1.   This Regulation applies to Community financial contributions granted to Member States in respect of eligible expenditure as defined in Articles 3, 4 and 5, for disease eradication measures in the situations referred to in Article 3(1) of Decision 90/424/EEC, with the exception of equidae diseases, and also in Article 4(1) and (2), Article 6(2), and Article 11(1) of that Decision.

2.   Without prejudice to the adoption of additional eligibility criteria which may be laid down by decisions under Articles 3(4), 6(2) and (3) and 11(4) of Decision 90/424/EEC (hereinafter referred to as ‘specific decisions’), application of this Regulation may be extended, through such decisions, to the financing of measures other than those referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, and in particular:

3.   This Regulation shall not prejudice the principle that the eligibility of expenditure, incurred and covered by Member States, for a Community financial contribution is subject to compliance with Community rules.

1.   The unit value per animal or product taken into account in calculating Community financial support shall be restricted to an average unit value calculated on the basis of the total amount of compensation for the animals or products concerned, divided by the number of corresponding animals or products. The amount shall not exceed:

Where the average unit value calculated exceeds the maximum amounts stipulated in the first subparagraph, and where it is justified to do so on the basis of the market values communicated by Member States pursuant to Article 6(1) and the observations made in connection with the audits referred to in Article 10, the Commission shall take the calculated value as the basis for calculating the Community contribution.

2.   The maximum amounts laid down in paragraph 1 shall be updated and supplemented by the Commission in respect of all or some of the animal categories or products, in order to take account of market trends and the inflation rate.

1.   Community financial support for the expenditure referred to in Article 3(b) and (c) shall cover only necessary and reasonable expenditure relating to the eligible items of expenditure set out in Annex I.

2.   Calculation of the amount of Community financial support shall exclude expenditure presented by the Member State, and in particular:

1.   If one of the situations referred to in Article 1(1) is identified in the territory of a Member State, the Member State shall inform the Commission, within 30 days of official confirmation of the first outbreak, of the categories of animals or products concerned and the market values for each of those categories.

2.   No later than two months after official confirmation of the first outbreak, and every two months thereafter, the Member State shall forward an electronic file in the format shown in Annex IIa containing the following core information on the cost of compensation: number of slaughtered animals per category; where applicable the number of eggs destroyed; and the total amount of compensation already granted for each category.

3.   No later than three months after official confirmation of the first outbreak, and every two months thereafter, the Member State shall forward an electronic file in the format shown in Annex IIb containing the following core information on operational expenditure: amounts paid for slaughtered animals, transport and destruction of carcasses, eggs and milk, cleaning, disinfecting and disinsectisation of the holding, destruction of feedingstuffs and, where applicable, destruction of equipment.

1.   The Community financial support referred to in Article 3 shall be paid on the basis of the following:

The supporting documents referred to in point (b), together with all relevant information, including commercial information, shall be made available to the Commission, on request, for on-the-spot audits which it has to carry out.

2.   The ‘adequate compensation’ section of the financial report referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall be submitted in the form of an electronic file in accordance with Annex III within 60 calendar days from the date of notification of the specific decision establishing financial support.

The ‘operational expenditure’ section of the financial report referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall be submitted in the form of an electronic file in accordance with Annex IV within six months from the date of the last outbreak.

The Commission may extend the deadlines set out in the first and second subparagraphs where objective and well-founded justifications are put forward by Member States.

3.   Member States shall, in accordance with national laws, regulations and administrative provisions, take the measures necessary to:

Member States shall inform the Commission, at its request, of the measures adopted for these purposes.

4.   Official requests for reimbursement shall in any event cite the status of national administrative and legal procedures relating to operations financed, in particular the cases still pending, and shall state the financial amounts concerned and the reasons for such procedures.

1.   If the authorities concerned fail to comply with the deadlines laid down in Article 6, eligible expenditure may be reduced by up to 5 %, account being taken of the quality of the information collected and the extent of the declared epizootic disease.

2.   Failure to meet the deadlines laid down in Article 7(2) shall result in a 25 % reduction in Community financial support per calendar month of delay.

3.   Where the authorities concerned make compensation payments outside the period referred to in point (a) of Article 2, the following rules shall apply:

However, the Commission may apply a different scale and/or lower, or zero, reduction rates where objective and well-founded justifications are put forward by Member States.

4.   In the event of objections to the compensation on the part of recipients, the periods referred to in paragraph 3 shall be suspended in respect of the cases concerned.