THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006 of 17 July 2006 establishing an Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) (‘the IPA Regulation’) and in particular Article 3(3) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 of 12 June 2007 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006 establishing an instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA) provides for detailed rules for the implementation of the IPA Regulation.
(2)
By Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1292/2011, Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 was amended, inter alia, in order to increase the pre-financing paid by the Commission to the countries benefiting from the human resources development and the rural development components.
(3)
Although it was the intention of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1292/2011 to align the specific pre-financing rules for the regional development, the human resources development and the rural development components, a textual error occurred when amending Article 160(3) of Regulation (EC) No 718/2007. This error should be corrected.
(4)
In addition to the correction of the textual error, the specific pre-financing rules for the regional development, the human resources development and the rural development components should be aligned further by removing the reference to Article 42(1) in Article 160(3) of Regulation (EC) No 718/2007, which is redundant.
(5)
The provisions laid down in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the IPA Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: