Address https://gelex.eu/eli/EU/decision/2016/941@2016-05-30/en

Contents

1. Preamble
2. 1. Article 1
   2. Article 2
   3. Article 3
   4. Article 4
3. ANNEX
4. ANNEX I CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES' ACCOUNTS FINANCIAL YEAR 2015 Amount to be recovered from or paid to the Member State
5. ANNEX II CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES' ACCOUNTS FINANCIAL YEAR 2015 — EAGF List of the paying agencies for which the accounts are disjoined and are subject of a later clearance decision

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 352/78, (EC) No 165/94, (EC) No 2799/98, (EC) No 814/2000, (EC) No 1290/2005 and (EC) No 485/2008, and in particular Article 51 thereof,

After consulting the Committee on the Agricultural Funds,

Whereas:

(1) Pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, the Commission, on the basis of the annual accounts submitted by the Member States, accompanied by the information required for the clearance of accounts and an audit opinion regarding the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the accounts and the reports established by the certification bodies, has to clear the accounts of the paying agencies referred to in Article 7 of that Regulation.

(2) In accordance with Article 39 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 the agricultural financial year begins on 16 October of year N-1 and ends on 15 October of year N. When clearing the accounts for the 2015 financial year, account should be taken of expenditure incurred by the Member States between 16 October 2014 and 15 October 2015, as provided for in Article 11(1) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 908/2014.

(3) The first subparagraph of Article 33(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 908/2014 provides that the amounts that are recoverable from, or payable to, each Member State, in accordance with the accounts clearance decision referred to in Article 33(1) of that Regulation, are to be determined by deducting the monthly payments for the financial year in question, i.e. 2015, from expenditure recognised for that year in accordance with Article 33(1). The Commission is to deduct that amount from or add it to the next intermediate payment.

(4) The Commission has checked the information submitted by the Member States and has communicated the results of its checks to the Member States before 30 April 2016, along with the necessary amendments.

(5) For certain paying agencies, the annual accounts and the accompanying documents allow the Commission to take a decision on the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the annual accounts submitted.

(6) The information submitted by certain other paying agencies requires additional inquiries and, therefore, their accounts cannot be cleared in this Decision.

(7) In accordance with Article 5(5) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 907/2014, any overrun of deadlines during August, September and October is to be taken into account in the clearance of accounts decision. Some of the expenditure declared by certain Member States during these months in 2015 was effected after the applicable deadlines. This Decision should therefore fix the relevant reductions.

(8) Pursuant to Article 41 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, the Commission has already reduced or suspended a number of monthly payments on entry into the accounts of expenditure for the 2015 financial year due to failure to comply with financial ceilings or payment deadlines, or due to control deficiencies. In adopting this Decision, the Commission should take into account the amounts reduced or suspended in order to avoid making all inappropriate, or untimely, payments or reimbursing amounts which could later be subject to financial correction. The amounts in question may be further examined, where appropriate, under conformity clearance proceedings pursuant to Article 52 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013.

(9) Article 54(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 requires Member States to attach to the annual accounts that they have to submit to the Commission pursuant to Article 29 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 908/2014 a certified table reflecting the amounts to be borne by them under Article 54(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013. Rules on the application of the Member States' obligation to report the amounts to be recovered are laid down in Implementing Regulation (EU) No 908/2014. Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 908/2014 sets out the model of the table that Member States have to use to provide information about amounts to be recovered in 2016. On the basis of the tables completed by the Member States, the Commission should decide on the financial consequences of non-recovery of irregularities older than four or eight years respectively.

(10) Pursuant to Article 54(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, on duly justified grounds, Member States may decide not to pursue recovery. Such a decision may be taken only if the costs already, and likely to be, incurred total more than the amount to be recovered or if the recovery proves impossible owing to the insolvency, recorded and recognised under national law, of the debtor or the persons legally responsible for the irregularity. If the decision has been taken within four years of the primary administrative or judicial finding or within eight years where the recovery is taken to the national courts, 100 % of the financial consequences of the non-recovery should be borne by the Union budget. The amounts for which the Member State decided not to pursue recovery and the grounds for the decision are shown in the summary report referred to in Article 54(4) in conjunction with point (c)(iv) of Article 102(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013. Therefore, such amounts should not be charged to the Member States concerned and are consequently borne by the Union budget.

