Commission Decision

of 27 April 2007

on the clearance of the accounts of the paying agencies of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia concerning expenditure in the field of rural development measures financed by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), Guarantee Section, for the 2006 financial year

(notified under document number C(2007) 1893)

(Only the Czech, English, Estonian, Greek, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovak and Slovenian texts are authentic)

(2007/325/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy [1], and in particular Article 7(3) thereof,

After consulting the Fund Committee,

Whereas:

(1) On the basis of the annual accounts submitted by the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia concerning expenditure in the field of rural development measures, accompanied by the information required, the accounts of the paying agencies referred to in Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 are to be cleared. The clearance covers the integrality, accuracy and veracity of the accounts transmitted in the light of the reports established by the certification bodies.

(2) The time limits granted to the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia for the submission to the Commission of the documents referred to in Article 6(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) 1258/1999 and in Article 4(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 of 7 July 1995 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 regarding the procedure for the clearance of accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section [2], have expired.

(3) The Commission has checked the information submitted and communicated to the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia before 31 March 2007 the results of its verifications, along with the necessary amendments.

(4) For the rural development expenditure covered by Article 7(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 27/2004 of 5 January 2004 laying down transitional detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 as regards the financing by the EAGGF Guarantee Section of rural development measures in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia [3] the outcome of the clearance decision is to be deducted from or added to subsequent payments made by the Commission.

(5) In the light of the verifications made, the annual accounts and the accompanying documents permit the Commission to take, for certain paying agencies, a decision on the integrality, accuracy and veracity of the accounts submitted. The details of these amounts were described in the Summary Report that was presented to the Fund Committee at the same time as this Decision.

(6) In the light of the verifications made, the information submitted by certain paying agencies requires additional inquiries and their accounts cannot be therefore cleared in this Decision.

(7) For the rural development expenditure covered by Regulation (EC) No 27/2004, the amounts recoverable or payable under the clearance of accounts decision are to be deducted from or added to subsequent payments.

(8) In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 and Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1663/95, this Decision, does not prejudice decisions taken subsequently by the Commission excluding from Community financing expenditure not effected in accordance with Community rules,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Without prejudice to Article 2, the amounts which are recoverable from, or payable to, each Member State pursuant to this Decision in the field of rural development measures applicable in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia are set out in Annex I and Annex II.

Article 2

For the 2006 financial year, the accounts of the Member States‘�paying agencies in the field of rural development measures applicable in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, set out in Annex III, are disjoined from this Decision and shall be the subject of a future clearance Decision.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic.

Done at Brussels, 27 April 2007.

For the Commission

Mariann Fischer Boel

Member of the Commission

[1] OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.

[2] OJ L 158, 8.7.1995, p. 6. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 465/2005 (OJ L 77, 23.3.2005, p. 6).

[3] OJ L 5, 9.1.2004, p. 36.

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ANNEX I

CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES' ACCOUNTS

Financial year 2006 ‘�Rural Development Expenditure in New Member States

Amount to be recovered from or paid to the Member State

MS | | Expenditure for the Paying Agencies for which the accounts are | Total a + b | Reductions | Total | Interim Payments reimbursed to the Member State for the financial year | Amount to be recovered from (‘� or paid to (+) the Member State |

cleared | disjoined |

= expenditure declared in the annual declaration | = total of Interim Payments reimbursed to the Member State for the financial year |

| | a | b | c = a + b | d | e = c + d | f | g = e ‘�f |

CY | EUR | 24796690,13 | 0,00 | 24796690,13 | 0,00 | 24796690,13 | 24797284,89 | ‘�94,76 |

CZ | EUR | 176491761,34 | 0,00 | 176491761,34 | ‘�0444,11 | 176481317,23 | 176353014,70 | 128302,53 |

EE | EUR | 42423603,39 | 0,00 | 42423603,39 | ‘�5231,72 | 42408371,67 | 42408371,67 | 0,00 |

HU | EUR | 296033597,90 | 0,00 | 296033597,90 | ‘�339,13 | 296024258,77 | 296024258,77 | 0,00 |

LT | EUR | 0,00 | 140016475,42 | 140016475,42 | 0,00 | 140016475,42 | 140016475,42 | 0,00 |

LV | EUR | 95213650,83 | 0,00 | 95213650,83 | 0,00 | 95213650,83 | 95213651,75 | ‘�,92 |

MT | EUR | 7944230,12 | 0,00 | 7944230,12 | ‘�618,97 | 7939611,15 | 7939611,15 | 0,00 |

PL | EUR | 1149569960,50 | 0,00 | 1149569960,50 | ‘�3069,51 | 1149556890,99 | 1149556398,09 | 492,90 |

SI | EUR | 118941385,27 | 0,00 | 118941385,27 | 0,00 | 118941385,27 | 118942873,75 | ‘�488,48 |

SK | EUR | 0,00 | 117783440,91 | 117783440,91 | 0,00 | 117783440,91 | 117783440,91 | 0,00 |

MS | | Advances paid but still to be cleared for the programme implementation (Article 32 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999) |

