EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 7.9.2021

SWD(2021) 239 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

Accompanying the document

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

14th FINANCIAL REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the EUROPEAN AGRICULTURAL GUARANTEE FUND




2020 FINANCIAL YEAR

{COM(2021) 538 final}

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.BUDGET PROCEDURE

1.1.Financial Framework 2014-2020

1.2.Draft Budget 2020 and Amending Letter 1/2020

1.3.Adoption of the 2020 budget

1.4.Revenue assigned to the EAGF

2.CASH POSITION AND MANAGEMENT OF APPROPRIATIONS

2.1.Management of appropriations

2.1.1.Appropriations available for the 2020 financial year

2.1.2.Expenditure section of the EU budget in relation to EAGF

2.1.3.Assigned revenue section of the EU budget in relation to EAGF

2.1.4.Budget execution of appropriations available for the 2020 financial year

2.1.5.Assigned revenue received under shared management

2.1.6.Budget execution

2.1.7.Budget execution of voted appropriations - Expenditure under direct management made by the Commission

2.1.8.Budget execution - Expenditure under direct management made by the Commission - Automatic carry-over from 2019

2.2.Monthly payments

2.2.1.Monthly payments to Member States under shared management

2.2.1.1.Monthly payments on the provision for expenditure

2.2.1.2.Decisions on monthly payments

2.2.1.3.Reductions of monthly payments

2.2.2.Direct management expenditure by the Commission

3.THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2020 EAGF BUDGET

3.1.The uptake of the EAGF appropriations

3.2.Comments on the budget implementation

3.2.1.Chapter 05 02: Interventions in agricultural markets

3.2.1.1.Introduction

3.2.1.2.Article 05 02 08: Fruit and vegetables

3.2.1.3.Article 05 02 09: Products of the wine-growing sector

3.2.1.4.Article 05 02 10: Promotion

3.2.1.5.Article 05 02 11: Other Plant products

3.2.1.6.Article 05 02 12: Milk and milk products

3.2.1.7.Article 05 02 13: Beef and veal

3.2.1.8.Article 05 02 15: Pigmeat, eggs and poultry, bee-keeping and other animal products

3.2.1.9.Article 05 02 18: School schemes

3.2.2.Chapter 05 03: Direct payments

3.2.2.1.Article 05 03 01: Decoupled direct payments

3.2.2.2.Article 05 03 02: Other direct payments

3.2.2.3.Article 05 03 09: Reimbursement of direct payments in relation to financial discipline

3.2.2.4.Article 05 03 10: Reserve for crises in the agricultural sector

3.2.3.Chapter 05 04: Rural Development

3.2.4.Chapter 05 07: Audit of agricultural expenditure

3.2.4.1.Article 05 07 01: Control of agricultural expenditure

3.2.4.2.Article 05 07 02: Settlement of disputes

3.2.5.Chapter 05 08: Policy strategy and coordination

3.2.5.1.Article 05 08 01: Farm accountancy data network (FADN)

3.2.5.2.Article 05 08 02: Surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings.

3.2.5.3.Article 05 08 03: Restructuring of systems for agricultural surveys

3.2.5.4.Article 05 08 06: Enhancing public awareness of the common agricultural policy

3.2.5.5.Article 05 08 09: EAGF – Operational technical assistance

4.IMPLEMENTATION OF REVENUE ASSIGNED TO EAGF

5.CONTROL MEASURES

5.1.Introduction

5.2.Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS)

5.3.Market measures

5.4.Application of Chapter III of Title V Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 (ex-post scrutiny)

6.CLEARANCE OF ACCOUNTS

6.1.Conformity clearance

6.1.1.Introduction

6.1.2.Audits and decisions adopted in 2020

6.1.2.1.Audits

6.1.2.2.Conformity decisions

6.2.Financial clearance

6.2.1.Introduction

6.2.2.Decisions

6.2.2.1.Financial clearance decision for the financial year 2017

6.2.2.2.Financial clearance decision for the financial year 2018

6.2.2.3.Financial clearance decision for the financial year 2019

6.3.Appeals brought before the Court of Justice against clearance decisions

6.3.1.Judgments handed down

6.3.2.New appeals

6.3.3.Appeals pending

7.RELATIONS WITH PARLIAMENT AND WITH THE EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS

7.1.Relations with Parliament

7.2.Relations with the European Court of Auditors

7.2.1.Mission of the European Court of Auditors

7.2.2.Annual Reports for financial year 2019

7.2.3.Special Reports by the ECA

8.ANNEXES

1.BUDGET PROCEDURE 1

1.1.Financial Framework 2014-2020 

Expenditure of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is funded within the multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020 as provided for in Council Regulation (EU) No 1311/2013 2 . Specifically, CAP expenditure is part of the ceiling fixed for Heading 2 - Sustainable growth: natural resources. Within that overall ceiling, a specific sub-ceiling has been fixed for market related expenditure and direct payments financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF).

The ceiling for market related expenditure and direct payments had to be adjusted following the transfer of certain amounts of direct payments to rural development (financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development - EAFRD) for the years 2015-2020 (flexibility between CAP pillars and reduction of direct payments), the transfer of the aids for cotton in Greece, the unspent amounts by Germany and Sweden and the voluntary adjustment of the United Kingdom as well as the transfer from rural development (EAFRD) for the years 2015-2020 to direct payments (flexibility). Therefore, on the basis of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 367/2014 3 setting the net balance available for expenditure of the EAGF, the CAP amounts included in Heading 2 of the multiannual financial framework (2014-2020) are:

(in EUR million; current prices)

1.2.Draft Budget 2020 and Amending Letter 1/2020 

The Draft Budget 2020 was adopted by the Commission on 5 July 2019. The commitment appropriations proposed for the EAGF totalled EUR 43 531.8 million. The Council adopted its position on the Draft Budget 2020 on 3 September 2019, reducing the commitment appropriations for the EAGF by EUR 239.9 million. The European Parliament adopted its position on 23 October 2019, increasing the commitment appropriations for the EAGF by EUR 32 million compared to the Draft Budget.

On 15 October 2019 the Commission published Amending Letter (AL) No 1 to the Draft Budget 2020 increasing the needs in commitments by EUR 304.3 million compared to the Draft Budget. However, these additional needs were more than compensated by the EUR 354 million increase in the assigned revenue expected to be available in 2020. As a result, the requested commitment appropriations for the EAGF in the AL decreased by EUR 49.7 million compared to the Draft Budget.

The Conciliation Committee, composed of members of the European Parliament and of the Council, agreed on a joint text 20 November 2019.

1.3.Adoption of the 2020 budget 

The 2020 budget was declared as adopted by the Council and by the European Parliament on 25 November and 27 November 2019, respectively. The budget's total commitment appropriations for the EAGF amounted to EUR 43 410.1 million and its payment appropriations amounted to EUR 43 380.0 million.