(11) In accordance with Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, this Decision is without prejudice to the decisions the Commission may take subsequently to exclude from Union financing expenditure not effected in accordance with European Union rules,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

With the exception of the paying agencies referred to in Article 2, the accounts of the Member States' paying agencies concerning expenditure financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) in respect of the 2015 financial year, are hereby cleared. The amounts recoverable from, or payable to, each Member State pursuant to this Decision, including those resulting from the application of Article 54(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, are set out in Annex I to this Decision.

Article 2

For the 2015 financial year, the accounts of the Member States' paying agencies in respect of expenditure financed by the EAGF, as set out in Annex II, are not covered by this Decision and shall be the subject of a future clearance of accounts decision.

Article 3

This Decision is without prejudice to future conformity clearance decisions that the Commission may take pursuant to Article 52 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 to exclude from Union financing expenditure not effected in accordance with Union rules.

Article 4

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 30 May 2016. For the Commission Phil Hogan Member of the Commission

ANNEX

ANNEX I CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES' ACCOUNTS FINANCIAL YEAR 2015 Amount to be recovered from or paid to the Member State

NB: Nomenclature 2016: 05 07 01 06, 6701, 6702 MS 2015 — Expenditure/assigned revenue for the paying agencies for which the accounts are Total a + b Reductions and suspensions for the whole financial year Reductions according to Article 54(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 Total including reductions and suspensions Payments made to the Member State for the financial year Amount to be recovered from (–) or paid to (+) the Member State cleared disjoined = expenditure/assigned revenue declared in the annual declaration = total of the expenditure/assigned revenue in the monthly declarations a = A (col.i) b = A (col.h) c = a + b d = – C1 (col. e) e = – 50 – 50 f = c + d + e g h = f – g BE EUR 620028329,03 0,00 620028329,03 – 525730,33 – 381681,06 619120917,64 619356710,51 – 235792,87 BG EUR 0,00 659685389,24 659685389,24 0,00 0,00 659685389,24 659685389,24 0,00 CZ EUR 895742857,33 0,00 895742857,33 0,00 0,00 895742857,33 895727329,81 15527,52 DK DKK 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 – 2041831,34 – 2041831,34 0,00 – 2041831,34 DK EUR 907649247,35 0,00 907649247,35 – 172161,96 0,00 907477085,39 906244097,31 1232988,08 DE EUR 5065304844,22 0,00 5065304844,22 – 279044,04 – 78000,00 5064947800,18 5064549030,37 398769,81 EE EUR 118570682,91 0,00 118570682,91 0,00 – 24285,16 118546397,75 118540290,36 6107,39 IE EUR 1215973716,18 0,00 1215973716,18 – 153843,27 – 106218,99 1215713653,92 1215095188,94 618464,98 EL EUR 2026923435,50 0,00 2026923435,50 – 16410802,55 – 1109364,29 2009403268,66 2010745895,07 – 1342626,41 ES EUR 5584801342,03 0,00 5584801342,03 – 2499098,54 – 923986,74 5581378256,75 5581960961,83 – 582705,09 FR EUR 7364148851,70 389707430,67 7753856282,37 9593200,48 – 164665,16 7763284817,69 7763809500,56 – 524682,87 HR EUR 165210965,71 0,00 165210965,71 0,00 0,00 165210965,71 165212373,47 – 1407,76 IT EUR 2171691846,44 2255827174,77 4427519021,21 – 4240845,62 – 740672,62 4422537502,97 4423790286,76 – 1252783,79 CY EUR 57276537,11 0,00 57276537,11 0,00 0,00 57276537,11 57275647,93 889,18 LV EUR 166200825,05 0,00 166200825,05 0,00 – 2064,08 166198760,97 166200825,05 – 2064,08 LT LTL 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 – 317,24 – 317,24 0,00 – 317,24 LT EUR 395421448,46 0,00 395421448,46 0,00 0,00 395421448,46 395379479,53 41968,93 LU EUR 32275082,07 0,00 32275082,07 0,00 0,00 32275082,07 32138642,90 136439,17 HU HUF 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 – 60650346,00 – 60650346,00 0,00 – 60650346,00 HU EUR 1311850189,94 0,00 1311850189,94 – 655597,29 0,00 1311194592,65 1311621663,79 – 427071,14 MT EUR 5615099,49 0,00 5615099,49 0,00 – 201499,67 5413599,82 5615099,49 – 201499,67 NL EUR 741369266,22 0,00 741369266,22 – 82869,92 0,00 741286396,30 742413245,16 – 1126848,86 AT EUR 696110648,47 0,00 696110648,47 0,00 – 272,15 696110376,32 695219296,33 891079,99 PL PLN 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 – 1257688,33 – 1257688,33 0,00 – 1257688,33 PL EUR 3456279694,23 0,00 3456279694,23 – 74784,66 0,00 3456204909,57 3456190528,81 14380,76 PT EUR 676657210,74 0,00 676657210,74 – 42322,62 – 1247702,15 675367185,97 675203428,36 163757,61 RO RON 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 – 6314,87 – 6314,87 0,00 – 6314,87 RO EUR 1420132557,71 0,00 1420132557,71 0,00 0,00 1420132557,71 1420242043,49 – 109485,78 SI EUR 139556508,94 0,00 139556508,94 0,00 – 35,99 139556472,95 139556252,20 220,75 SK EUR 436709901,57 0,00 436709901,57 0,00 – 94305,14 436615596,43 436709901,57 – 94305,14 FI EUR 538369644,43 0,00 538369644,43 – 36,11 – 447,48 538369160,84 538378089,60 – 8928,76 SE SEK 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 – 346528,73 – 346528,73 0,00 – 346528,73 SE EUR 696399384,16 0,00 696399384,16 – 130079,25 0,00 696269304,91 696269385,26 – 80,35 UK GBP 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 – 16942,82 – 16942,82 0,00 – 16942,82 UK EUR 3057991785,02 0,00 3057991785,02 – 11464,00 0,00 3057980321,02 3058694235,89 – 713914,87 MS Expenditure Assigned revenue Article 54(2) (= e) Total (= h) 05 07 01 06 6701 6702 i j k l = i + j + k BE EUR 147672,56 – 1784,37 – 381681,06 – 235792,87 BG EUR 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 CZ EUR 15527,52 0,00 0,00 15527,52 DK DKK 0,00 0,00 – 2041831,34 – 2041831,34 DK EUR 1232988,08 0,00 0,00 1232988,08 DE EUR 476769,81 0,00 – 78000,00 398769,81 EE EUR 30392,55 0,00 – 24285,16 6107,39 IE EUR 724683,97 0,00 – 106218,99 618464,98 EL EUR 0,00 – 233262,12 – 1109364,29 – 1342626,41 ES EUR 341281,65 0,00 – 923986,74 – 582705,09 FR EUR 0,00 – 360017,71 – 164665,16 – 524682,87 HR EUR 253,93 – 1661,69 0,00 – 1407,76 IT EUR 0,00 – 512111,17 – 740672,62 – 1252783,79 CY EUR 889,18 0,00 0,00 889,18 LV EUR 0,00 0,00 – 2064,08 – 2064,08 LT LTL 0,00 0,00 – 317,24 – 317,24 LT EUR 41968,93 0,00 0,00 41968,93 LU EUR 136439,17 0,00 0,00 136439,17 HU HUF 0,00 0,00 – 60650346,00 – 60650346,00 HU EUR 0,00 – 427071,14 0,00 – 427071,14 MT EUR 0,00 0,00 – 201499,67 – 201499,67 NL EUR 1300135,07 – 2426983,93 0,00 – 1126848,86 AT EUR 891352,14 0,00 – 272,15 891079,99 PL PLN 0,00 0,00 – 1257688,33 – 1257688,33 PL EUR 14380,76 0,00 0,00 14380,76 PT EUR 1411459,76 0,00 – 1247702,15 163757,61 RO RON 0,00 0,00 – 6314,87 – 6314,87 RO EUR 0,00 – 109485,78 0,00 – 109485,78 SI EUR 256,74 0,00 – 35,99 220,75 SK EUR 0,00 0,00 – 94305,14 – 94305,14 FI EUR 0,00 – 8481,28 – 447,48 – 8928,76 SE SEK 0,00 0,00 – 346528,73 – 346528,73 SE EUR 0,00 – 80,35 0,00 – 80,35 UK GBP 0,00 0,00 – 16942,82 – 16942,82 UK EUR 0,00 – 713914,87 0,00 – 713914,87

ANNEX II CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES' ACCOUNTS FINANCIAL YEAR 2015 — EAGF List of the paying agencies for which the accounts are disjoined and are subject of a later clearance decision

Member State Paying Agency Bulgaria State Fund Agriculture France FranceAgriMer Italy Agenzia per le Erogazioni in Agricoltura (AGEA)

Versions

1. 2016-05-30