Financiering Europees landbouwbeleid drastisch hervormd vanaf 2007 (en)
The Agriculture Council reached political agreement on a regulation that will drastically change the way in which the Common Agricultural Policy will be financed from 2007 onwards. Bringing the different existing rules together under one single regulation will considerably simplify CAP financing. The new system will reinforce and modernise management and control of CAP finances, and will strengthen budgetary discipline. It will also improve possibilities for recovering irregularly spent EU money. The new regulation creates two funds that will apply the same rules wherever possible: the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF), and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
Mariann Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, said: "This is a further important step in making CAP financing more transparent, more manageable and more efficient. It is our obligation to ensure that taxpayers' money is used as efficiently as possible, and that is exactly what this regulation is all about."
The new regulation lays down the rules for the financing of the CAP, bringing together in one single regulation all the rules that exist today. The regulation creates two new funds: the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) that will both operate under one single management and control system.
Management and control have been modernised and reinforced. The single system chosen for both funds takes advantage of the good experience the Commission has gained in the field of EAGGF-guarantee section. It will include the use of accredited paying agencies, accredited coordination bodies, a better system of certification of the accounts, an improved annual accounting system completed by a declaration of assurance from the director of the national paying agencies, an annual accounting clearance of accounts exercise, and an annual conformity clearance of accounts exercise.
The regulation now also includes reinforced rules for budgetary discipline (formerly in a separate regulation). They strengthen in particular the respect of the financial ceilings fixed in EU legislation, and make it easier to recover irregularly spent EU money.
The proposal for a flat rate approach on recoveries in cases of irregularities is a fundamental part of the Commission's proposal. The flat rate approach shares the financial responsibility equally between Member States and the Commission, once a normal period for the recovery has elapsed.
Simplification will be considerable for Rural Development programmes. Unlike present practice, all Rural Development programmes will now be brought under one single fund (EAFRD), and governed by a single regulation, under a single programming, management and control system.
The regulation will apply from 1 January 2007. Although it was proposed in the framework of the financial perspectives 2007-2013, its duration will not necessarily be limited to 2013.