CZ | EUR | 86848000,00 |

CY | EUR | 11968000,00 |

EE | EUR | 24080000,00 |

HU | EUR | 96368000,00 |

LT | EUR | 78320000,00 |

LV | EUR | 52496000,00 |

MT | EUR | 4304000,00 |

PL | EUR | 458624000,00 |

SI | EUR | 45056000,00 |

SK | EUR | 63536000,00 |

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ANNEX II

CLEARED EXPENDITURE BY RURAL DEVELOPMENT MEASURE FOR EXERCISE 2006

Differences between annual accounts and declarations of expenditure

Cyprus

No | Measure | Expenditure 2006 Annex I column "a" | Reductions Annex I column "d" | Amount cleared 2006 Annex I column "e" |

1 | Support of investments for management of animal waste | 9443852,29 | 0,00 | 9443852,29 |

2 | Encouragement of the improvement and the development | 1239312,75 | 0,00 | 1239312,75 |

3 | Encouragement of the set up of producer groups | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

4 | Promotion of vocational training of farmers | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

5 | Technical and advisory service to the farmers | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

6 | Early retirement | 486308,23 | 0,00 | 486308,23 |

7 | Support for setting up of young farmers | 1275250,49 | 0,00 | 1275250,49 |

8 | Meeting EU standards | 1360168,93 | 0,00 | 1360168,93 |

9 | Adoption of agri-environmental measures | 4130349,24 | 0,00 | 4130349,24 |

10 | Agri-environmental actions for the protection of natural value | 556903,68 | 0,00 | 556903,68 |

11 | Afforestation | 13952,08 | 0,00 | 13952,08 |

12 | Improving of infrastructure for livestock development | 192901,09 | 0,00 | 192901,09 |

13 | Less Favourite Areas | 4881517,45 | 0,00 | 4881517,45 |

14 | Support for quality schemes | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

15 | Support of small scale, traditional processing | 209556,17 | 0,00 | 209556,17 |

16 | Protection of agricultural and traditional landscapes | 696713,67 | 0,00 | 696713,67 |

17 | Protection of forest fires and other natural disasters | 200764,44 | 0,00 | 200764,44 |

18 | Afforestation of non-agricultural land | 55636,33 | 0,00 | 55636,33 |

19 | Improvement of harvesting process | 53503,29 | 0,00 | 53503,29 |

20 | Technical support of the implementation, monitoring | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

21 | Technical support of collective initiatives at local level | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

| Total | 24796690,13 | 0,00 | 24796690,13 |

Czech Republic

No | Measure | Expenditure 2006 Annex I column "a" | Reductions Annex I column "d" | Amount cleared 2006 Annex I column "e" |

1 | Early retirement | 545103,99 | 0,00 | 545103,99 |

2 | Less Favourite Areas | 76534949,79 | ‘�0115,18 | 76524834,61 |

3 | Agri-environment | 88959922,46 | ‘�78,10 | 88959744,36 |

4 | Forestry | 2707601,06 | ‘�50,83 | 2707450,23 |

5 | Producer groups | 1687004,62 | 0,00 | 1687004,62 |

6 | Technical assistance | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

7 | Sapard | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

700 | Investments in agricultural holdings, Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 | 351123,76 | 0,00 | 351123,76 |

701 | Processing and marketing Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 | 1641034,72 | 0,00 | 1641034,72 |

702 | Flood damage 1 | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

703 | Improving structures for quality | 847428,46 | 0,00 | 847428,46 |

704 | Land improvement and reparcelling | 683889,73 | 0,00 | 683889,73 |

705 | Renovation and development of villages | 634488,40 | 0,00 | 634488,40 |

706 | Flood damage 2 | 110168,00 | 0,00 | 110168,00 |

707 | Development of rural infrastructure | 464428,01 | 0,00 | 464428,01 |

708 | Development and diversification of activities | 1024762,25 | 0,00 | 1024762,25 |

709 | Agricultural production methods to protect | 241255,09 | 0,00 | 241255,09 |

710 | Improvement of vocational training | 47031,42 | 0,00 | 47031,42 |

711 | Technical assistance Sapard | 11569,58 | 0,00 | 11569,58 |

| Total | 176491761,34 | ‘�0444,11 | 176481317,23 |

Estonia

No | Measure | Expenditure 2006 Annex I column "a" | Reductions Annex I column "d" | Amount cleared 2006 Annex I column "e" |

1 | Less favourite areas | 6350920,66 | ‘�226,94 | 6349693,72 |

2 | Agri-environment | 18368083,98 | ‘�000,91 | 18359083,07 |

3 | Afforestation of agricultural land | 1102043,43 | ‘�1,36 | 1101992,07 |

4 | Semi-substance farms undergoing restructuring | 2273812,97 | ‘�12,11 | 2273200,86 |

5 | Meeting standards | 5826010,68 | ‘�488,11 | 5823522,57 |

6 | Complements in direct payments | 7422630,38 | 0,00 | 7422630,38 |

7 | Technical assistance | 1080101,29 | ‘�852,29 | 1078249,00 |

8 | Sapard | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

9 | Support to areas with environmental restrictions | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

| Total | 42423603,39 | ‘�5231,72 | 42408371,67 |

Hungary

No | Measure | Expenditure 2006 Annex I column "a" | Reductions Annex I column "d" | Amount cleared 2006 Annex I column "e" |