The difference between commitment and payment appropriations is due to the fact, that for certain measures, which are directly implemented by the Commission, differentiated appropriations are used. These measures relate mainly to the promotion of agricultural products, to policy strategy and coordination measures for agriculture.

Specifically, of the voted EAGF commitment appropriations for policy area 05 (Agriculture and Rural Development) amounting to EUR 43 410.1 million: EUR 2 530.1 million were foreseen for interventions in agricultural markets under chapter 05 02; EUR 40 621.0 million were foreseen for direct payments under chapter 05 03; EUR 205.9 million were foreseen for audit of agricultural expenditure under chapter 05 07; and EUR 41.4 million for policy strategy and coordination under chapter 05 08.

Further details are provided in annex 1.

1.4.Revenue assigned to the EAGF 4  

In accordance with Article 43 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 on the financing of the Common Agricultural Policy 5 , revenue originating from financial corrections under accounting or conformity clearance decisions, from irregularities and from the milk levy are designated as revenue assigned to the financing of EAGF expenditure. According to these rules, assigned revenue can be used to cover the financing of any EAGF expenditure. If a part of this revenue is not used, then this part will be automatically carried forward to the following budget year.

At the time of establishing the 2020 budget, an estimate of the revenue was made both for the amount expected to be collected in the course of the 2020 budget year as well as of the amount which was expected to be carried over from the budget year 2019 into 2020. This estimate amounted to EUR 1 071 million and it was taken into consideration when the Budgetary Authority adopted the 2020 budget. In particular:

¾Revenue from clearance corrections and from irregularities was estimated at EUR 592 million and EUR 127 million respectively while no revenue from the milk levy was anticipated. Thus, the total amount of assigned revenue expected to be collected in the course of the 2020 budget year was estimated at EUR 719 million;

¾The amount of assigned revenue expected to be carried over from the budget year 2019 into 2020 was estimated at EUR 352 million.

In the 2020 budget, this initially estimated revenue of EUR 1 071 million was assigned to two schemes, i.e.:

¾EUR 150 million for the operational funds for producer organisations in the fruits and vegetables sector;

¾EUR 921 million for the basic payment scheme (direct payments).

For these schemes, the sum of the voted appropriations by the Budgetary Authority and the assigned revenue corresponds to a total estimate of available appropriations of:

¾EUR 849 million for the operational funds for producer organisations in the fruits and vegetables sector;

¾EUR 17 038 million for the basic payment scheme (direct payments).

2.CASH POSITION AND MANAGEMENT OF APPROPRIATIONS 

2.1.Management of appropriations 

2.1.1.Appropriations available for the 2020 financial year 

2.1.2.Expenditure section of the EU budget in relation to EAGF

The initial commitment appropriations for 2020 totalled EUR 43 410 105 687. This was a net amount after deducting the expected assigned revenue to be collected in 2020 and the one carried over from 2019 to 2020. The initial payment appropriations amounted to EUR 43 380 031 798.

In financial year 2020, there was an Amending Budget for commitment and payment appropriations and transfers of payment appropriations out of EAGF. The commitment and payment appropriations finally available to the EAGF, after the Amending Budget and the transfers, amounted to EUR 43 458 760 765 and EUR 43 419 047 876 respectively.

Part of the appropriations coming from assigned revenue received in 2019 was not used in that financial year and it was automatically carried over to 2020. The amount of these appropriations totalled EUR 348 185 000.9. Also appropriations for an amount of EUR 466 826 647 were made available for the reimbursement of direct payments in relation to financial discipline following Commission Decision C(2020)874 relating to the non-automatic carry-over of appropriations from the 2019 budget to the 2020 budget.

2.1.3.Assigned revenue section of the EU budget in relation to EAGF

For more details, please see point 1.4.

2.1.4.Budget execution of appropriations available for the 2020 financial year

(1) Committed amounts. Commitments and payments less assigned revenue of EUR 580 665 888.61 (see point 4 and annex 6) received for shared management: EUR 43 575 577 409.02.

For the financial year 2020, the actual amount of commitment appropriations used amounted to EUR 44 314 835 114.1 while for payment appropriations this amounted to EUR 44 254 553 109.3. Further details on the execution of appropriations under shared management are given in section 3.2 below.

2.1.5.Assigned revenue received under shared management

For details, please see points 1.4 and 4.

2.1.6.Budget execution 

(1)Commitment appropriations = Payment appropriations    

Appropriations available for the financing of the measures under shared management with Member States (excluding expenditure under direct management by the Commission) amounted to EUR 43 298 million compared to actual expenditure of EUR 42 820 million. In order to make it available for the reimbursement of direct payments in relation with financial discipline, EUR 475 million was carried over to budget year 2021 with Commission Decision C(2021)320 of 25 January 2021 on non-automatic carry-over of appropriations from the 2020 budget to the 2021 budget.

The 2020 appropriations coming from assigned revenue amounted to EUR 580.7 million of which an amount of EUR 37.6 million was used in chapter 05 02 and an amount of EUR 487.6 million was used in chapter 05 03. The remaining amount of EUR 55.5 million was automatically carried over to budget year 2021.

Part of the appropriations coming from assigned revenue received in 2019 was not used in financial year 2019 and was automatically carried forward to 2020. These appropriations amounted to EUR 348.2 million and had to be used in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 within that year. All these appropriations carried over from the previous financial year were fully used in 2020 in accordance with the Financial Regulation.

2.1.7.Budget execution of voted appropriations - Expenditure under direct management made by the Commission 

The available commitment appropriations for expenditure under direct management in the 2020 budget were EUR 160.3 million. An amount of EUR 158.6 million was committed in 2020. The balance of these appropriations, EUR 1.7 million, was cancelled.

The majority of EAGF appropriations for expenditure under direct management made by the Commission are differentiated appropriations.

The automatic carry-over to 2021, which relates only to non-differentiated appropriations, amounts to EUR 17.5 million.

For details, please see annexes 3 and 4.

2.1.8.Budget execution - Expenditure under direct management made by the Commission - Automatic carry-over from 2019

The automatic carry-over from 2019 to 2020 only concerned expenditure under direct management for non-differentiated appropriations. As indicated in the table above, an amount of EUR 14.9 million was carried over from 2019 to 2020. In 2020 an amount of EUR 1.1 million from this carry-over was de-committed. The payments made amounted to EUR 13.4 million.

For details, please see annex 4.

2.2.Monthly payments 

2.2.1.Monthly payments to Member States under shared management

2.2.1.1.Monthly payments on the provision for expenditure

Article 18(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 states that "monthly payments shall be made by the Commission for expenditure effected by Member States' accredited paying agencies during the reference month". Monthly payments shall be made to each Member State at the latest on the third working day of the second month following that in which the expenditure is incurred.

The monthly payments are a reimbursement of net expenditure (after deduction of revenue) which has been already carried out and are made available on the basis of the monthly declarations forwarded by the Member States 6 . The monthly booking of expenditure and revenue is subject to checks and corrections on the basis of these declarations. Moreover, these payments will become final following the Commission's verifications under the accounting clearance of accounts procedure.

