Agenda 2000: support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund EAGGF

LEGISLATIVE ACT : Commission Regulation 141/2004/EC laying down rules for applying Council Regulation 1257/1999/EC as regards the transitional rural development measures applicable to the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. CONTENT : Chapter IXa of Council Regulation 1257/1999/EC on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations introduced by the Act of Accession of the 10 acceding members, defines in general terms the conditions under which temporary additional support is to be granted for transitional rural development measures in the new Member States. Implementing rules should be adopted to supplement those conditions and adapt certain rules foreseen by Commission Regulation 445/2002/EC laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation 1257/1999/EC on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF). Those rules must conform to the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality and must therefore be limited to what is necessary to achieve the objectives pursued. Conditions of eligibility for certain transitional measures must therefore be specified and the support ceilings for the specific measures applicable to Malta should be fixed. To facilitate the establishment of rural development plans comprising those measures, and their examination and approval by the Commission, common rules relating to their structure and content must be laid down on the basis of Article 43 of Regulation 1257/1999/EC in particular. The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Agricultural Structures and Rural Development. This Regulation aims in particular to lay down the implementing rules related to: - the specific rural development measures foreseen in Chapter IXa of Regulation 1257/1999/EC and applicable to the 10 new Member States; - programming and evaluation of all rural development measures for the new Member States. ENTRY INTO FORCE : This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 May 2004 subject to the entry into force of the Act of Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.