Commission Implementing Decision of 20 September 2012 amending Decision 2008/458/EC laying down rules for the implementation of Decision No 575/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Return Fund for the period 2008 to 2013 as part of the General programme ‘Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows’ as regards Member States’ management and control systems, the rules for administrative and financial management and the eligibility of expenditure on projects co-financed by the Fund (notified under document C(2012) 6408) (Only the Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish texts are authentic) (2012/718/EU)

Article 1

Annex XI to Decision 2008/458/EC is amended as follows:

(1)

in point II.1.3.3, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

‘3. For individual items costing below EUR 20 000 the full purchase cost is eligible, provided, that, except in duly justified cases, the equipment is purchased before the last 3 months of the project. Individual items costing EUR 20 000 or more are only eligible on the basis of depreciation. By way of derogation from the above conditions, for means of transport costing below EUR 250 000 the full purchase cost is eligible.’;

(2)

point II.1.4.2 is replaced by the following:

‘II.1.4.2. Purchase, construction or renovation

1. Where the acquisition of real estate is essential for implementation of the project and is clearly linked with its objectives, the purchase of real estate, i.e. buildings already constructed, or construction of real estate, is eligible for co-financing on the basis of the full or partial cost, or on the basis of depreciation, under the conditions set out below, without prejudice to the application of stricter national rules:

(a)

a certificate is obtained from an independent qualified valuer or duly authorised official body establishing that the price does not exceed the market value, either attesting that the real estate is in conformity with national regulations or specifying the points which are not in conformity that the final beneficiary plans to rectify as part of the project;

(b)

the real estate has not been purchased through a Community grant at any time prior to the implementation of the project;

(c)

the real estate is to be used solely for the purpose stated in the project for a period of at least 10 years after the end date of the project unless the Commission specifically authorises otherwise in the case of co-financing of the full or partial costs; in the case of co-financing on the basis of depreciation this period is reduced to 5 years;

(d)

the purchase of the real estate respects the principles of value for money and cost-effectiveness and is being considered as proportionate to the aim to be achieved through the implementation of the project;

(e)

in the case of co-financing on the basis of depreciation, only the portion of the depreciation of these assets corresponding to the duration of use for the project and the rate of actual use for the project is eligible; depreciation shall be calculated according to national accounting rules.

2. Expenses for renovation, refurbishment and modernisation of real estate are eligible for co-financing on the basis of the full or partial cost or on the basis of depreciation. In the case of renovation costs only conditions (c) and (e) in paragraph 1 apply.’