Brussels, 03/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - Due to progress made at a technical level, EU agriculture ministers should be able to reach a political agreement on 30 May on the proposal setting out financial rules on Common Agricultural Policy spending in the period 2007-13 (EUROPE 8899 on latest Council debate on this dossier).
However, Monday discussions at the Special Agricultural Committee (SAC) demonstrated that two significant problems are still pending on the settlement of accounts. According to the proposal, the Commission decides which amounts can be separated from Community funding if it notices that spending has been made without complying with Community rules. A funding refusal cannot effect spending that has been made more than 36 months previously (instead of the current 24 months) unless the Commission has notified the Member State in question in writing of the results of the checks. Almost twenty delegations: France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic are calling for this deadline to be kept to 24 months, so that being hit heavily over a long period can be avoided. The Commission wants the deadline for settling accounts to be coherent with that used for Structural Funds.
Second problem: several Member States: France, Spain, Greece, Germany, Austria and Belgium are continuing refuse that 50% of the financial repercussions not recovered from the amounts due are borne by the Member State and 50% by the EU budget in cases where recovery is subject to national jurisdiction. The Commission is arguing for t setting up a new more efficient system
The proposals include the setting up of two funds to replace the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF): European Agriculture Guarantee Fund (EAGF) for direct aid and market support and the European Fund for Rural Development (EFRD) for spending for rural development. The compromise text from the Luxembourg presidency includes: the addition of spending covered, fishery products; the formulation of a more acceptable declaration of assurance should be paid by the person responsible for the payment body; a solution for Member States not in the zone (the compromise stipulates that when a direct payment is executed to a beneficiary in a currency other than euro, Member States convert the amount of aid in euro to the national currency on the basis of the most recent exchange rate established by the European Central Bank before 1 October of the year in which aid is granted). The presidency is counting on a political agreement for the other proposal on the new European Fund for Rural Development, at the Agriculture Council on June 20 (EUROPE 8937).