Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/128 of 21 December 2021 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 of the European Parliament and of the Council on paying agencies and other bodies, financial management, clearance of accounts, checks, securities and transparency

Member States shall designate an authority at ministerial level responsible for:

The competent authority shall, by way of a formal act, decide on the issuing or, after review, the withdrawal of the accreditation of the paying agency on the basis of an examination of the accreditation criteria referred to in Article 1(2) and (3) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127. The competent authority shall inform the Commission of accreditations and withdrawals of accreditations without delay.

The competent authority shall appoint an audit body to carry out an examination before any accreditation is issued (pre-accreditation review). The audit body shall be an audit authority, or other public or private organisation or organisational unit of an authority with the requisite proficiency, skills and capacity to carry out audits. The audit body shall be independent from the paying agency to be accredited.

The examination (pre-accreditation review) to be carried out by the audit body shall cover, in particular:

Where the competent authority considers that the paying agency does not comply with the accreditation criteria, it shall inform the paying agency of the specific conditions it is required to fulfil before accreditation may be issued.

The information provided for in Article 90(1), first subparagraph, point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall be communicated immediately after the paying agency is first accredited and in any case before any expenditure effected by it is charged to the Funds. That information shall be accompanied by declarations and documents concerning:

The Commission shall inform the Committee on the Agricultural Funds of paying agencies accredited in each Member State.

The competent authority shall keep the paying agencies for which it is responsible under constant supervision, on the basis of, in particular, the certificates and reports drawn up by the certification body referred to in Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, and shall follow-up on any deficiencies identified.

Member States shall establish a system that ensures that any information suggesting that a paying agency does not comply with the accreditation criteria is communicated to the competent authority without delay.

Where the competent authority has determined that an accredited paying agency no longer respects one or more of the accreditation criteria in a manner that is liable to hinder the fulfilment of the tasks set out in Article 1(1) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127, the competent authority shall put the paying agency’s accreditation under probation without delay. It shall draw up a plan including actions and deadlines to remedy the deficiencies found within a period to be determined according to the severity of the problem, which shall not exceed 12 months from the date on which the accreditation is put under probation. In duly justified cases, the Commission may, upon request of the Member State concerned, grant an extension of that period.

The competent authority shall inform the Commission of its decision to place a paying agency’s accreditation under probation, of the plan drawn up pursuant to paragraph 3 and, subsequently, of the progress in the implementation of such plans.

If the accreditation is withdrawn, the competent authority shall without delay accredit another paying agency which fulfils the conditions laid down in Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 to ensure that payments to beneficiaries are not interrupted.

Where the Commission finds that the competent authority has not complied with its obligation to draw up a remedial plan pursuant to paragraph 3 or that the paying agency continues to be accredited without having fully implemented such a plan within the determined period, it shall request the competent authority to withdraw the accreditation of that paying agency unless the necessary changes are made within a period to be determined by the Commission according to the severity of the problem. In such a situation, the Commission may decide to pursue the deficiencies through the conformity procedure in accordance with Article 55 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

Member States shall designate an authority at ministerial level responsible for the issuing, reviewing and withdrawing of the accreditation of the coordinating body referred to in Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 (hereinafter “the competent authority”).

The competent authority shall, by way of a formal act, designate and decide on the issuing or, after review, the withdrawal of the accreditation of the coordinating body on the basis of an examination of the accreditation criteria referred to in Article 2 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127. This examination on the compliance with the accreditation criteria shall be carried out by the competent authority and it may rely on an examination performed by an audit body. The competent authority shall inform the Commission of issuing and withdrawing the accreditation of the coordinating body without delay.

The coordinating body referred to in Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall act as the Commission’s sole interlocutor for the Member State concerned for all questions relating to the Funds as regards its tasks.

A paying agency may act as a coordinating body provided that the two functions are kept separate.

In performing its tasks, the coordinating body may, in accordance with national procedures, call on other administrative bodies or departments, particularly on those with accounting or technical expertise.

The confidentiality, integrity and availability of all computer data held by the coordinating body shall be ensured by measures adapted to the administrative structure, staffing and technological environment of each coordinating body. The financial and technological effort shall be proportionate to the actual risks incurred.

The communication of information provided for in Article 90, first subparagraph, point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall be made immediately after the coordinating body is first accredited and, in any case, before any expenditure for which it is responsible is charged to the Funds. That information shall be accompanied by declarations and documents concerning:

Where the competent authority considers that the coordinating body does not comply with the accreditation criteria, it shall inform the coordinating body of the requirements to be complied with.

The management declarations referred to in Article 9(3), first subparagraph, point (d), and Article 10(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall be drawn up in due time for the certification body to issue the opinion referred to in Article 12(1) of that Regulation.

The management declarations shall be based on an effective supervision of the management and control system in place throughout the year.

