[X1CHAPTER II U.K. PROVISIONS IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EC) No 1083/2006

Section 4 U.K. Irregularities

Article 27 U.K. Definitions

For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(a)

‘ economic operator ’ means any natural or legal person or other entity taking part in the implementation of assistance from the Funds, with the exception of a Member State exercising its prerogatives as a public authority;

(b)

‘ primary administrative or judicial finding ’ means a first written assessment by a competent authority, either administrative or judicial, concluding on the basis of specific facts that an irregularity has been committed, without prejudice to the possibility that this conclusion may subsequently have to be revised or withdrawn as a result of developments in the course of the administrative or judicial procedure;

(c)

‘suspected fraud’ means an irregularity giving rise to the initiation of administrative or judicial proceedings at national level in order to establish the presence of intentional behaviour, in particular fraud, as referred to in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention drawn up on the basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests (1) ;

(d)

‘bankruptcy’ means insolvency proceedings within the meaning of Article 2(a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 (2) .

Article 28 U.K. Initial reporting — derogations

1. Without prejudice to the other obligations pursuant to Article 70 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, within two months following the end of each quarter, Member States shall report to the Commission any irregularities which have been the subject of a primary administrative or judicial finding.

In that report Member States shall in all cases give details concerning the following:

(a) the Fund, objective, operational programme, priority axis and operation concerned and the Common Identification Code (CCI) number;

(b) the provision which has been infringed;

(c) the date and source of the first information leading to suspicion that an irregularity has been committed;

(d) the practices employed in committing the irregularity;

(e) where appropriate, whether the practice gives rise to a suspicion of fraud;

(f) the manner in which the irregularity was discovered;

(g) where appropriate, the Member States and third countries involved;

(h) the period during which, or the moment at which, the irregularity was committed;

(i) the national authorities or bodies which drew up the official report on the irregularity and the authorities responsible for administrative or judicial follow-up;

(j) the date on which the primary administrative or judicial finding on the irregularity was established;

(k) the identity of the natural and legal persons involved or of any other participating entities, except where this information is irrelevant for the purposes of combating irregularities, given the nature of the irregularity concerned;

[F1(l) the total eligible expenditure and the public contribution approved for the operation together with the corresponding amount of the Community contribution calculated by application of the co-financing rate of the priority axis;

(m) the expenditure and the public contribution certified to the Commission which are affected by the irregularity and the corresponding amount of the Community contribution at risk calculated by application of the co-financing rate of the priority axis;

(n) in case of a suspected fraud and where no payment of the public contribution has been made to the persons or other entities identified pursuant to point (k), the amounts which would have been unduly paid had the irregularity not been identified;

(o) the code of region or area where the operation has been located or carried out, by specifying the NUTS level or otherwise;]

(p) the nature of the irregular expenditure.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the following cases need not be reported:

(a) cases where the irregularity consists solely in the failure to execute, in whole or in part, an operation included in the co-financed operational programme owing to the bankruptcy of the beneficiary;

[F1(b) cases brought to the attention of the managing authority or certifying authority by the beneficiary voluntarily and before detection by either of them, whether before or after the inclusion of the expenditure concerned in a certified statement submitted to the Commission;

(c) cases which are detected and corrected by the managing authority or certifying authority before inclusion of the expenditure concerned in a statement of expenditure submitted to the Commission.]

However, irregularities preceding a bankruptcy and cases of suspected fraud must be reported.

[F13. Where some of the information referred to in paragraph 1, and in particular information concerning the practices employed in committing the irregularity and the manner in which it was discovered, is not available or needs to be rectified, Member States shall as far as possible supply the missing or correct information when forwarding subsequent quarterly reports of irregularities to the Commission.]

4. Irregularities relating to operational programmes under the European territorial cooperation objective shall be reported by the Member State in which the expenditure is paid by the beneficiary in implementing the operation. The Member State shall at the same time inform the managing authority, the certifying authority for the programme and the audit authority.

5. If national provisions provide for the confidentiality of investigations, communication of the information shall be subject to the authorisation of the competent court or tribunal.

