Address https://gelex.eu/eli/EU/decision/2018/793@2018-05-28/en

Contents

1. Preamble
2. 1. Article 1
   2. Article 2
   3. Article 3
   4. Article 4
   5. Article 5
3. ANNEX
4. ANNEX I CLEARED EAFRD EXPENDITURE BY RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2017 Approved programmes with declared expenditure for EAFRD 2014-2020 AMOUNT TO BE RECOVERED FROM OR PAID TO THE MEMBER STATE PER PROGRAMME
5. ANNEX II CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES' ACCOUNTS List of the Paying Agencies and programmes for which the accounts are disjoined and are subject of a later clearance decision FINANCIAL YEAR 2017 - EAFRD
6. ANNEX III CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES' ACCOUNTS Corrections according to Article 54(2) of Regulation (EU) 1306/2013 FINANCIAL YEAR 2017 - EAFRD

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 financial year 2017, for the purpose of aligning the reference period for European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) expenditure with that of the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF), account should be taken of expenditure incurred by the Member States between 16 October 2016 and 15 October 2017, as provided for in Article 11(1) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 908/2014.

(3) The second 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 the first subparagraph of Article 33(1) of that Regulation, are to be established by deducting the intermediate payments for the financial year concerned from the 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 2018, along with the necessary amendments.

(5) For certain paying agencies, the annual accounts and the accompanying documents permit 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 their accounts cannot therefore be cleared in this Decision.

(7) In accordance with Article 83 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council the deadline for interim payments, as the one laid down in Article 36(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, may be interrupted for a maximum period of six months in order to carry out additional verifications following information received that these payments are linked to an irregularity having serious financial consequences. In adopting this Decision, the Commission should take into account the amounts interrupted in order to avoid making any inappropriate or untimely payments.

(8) Pursuant to Article 54(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, 50 % of the financial consequences of non-recovery of irregularities should be borne by the Member State concerned, if recovery has not taken place within four years from the date of the recovery request, or within eight years where the recovery is taken before the national courts. 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. 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.

(9) 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 from the date of recovery request, or within eight years where the recovery is taken before the national courts, 100 % of the financial consequences of the non-recovery should be borne by the Union budget. The amounts for which a particular Member State decided not to pursue recovery and the grounds for its 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 to be borne by the Union budget.

(10) There are still amounts to be charged to the Member States, as a result of the application of Article 54(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 in relation to the 2007-2013 programming period for EAFRD. These are presented in Annex III.

(11) Article 36(3)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 provides that intermediate payments are to be made without overrun of the total financial programmed EAFRD contribution. Pursuant to Article 23(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 908/2014, where the combined total of declarations of expenditure exceeds the total programmed contribution for a rural development programme, the amount to be paid shall be capped at the programmed amount, without prejudice to the ceiling provided for in Article 34(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013. The capped amount will be subject to a later reimbursement by the Commission following the adoption of the amended financial plan or at the closure of the programming period.

(12) Pursuant to Article 41 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, the Commission has already reduced or suspended a number of intermediate payments for financial year 2017 due to expenditure not effected in accordance with Union rules. In adopting this Decision, the Commission should take into account the amounts reduced or suspended on the basis of Article 41 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, in order to avoid making any undue or untimely payments, or reimbursing amounts that could later be subject to financial correction.

(13) 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 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 Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) in respect of financial year 2017 and relating to the 2014-2020 programming period, are hereby cleared. The amounts recoverable from, or payable to, each Member State under each rural development programme pursuant to this Decision, are set out in Annex I.

Article 2

For financial year 2017, the accounts of the Member States' paying agencies in respect of expenditure for Rural Development programmes financed by the EAFRD relating to the 2014-2020 programming period, 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

The amounts to be charged to the Member States, as a result of the application of Article 54(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 relating to the 2014-2020 programming period and to the 2007-2013 programming period for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), are set out in Annex III to this Decision.