The competent authority shall designate the certification body provided for in Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

The certification body shall organise its work in an effective and efficient manner, and carry out its checks within an appropriate time frame, taking into account the nature and the timing of the transactions for the financial year concerned.

The opinion to be provided by the certification body in accordance with  Article 12(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall be drawn up annually.

The certification body shall draw up a report of its findings. The report shall also cover the delegated functions of the paying agency in accordance with Section 1.(D) of Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127. The report shall state whether, for the period covered by the report:

The certification audit shall be carried out in accordance with internationally accepted auditing standards.

The certification body shall prepare an audit strategy that sets the scope, timing and direction of the certification audit, the audit methods and the sampling methodology, while distinguishing types of intervention referred to in Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 from measures laid down in Regulations (EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 229/2013, (EU) No 1308/2013 and (EU) No 1144/2014. An audit plan shall be developed in respect of each financial year audited based on the estimated audit risk. Upon request, the certification body shall provide the Commission with the audit strategy and the audit plan.

The reasonable level of audit assurance to be achieved from auditing shall be obtained as to the proper functioning of the governance systems, the correctness of the performance reporting, the true and fair view of the annual accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions as regards the measures laid down in Regulations (EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 229/2013, (EU) No 1308/2013 and (EU) No 1144/2014, as well as for the crop-specific payment for cotton and support for early retirement under Title III, Chapter II, Section 3, Subsection 2, and Article 155(2), respectively, of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, for which reimbursement has been requested from the Commission.

The Commission shall establish guidelines, which contain, in particular:

The audit methods relevant to the certification audit shall be defined in the audit strategy provided for in Article 6(2).

To achieve the audit objectives and to issue the opinion as laid down in Article 12(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, the audit steps shall include systems audits, substantive testing, where necessary, and the verification of reconciliations on financial and management declarations.

As regards the auditing of governance systems, the certification body shall perform systems audits that may include compliance testing and also testing of IT general controls and application controls, for the purpose of verification of the system design and implementation.

Substantive testing of expenditure shall cover the verification of legality and regularity of the underlying transactions at the level of the final beneficiaries as regards the measures laid down in Regulations (EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 229/2013, (EU) No 1308/2013 and (EU) No 1144/2014, as well as for the crop-specific payment for cotton and support for early retirement under Title III, Chapter II, Section 3, Subsection 2, and Article 155(2), respectively, of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115. For those purposes, the certification body may accompany the paying agency when it carries out secondary level on-the-spot checks. The certification body shall not accompany the paying agency when it carries out initial on-the-spot checks, with the exception of those situations where it would be physically impossible to re-verify the initial check carried out by the paying agency.

As regards auditing of the performance reporting system, the certification body shall apply testing of records, databases to verify if reported performance output and result indicators are correctly reported and match the expenditure financed by the Union or objectives of intervention, respectively. The certification body’s work shall also include the verification of the calculation of the indicators.

The certification body may rely on the audit results of the external auditors of the bodies implementing financial instruments for the purpose of the overall assurance and on this basis, the certification body may decide to limit its own audit work.

The European Investment Bank (EIB), or other international financial institutions in which a Member State is a shareholder implementing financial instruments, shall by the end of each calendar year provide the Member States with the annual audit report referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 12(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 prepared by their external auditors covering the elements included in Annex IV to this Regulation.

The Commission shall provide further conditions and guidance on designing the audit procedures, sampling integration, planning and carrying out the on-the-spot re-verification of transactions, where necessary, through the guidelines as referred to in Article 6(4).

Each paying agency shall keep a set of accounts covering only the expenditure and revenue referred to in Article 5(1) and Articles 6 and 45 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 and the use of the funds made available to it to defray the corresponding expenditure. Those accounts shall enable the financial data for the Funds to be distinguished and provided separately.

The paying agencies of the Member States which have not adopted the euro shall keep accounts covering the amounts expressed in the currency in which the expenditure was incurred and the revenue received. However, to enable all their expenditure and revenue to be consolidated, they must be able to provide the corresponding data in national currency and in euro.

As regards the EAFRD, each paying agency shall keep accounts enabling all the operations for each plan and each intervention to be identified. Such accounts shall include in particular:

The amount of the payment to be granted to a beneficiary under the EAGF shall be determined by the Member States in the framework of the control systems as referred to in Title IV of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

The expenditure effected and to be declared to the EAGF shall take account of penalties applied in the framework of Member States’ control systems in case of non-compliances.

The amount resulting from the application of paragraph 2 shall serve for types of intervention in the form of direct payments referred to in Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 and the programmes for the outermost regions of the Union and the smaller Aegean islands as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 229/2013, respectively, as a basis for the reduction of payments referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 and for the application of financial discipline referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

The amount resulting from the application of paragraph 2 and in the specific case of direct payments and the programmes referred to in paragraph 3, the amount resulting from the application of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall constitute the amount to be declared to the Commission.