6. Where a Member State has no irregularities to report pursuant to paragraph 1, it shall inform the Commission of that fact within the time limit set out in that paragraph.

Textual Amendments

Article 29 U.K. Urgent cases

Each Member State shall immediately report to the Commission and, where necessary, to the other Member States concerned, any irregularities discovered or supposed to have occurred, where it is feared that they may very quickly have repercussions outside its territory or they show that a new malpractice has been employed.

[F1Article 30 U.K. Follow-up reporting

1. In addition to the information referred to in Article 28(1), Member States shall provide the Commission within two months following the end of each quarter, with reference to any previous report made pursuant to that Article, with details concerning the initiation, conclusion or abandonment of any procedures for imposing administrative or criminal penalties related to the reported irregularities as well as of the outcome of such procedures.

With regard to irregularities for which penalties have been imposed, Member States shall also indicate the following:

(a)

whether the penalties are of an administrative or a criminal nature;

(b)

whether the penalties result from a breach of Community or national law;

(c)

the provisions in which the penalties are laid down;

(d)

whether fraud was established.

2. At the written request of the Commission, the Member State shall provide information in relation to a specific irregularity or group of irregularities.]

Textual Amendments

Article 31 U.K. Electronic transmission

The information referred to in Articles 28, 29 and 30(1) shall be sent, whenever it is possible to do so, by electronic means, using the module provided by the Commission for this purpose via a secure connection.

Article 32 U.K. Reimbursement of judicial costs

Where the competent authorities of a Member State decide, at the express request of the Commission, to initiate or continue judicial proceedings with a view to recovering amounts unduly paid, the Commission may undertake to reimburse to the Member State all or part of the judicial costs and costs arising directly from the proceedings, on presentation of documentary evidence, even if the proceedings are unsuccessful.

Article 33 U.K. [F1Co-operation with Member States]

1. The Commission shall maintain appropriate contacts with the Member States concerned for the purpose of supplementing the information supplied on the irregularities referred to in Article 28, on the procedures referred to in Article 30, and, in particular, on the possibility of recovery.

[F12. Without prejudice to the contacts referred to in paragraph 1, where the Commission considers that, due to the nature of the irregularity, identical or similar practices could occur in other Member States, it shall submit the matter to the advisory Committee for the Coordination of Fraud Prevention set up by Commission Decision 94/140/EC (3) .

The Commission shall, each year, inform that Committee and the committees referred to in Articles 103 and 104 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of the order of magnitude of the Funds affected by the irregularities which have been discovered and of the various categories of irregularities, broken down by type and number.]

3. The Commission shall organise information meetings at Community level for representatives of the Member States in order to examine with them the information obtained pursuant to Articles 28, 29 and 30, and paragraph 1 of this Article. The examination shall focus on the lessons to be learned from the information in connection with irregularities, preventive measures and judicial proceedings.

4. At the request of a Member State or of the Commission, the Member States and the Commission shall consult one another for the purpose of closing any loopholes prejudicial to Community interests, which become apparent in the course of the enforcement of provisions in force.

Textual Amendments

Article 34 U.K. Use of information

The Commission may use any information of a general or operational nature communicated by Member States under this Regulation to perform risk analyses and may, on the basis of the information obtained, produce reports and develop early-warning systems serving to identify risks more effectively.

F2Article 35U.K. [F2Provision of information to committees]

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Textual Amendments

Article 36 U.K. Irregularities under the reporting threshold

1. Where the irregularities relate to amounts of less than EUR 10 000 chargeable to the general budget of the European Communities, Member States shall not send the Commission the information provided for in Articles 28 and 30, unless the Commission expressly requests it.

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F2. . . . .]

[F12. Member States which have not adopted the euro as their currency by the date when the report under Article 28(1) is submitted shall convert amounts in national currency into euro using the exchange rate referred to in Article 81(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006.

Where the amounts relate to expenditure registered in the accounts of the certifying authority during a period of more than one month, the exchange rate in the month during which expenditure was last registered may be used. Where the expenditure has not been registered in the accounts of the certifying authority, the most recent accounting exchange rate published electronically by the Commission shall be used.] ]

Textual Amendments

Editorial Information

Editorial Information

Textual Amendments