Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Agriculture - EAGGF - Clearance of accounts - Communication to the Member States of the results of the inspections of the control services - Applicable provisions - Conditions as to form - Probative function of writing - Acceptability of any procedure involving written documentation

(Council Regulation No 729/70, Art. 5(2)(c); Commission Regulation No 1663/95, Art. 8(1), first subpara.)

2. Agriculture - EAGGF - Clearance of accounts - Communication to the Member States of the results of the inspections of the control services - Conditions as to content - Indication of period for reply without express reference to Article 8 of Regulation No 1663/95 - No breach of an essential formal requirement - Conditions

(Council Regulation No 729/70, Art. 5(2)(c); Commission Regulation No 1663/95, Art. 8(1), first subpara.)

Summary

1. It is clear from the wording of Article 5(2)(c) of Regulation No 729/70 and Article 8 of Regulation No 1663/95 that those provisions both refer to the communication of the results of the inspections of the EAGGF control services in the Member States. Even if the fifth subparagraph of Article 5(2)(c) of Regulation No 729/70 uses the terms results of checks and the first subparagraph of Article 8(1) of Regulation No 1663/95 the terms findings as a result of an enquiry, it is none the less clear that they mean the same stage of the procedure for clearance of accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section, that is to say, the on-the-spot inspections in Member States by the Commission's services.

As regards the formal requirements relating to the communication of the results of inspections in the Member States, Article 8(1) of Regulation No 1663/95 makes a distinction between the communication of findings, referred to in the first subparagraph, and the formal communication of conclusions, referred to in the second subparagraph, which happens at a later stage. It follows that the first communication does not have to meet such strict formal conditions as the second. The requirement that the communication be in writing, at that stage in the procedure, has merely a probative function in relations between the Commission and the Member State concerned. That probative function is fulfilled by any procedure involving written documentation. Findings can therefore be communicated by a written message sent by telex or fax.

( see paras 27-29 )

2. In the procedure for the clearance of EAGGF accounts, the document by which the Commission communicates to the Member State the results of on-the-spot checks made and the corrective measures to be taken is the basis for the calculation of the period of 24 months mentioned in the fifth subparagraph of Article 5(2)(c) of Regulation No 729/70. Express reference to that period is not required by the applicable legislation. That document also indicates the period, of two months, in which a reply is to be made, as provided for in Article 8 of Regulation No 1663/95. As regards the question of an express reference to that provision, the Commission is bound, in its relations with the Member States, to respect the conditions it has imposed on itself by implementing regulations. However, the Member States cannot, in their relations with the Commission, adopt purely formalist positions when it is clear from the circumstances that their rights were fully protected. That is the case where a Member State was fully informed about the Commission's reservations and the corrections which would probably be made to the premiums in question, so that the document fulfilled the warning function conferred on a written communication by Article 5(2)(c) of Regulation No 729/70 and the first subparagraph of Article 8(1) of Regulation No 1663/95. The mere omission, in the document communicating the results of inspections, of a reference to Regulation No 1663/95 does not appear to be a breach of an essential formal requirement.

( see paras 32-34 )