Decision 2009/470/EC lays down the procedures governing the financial contribution from the Union towards the programmes for the eradication, control and monitoring of animal diseases and zoonoses.

Pursuant to Article 27(1) of Decision 2009/470/EC a Union financial measure is introduced to reimburse the expenditure incurred by the Member States for the financing of national programmes for the eradication, control and monitoring of the animal diseases and zoonoses listed in the Annex to that Decision.

Article 27(7) of Decision 2009/470/EC provides that Member States are to submit, for each approved programme, intermediate technical and financial reports and, by 30 April each year at the latest, an annual detailed technical report, including the assessment of the results achieved and detailed account of expenditure incurred for the previous year.

Commission Decision 2008/940/EC defines the information that Member States having programmes for the eradication, monitoring and control of certain animal diseases approved for Union co-financing shall provide within the intermediate and final technical and financial reports.

Since the adoption of Decision 2008/940/EC and in the framework of simplification and improvement of the requirements and procedures in relation to the programmes, changes have been introduced as regards the measures considered eligible for Union financial contribution and the method of calculation of the reimbursement as laid down in the financing decisions approving the programmes for each calendar year.

In addition, in order to further improve the process of submission of reports, their processing and evaluation as well as the follow up of progress over the years, the intermediate and final reports for the implementation of the programmes should be submitted by the Member States on-line from 1 July 2015 onwards using electronic templates developed by the Commission for this purpose. The structure of the relevant reports should therefore be adapted for the electronic submission and processing of data.

Therefore, the standard requirements for the submission by Member States of applications for Union financing for the national programmes for the eradication, control and monitoring of certain animal diseases and zoonoses should be amended and made consistent with the amendments to relevant Union legislation and compatible with the on-line submission system.

In the second half of each year, the Commission requests from the Member States to provide updated information on the usage of funds for eligible measures under their programmes since the beginning of the year and estimations for the total needed budget for the whole year. On the basis of this information and in order to improve the usage of available funds the Commission prepares every year a Decision amending the financing decision for that year to reallocate funds between programmes that are expected not to use their initial allocation of funds and programmes reported to be in need of additional funds.

In order to optimise the efficiency of the exercise of reallocating funds amongst programmes, it is appropriate that the Member States also submit quantitative information on the activities already performed and expected to be performed, as well as unit cost data. Furthermore, to reduce administrative burden the submission of information for the reallocation of funds should be integrated within the submission of intermediate reports.

It is therefore appropriate that Decision 2008/940/EC is repealed and replaced by the current Decision.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,