Commission Regulation (EU) No 65/2011 (repealed)Show full title

Article 24 U.K. Administrative checks

1. Administrative checks shall be carried out on all applications for support, payment claims or other declarations required to be submitted by a beneficiary or a third party, and shall cover all elements that it is possible and appropriate to control by administrative means. The procedures shall require recording of the control work undertaken, the results of the verification and the measures taken in the event of discrepancies.

2. Administrative checks on applications for support shall in particular include verification of:

(a) the eligibility of the operation for which support is requested;

(b) compliance with the selection criteria set out in the rural development programme;

(c) compliance of the operation for which support is requested with applicable national and Union rules on, in particular, and where relevant, public procurement, State aid and other appropriate obligatory standards established by national legislation or established in the rural development programme;

(d) the reasonableness of the costs submitted, which shall be evaluated using a suitable evaluation system, such as reference costs, a comparison of different offers or an evaluation committee;

(e) the reliability of the applicant, with reference to any previous co-financed operations undertaken since 2000.

3. Administrative checks on payment claims shall include in particular, and where appropriate for the claim in question, verification of:

(a) the delivery of the products and services co-financed;

(b) the reality of expenditure claimed;

(c) the completed operation compared with the operation for which the application for support was submitted and granted.

4. Administrative checks on investment operations shall include at least one visit to the operation supported or the investment site to verify the realisation of the investment.

However, Member States may decide not to carry out such visits for duly justified reasons, such as the following:

(a) the operation is included in the sample for an on-the-spot check to be carried out in accordance with Article 25;

(b) the operation in question is a small investment;

(c) the Member State considers that the risk that the conditions for receiving aid are not met is low, or that the risk that the investment has not been realised is low.

The decision referred to in the second subparagraph and its justification shall be recorded.

5. Administrative checks shall include procedures to avoid irregular double financing with other Union or national schemes and with other programming periods. Where financing from other sources exists, those checks shall ensure that the total aid received does not breach the maximum permissible aid ceilings.

6. Payments by beneficiaries shall be supported by invoices and documents proving payment. Where this cannot be done, payments shall be supported by documents of equivalent probative value.