COMMISSION DECISION

of 1 October 2008

on the eligibility of expenditure incurred by certain Member States in 2008 for the collection and management of the data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy

(notified under document number C(2008) 4013)

(2008/793/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to the Council Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 of 22 May 2006 establishing Community financial measures for the implementation of the common fisheries policy and in the area of the Law of the Sea(1), and in particular Article 24(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 lays down the conditions whereby Member States may receive a contribution from the Community for expenditure incurred in their national programmes of collection and management of data.

(2) Those programmes are to be drawn up in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000 of 29 June 2000 establishing a Community framework for the collection and management of the data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy(2) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1639/2001 of 25 July 2001 establishing the minimum and extended Community programmes for the collection of data in the fisheries sector and laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000(3).

(3) Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Finland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom have submitted national programmes for 2008 as provided for in Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000. Those Member States have also submitted applications for a financial contribution by the Community.

(4) The Commission has examined Member States’ programmes and has assessed the eligibility of the expenditures.

(5) Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000 lays down the basis for a minimum Community programme covering the information absolutely needed for the scientific evaluations and an extended programme that shall include, in addition to the information contained in the minimum programme, information likely to improve substantially the scientific evaluations.

(6) Article 24(3)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 establishes that a Commission Decision shall fix the rate of the financial contribution. Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 861/2006 provides that Community financial measures in the area of basic data collection shall not exceed 50 % of the costs incurred by Member States in carrying out the programme of collection and management of data. Article 24(2) stipulates that priority shall be given to the actions which are most appropriate in order to improve the collection of data necessary for the CFP.

(7) An advance payment should be granted to the Member States to facilitate the implementation of their national programme. The payment of the total Community financial contribution to the National Programmes should be subject to the approval by the Commission of the annual technical report referred to in Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1639/2001 and its associated costs.

(8) This Decision shall constitute the financial decision within the meaning of Article 75(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(4).

(9) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

This Decision establishes for 2008 the amount of the eligible expenditure for each Member State and the rates of the Community financial contribution for the collection and management of the data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy.

Article 2

Expenditure incurred for collecting and managing the data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy, as set out in Annex I, shall qualify for a financial contribution from the Community not exceeding 50 % of the eligible expenditure for the minimum programme as provided for in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000.

Article 3

Expenditure incurred for collecting and managing the data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy, as set out in Annex II, shall qualify for a financial contribution from the Community not exceeding 35 % of the eligible expenditure for the extended programme as provided for in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000.

Article 4

1. The Community shall pay a first instalment of 50 % of the financial contribution from the Community set out in Annexes I and II after notification of the present Decision to Member States.

2. Member States shall submit by 31 May 2009 at the latest:

(a) a technical report as referred to in Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1639/2000;

(b) their applications for the reimbursement of expenditure incurred in 2008 with a financial report and supporting documents.

3. A second instalment of the Community contribution shall be paid after the reception and approval of the financial and technical reports referred to in the paragraph 2.

Article 5

1. The euro exchange rate used to calculate the amounts eligible under this Decision shall be the rate in force in May 2007.

2. The expenditure declarations in national currency received from the Member States not participating in the third stage of economic and monetary union shall be converted into euro at the rate in force for the month in which those declarations are received by the Commission.

Article 6

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 1 October 2008.

For the Commission

Joe

BORG

Member of the Commission

(1)

OJ L 160, 14.6.2006, p. 1

(2)

OJ L 176, 15.7.2000, p. 1

(3)

OJ L 222, 17.8.2001, p. 53

(4)

OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1

ANNEX I

MINIMUM PROGRAMME

(EUR)
Member State	Eligible expenditure	Max. Community contribution
BELGIUM	1 258 218	629 109
BULGARIA	196 760	98 380
CYPRUS	524 938	262 469
DENMARK	5 314 755	2 657 377
GERMANY	3 032 194	1 516 097
ESTONIA	588 717	294 359
GREECE	1 890 488	945 244
SPAIN	8 041 538	4 020 769
FRANCE	7 894 314	3 947 157
IRELAND	4 572 608	2 286 304
ITALY	4 272 453	2 136 227
LATVIA	407 811	203 905
LITHUANIA	141 602	70 801
MALTA	485 022	242 511
NETHERLANDS	3 356 144	1 678 072
POLAND	729 794	364 897
PORTUGAL	3 398 883	1 699 441
ROMANIA	420 866	210 433
SLOVENIA	178 910	89 455
FINLAND	1 447 228	723 614
SWEDEN	3 345 165	1 672 582
UNITED KINGDOM	7 266 446	3 633 223
Total	58 764 854	29 382 426

ANNEX II

EXTENDED PROGRAMME

(EUR)
Member State	Eligible expenditure	Max. Community contribution
BELGIUM	—	—
BULGARIA	—	—
CYPRUS	—	—
DENMARK	—	—
GERMANY	744 300	260 505
ESTONIA	37 300	13 055
GREECE	243 180	85 113
SPAIN	1 377 713	482 200
FINLAND	159 392	55 787
FRANCE	438 480	153 468
IRELAND	540 267	189 093
ITALY	581 666	203 583
LATVIA	10 817	3 786
LITHUANIA
MALTA	—	—
NETHERLANDS	437 111	152 989
POLAND
PORTUGAL	247 515	86 630
ROMANIA	—	—
SLOVENIA	—	—
SWEDEN	60 457	21 160
UNITED KINGDOM	1 024 755	358 664
Total	5 902 953	2 066 033