Payments made by the Member States from 16 October 2019 to 15 October 2020 are covered by the system for monthly payments.

For the whole financial year, the total net amount of monthly payments, after deduction of clearance and other corrections, was EUR 43 763 million.

For the whole financial year, the total of the decided amounts of monthly payments was EUR 44 011.7 million. Taking into account recovered amounts from clearance decisions and reimbursement of previously suspended amounts, EUR 43 707.2 million have effectively been paid to Member States.

2.2.1.2.Decisions on monthly payments

The Commission adopted a payment decision for each of the twelve periods of the financial year. Furthermore, an additional decision was adopted in December, adjusting the total expenditure chargeable to the year.

For details, please see annex 2.

2.2.1.3.Reductions of monthly payments

In 2020, reductions for a net amount of EUR 46.1 million were made to the monthly payments effected to the Member States. The categories of corrections are detailed in the following points:

–reductions of the monthly payments as a result of the non-compliance with the payment deadlines

Pursuant to Article 40 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, certain Member States did not always respect the payment deadlines fixed by the Union legislation for the payment of aids to beneficiaries.

The payment deadlines ensure an equal treatment between the beneficiaries in all Member States and avoid the situation in which delays of payments would result in aids no longer having the intended economic effect. In addition, the deadlines help budgetary discipline by ensuring that the expenditure which falls in each budget year is more easily forecast.

As a result of non-respecting the set payment deadlines, the Commission decided reductions for a total amount of EUR 22.2 million.

–reductions of the monthly payments as a result of overspending the financial ceilings

For some aid measures financed by the EAGF, financial ceilings are determined in the sectoral regulations. Expenditure exceeding these ceilings is considered as "non eligible expenditure" and has to be corrected.

These corrections lead to reductions of the monthly payments. As a result of overspending these financial ceilings, the Commission made financial corrections for a total amount of EUR 23.9 million.

–reductions of the monthly payments as a result of non-eligibility

For some measures expenditure paid after the final eligibility date is not eligible and the Commission made financial corrections for the tiny amount of EUR 461.88. The very small amount is explained by the fact that for most of the concerned measures Member States were not any longer able to declare positive amounts once the final eligibility date had been passed.

2.2.2.Direct management expenditure by the Commission

In certain cases, the Commission makes payments directly for certain measures. These concern payments for actions for instance related to controls, to promotion actions and to information actions on the agricultural policy.

For details, please see annexes 3 and 4.

3.THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2020 EAGF BUDGET 

3.1.The uptake of the EAGF appropriations 

The implementation of the EAGF appropriations amounted to EUR 44 314.8 million 7 . This expenditure was funded by the budget's initial appropriations, by using the revenue assigned to the EAGF and an amount from Amending Budget No 9. The revenue assigned to the EAGF is composed of the amount of EUR 348.2 million carried over from 2019 and of a part of the assigned revenue collected in 2020 amounting to EUR 525.2 million out of a total EUR 580.7 million.

Within policy area 05, the EAGF expenditure amounted to EUR 2 662.3 million for market measures and EUR 41 396.3 million for direct payments.

For details of the budget's implementation by policy area, please see annex 5.

Annex 9 presents a breakdown of the expenditure on market measures, direct payments and audit of agricultural expenditure by item, by fund source and by Member State.

3.2.Comments on the budget implementation 

A brief commentary on the implementation of the appropriations as well as on the use of the assigned revenue is presented hereafter based on details given in the attached tables:

–Annex 5: Analysis of the execution of the 2020 EAGF budget. The expenditure incurred for each budget item appears in column 6. Columns 1 to 4 indicate, respectively, the source and amount of funding which originates either from voted appropriations or from transfers of assigned revenue and of voted appropriations from other items of the budget;

–Annex 6: Assigned revenue (C4) collected and used in 2020;

–Annex 7: Assigned revenue (C5) carried over from 2019 and used in 2020;

–Annex 9: Expenditure by Member State, by fund source and by item.

This presentation is made at the level of chapter, article and item of the agricultural budget. Budget lines with an execution rate very close to the budgeted amounts are not described in this section.

3.2.1.Chapter 05 02: Interventions in agricultural markets 

3.2.1.1.Introduction

Total execution (in commitment appropriations) for this chapter amounted to EUR 2 662.3 million and it was funded by the voted appropriations amounting to EUR 2 530.1 million and by assigned revenue amounting to EUR 83.7 million. The latter was intended to cover the expenditure incurred in the fruit and vegetables sector (for details, see point 3.2.1.2). In items where the needs exceeded the budgetary appropriations, the additional expenditure was covered through transfers from other items of the budget or via the Amending Budget No 9/2020. For the market measures where the budget's appropriations were underspent, the resulting available appropriations were transferred to other budget lines within the EAGF to cover additional expenditure as needed.

The measures related to market support measures covered in particular the fruit and vegetables and wine sectors, but also different private storage measures for different animal products.

In the context of exceptional measures taken under this chapter to help producers cope with the COVID-19 crisis, the Commission adopted a package focused on the wine sector.

Annex 5 presents these details at the level of each budget item. In case the execution was close to the foreseen level in the 2020 budget, no further remarks are made.

3.2.1.2.Article 05 02 08: Fruit and vegetables 

Appropriations of EUR 902.7 million in total were made available to cover the budgetary needs of the measures for this sector. The Budgetary Authority voted appropriations of EUR 700.5 million as it took into account the estimated revenue assigned to this sector (EUR 150 million). Moreover, EUR 69.8 million was transferred during the 2020 budget year from other budget lines within the same chapter. In addition, the budget was reinforced by EUR 48.7 million with Amending Budget No 9/2020. The expenditure incurred by Member States in 2020 for this budget article amounted to EUR 902.7 million.

In particular, the total needs in the budget for the operational funds for producer organisations were estimated at EUR 849 million. The expenditure incurred by Member States amounted to EUR 902.3 million and it was funded by voted appropriations, assigned revenue, transfers of appropriations and a reinforcement with Amending Budget No 9/2020 (EUR 48.7 million).

For residual payments concerning the aid to producer groups for preliminary recognition, nearly the whole amount budgeted was transferred outside the article as lower than forecasted expenditure in the budget was incurred.

3.2.1.3.Article 05 02 09: Products of the wine-growing sector 

The budget foresaw EUR 1 026.1 million appropriations to cover the estimated needs of all the measures for this sector. A transfer of EUR 30.6 million was made to cover the total execution which amounted to EUR 1 056.7 million. The expenditure includes also the support measures adopted mid-2020, to counter the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the wine sector, in particular EUR 250.2 million for crisis distillation and EUR 21.1 million for crisis storage measures.

3.2.1.4.Article 05 02 10: Promotion

As regards promotion measures – payments by Member States, the under-execution of EUR 9.3 million compared to the budgeted needs was mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The difference has been transferred to other EAGF budget articles.

As regards promotion actions under direct management by the Commission, the Commission committed appropriations for the total amount foreseen in the budget for these actions (EUR 100.9 million).

3.2.1.5.Article 05 02 11: Other Plant products

Appropriations of EUR 234.4 million were budgeted out of which EUR 232 million for POSEI (excluding Direct Payments) under budget item 05 02 11 04. A transfer of EUR 6.7 million was made outside the budget article.

3.2.1.6.Article 05 02 12: Milk and milk products 

The budget foresaw appropriations amounting to EUR 0.1 million to cover the needs of all the measures for this sector, while the execution was EUR 1 million.

In particular, a budget reinforcement of EUR 0.9 million was made, mainly for storage measures for butter and cream. Other measures, school milk and the storage measures for skimmed milk powder were also reinforced with minor amounts.

3.2.1.7.Article 05 02 13: Beef and veal 

The budget foresaw EUR 50 million for other measures (99-line), to cover the expenditure for an exceptional measure adopted for this sector. Almost the full ceiling of this measure was used by the Member State concerned and the residual amount (EUR 0.5 million) was transferred outside the article. This budget article was also impacted by private storage measures taken in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 budget foresaw no appropriations for storage measures for beef and veal while some expenditure was incurred (EUR 0.1 million).

3.2.1.8.Article 05 02 15: Pigmeat, eggs and poultry, bee-keeping and other animal products

The budget foresaw appropriations amounting to EUR 71 million to cover the needs of all the measures under this article. The expenditure incurred by Member States amounted only to EUR 50.0 million. The difference of EUR 21 million was transferred to other budget articles.

The expenditure for specific aid for beekeeping amounted to EUR 36.5 million compared to forecasted needs of EUR 39 million included in the budget.

From the “other measures”, EUR 18.5 million were transferred outside the article due to a low uptake of the exceptional measures related to avian influenza outbreaks in one Member State.

3.2.1.9.Article 05 02 18: School schemes

The expenditure incurred for school schemes amounted to EUR 162.1 million compared to budgeted needs of EUR 215 million. The difference (EUR 52.9 million) was transferred outside the article to cover other EAGF expenditure. The lower uptake reflects the practical repercussions encountered due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the implementation of these schemes, in particular for the distribution of milk products and fruit and vegetables related to the school year 2019/2020.

3.2.2.Chapter 05 03: Direct payments 

Financial year 2020 was the fifth year of implementation of the reformed direct payments as decided in the 2013 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. Total payments for this budget chapter amounted to EUR 41 396.4 million. This includes EUR 462.5 million paid for the reimbursement of direct payments to farmers in relation to financial discipline, financed from EUR 466.8 million carried over from 2019 (for details, see point 3.2.2.4). The rest of the payments made (EUR 40 934.0 million) was funded by voted appropriations (EUR 40 621 million) and by assigned revenue (EUR 1 312 million). The latter was used to cover part of the expenditure incurred for the basic payment scheme (for details, see point 3.2.2.1).

The total unused appropriations amounted to EUR 537.7 million, of which EUR 533.5 million have been carried over to financial year 2021. This includes the amount of EUR 478 million of the unused crisis reserve, corresponding to the effectively applied financial discipline in 2020, that was transferred to budget article 05 03 09 and then carried over to 2021 for the reimbursement by the Member States to farmers concerned. The remaining balance of assigned revenue collected in 2020 (EUR 55.5 million) was carried over to 2021. In items where the needs exceeded the budget’s voted appropriations, the additional expenditure was covered through transfers of voted appropriations from other items of the budget or of assigned revenue.

In view of the COVID-19 crisis, the Commission adopted a package to provide increased advances for direct payments as well as to make controls more flexible.

Annex 5 and annex 9 present details on the budget implementation at the level of each budget item.

3.2.2.1.Article 05 03 01: Decoupled direct payments

The main schemes funded under this article are the single area payment scheme (SAPS), the basic payment scheme (BPS), the payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment, the redistributive payment and the payment for young farmers. All aid schemes in this budget article are paid independently of production but on certain conditions, e.g. the respect of cross-compliance. The appropriations available in 2020 for decoupled direct payments amounted to EUR 35 459.3 million, including Budgetary Authority voted appropriations amounting to EUR 34 574.0 million, article and chapter transfers of EUR 40.1 million and assigned revenue amounting to EUR 845.2 million. The expenditure incurred by Member States for all schemes under this article amounted to EUR 35 403.7 million, which corresponds to 99.8% of the available appropriations.

As regards the BPS, the budgetary needs were estimated at EUR 16 844.2 million. To cover these needs, the Budgetary Authority voted appropriations amounting to EUR 17 051.7 million after taking into account EUR 727.2 million of revenue assigned to this scheme and a transfer of EUR 207.5 million. The expenditure declared by Member States for this scheme amounted to EUR 16 996.2 million, corresponding to 99.1% of the estimated needs.

As regards SAPS, the appropriations in the budget amounted to EUR 4 376.0 million and Member States incurred payments amounting to EUR 4 356.5 million. This leads to a budget execution of 99.2%, and EUR 19.5 million was transferred to other budget items within the same article.

As regards the payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment, the so-called greening, the expenditure incurred by Member States amounted to EUR 11 798.7 million whereas appropriations in the budget were at EUR 11 819.0 million giving an execution rate of 99.97%.

The needs for the redistributive payment amounted to EUR 1 681.0 million and the expenditure declared by Member States was EUR 1 675.4 million or 100.1% of the budgeted needs. EUR 5.6 million have been transferred to budget items within the same article.

For the payment for young farmers, needs were estimated at EUR 573.0 million in the budget. Expenditure amounted to EUR 583.7 million or 130.7% of the budgeted needs. The unforeseen needs were covered by transfers from other budget items within the same article.

The remaining lines covered mostly smaller amounts, including also the residual payments for the schemes which expired further to the 2013 reform.

3.2.2.2.Article 05 03 02: Other direct payments

The appropriations of this article covered expenditure for "other direct payments". This includes schemes for which there may still be a link between the payment and the production, under well defined conditions and within clear limits. As a consequence of the 2013 reform, schemes financed under this article were the voluntary coupled support and the small farmers scheme and a number of lines only covered relatively minor residual payments for expired schemes.

The 2020 budget included appropriations at EUR 5 569.0 million for this budget article. Member States incurred expenditure for EUR 5 530.0 million, hence slightly lower than the appropriations entered in the budget.

For the crop-specific payment for cotton, needs were estimated at EUR 245.0 million in the budget. Expenditure was EUR 244.9 million, i.e. 99.6% of the budgeted amount.

The execution for the POSEI support programmes ran up to 100.2% of the budgeted needs (EUR 420.0 million). The unforeseen needs were covered by transfers from other items within the same article.