Article 4

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 5

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 28 May 2018. For the Commission Phil Hogan Member of the Commission

ANNEX

ANNEX I CLEARED EAFRD EXPENDITURE BY RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2017 Approved programmes with declared expenditure for EAFRD 2014-2020 AMOUNT TO BE RECOVERED FROM OR PAID TO THE MEMBER STATE PER PROGRAMME

(EUR) MS CCI Expenditure 2017 Corrections Total Non-reusable amounts Accepted amount cleared for FY 2017 Interim payments reimbursed to the Member State for the financial year Amount to be recovered from (–) of paid to (+) the Member State i ii iii = i + ii iv v = iii – iv vi vii = v – vi AT 2014AT06RDNP001 478397731,67 478397731,67 478397731,67 478484312,41 – 86580,74 BE 2014BE06RDRP001 14116035,12 14116035,12 14116035,12 14116020,99 14,13 BE 2014BE06RDRP002 23185996,14 23185996,14 23185996,14 22924377,26 261618,88 BG 2014BG06RDNP001 194155360,31 194155360,31 194155360,31 194514061,71 – 358701,40 CY 2014CY06RDNP001 14583607,33 14583607,33 14583607,33 14601650,41 – 18043,08 CZ 2014CZ06RDNP001 260439728,70 260439728,70 260439728,70 259405974,77 1033753,93 DE 2014DE06RDRN001 847676,47 847676,47 847676,47 847676,48 – 0,01 DE 2014DE06RDRP003 84033821,64 84033821,64 84033821,64 84034786,45 – 964,81 DE 2014DE06RDRP004 202106079,18 202106079,18 202106079,18 202106079,18 0,00 DE 2014DE06RDRP007 87240337,67 87240337,67 87240337,67 87240388,46 – 50,79 DE 2014DE06RDRP010 40262191,26 40262191,26 40262191,26 40262191,26 0,00 DE 2014DE06RDRP011 89292124,14 89292124,14 89292124,14 89292124,14 0,00 DE 2014DE06RDRP012 85047512,95 85047512,95 85047512,95 85047512,95 0,00 DE 2014DE06RDRP015 64552926,48 64552926,48 64552926,48 64552926,48 0,00 DE 2014DE06RDRP017 19829188,13 19829188,13 19829188,13 19829188,13 0,00 DE 2014DE06RDRP018 3683036,58 3683036,58 3683036,58 3683036,58 0,00 DE 2014DE06RDRP019 77775501,44 77775501,44 77775501,44 77774863,41 638,03 DE 2014DE06RDRP020 57136841,47 57136841,47 57136841,47 57136841,47 0,00 DE 2014DE06RDRP021 44501423,11 44501423,11 44501423,11 44500563,13 859,98 DE 2014DE06RDRP023 94645203,69 94645203,69 94645203,69 94645203,76 – 0,07 EE 2014EE06RDNP001 99400399,57 99400399,57 99400399,57 99412908,03 – 12508,46 ES 2014ES06RDNP001 11130468,90 11130468,90 11130468,90 11427505,14 – 297036,24 ES 2014ES06RDRP001 133362972,15 133362972,15 133362972,15 133362895,71 76,44 ES 2014ES06RDRP002 54019842,33 54019842,33 54019842,33 54021889,24 – 2046,91 ES 2014ES06RDRP003 24059289,70 24059289,70 24059289,70 24058133,46 1156,24 ES 2014ES06RDRP004 7438202,41 7438202,41 7438202,41 7438202,28 0,13 ES 2014ES06RDRP006 15454254,68 15454254,68 15454254,68 15454254,26 0,42 ES 2014ES06RDRP007 72883605,94 72883605,94 72883605,94 72881227,26 2378,68 ES 2014ES06RDRP008 89312043,14 89312043,14 89312043,14 89305608,68 6434,46 ES 2014ES06RDRP009 39910753,58 39910753,58 39910753,58 39910751,94 1,64 ES 2014ES06RDRP010 62017455,91 62017455,91 62017455,91 62017430,94 24,97 ES 2014ES06RDRP011 103801455,51 103801455,51 103801455,51 103801425,09 30,42 ES 2014ES06RDRP012 1060083,85 1060083,85 1060083,85 1060083,85 0,00 ES 2014ES06RDRP013 24966783,83 24966783,83 24966783,83 24966780,75 3,08 ES 2014ES06RDRP014 12760386,72 12760386,72 12760386,72 12760386,67 0,05 ES 2014ES06RDRP015 18088437,72 18088437,72 18088437,72 18088449,94 – 12,22 ES 2014ES06RDRP016 8991760,03 8991760,03 8991760,03 8991757,28 2,75 ES 2014ES06RDRP017 13777646,10 13777646,10 13777646,10 13777644,71 1,39 FI 2014FI06RDRP001 315496116,90 315496116,90 315496116,90 315496174,40 – 57,50 FI 2014FI06RDRP002 3712306,45 3712306,45 3712306,45 3712306,45 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDNP001 100121898,44 100121898,44 100121898,44 100121898,44 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRN001 300373,57 300373,57 300373,57 300373,57 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRP001 2363536,33 2363536,33 2363536,33 2363536,33 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRP002 3369301,72 3369301,72 3369301,72 3369301,70 0,02 FR 2014FR06RDRP003 4661378,08 4661378,08 4661378,08 4661378,08 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRP004 22077591,68 22077591,68 22077591,68 22077591,68 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRP006 1556396,94 1556396,94 1556396,94 1556396,94 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRP011 1410258,78 1410258,78 1410258,78 1410258,78 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRP021 14971960,69 14971960,69 14971960,69 14971960,69 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRP022 3132461,41 3132461,41 3132461,41 3132461,40 0,01 