The expenditure declared to the EAGF shall serve as a basis for the verification of the financial ceilings set by Union law.

The amount resulting from the application of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall serve as a basis for the calculation of administrative penalties in relation to conditionality as referred to in Title IV, Chapters IV and V, of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

By way of derogation from paragraph 3, Member States may pay advances for direct payments without applying the adjustment rate for financial discipline referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 to beneficiaries in respect of the aid applications for a given year. The balance payment to be granted to beneficiaries as from 1 December shall take into account the adjustment rate for financial discipline applicable at that time for the total amount of direct payments in the corresponding calendar year.

In accordance with Article 90(1), point (c)(i) and (ii), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, Member States shall send to the Commission, electronically and by the seventh day of each month at the latest, the information and documents on expenditure and assigned revenue referred to in Articles 11 and 12 of this Regulation, and in particular the declaration of expenditure drawn up in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article.

The declaration of expenditure referred to in paragraph 1 shall consist of at least:

All the financial information required under this Article shall be communicated in euro.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, second subparagraph, and paragraph 2, point (a)(i), in respect of claim year 2026, advances paid prior to 16 October 2026 for interventions in the form of direct payments and for aid constituting direct payments under the measures referred to in Chapter IV of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 and in Chapter IV of Regulation (EU) No 229/2013 shall count as having been made in the month of November and shall be communicated and declared by Member States in the declaration relating to that month.

Without prejudice to the special provisions on declarations of expenditure and revenue relating to public storage referred to in Article 12, expenditure and assigned revenue declared by paying agencies in respect of a given month shall correspond to payments and receipts actually effected during that month.

Expenditure and assigned revenue shall be taken into consideration on the date on which the account of the paying agency was debited or credited. However, for payments, the date to be taken into consideration may be the date on which the agency concerned issued the payment document and sent it to a financial institution or to the beneficiary. Each paying agency shall use the same method throughout the financial year.

Payment orders which are not executed and payments debited to the account, then re-credited, shall be shown in the accounts as deductions from expenditure in respect of the month during which the failure to execute or the cancellation is reported to the paying agency.

Where payments due under the EAGF are encumbered by claims, they shall be deemed to have been effected in their entirety for the purpose of applying paragraph 1:

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, first subparagraph, in respect of claim year 2026, expenditure for advances effected by the paying agency prior to 16 October 2026 for interventions in the form of direct payments and for aid constituting direct payments under the measures referred to in Chapter IV of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 and in Chapter IV of Regulation (EU) No 229/2013 shall, for the purposes of the monthly declaration, be deemed to have been effected during the month of November.

The operations to be taken into consideration for drawing up declarations of expenditure relating to public storage shall be those entered at the end of a given month in the accounts of the paying agency, which have taken place from the beginning of the accounting year within the meaning of Article 3(3), first subparagraph, point (a) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127 up to the end of that month.

Such declarations of expenditure shall comprise the values and amounts determined in accordance with Articles 17and 18 of this Regulation and Article 4 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014 ([^E0002]) entered in the accounts by paying agencies during the month following that to which the operations relate.

On the basis of the data sent in accordance with Article 10(1) of this Regulation, the Commission shall decide to make the monthly payments pursuant to Article 21(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, without prejudice to the corrections which may be made by means of subsequent decisions in accordance with Articles 53 and 55 of that Regulation, and taking into account the reductions and suspensions decided in accordance with Articles 39 to 42 of that Regulation.

If the total expenditure declared by Member States for the following financial year exceeds three quarters of the EAGF total appropriations for the current financial year, the advance commitments referred to in Article 11(2), point (b), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 and the corresponding monthly payments shall be granted in proportion to the declarations of expenditure, up to a maximum of 75 % of the appropriations for the current financial year. The Commission shall take the balance of amounts not reimbursed to Member States into account in decisions on subsequent reimbursements.

Paying agencies shall transmit to the Commission:

The relevant information systems referred to in Article 25 shall be used to perform the notifications and information exchanges and to draw up the documents relating to public intervention expenditure.

The stock accounts provided for in Article 3(3), first subparagraph, point (a), of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127 shall contain the following categories of elements, shown separately:

The financial accounts provided for in Article 3(3), first subparagraph, point (a), of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127 shall contain:

The elements referred to in Article 16 shall be booked for the quantities, values, amounts and averages actually recorded by paying agencies or for the values and amounts calculated on the basis of the standard amounts established by the Commission.

