issued the payment document and sent it to a financial institution or to the beneficiary. Each paying agency shall use the same method throughout the financial year.
3. Payment orders which are not executed and payments debited to the account, then re-credited, shall be shown in the accounts as deductions from expenditure in respect of the month during which the failure to execute or the cancellation is reported to the paying agency.
4. Where payments due under the EAGF are encumbered by claims, they shall be deemed to have been effected in their entirety for the purpose of applying paragraph 1:
(a)
on the date of the payment of the sum due to the beneficiary, if the claim is less than the expenditure settled;
(b)
on the date of set-off, if the expenditure is less than or equal to the claim.
Special rules on declarations of expenditure relating to public storage
1. The operations to be taken into consideration for drawing up declarations of expenditure relating to public storage shall be those entered at the end of a given month in the accounts of the paying agency, which have taken place from the beginning of the accounting year within the meaning of Article 3(3), first subparagraph, point (a) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127 up to the end of that month.
2. Such declarations of expenditure shall comprise the values and amounts determined in accordance with Articles 17and 18 of this Regulation and Article 4 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014 ( 14 ) entered in the accounts by paying agencies during the month following that to which the operations relate.
However:
(a)
in the case of operations carried out in the course of September, the values and amounts shall be entered in the accounts by paying agencies by 15 October at the latest;
(b)
in the case of the overall depreciation amounts referred to in Article 3(1), point (e), of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014, the amounts shall be entered in the accounts on the date laid down in the decision providing for them.
Payment decision by the Commission
1. On the basis of the data sent in accordance with Article 10(1) of this Regulation, the Commission shall decide to make the monthly payments pursuant to Article 21(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, without prejudice to the corrections which may be made by means of subsequent decisions in accordance with Articles 53, 54 and 55 of that Regulation, and taking into account the reductions and suspensions decided in accordance with Articles 39 to 42 of that Regulation.
2. If the total expenditure declared by Member States for the following financial year exceeds three quarters of the EAGF total appropriations for the current financial year, the advance commitments referred to in Article 11(2), point (b), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 and the corresponding monthly payments shall be granted in proportion to the declarations of expenditure, up to a maximum of 75 % of the appropriations for the current financial year. The Commission shall take the balance of amounts not reimbursed to Member States into account in decisions on subsequent reimbursements.
Making resources available to Member States
By deciding to make the monthly payments, the Commission shall place at the disposal of the Member States, within the framework of the budget appropriations, the resources needed to cover expenditure to be financed by the EAGF, less the corresponding amount of assigned revenue, in the account opened by each Member State.
When the amount established by the Commission for the application of Article 13(1) is negative for a Member State in total or for a given budget line, the effective offsetting may be deferred to the following months.
Communication under public intervention
1. Paying agencies shall transmit to the Commission:
(a)
at the Commission’s request, the documents and information referred to in Article 3(7) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127 and the additional national administrative provisions adopted for the application and management of intervention measures;
(b)
by the day provided for in Article 10(1), of this Regulation, the information on public storage, on the basis of the models made available by the Commission to Member States through information systems.
2. The relevant information systems referred to in Article 25 shall be used to perform the notifications and information exchanges and to draw up the documents relating to public intervention expenditure.
Content of the public storage accounts to be kept by paying agencies
1. The stock accounts provided for in Article 3(3), first subparagraph, point (a), of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127 shall contain the following categories of elements, shown separately:
(a)
the quantities of products recorded on entry into and removal from storage, with or without physical movement;
(b)
the quantities used for free distribution to the most deprived persons under the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, and accounted for under Article 4(3) of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014, distinguishing those which are the subject of a transfer to another Member State;
(c)
quantities taken as samples, distinguishing samples taken by purchasers;
(d)
the quantities which, after checking by visual examination in the context of the annual stock-taking or during the inspection after taking into intervention, may no longer be repackaged and are the subject of direct sales;
(e)
quantities missing, for identifiable or unidentifiable reasons, including those corresponding to the legal tolerance limits;
(f)
quantities which have deteriorated;
(g)
surplus quantities;
(h)
missing quantities exceeding the tolerance limits;
(i)
quantities which have entered into storage and been found not to meet the requirements and for which taking-over has therefore been refused;
(j)
net quantities in storage at the end of each month or accounting year, which are carried forward to the next month or accounting year.
2. The financial accounts provided for in Article 3(3), first subparagraph, point (a), of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127 shall contain:
(a)
the value of the quantities referred to in paragraph 1, point (a), of this Article, showing separately the value of the quantities bought in and of the quantities sold;
(b)
the book value of the quantities used or taken into account under the free distribution arrangements referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), of this Article;
(c)
the financing costs referred to in Article 3(1), point (a), of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014;
(d)
expenditure on physical operations as referred to in Article 3(1), points (b) and (c), of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014;
(e)
amounts resulting from depreciation as referred to in Article 3(1), point (e), of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014;
(f)
the amounts collected or recovered from sellers, purchasers and storers, other than those referred to in Article 21 of this Regulation;
(g)
the amount from direct sales carried out after the annual stock-taking or following checks after products are taken into intervention storage;
(h)
losses and gains on removals of products, taking account of depreciation as referred to in point (e) of this paragraph;
(i)
other debits and credits, in particular those corresponding to the quantities referred to in paragraph 1, points (c) to (g), of this Article;
(j)
the average book value, expressed per tonne.
