Insights on cross-border ex ante controls – Polish experiences

1. Insights on cross-border ex ante controls – Polish experiences 27th Conference of Directors of EU Paying Agencies Oviedo, 28-30 April 2010

2. Polish proposals on ex-ante controls (Prague, 2009) • Unification of provisions concerning cooperation and mutual assistance in terms of ex ante controls • Harmonisation of the scope of ex ante controls carried out for the benefit of other PA within the framework ofvarious schemes • List of institutions responsible in Member States for performing controls in particular CAP schemes • E-platform for exchange of information on controls including problems with mutual assistance Questionnaire results

3. State of play Analysis conducted in ARR for the years 2004-2009, March 2009 Questionnaire at the level of other paying agencies Presentation of the resultson 25th Conference of Directors of EUPaying Agencies (Prague, 22 - 24 April 2009) Summary of the Conference during the SCA meeting on 11 May 2009 DG AGRI Simplification Experts Group 9 June 2009 2952 meeting of the Council of the European Union • AOB • 22-23 June 2009

4. Aspects of CAP schemes for cross- border checks (1) • Processing the agricultural crop into another particular product (i.e. monitoring of the use of energycrops, industrial sugar processing, production refund for flax and hemp grown for fiber ) • Procedure of confirming T5 control copies (monitoring of the use of energycrops)

5. Aspects of CAP schemes for cross-border checks(2) • Distribution chain between different Member States/ intra-community movements of goods (distribution of food among the most deprived persons in the Community, private storage aid, intervention buy-in and sale, production refund for dried fodder, milk production quotas, export refunds) • Necessity of conducting a cross-check(most schemes)

6. Basis for cooperation • Community provisions in place require the cooperation between EU paying agencies. However of general nature insufficient to provide for powers to checks of operators unrelated to CAP payments (cross-checks) • Absence of relevant Community provisions on cross-border cooperation on ex-ante controls cause administrative difficulties in performing the controls.

7. Provisions on cooperation If Community provisions concerning international cooperation exist, the responsibility for cross border ex-ante controls must be clearly assigned to specific national bodies specified in national legislation - clear division of competence. Absence of specific Community provisions results in individual requests to paying agencies or other national bodies.

8. Absence of provisions - Consequences for requested Member State Necessity of forwarding the request to other services (often) Identifying the competent service Difficulties in control at operators premises (refusal of entry) Inability to provide an administrative assistance (in the worst cases)

9. Absence of provisions – consequences for requesting Member State Long delay Risk of late payment Risk of irregularities Risk of non-payment (in the worst cases) Burden for ex-post checks

10. Possible improvement HORIZONTAL APPROACH • introductionof a general provision imposing on paying agencies the requirement to provide mutual administrative assistance for other paying agencies (e.g Commission Regulation No 885/2006) – including the power for paying agencies to delegate competence to check transactions at operators (non-beneficiaries) or VERTICAL APPROACH • Introduction of relevant provisions imposing the requirement to provide administrative assistance to the implementing rules of particular sector regulations

11. Follow up? What is the statement of the European Commission on the issue?

12. Thank you for your attention Marcin Wardal Chief Specialist - Autonomous Post (ARR)