For the voluntary coupled support scheme, needs were estimated at EUR 4 084.0
million in the budget. Expenditure was EUR 4 057.4 million, i.e. 98.9% of the needs.

For the small farmers scheme, needs were estimated at EUR 802.0 million in the budget. Expenditure was EUR 797.0 million, i.e. 92.5% of the needs.

As regards item 05 03 02 99 – Other (direct payments), the budget included appropriations of EUR 1.0 million intended to cover expenditure and corrections for older schemes which were not covered under other budget items of the coupled direct payments sector. There was a negative expenditure (– EUR 6.8 million) and to cover the funding needs of other budget items, EUR 7.8 million of appropriations were transferred to other budget items.

3.2.2.3.Article 05 03 09: Reimbursement of direct payments in relation to financial discipline 

No appropriations are allocated to this article by the Budgetary Authority. This article serves the purpose of collecting the non-committed voted appropriations of the unused crisis reserve carried over to finance the reimbursement of the financial discipline applied to direct payments 8 .

Each year, if applicable, a Commission Implementing Regulation sets the amounts that each Member State has to reimburse to farmers and, in accordance with the introductory phrase of Article 12(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046, determines that the expenditure in relation to this reimbursement shall only be eligible for Union financing if the amounts have been paid to the beneficiaries before 16 October of the financial year to which the appropriations are carried over. From the amount of EUR 466.8 million, corresponding to the financial discipline applied during financial year 2019 and which was carried over to budget 2020 for reimbursement, Member States reimbursed EUR 462.5 million. The difference of EUR 4.3 million reverted to the 2020 budget for its return to Member States via an Amending Budget in the following budget year.

For financial year 2021, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1769 9 sets the amount of reimbursement at EUR 433.6 million (for EU 27). This amount corresponds to the amount of financial discipline effectively applied in the 27 Member States for claim year 2020. The amount carried over into the 2021 budget (EUR 475 million) also included EUR 41.4 million to be reimbusrsed to the United Kingdom which will be settled via a separate decision.

3.2.2.4.Article 05 03 10: Reserve for crises in the agricultural sector

The appropriations of this article are intended to cover expenditure for measures which have to be taken in order to cope with major crises affecting agricultural production or distribution. The crisis reserve is established by applying, at the beginning of each year, a reduction to the direct payments through the financial discipline mechanism in accordance with Articles 25 and 26 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 as well as Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 10 . In 2020 the crisis reserve of EUR 478.0 million was not used.

Therefore, at the end of 2020 the non-committed voted appropriations corresponding to the amount of financial discipline effectively applied for claim year 2019 were transferred to budget article 05 03 09 in order to be carried over to the next financial year for the reimbursement of financial discipline imposed on farmers in the calendar year 2020 (please see point 3.2.2.3). 

3.2.3.Chapter 05 04: Rural Development 

For Article 05 04 01 (Completion of Rural Development financed by the EAGGF-Guarantee section – Programming period 2000 to 2006), the final net amount recovered was EUR 0.4 million.

3.2.4.Chapter 05 07: Audit of agricultural expenditure 

3.2.4.1.Article 05 07 01: Control of agricultural expenditure

This article involves the measures taken to reinforce the means of on-the-spot controls and to improve the systems of verification so as to limit the risk of fraud and irregularities to the detriment of the Union budget. It also includes the expenditure to finance possible accounting and conformity corrections in favour of Member States.

The European Union directly funded the purchase of satellite images within the framework of the Integrated Administration and Control System for an amount of EUR 11.2 million.

The corrections in favour of Member States following accounting clearance of accounts were EUR 5.4 million i.e. lower than the budgeted amount of EUR 17.4 million.

The corrections in favour of the Member States following conformity clearance of accounts turned out to be higher than expected with EUR 186.5 million instead of EUR 176.6 million foreseen in the budget.

3.2.4.2.Article 05 07 02: Settlement of disputes

The appropriations in this article are intended to cover expenditure for which the Commission could be held liable by decision of a court of justice, including the cost of settling claims for damages and interest. The 2020 budget foresaw appropriations amounting to EUR 1 million, of which EUR 0.3 million were executed. Most of the remainder of appropriations has been transferred to other items of the budget.

3.2.5.Chapter 05 08: Policy strategy and coordination 

3.2.5.1.Article 05 08 01: Farm accountancy data network (FADN)

Appropriations committed for data collection on farm holdings under this network amounted to EUR 15.7 million, equal to the budgeted amount.

3.2.5.2.Article 05 08 02: Surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings.

No appropriations had been foresseen in the budget and none were executed.

3.2.5.3.Article 05 08 03: Restructuring of systems for agricultural surveys 

Appropriations committed for the restructuring of systems of agricultural surveys amounted to EUR 3.5 million. Most of the difference to the budgeted amount (EUR 7.5 million) was transferred outside the chapter.

3.2.5.4.Article 05 08 06: Enhancing public awareness of the common agricultural policy

This article entails actions, fairs and publications aimed at enhancing public awareness of the CAP, including actions under corporate communication. The major part of appropriations (EUR 12.5 million) were committed and EUR 1 million of the voted appropriations was transferred outside the chapter.

3.2.5.5.Article 05 08 09: EAGF – Operational technical assistance

Appropriations committed for operational technical assistance for the EAGF amounted to approximately EUR 3.6 million, while the budget foresaw appropriations amounting to EUR 4.5 million.

4.IMPLEMENTATION OF REVENUE ASSIGNED TO EAGF 

The assigned revenue actually carried over from 2019 into 2020, amounted to EUR 348.2 million and was entirely used in financing EAGF expenditure of the 2020 budget year in accordance with article 14 of the Financial Regulation. As presented in annex 3-II, this amount covered expenditure of EUR 46.1 million for the operational funds for producer organisations in the fruits and vegetables sector and of EUR 302.1 million for the basic payment scheme.

As regards the assigned revenue collected in 2020, annex 3-I shows that this revenue amounted to EUR 580.7 million and it originated from:

¾the clearance corrections procedure, EUR 450.9 million,

¾the receipts from irregularities, EUR 127.9 million and

¾residual amounts of the milk levy collections, EUR 1.9 million.

From the assigned revenue collected in 2020, the following amounts were used:

¾EUR 369.7 million under the basic payment scheme,

¾EUR 117.9 million for the payments for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment and

¾EUR 37.6 million for the operational funds for producer organisations.

The balance of assigned revenue collected in 2020 (EUR 55.5 million) was automatically carried over to the 2021 budget.

5.CONTROL MEASURES 

5.1.Introduction

In accordance with the EU legislation and as in previous years, 2020 agricultural expenditure was submitted to a comprehensive system of control measures.

This system includes, on the one hand, all the necessary building blocks to guarantee a sound administration of the expenditure at Member States’ level and, on the other hand, allows the Commission to counter the risk of financial losses as a result of any deficiencies in the set-up and operation of those building blocks through the clearance of accounts procedure.

Member States have to ensure that the transactions are carried out and executed correctly, to prevent and deal with irregularities and to recover amounts unduly paid.

In addition to this general obligation, there is a system of controls and dissuasive sanctions of final beneficiaries which reflects the specific features of the regime and the risk involved in its administration.

The controls are carried out by the paying agencies or by delegated bodies operating under their supervision and effective, dissuasive and proportionate sanctions are imposed if the controls reveal non-compliance with EU rules. The system generally provides for exhaustive administrative controls of 100% of the aid applications, cross-checks with other databases where this is considered appropriate as well as pre-payment on-the-spot controls of a sample of transactions ranging between 1% and 100%, depending on the risk associated with the regime in question.

In addition, for most regimes which are not subject to the Integrated Administration and Control System, on top of the primary and secondary control levels, ex-post controls must be carried out.

5.2.Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS)

Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014 11 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 12 contain the rules on the IACS.

A fully operational IACS consists of: a computerised database, an identification system for agricultural parcels and farmers claiming aid, a system for identification and registration of payment entitlements, aid applications and integrated controls system (claim processing, on-the-spot checks and sanctioning mechanisms) and a system for identifying and registering animals where applicable. The IACS is fully automated.

This system foresees a 100% administrative control covering the eligibility of the claim, complemented by administrative cross-controls with standing databases ensuring that only areas or animals that fulfil all eligible requirements are paid the premium and by a minimum 5% of on-the-spot checks to check the existence and eligibility of the area or the animals claimed.

For the financial year 2020, the IACS covered 94% of the EAGF expenditure. Furthermore, the relevant components of the IACS are applicable to the rural development measures, which are based on area or number of animals. Such measures include, inter alia, agri-environment and animal welfare measures, less-favoured areas and areas with environmental restrictions and afforestation of agricultural land. For financial year 2020, 50% of payments made under the EAFRD were also covered.

The Commission services verify the effectiveness of Member States' IACS and homogenous implementation by means of both on-the-spot auditing and general supervision based on annually supplied financial and statistical data. It has been established already for some years now that the IACS provides an excellent and cost effective means of ensuring the proper use of EU funds.

5.3.Market measures

Market interventions, for example storage aid or aid to producer organisations, are not covered by IACS but they are governed by specific rules as regards controls and sanctions which are set out in horizontal and sector-based regulations.

Aids are paid on the basis of claims, often involving the lodging of administrative and/or end-use securities, which are systematically (100%) checked administratively for completeness and correctness. The more financially important aid schemes are also subject to regular accounting controls performed in situ on commercial and financial documents.

5.4.Application of Chapter III of Title V Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 (ex-post scrutiny)

An ex-post control system is provided for under Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 in Title V, Chapter III. It provides for an ex-post control system which is a complement to the sectoral control systems described above. The system constitutes an extra layer of control which contributes to the assurance that transactions have been carried out in conformity with the rules or otherwise allows recovering the unduly paid amounts.

The ex-post scrutiny is to be carried out by a body in the Member State, which is independent of the departments within the paying agency responsible for the pre-payment controls and the payments. It covers a wide range of CAP subsidies including sector schemes for fruit and vegetables, wine and POSEI aids. In fact, the ex-post scrutiny covers all aids paid to beneficiaries from EAGF (except payments covered by IACS and those excluded by Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 907/2014).

In 2020, Member States’ scrutiny services completed ex-post controls in respect of undertakings to which payments were made in financial year 2018. The annual reports in respect of the respective scrutiny period (July 2019-June 2020) shows that Member States completed 85% of the planned scrutinies at the end of the scrutiny reporting period This percentage is similar as the one reached in the preceding year. Several Member States reported that their control approach has been adapted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The regulation also foresees Member States providing mutual assistance in the performance of scrutinies. In the 2019/2020 scrutiny period, according to the reporting, 10 such requests were fulfilled.

6.CLEARANCE OF ACCOUNTS 

6.1.Conformity clearance

6.1.1.Introduction

It is primarily the Member States' responsibility to check that transactions are carried out and executed correctly via a system of control and dissuasive sanctions. Where Member States fail to meet this requirement, the Commission applies financial corrections to protect the financial interests of the EU.

The conformity clearance relates to the legality and regularity of transactions. It is designed to exclude expenditure from EU financing which has not been effected in compliance with EU rules, thus shielding the EU budget from expenditure that should not be charged to it (financial corrections). In contrast, it is not a mechanism by which irregular payments to beneficiaries are recovered, which according to the principle of shared management is the sole responsibility of Member States.

Financial corrections are determined on the basis of the nature and gravity of the infringement and the financial damage caused to the EU. Where possible, the amount is calculated on the basis of the loss actually caused or on the basis of an extrapolation. Where this is not possible, flat-rates are used which take account of the severity of the deficiencies in the national control systems in order to reflect the financial risk for the EU.

Where undue payments are or can be identified as a result of the conformity clearance procedures, Member States are required to follow them up by recovery actions against the final beneficiaries. However, even where this is not possible because the financial corrections only relate to deficiencies in the Member States' management and control systems, financial corrections are an important means to improve these systems and thus to prevent or detect and recover irregular payments to final beneficiaries. The conformity clearance, thereby, contributes to the legality and regularity of the transactions at the level of the final beneficiaries.

6.1.2.Audits and decisions adopted in 2020

6.1.2.1.Audits

The following table presents an overview of the conformity audits with missions and their coverage in respect of financial year 2020, broken down per Activity Based Budgeting (ABB):

6.1.2.2.Conformity decisions

Three conformity clearance decisions having an impact on the financial year 2020 were adopted, including financial corrections in a number of sectors. They also included the execution of a number of Court decisions in favour of Member States. Therefore, the overall financial impact for the EAGF was EUR 231.6 million in favour of Member States.

Adopted decisions:

·Decision (EU) 2019/1835 of 30 October 2019 – ad hoc decision 61, with financial impact of EUR 32.8 million (in favour of the EAGF);

·Decision (EU) 2020/201 of 12 February 2020 – ad hoc decision 62, with financial impact of EUR 103.2 million (in favour of Member States);

·Decision (EU) 2020/859 of 16 June 2020 – ad hoc decision 63, with financial impact of EUR 161.2 million (in favour of Member States).

For the decision 63, due to the relative magnitude of corrections compared to certain Member State’s gross domestic product, the Commission decided, upon request of the Member States concerned, that corrections amounting to EUR 71.3 million could be paid in 3 equal annual instalments.

The breakdown of the financial impact according to sectors/measures is as follows (in EUR):

Under Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, an automatic clearing mechanism is applied to irregular payments not recovered 4 years after the establishment of the irregularity, or 8 years after the establishment of the irregularity when the recovery is challenged in national courts. The financial consequences of non recovery are shared by the Member State concerned and the EU on a 50% - 50% basis. Even after the application of this mechanism, Member States are, however, obliged to pursue their recovery procedures and, if they fail to do so with the necessary diligence, the Commission may decide to charge the entire outstanding amounts to the Member States concerned.

Regarding financial year 2020, Member States reported the information about recovery cases on 15 February 2021. The Member States recovered during financial year 2020 around EUR 133.5 million for the EAGF. Recovered amounts were EUR 106.5 million for the EAFRD and EUR 0.7 million for the Transitional Rural Development Instrument (TRDI). The outstanding amount still to be recovered from beneficiaries at the end of the financial year 2020 was EUR 1 047 million for the EAGF, EUR 630.6 million for the EAFRD and EUR 10.1 million for the TRDI. The financial consequences to the Member States for non-recovery of EAGF, EAFRD and TRDI cases within 4 years from the date of the recovery request or PACA (Primary administrative or judicial finding) (for old cases), or within 8 years where recovery is taken to the national courts, amounted to EUR 27.1 million. During financial year 2020, around EUR 22.1 million was borne at 100% by the EU budget for EAGF, EAFRD and TRDI.

6.2.Financial clearance

6.2.1.Introduction

The financial clearance covers the completeness, accuracy and veracity of paying agencies' accounts, the internal control systems set up by these paying agencies and the legality and regularity of the expenditure for which reimbursement has been requested from the Commission. Within this framework, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) pays particular attention to the certificationg bodies’ conclusions and recommendations (where weaknesses are found), following their reviews of the paying agencies’ compliance with the accreditation criteria. As part of this review, DG AGRI also covers aspects relating to conformity issues and protecting the financial interests of the EU as regards advances paid, securities obtained and intervention stocks.

The Commission adopts an annual clearance of accounts decision clearing the paying agencies' annual accounts on the basis of the certificates and reports from the certification bodies, but without prejudice to any subsequent decisions to recover expenditure which proves not to have been in accordance with the EU rules. As from financial year 2014, these accounts are received by the Commission by 15 February of the year following the financial year in question. The Commission decides whether the accounts of each paying agency are cleared and adopts its clearance decision by 31 May of the year following the financial year in question. The accounts not cleared by 31 May are cleared later in a future decision, once assurance on the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the accounts is obtained.

6.2.2.Decisions

6.2.2.1.Financial clearance decision for the financial year 2017

On 28 May 2018, the Commission adopted a Decision (2018/794) clearing the annual accounts of all paying agencies, except for the paying agencies FranceAgriMer (France), EU-Zahlstelle der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg (Germany), Agriculture and Rural Payments Agency (Malta) and Fondo Español de Garantía Agraria (Spain). This decision cleared EUR 43 121 million. The accounts of the disjoined paying agencies will be cleared in a later decision (relevant amount EUR 321 million).

On 6 August 2019, the Commission adopted Decision C(2019)5763 clearing the accounts of EU-Zahlstelle der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg (Germany), Agriculture and Rural Payments Agency (Malta) and Fondo Español de Garantía Agraria (Spain) for a total amount of EUR 8 million. The only disjoint annual accounts remaining still to be cleared for financial year 2017 are those of FranceAgriMer (France) totalling to EUR 313 million.

On 11 August 2020, the Commission adopted Decision C(2020)5452 clearing the accounts of France Agrimer (France) for an amount of EUR 313 million. Following the adoption of this decision, all EAGF accounts for financial year 2017 have been cleared.

6.2.2.2.Financial clearance decision for the financial year 2018

As mentioned above, all accounts were cleared in previous years.

6.2.2.3.Financial clearance decision for the financial year 2019

On 25 May 2020, the Commission adopted a Decision (2020/715) clearing the annual accounts of all paying agencies. This decision cleared EUR 43 152 million.

For financial year 2019, all EAGF accounts of the Member States were cleared.

6.3.Appeals brought before the Court of Justice against clearance decisions

6.3.1.Judgments handed down

In the financial year 2020, the Court handed down 14 judgments in appeals brought by the Member States against conformity clearance decisions.

In financial year 2020, the Court partially annulled:

In financial year 2020, the Court rejected appeals brought in the following cases:

6.3.2.New appeals

In the financial year 2020, 2 new appeals were brought by the Member States against clearance decisions:

6.3.3.Appeals pending

The situation as at 15 October 2020 with regard to appeals pending together with the amounts concerned is shown in annex 15.

7.RELATIONS WITH PARLIAMENT AND WITH THE EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS 

7.1.Relations with Parliament 

The European Parliament (EP) is, together with the Council, part of the EU’s Budgetary Authority. It is, thus, one of the most important discussion partners of the Commission on budgetary matters and, therefore, on the EAGF.

Three EP committees are involved in the discussions and the preparation for the plenary on agricultural budgetary matters. These are the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Budgetary Control.

Since 2014 the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development provides an opinion on the discharge procedure to the Committee on Budgetary Control.

The Committee on Budgetary Control monitors the correct implementation of the budget and drafts the opinion proposing to the Parliament to grant the discharge and making recommendations to the Commission or to Member States.

The European Parliament granted discharge to the Commission, in respect to the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the 2018 financial year, by a vote in plenary on a Parliamentary Decision, which took place in May 2020.

The same procedure and timeline will apply for financial year 2019.

7.2.Relations with the European Court of Auditors

7.2.1.Mission of the European Court of Auditors 

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) is the external independent auditor of the European Union. Articles 285 to 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provide that the ECA carries out the Union’s audit with the dual aim of improving financial management and reporting to the citizens of Europe on the use made of public funds by the authorities responsible for their management. The ECA provides the European Parliament and the Council with a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. This statement, which can be complemented by specific assessments for various policy areas, is of prime importance to the European Parliament in its deliberations on granting discharge to the Commission for the implementation of the budget.

As part of its work, the ECA carries out numerous audits within the Commission services. ECA officials frequently visit the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development to gather facts and figures needed for the ECA's annual and special reports, as well as for its opinions and review-based publications. As the result of their audit work, the ECA frequently makes suggestions and recommendations to the Commission on how to improve its financial management make supervisory and control systems more effective and improve policy performance. 

7.2.2.Annual Reports for financial year 2019

Every year the ECA publishes its Annual report on the implementation of the EU budget in which it gives a statement of assurance on the reliability of the consolidated accounts of the EU as well as on the legality and regularity of transactions. This is supplemented with specific assessments of each major area of EU activity. The report is published along with the Institutions' replies and is presented to the European Parliament after the summer break of year N+1.

In line with International Audit Standards, adversarial meetings take place between the auditor (the ECA) and the auditee (the Commission and the other Institutions and bodies) before the report is published. In these meetings, the ECA's findings and conclusions are discussed to ensure agreement on the underlying facts or existing interpretation of legislation. The wording of the auditee's replies is also discussed.

In the Annual report for financial year 2019, the activities relevant for the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural development are considered together with other policy areas relevant to “natural resources” under one single chapter, Chapter 6 – Natural Resources. Within this chapter, direct payment transactions financed under the EAGF are assessed separately from market measures transactions financed under the EAGF, transactions financed under the EAFRD and transactions financed under other policy areas (environment, climate action and fisheries).

Whilst a breakdown of the level of error per type of transaction is not provided, the ECA states that its estimate of the level of error for EAGF direct payments is below the materiality threshold of 2%.

For EAGF market measures, the Court tested 14 transactions, of which 5 presented an error with financial impact. Market measures, which represent some 4.0% of expenditure covered under “Natural resources”, are considered together with rural development and other policy areas (environment, climate and fisheries) as higher risk spending areas.

The audit conclusion of the Court is consistent with the error rates reported in DG AGRI’s AAR 2019.

Since FY 2016 the Court has maintained its opinion that the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) contributes significantly to preventing and reducing the error level. For 2019, the Court also referred to the “checks by monitoring” which the Paying Agencies can use since 2018. The Court noted that the checks by monitoring have the potential to reduce administrative burden (paragraph 6.17) and improve cost-effectiveness.

The Court issued one new recommendation to the Commission concerning the CAP anti-fraud policies and procedures. The recommendation related to the need of more frequent update of the CAP fraud risks, analysis of Member States’ fraud prevention measures and dissemination of the best practices in the use of the Arachne tool. The timeline for implementation of this recommendation is 2021 and the Commission is already taking the necessary steps to implement it.

The 2017 recommendations concerning the EAGF related to: assessing the effectiveness of Memeber States’ actions to address the causes of errors and monitoring the paying agencies’ progress in supporting farmers not using geo-spatial aid application (GSAA).

The Commission continues to request the Member State to establish remedial action plans when serious deficiencies and weaknesses are identified, and to monitor the effectiveness of their implementation. The progress made by the Paying Agencies in supporting farmers not yet using the GSAA to submit their application, has been monitored by the Commission. The GSAA has been implemented in all Member States. Promotion of the best practices to maximise the benefits and achieve full implementation of the new system before the regulatory deadlines was also done through discussions in management committee sessions and the continuous update of the GSAA guidelines.

Political stakeholders and the public increasingly require clear evidence for the Commission’s delivery on political and operational objectives. In this context, the ECA published for the first time a report on the performance of the EU budget which looks at the results and progress of EU programmes at the end of 2019 in each main policy area of the multiannual financial framework. The same adversarial procedure and publication modalities as for the annual report on the implementation of the budget also apply to the annual report on performance.

The Report on performance is generally positive on the performance of the current CAP and acknowledges that, overall, the CAP is on track to meet its targets. The ECA, however, is also of the view that the Commission’s reporting on the CAP’s performance provides little quantified information about the results and impact of the CAP, and argues that the Commission presents an overly positive narrative by focusing on outputs rather than results.

Overall, the ECA finds it positive that the programme statement indicators describe the economic, environmental and social context of the CAP, and that the Commission uses various data sources to inform the indicators. At the same time, according to the ECA, a key weakness is that the performance indicators for the 2014-2020 period are not based on a detailed intervention logic for providing CAP financial support.

The Commission recognises that substantial challenges remain in enhancing the performance of the CAP. Any policy seeking to address the numerous challenges faced by the agriculture sector and rural areas needs to take account of the fact that economic and environmental objectives can be achieved only if addressed jointly. Effective farm policies need to reflect multi-layer relationships between instruments and objectives rather than applying a simplified intervention logic in order to capture both the tensions and the opportunities created by all types of modern farming practices in terms of economic and environmental efficiency.

7.2.3.Special Reports by the ECA 

In calendar year 2020, the ECA published six special reports covering DG AGRI's activities:

¾Special report 04/2020: Using new imaging technologies to monitor the Common Agricultural Policy: steady progress overall, but slower for climate and environment monitoring (published 28 January 2020);

¾Special report 05/2020: Sustainable use of plant protection products: limited progress in measuring and reducing risks (published 5 Februray 2020);

¾Special report 07/2020: Implementing Cohesion policy: comparatively low costs, but insufficient information to assess simplification savings (published 16 April 2020);

¾Special report 12/2020: The European Investment Advisory Hub — Launched to boost investment in the EU, the Hub’s impact remains limited (published 12 May 2020);

¾Special report 13/2020: Biodiversity on farmland: CAP contribution has not halted the decline (published 5 June 2020);

¾Special report 15/2019: Protection of wild pollinators in the EU — Commission initiatives have not borne fruit (published 9 July 2020). 

8.ANNEXES

General

1.    EAGF budgetary procedure for 2020

Cash position and management of appropriations

2.    Monthly reimbursements to Member States for the 2020 financial year

3.    Payments under direct management by the European Commission in the 2020 financial year (Differentiated Appropriations)

4.    Payments under direct management by the European Commission in the 2020 financial year (Non-Differentiated Appropriations)

Budget outturn

5.    EAGF 2020 Analysis of budget execution

6.    EAGF 2020 Analysis of execution of assigned revenue C4

7.    EAGF 2020 Analysis of execution of assigned revenue C5

8.    EAGF 2020 Expenditure for intervention in storage

9.    EAGF 2020 Expenditure by Member State, by item and by fund source

10.    Evolution of EAGF Expenditure by article of the budget. Financial years 2014 to 2020

11.    Evolution of EAGF Expenditure by Member State & in % terms. Financial years 2014 to 2020

12.    Evolution of EAGF Direct payments expenditure by measure. Financial years 2014 to 2020

13.    Evolution of EAGF Storage expenditure. Financial years 2013 to 2020

14.    Evolution of the breakdown of EAGF expenditure. Financial years 2014 to 2020

Clearance of accounts

15.    Appeals against Clearance Decisions pending on 15 October 2020

16.    Financial corrections (Decisions 1 - 63) by decision and financial year

(1)      This procedure is presented in annex 1.

(2)    OJ L 347 of 20.12.2013, p. 884.

(3)    OJ L 108 of 11.4.2014, p. 13.

(4)    These amounts are not entered in the revenue lines of the budget (article 670 for the revenue assigned to the EAGF), which mention "p.m." ("pro memoria"), but the forecast amount is mentioned in the budgetary remarks for this article.

(5)    OJ L 347 of 20.12.2013, p. 549.

(6)    These monthly declarations of expenditure are transmitted by the Member States by the declaration of the 12th of the month N+1.

(7)      This figure includes the reimbursement of the financial discipline related to the agricultural crisis reserve carried over from financial year 2019.

(8)      These appropriations may be carried over, in accordance with point (d) of the first subparagraph and the third subparagraph of Article 12(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046, and, in accordance with Article 26(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, are made available to the Member States for the reimbursement of the final recipients who are subject, in the financial year to which the appropriations are carried over, to the application of financial discipline in accordance with Article 26, paragraphs (1) to (4) thereof.

(9)

   OJ L 398, 27.11.2020, p. 4-5

(10)    OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 608

(11)      OJ L 181, 20.6.2014, p. 1

(12)    OJ L 181, 20.6.2014, p.48