Accounting related to public intervention
1. The elements referred to in Article 16 shall be booked for the quantities, values, amounts and averages actually recorded by paying agencies or for the values and amounts calculated on the basis of the standard amounts established by the Commission.
2. The records and calculations referred to in paragraph 1 shall be made subject to the application of the following rules:
(a)
the removal costs relating to quantities for which quantitative losses or deterioration have been recorded, in accordance with the rules laid down in Annexes VI and VII to Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014, shall be entered in the accounts only for the quantities actually sold and removed from storage;
(b)
quantities recorded as missing on transfer between Member States shall not be deemed to have entered storage in the Member State of destination and shall not be covered by standard entry costs;
(c)
the standard entry and removal costs fixed for transport and transfer shall be entered in the accounts if those costs are not considered, under the Union rules, to be an integral part of the transport costs;
(d)
unless specific Union rules provide otherwise, amounts accruing from sales of products which have deteriorated and any other amounts received in this context shall not be entered in the EAGF account records;
(e)
any surplus quantities recorded shall be entered in the accounts as a negative amount, in the missing quantities in the stock situation and movements. Those quantities shall be included when determining the quantities exceeding the tolerance limit;
(f)
samples other than those taken by purchasers shall be entered in the accounts in accordance with point 2(a) of Annex VII to Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014.
3. Corrections made by the Commission, as regards the elements referred to in Article 16 for the current accounting year, shall be notified to the Committee on the Agricultural Funds. They may be notified to the Member States on the occasion of a monthly payment decision or, failing that, at the time of the decision on the clearance of accounts. They shall be entered in the accounts by paying agencies under the terms of that decision.
Dates for entering expenditure and revenue and product movements in the accounts for public intervention
1. The various items of expenditure and revenue shall be entered in the accounts on the date on which the physical operation under the public intervention measure takes place and by using the exchange rate as referred to in Article 3(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014.
However, the following dates shall apply in the cases set out below:
(a)
the date of receipt, in the case of amounts received or recovered, as referred to in Article 16(2), points (f) and (g), of this Regulation;
(b)
the date of actual payment of costs relating to physical operations, where such costs are not covered by standard amounts.
2. The various elements relating to the physical movement of products and the management of stocks shall be entered in the accounts on the date on which the physical operation under the intervention measure takes place.
However, the following dates shall apply in the cases set out below:
(a)
the date of taking-over of products by the paying agency, in accordance with Article 22(2) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1240 ( 15 ) , for quantities entering public storage without any change in the place of storage;
(b)
regarding missing or deteriorated and surplus quantities, the date of the finding as to the facts in the case of missing or deteriorated and surplus quantities;
(c)
the date of actual removal from storage, in the case of direct sales of products remaining in storage which can no longer be repackaged after visual examination in the context of the annual stock-taking or during the inspection after taking into intervention;
(d)
the last day of the accounting year, for any losses exceeding the tolerance limit referred to in Article 4(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127.
Amount financed under public intervention
1. The amount to be financed under the intervention measures referred to in Article 2 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014 shall be determined on the basis of the accounts drawn up and kept by paying agencies in accordance with Article 3(3), first subparagraph, point (a) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127, and to which the various items of expenditure and revenue referred to in Article 16 of this Regulation are debited and credited, respectively, taking account where necessary of amounts of expenditure fixed under the sectoral agricultural legislation.
2. Paying agencies or coordinating bodies as appropriate shall transmit to the Commission, each month and each year, by electronic means, on the basis of the models made available by the Commission to Member States through information systems, the information needed for the financing of public storage expenditure and the accounts evidencing expenditure and revenue relating to public storage in the form of tables, by the day provided for in Article 10(1) and by the date provided for in Article 33(2).
Declarations of public intervention expenditure and revenue
1. Financing by the EAGF under the intervention measures referred to in Article 2 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014 shall be equal to the expenditure, calculated on the basis of the information notified by the paying agency, after deduction of any revenue accruing from the intervention measures, validated by the information system set up by the Commission and included by the paying agency in its declaration of expenditure drawn up in accordance with Article 12 of this Regulation.
2. Sums recovered in accordance with Article 53 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 and amounts received or recovered from sellers, purchasers and storers, which meet the criteria laid down in Article 45 of that Regulation shall be declared to the EAGF budget in accordance with Article 10(2), point (a), of this Regulation.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