FR 2014FR06RDRP023 3239902,32 3239902,32 3239902,32 3239902,32 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRP024 36629807,86 36629807,86 36629807,86 36629807,85 0,01 FR 2014FR06RDRP025 26364953,09 26364953,09 26364953,09 26364953,07 0,02 FR 2014FR06RDRP026 91192470,84 91192470,84 91192470,84 91192470,83 0,01 FR 2014FR06RDRP031 3974536,66 3974536,66 3974536,66 3974536,67 – 0,01 FR 2014FR06RDRP041 36233518,95 36233518,95 36233518,95 36233518,94 0,01 FR 2014FR06RDRP042 7728741,09 7728741,09 7728741,09 7728741,09 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRP043 82691430,20 82691430,20 82691430,20 82691430,20 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRP052 21113755,92 21113755,92 21113755,92 21113755,89 0,03 FR 2014FR06RDRP053 14629279,53 14629279,53 14629279,53 14629279,52 0,01 FR 2014FR06RDRP054 40044044,76 40044044,76 40044044,76 40044044,78 – 0,02 FR 2014FR06RDRP072 99246766,05 99246766,05 99246766,05 99246766,07 – 0,02 FR 2014FR06RDRP073 299144894,30 299144894,30 299144894,30 299144894,32 – 0,02 FR 2014FR06RDRP074 131740730,76 131740730,76 131740730,76 131740730,75 0,01 FR 2014FR06RDRP082 211700551,52 211700551,52 211700551,52 211700551,49 0,03 FR 2014FR06RDRP083 275379990,89 275379990,89 275379990,89 275379990,89 0,00 FR 2014FR06RDRP091 100704933,82 100704933,82 100704933,82 100704933,84 – 0,02 FR 2014FR06RDRP093 93815042,46 93815042,46 93815042,46 93815042,46 0,00 EL 2014GR06RDNP001 704894686,51 704894686,51 704894686,51 704894534,74 151,77 HR 2014HR06RDNP001 149952582,49 149952582,49 149952582,49 150169700,88 – 217118,39 HU 2014HU06RDNP001 196592489,13 196592489,13 196592489,13 196592509,26 – 20,13 IE 2014IE06RDNP001 254483447,08 254483447,08 254483447,08 254477770,89 5676,19 IT 2014IT06RDNP001 40564508,43 40564508,43 40564508,43 40564552,40 – 43,97 IT 2014IT06RDRN001 977,28 977,28 977,28 977,28 0,00 IT 2014IT06RDRP001 8874305,75 8874305,75 8874305,75 8874567,78 – 262,03 IT 2014IT06RDRP002 23788928,02 23788928,02 23788928,02 23788927,94 0,08 IT 2014IT06RDRP003 46200832,29 46200832,29 46200832,29 46200788,50 43,79 IT 2014IT06RDRP004 2806426,92 2806426,92 2806426,92 2806697,30 – 270,38 IT 2014IT06RDRP005 18865941,92 18865941,92 18865941,92 18868840,76 – 2898,84 IT 2014IT06RDRP006 1534285,21 1534285,21 1534285,21 1534667,84 – 382,63 IT 2014IT06RDRP007 28727343,78 28727343,78 28727343,78 28764913,04 – 37569,26 IT 2014IT06RDRP008 15287214,93 15287214,93 15287214,93 15287416,95 – 202,02 IT 2014IT06RDRP009 33120912,73 33120912,73 33120912,73 33121036,06 – 123,33 IT 2014IT06RDRP010 45484848,30 45484848,30 45484848,30 45484862,45 – 14,15 IT 2014IT06RDRP011 13438549,33 13438549,33 13438549,33 13438548,84 0,49 IT 2014IT06RDRP012 44069542,90 44069542,90 44069542,90 44075357,69 – 5814,79 IT 2014IT06RDRP013 3098089,21 3098089,21 3098089,21 3098146,33 – 57,12 IT 2014IT06RDRP014 83036894,24 83036894,24 83036894,24 83036894,35 – 0,11 IT 2014IT06RDRP015 6701799,96 6701799,96 6701799,96 6702178,75 – 378,79 IT 2014IT06RDRP016 61096993,40 61096993,40 61096993,40 61108709,19 – 11715,79 IT 2014IT06RDRP017 19528912,41 19528912,41 19528912,41 19528912,90 – 0,49 IT 2014IT06RDRP019 40686895,09 40686895,09 40686895,09 40687623,74 – 728,65 IT 2014IT06RDRP020 46987331,20 46987331,20 46987331,20 46988100,86 – 769,66 IT 2014IT06RDRP021 135506692,90 135506692,90 135506692,90 135538241,16 – 31548,26 LT 2014LT06RDNP001 253974528,53 253974528,53 253974528,53 253974582,76 – 54,23 LU 2014LU06RDNP001 8918895,78 8918895,78 8918895,78 8812078,76 106817,02 LV 2014LV06RDNP001 162496968,70 162496968,70 162496968,70 162496968,70 0,00 MT 2014MT06RDNP001 2170944,28 2170944,28 2170944,28 2170973,36 – 29,08 NL 2014NL06RDNP001 57608890,90 57608890,90 57608890,90 57608528,55 362,35 PL 2014PL06RDNP001 573603683,32 573603683,32 573603683,32 573605136,61 – 1453,29 PT 2014PT06RDRP001 40591687,21 40591687,21 40591687,21 40591287,69 399,52 PT 2014PT06RDRP002 468845467,33 468845467,33 468845467,33 468844377,37 1089,96 PT 2014PT06RDRP003 15384146,74 15384146,74 15384146,74 15384144,04 2,70 RO 2014RO06RDNP001 1550387153,79 – 7674875,25 1542712278,54 1542712278,54 1542816218,84 – 103940,30 SE 2014SE06RDNP001 104275242,46 104275242,46 104275242,46 104276388,48 – 1146,02 SI 2014SI06RDNP001 80270639,58 80270639,58 80270639,58 80270674,15 – 34,57 SK 2014SK06RDNP001 167863129,03 167863129,03 167863129,03 167863195,69 – 66,66 UK 2014UK06RDRP001 374056682,70 374056682,70 374056682,70 374089621,24 – 32938,54 UK 2014UK06RDRP002 16450919,98 16450919,98 16450919,98 16450370,55 549,43 UK 2014UK06RDRP003 88991847,54 43923,38 89035770,92 89035770,92 89251291,63 – 215520,71 UK 2014UK06RDRP004 62590710,66 62590710,66 62590710,66 62590711,40 – 0,74

