CLEARANCE OF ACCOUNTS IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES RICHARD CROFT

Main messages Financing of CAP brought under a common regulatory framework via Council Regulation 1290/ new Funds created: EAGF+EAFRD Annual financial clearance of accounts procedure applies to both Many features are similar to those under old EAGGF Guarantee rules

Key Areas The new overall framework (2) Features common to old and new rules (2) Overview of information flows Key new features of financial clearance applying specifically to EAFRD (7) A brief overview of the conformity clearance process (4) Final general principles

The new overall framework: Legislation Article 30 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1290/2005 (replaces R.1258/99) Article 10 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 885/2006 (replaces R. 1663/95) 7 new Commission Guidelines

The new overall framework: the 7 Guidelines 10 old Guidelines have now been replaced by 7 new ones – compliance is expected Guidelines 1 (Recoveries), 2 (Accreditation) and 4 (Statement of Assurance) are of key interest to MS Guidelines 3 (Audit Strategy), 5 (Model Report), 6 (Certificate) and 7 (Certifying Bodys opinion on the Statement of Assurance) concern mainly the CBs

Financial clearance: features common to old EAGGF Guarantee rules – R. 1290/2005 Commission Decision by 30 April of FY n+1 covers the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the annual accounts submitted

Financial clearance: features common to old EAGGF Guarantee rules – R. 885/2006 Communication to MS of our findings (31st March letters) and the treatment of disjoined accounts Certifying Bodies - the issue of their report and certificate (Art 5) The PAs annual accounts (Art 6) Transmission of documentation (by, where applicable, Co-ordinating Bodies – Art 7)

New features of financial clearance (1) - Accounting Rural development expenditure covered under a separate fund (EAFRD) for clearance purposes Each PAs accounts must distinguish between EAGF and EAFRD expenditure (Art 2(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 883/2006) Expenditure paid to beneficiaries prior to approval of RDPs (even if not yet part of a quarterly declaration) must be accounted for in the PAs books

New features of financial clearance (2) – Annual declarations EAFRD expenditure should be summarised by programme and measure Form and content of the annual declaration file – see Annex II of R. 1042/2007 and Annex IV Table of differences between total annual expenditure and the sum of the quarterly declarations – see Annex IV

New features of financial clearance (3) - Debtors Compilation of Tables 3 and 4 (EAFRD irregularities: administrative and judicial procedures respectively) and 6, as per Annex III of R.885/2006 Tables 3, 4 and 6 are the EAFRD counterparts to Tables 1, 2 and 5 under EAGF (provided as part of the FY2006 clearance exercise) Reporting as per Guideline on recoveries (No.1) – modified for FY 2007

New features of financial clearance (4) – The Statement of Assurance Requirement for PA directors to sign a statement of assurance (SoA - see Annex II of R. 885/2006) Guideline no.4 gives details Certifying Bodies must give an opinion on the SoA (Art 5(4)(b)): Guideline no.7 provides further information as to content/format

New features of financial clearance (5) – Certifying Bodies auditing and reporting Guidelines 2, 3 and 5 are interconnected (assessment of internal control system, the audit strategy and reporting of results) IACS and non-IACS expenditure to be evaluated/reported on separately (3 EAFRD populations including debts) Materiality raised from 1% to 2% of T104/population value The audit report has two main sections: EAGF and EAFRD

New features of financial clearance (6) – Certifying Bodies audit certificates Separate audit opinions required for each Fund CBs certificates have been expanded to include a statement on whether the PAs internal control procedures have operated satisfactorily (Art 5(3) of 885/2006) – this must also be done separately for EAGF and EAFRD, unless both opinions are unqualified Guideline no.6 provides options and formats

New features of financial clearance (7) – Submission of information Submission date advanced from 10 February to 1 February (Art 7(2) of R.885/2006) Co-ordinating Bodies must send a synthesis of all SoAs and certificates by 15 February (Art 7(5))

Conformity clearance (1) - overview Rules for EAFRD are the same as for those relating to EAGF, i.e. Art 31 of R.1290/2005 and Art 11 of R.885/2006 The aim is to exclude from Community financing expenditure incurred in a way that has infringed Community rules

Conformity clearance (2) – the 24 months rule Under Article 31(4) of 1290/2005, financing may not be refused for: - multi-annual expenditure where the final obligation on the recipient occurs more than 24 months before Art 11 letter - EAFRD payments (but not multi-annual) by the paying agency made more than 24 months before the Art 11 letter Not applicable to irregularities, national aids and infringements (see Art 31(5))

Conformity clearance (3) – initial steps Communication Art 11 by Commission (findings, corrective measures) MS reply 2 months after receipt (possible extension) Bilateral meeting MS communicates all the information within 2 months of the date of receipt of the bilateral minutes (possible extension) Formal communication (COL); evaluation of expenditure to be excluded

Conformity clearance (4) – further steps Conciliation Body Final letter from Commission Correction then feeds into Commission (ad-hoc) Decision New information: only admissible if it helps a better estimate of the financial damage, and provided that the late transmission is justified due to exceptional circumstances

Final general principles Only expenditure declared by accredited PAs can be reimbursed (Art 10 of R.1290/2005) Any activities not previously accredited under R.1663/95 (e.g. ex-EAGGF Guidance RD) must be formally accredited (new Act) by 16 October 2007 (Art 17(1) of R.885/2006)

Thank you for your attention!