Implementation of Member States' action programmes on control of EAGGF Guarantee Section expenditure

PURPOSE : to present a proposal for a Regulation amending Regulation 723/97/EC on the implementation of Member States' action programmes on control of EAGGF Guarantee Section expenditure. CONTENT : under Article 1 of Council Regulation 723/97/EC of 22 April on the implementation of Member States' action programmes on control of EAGGF Guarantee Section expenditure, the Community contributes towards the costs incurred by the Member States in implementation new action programmes that arise out of the new Community obligations, approved by the Commission and aimed at improving the structures or effectiveness of EAGGF Guarantee Section expenditure controls. Article 4 of this Regulation provides that the Community financial contribution shall be granted per calendar year at a 50% rate for a period of five consecutive years starting from 1997 within the limit of the annual appropriations authorised by the budget authority in light of the financial perspective. Following its report sent to the Council on the implementation of this Regulation during the period 1997 to 2000, the Commission has expressed the view that the Member States should receive for a longer period the financial assistance provided for by Article 1 of Regulation 723/97/EC. In addition, new expensive techniques have been introduced by Council Regulation 1593/2000/EC of 17 July 2000 amending Regulation 3508/92/EEC establishing an integrated administration and control system for certain Community aid schemes, in the area of the improvement of the agricultural parcel identification system having recourse to the technique of geographical information system and of digital orthophotography, which make necessary a Community cofinancement in order to cover a part of the expenditure incurred by Member States in this domain. The proposed amendment involves extending by one year the period during which Community financial contribution may be paid within the limits of the appropriations allocated for this purpose. The financial impact on the Community budget is estimated at EUR 15,0 million for 2002. �