Article 2
1. For each application received, the Commission shall determine whether: (a) a phytosanitary justification for the proposed purchase or improvement has been demonstrated; (b) the estimated costs of the purchase or improvement are reasonable. The Member State concerned shall, on request by the Commission, communicate to it any additional information it requires for its examinations. 2. Each year, before 15 September, the Commission shall prepare a list of programmes, which satisfy the criteria in paragraph 1(a) and (b) and which are therefore eligible to be considered to receive a Community financial contribution. With the purpose of assuring an effective and consistent EC contribution, and taking into account the evolution of the phytosanitary situation in the Community, the Commission shall rank the above programmes. Priority will be given to those programmes that give the most added value to the relevant inspection post in terms of quantity and/or quality of inspections and therefore concern: - improvements suggested by the experts referred to in Article 21 of the Directive, - inspection posts which are to be significantly restructured. The list, which shall detail the amount of the proposed Community financial contribution to each programme, shall be submitted for discussion to the Standing Committee on Plant Health. 3. Each programme included in the list provided for in paragraph 2 shall be approved individually in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Article 18 of the Directive. Such approval shall include the rate of the financial contribution from the Community, any conditions to which it may be subject and the upper limit of the contribution. The financial contribution of the Community shall not be granted where the total amount of eligible expenditure per programme is less than EUR 25000. A programme may concern more than one inspection post in the same Member State.