1 | Agri-environment | 227833992,16 | 0,00 | 227833992,16 |

2 | Meeting standards | 1595755,18 | ‘�,03 | 1595755,15 |

3 | Afforestation | 22153089,37 | 0,00 | 22153089,37 |

4 | Support for semi-substance farms | 502022,58 | ‘�35,83 | 501886,75 |

5 | Producer groups | 7202971,57 | 0,01 | 7202971,58 |

6 | Early retirement | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

7 | Less favourite areas | 6402140,63 | ‘�99,99 | 6401340,64 |

8 | Technical assistance | 15153476,83 | 0,00 | 15153476,83 |

9 | Projects approved under Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 | 14999999,74 | ‘�403,29 | 14991596,45 |

10 | Complementary national direct payments | 190149,84 | 0,00 | 190149,84 |

| Total | 296033597,90 | ‘�339,13 | 296024258,77 |

Latvia

No | Measure | Expenditure 2006 Annex I column "a" | Reductions Annex I column "d" | Amount cleared 2006 Annex I column "e" |

1 | Early retirement | 114610,00 | 0,00 | 114610,00 |

2 | Producer groups | 778930,76 | 0,00 | 778930,76 |

3 | Support for semi-substance farms | 13140756,56 | 0,00 | 13140756,56 |

4 | Meeting standards | 16269647,82 | 0,00 | 16269647,82 |

5 | Agri-environment | 11920958,74 | 0,00 | 11920958,74 |

6 | Less favourite areas | 41850749,84 | 0,00 | 41850749,84 |

7 | Technical assistance | 991731,69 | 0,00 | 991731,69 |

8 | Obligations transferred from previous programming period | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |

9 | Allocations of resources for single area payments | 10146265,42 | 0,00 | 10146265,42 |

| Total | 95213650,83 | 0,00 | 95213650,83 |

Malta

No | Measure | Expenditure 2006 Annex I column "a" | Reductions Annex I column "d" | Amount cleared 2006 Annex I column "e" |

1 | Less favourite areas | 1593569,29 | 681,16 | 1594250,45 |

2 | Agri-environment | 385505,60 | ‘�335,34 | 381170,26 |

3 | Meeting standards | 307772,98 | 0,00 | 307772,98 |

4 | Producer groups | 0,00 | | 0,00 |

5 | Technical assistance | 0,00 | | 0,00 |

6 | State Aid complement | 3760000,00 | 0,00 | 3760000,00 |

7 | Ad hoc measure | 1897382,26 | ‘�64,80 | 1896417,46 |

| Total | 7944230,12 | ‘�618,97 | 7939611,15 |

Poland

No | Measure | Expenditure 2006 Annex I column "a" | Reductions Annex I column "d" | Amount cleared 2006 Annex I column "e" |

1 | Early retirement | 140747510,60 | 0,00 | 140747510,60 |

2 | Support for semi-substance farms | 105651252,73 | ‘�615,14 | 105641637,59 |

3 | Producer groups | 1039815,80 | 0,00 | 1039815,80 |

4 | Less favourite areas | 261975568,73 | ‘�38,56 | 261975330,17 |

5 | Agri-environment undertakings and animal welfare | 54365171,48 | ‘�21,86 | 54364749,62 |

6 | Afforestation | 27182933,10 | ‘�57,96 | 27182475,14 |

7 | Meeting EU standards | 279345058,83 | ‘�88,51 | 279344870,32 |

8 | Technical assistance | 474369,94 | ‘�54,75 | 473415,19 |

9 | Complements to direct payments | 189369013,75 | ‘�191,12 | 189367822,63 |

10 | Projects approved under Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 | 89419265,54 | ‘�,61 | 89419263,93 |

| Total | 1149569960,50 | ‘�3069,51 | 1149556890,99 |

Slovenia

No | Measure | Expenditure 2006 Annex I column "a" | Reductions Annex I column "d" | Amount cleared 2006 Annex I column "e" |

1 | Less favourite areas | 32537794,40 | 0,00 | 32537794,40 |

2 | Agri-environment | 36334012,75 | 0,00 | 36334012,75 |

3 | Early retirement | 1695055,58 | 0,00 | 1695055,58 |

4 | Meeting standards | 36789386,23 | 0,00 | 36789386,23 |

5 | Technical assistance | 257731,75 | 0,00 | 257731,75 |

6 | SAPARD programme | 1235224,98 | 0,00 | 1235224,98 |

7 | Complements to direct payments | 10092179,58 | 0,00 | 10092179,58 |

| Total | 118941385,27 | 0,00 | 118941385,27 |

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ANNEX III

CLEARANCE OF THE PAYING AGENCIES' ACCOUNTS

Financial year 2006 ‘�Rural Development Expenditure

List of the Paying Agencies for which the accounts are disjoined and are subject of a later clearance decision

Member State | Paying Agency |

Lithuania | NMA |

Slovakia | APA |

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