THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 231/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing an Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II) and in particular Article 12 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council lays down rules and procedures for the implementation of assistance which are common to all nine instruments for external action. Additional specific rules should be laid down for addressing the specific situations in particular for indirect management, for cross-border cooperation programmes financed under the policy area ‘regional and territorial cooperation’ and rural development programmes financed under the policy area ‘agriculture and rural development’.
(2)
In order to ensure that pre-accession assistance is implemented in all beneficiaries listed in Annex I to the Regulation (EU) No 231/2014 (hereafter ‘the IPA II beneficiaries’) in the same way and respecting the principles of sound financial management, the Commission and the IPA II beneficiaries should conclude arrangements in the form of framework and sector-specific agreements laying down the principles for their cooperation under this Regulation.
(3)
The Commission should support the IPA II beneficiaries in their efforts to develop their capacity to manage Union funds according to the principles and rules provided for in Union legislation. To this effect and where appropriate, the Commission should entrust budget implementation tasks to the IPA II beneficiaries.
(4)
The ownership of the programming and implementation of IPA II assistance should primarily lay with the IPA II beneficiaries which should establish the required structures and authorities and submit requests to the Commission to be entrusted with budget implementation tasks.
(5)
It is therefore necessary to set out specific rules for entrusting budget implementation tasks to the IPA II beneficiaries in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012.
(6)
The conditions that need to be met by an acceding country are incumbent to ensure an overall quality of public financial management.
(7)
It is necessary to define specific rules for establishing financial corrections and the procedure to be applied towards the IPA II beneficiaries when implementing Union assistance under indirect management.
(8)
In order to ensure the effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and coordination of the implementation of Union pre-accession financial assistance provided under Regulation (EU) No 231/2014 (hereinafter referred to as ‘IPA II assistance’), Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 should be complemented by detailed rules on monitoring and evaluation.
(9)
Specific rules for reporting are necessary in order to further detail the reporting requirements to be complied with by the IPA II beneficiary.
(10)
Specific rules concerning the transparency and visibility of IPA II assistance should be defined in order to comply effectively with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 and Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012.
(11)
IPA II assistance should be used, inter alia, to promote cross-border cooperation between IPA II beneficiaries as well as between IPA II beneficiaries and Member States or countries falling within the scope of the European Neighbourhood Instrument established by Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The roles and responsibilities of the intervening actors need to be specified, taking into account the different situations in particular as regards cross-border cooperation between IPA II beneficiaries and Member States.
(12)
IPA II assistance under rural development programmes in the policy area ‘agriculture and rural development’ should promote a gradual alignment with the acquis on the Common Agricultural Policy. Specific rules are necessary to finance operations of a similar nature to those under the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development, through management and control systems resembling the respective structures with functions of a similar nature in the Member States.
(13)
In order to allow for timely programming and implementation of the IPA II 2014 programmes, this Regulation should enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
(14)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the IPA II Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: