Brussels, 30/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - In a special report N°4/2001 relating to the implementation of the integrated administration and control system (IACS) for agricultural aids, the Court of Auditors feels that the architecture of this vital tool was well developed, but that failings exist in the coordination between the services of the Commission and the six Member States, which were the object of this audit in 1998 and 1999. Moreover, the Court criticised the lack of precision and the complex nature of the regulations applicable to the IACS. It is recommended the Commission continue efforts for the simplification, harmonisation and clarification of the rules on the various parts of the system and ensure that the Member States provide pertinent and reliable information to then allow for the recovery, by the Commission, of the unduly paid funds. In its written answer, the Commission recognises that certain Member States have not provided a certain amount of information "in a correct manner and in time" and that, even for the Member States that have implemented the IACS (that is to say presently all except Greece and a small number of Spanish regions), there remains failings that are treated as they should be in the context of the clearance of accounts procedure.
The Court report indicates that: - only Germany and Ireland implement the IACS without too many irregularities (the Commission replies that the anomalies have been also seen in these countries in 1998); - in Spain, the level of development of the IACS varies significantly between the autonomous community of Navarr (which does not experience any major weaknesses) and Catalonia where, among others, the controls of farm land are inexistant (the Commission replies that a whole series of financial corrections have been requested); - in France, the failings (confirmed by the Commission) have been found in the control of requests for "surface" aids (forages and animals); - in Portugal, the crosschecked controls on animals remained very incomplete (absence of checks for several conditions of aid eligibility, such as the presence of the articulated identity mark); - in the United Kingdom (Scotland and Wales), a risk of laxism was seen for the control of aid to milking cows. Furthermore, the Court identifies a danger of mistakes in Spain, France and Portugal for the calculation of the exceeding of special subsidies for beef.
The criticisms concerning the Commission also cover the following points: - lack of coordination between the DG Health and consumer protection and the DG Agriculture over the regulations on the identification of bovines; - the Community provisions on the penalties not being sufficiently precise in 1998, in particular those concerning "surface" aids and the detection of cases of false declarations.
The IACS is formed of five elements: computerised data bases, a system for the identification of agricultural lands, a system for the identification and recording of animals, aid requests and an integrated administrative control system on the ground. In 1999, EUR 25.353 billion, or 63.6% of the agricultural spending passed through the IACS (6 million subsidies per year on average).