ANNEX II CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES' ACCOUNTS List of the Paying Agencies and programmes for which the accounts are disjoined and are subject of a later clearance decision FINANCIAL YEAR 2017 - EAFRD

Member State Paying Agency Programme Denmark Danish Agricultural Agency 2014DK06RDNP001 France Office du Développement Agricole et Rural de Corse 2014FR06RDRP094 Germany EU-Zahlstelle der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg Italy Agenzia della regione Calabria per le Erogazioni in Agricoltura 2014IT06RDRP018 Spain Islas Canarias 2014ES06RDRP005

ANNEX III CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES' ACCOUNTS Corrections according to Article 54(2) of Regulation (EU) 1306/2013 FINANCIAL YEAR 2017 - EAFRD

Corrections Related to the 2014-2020 Programming Period Corrections Related to the 2007-2013 Programming Period Member State Currency (National currency) (EUR) (National currency) (EUR) AT EUR — — — — BE EUR — — — 299,66 BG BGN — — 51922,70 — CY EUR — — — — CZ CZK — — 486389,94 — DE EUR — — — 48081,10 DK DKK — — — — EE EUR — — — 527298,68 ES EUR — — — 364234,54 FI EUR — — — 38756,20 FR EUR — — — 1835310,17 UK GBP — — 41093,19 — EL EUR — — — 473028,15 HR HRK — — — — HU HUF — — 428063977,00 — IE EUR — — — 95744,91 IT EUR — — — 334023,46 LT EUR — — — 2332,84 LU EUR — — — — LV EUR — — — 5032,42 MT EUR — — — 1129,66 NL EUR — — — 367,70 PL PLN — — 2193312,18 — PT EUR — — — 68876,07 RO RON — — 178860,25 — SE SEK — — 321280,06 — SI EUR — — — 430,13 SK EUR — — — 385822,30

Versions

1. 2018-05-28