Report on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)

(COM(2010)0537 – C7-0295/2010 – 2010/0266(COD))

This report by Paolo DE CASTRO (S&D, IT) was written for and adopted by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

The current Regulation, in accordance with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), must be aligned with the principal of partition of measures of an “implementing” type and those of a “delegated” type.

Delegated acts (Article 290 of the Treaty) are when the Legislator may delegate the power to the Commission to adopt non-legislative acts of general application. This happens in order to change non-essential elements of the legislative act as appropriate.

In this circumstance the Commission shall adopt delegated acts in order to adopt exceptions to the rule that no rural development support should be granted to schemes eligible for support under common market organisations.

Implemented acts (Article 291 of the Treaty) happen when the Legislator confers power upon the Commission to adopt uniform conditions for legally binding acts of the European Union.

As regards this Regulation the Legislator gives the Commission powers of enforcement of several Articles, including under Article 19(2) approval of revision of programmes and the determination of changes requiring approval by Commission decision and under Article 66(3), the establishment and operation of the national rural network.

Key points include:

Advisory services:

- the advisory service to farmers shall cover statutory management requirements, good agricultural and environmental conditions and occupational safety standards – all based on Union legislation.

Improving the environment and rural development:

- The support to which this Article refers shall only be bestowed upon farmers or associations which dedicate the majority of their working hours to farming related activities or who derive the greater part of their income from such activities.

Financial participation of the EAFRD (breakdown of resources):

- For those Member States that have opted for regional programmes of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), they shall have control of the calculation of the automatic cancellation of financial resources.

Eligibility of expenditure (costs excluded from EAFRD cofinancing):

- Lastly, VAT should be excluded from the co-financing of EAFRD, except non-recoverable VAT when it is genuinely and definitively borne by beneficiaries.

In conclusion, the author of the report is content with this proposal for a regulation for he writes that the “Commission has done an accurate repartition” between delegating powers and implementing powers and that “the Commission proposal suggests ensuring efficient and targeted use of funds”.

The European Parliament voted to approve the report on the 4th July 2012 with 645 for, 25 against and 18 abstentions.

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Alternatively visit the website at www.europarl.europa.eu

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