The records and calculations referred to in paragraph 1 shall be made subject to the application of the following rules:

Corrections made by the Commission, as regards the elements referred to in Article 16 for the current accounting year, shall be notified to the Committee on the Agricultural Funds. They may be notified to the Member States on the occasion of a monthly payment decision or, failing that, at the time of the decision on the clearance of accounts. They shall be entered in the accounts by paying agencies under the terms of that decision.

The various items of expenditure and revenue shall be entered in the accounts on the date on which the physical operation under the public intervention measure takes place and by using the exchange rate as referred to in Article 3(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014.

The various elements relating to the physical movement of products and the management of stocks shall be entered in the accounts on the date on which the physical operation under the intervention measure takes place.

The amount to be financed under the intervention measures referred to in Article 2 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014 shall be determined on the basis of the accounts drawn up and kept by paying agencies in accordance with Article 3(3), first subparagraph, point (a) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127, and to which the various items of expenditure and revenue referred to in Article 16 of this Regulation are debited and credited, respectively, taking account where necessary of amounts of expenditure fixed under the sectoral agricultural legislation.

Paying agencies or coordinating bodies as appropriate shall transmit to the Commission, each month and each year, by electronic means, on the basis of the models made available by the Commission to Member States through information systems, the information needed for the financing of public storage expenditure and the accounts evidencing expenditure and revenue relating to public storage in the form of tables, by the day provided for in Article 10(1) and by the date provided for in Article 33(2).

Financing by the EAGF under the intervention measures referred to in Article 2 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014 shall be equal to the expenditure, calculated on the basis of the information notified by the paying agency, after deduction of any revenue accruing from the intervention measures, validated by the information system set up by the Commission and included by the paying agency in its declaration of expenditure drawn up in accordance with Article 12 of this Regulation.

Sums recovered in accordance with Article 53 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 and amounts received or recovered from sellers, purchasers and storers, which meet the criteria laid down in Article 45 of that Regulation shall be declared to the EAGF budget in accordance with Article 10(2), point (a), of this Regulation.

Paying agencies shall declare expenditure and recovered amount for each rural development type of intervention and technical assistance under the CAP Strategic Plan as referred to in Article 118 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 for each of the reference periods, referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, on the basis of the model made available by the Commission to Member States through information systems.

Once the Commission has approved a CAP Strategic Plan, Member States shall send to the Commission, in accordance with Article 90(1), first subparagraph, point (c)(i), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, their declarations of expenditure by the following deadlines:

The Union contribution to be paid in respect of the eligible public expenditure, excluding additional national financing as referred to in Article 115(5) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, shall be mentioned in the financing plan in force on the first day of the reference period and calculated as regards the CAP Strategic Plans referred to in Article 118 of that Regulation as follows:

Without prejudice to the ceiling provided for in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, where the combined total of the Union contribution paid to the CAP Strategic Plan exceeds the contribution to a type of intervention, as regards the EAFRD, the amount to be paid shall be reduced to the amount programmed for that type of intervention. Any Union contribution excluded as a result may be paid later provided that an adjusted financing plan has been submitted by the Member State and approved by the Commission.

The Commission shall define the information systems enabling electronic exchanges of documents and information between it and the Member States for the communications and consultation of information provided for in Article 90 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 and the necessary arrangements for their application. It shall inform the Member States of the general conditions for implementing those systems via the Committee on the Agricultural Funds.

The information systems referred to in paragraph 1 shall be able to process in particular:

The form and content of the documents referred to in Articles 10, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23 and 32 shall be made available by the Commission to Member States by way of models through information systems.

The information systems referred to in paragraph 1 may contain the tools required for storing the data and for managing the accounts of the Funds by the Commission.

Data on financial transactions shall be communicated, entered and updated in the information systems referred to in paragraph 1 under the responsibility of paying agencies, by paying agencies themselves or by bodies to which that function has been delegated, where applicable via the coordinating bodies accredited in accordance with Article 9(4) and Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

Where a document sent pursuant to Article 90(1), point (c),(i) and (iii), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 or a procedure in the information systems require the signature or the approval of an authorised person at one or more of the stages of that procedure, that compulsory electronic signature or approval shall be done in compliance with Regulation (EU) No 910/2014.

The electronic and digitised documents shall be kept for the whole of the period provided for in Article 3(3), first subparagraph, point (a), of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/127.

Where there is a malfunction in an information system or no stable connection, the Member State may, with the prior approval of the Commission, send the documents in another form, under the conditions laid down by the Commission.

Declarations of expenditure for the Funds shall be entered in the form of structured data by accredited paying agencies or the accredited coordinating body on the basis of the model made available by the Commission to Member States through information systems.

EAGF and EAFRD expenditure and EAGF assigned revenue declared in respect of a period may contain corrections to data declared in respect of the preceding declaration periods of the same financial year.

EAGF and EAFRD expenditure and assigned revenue to be charged to the financial year not introduced respectively in the monthly and interim declarations may be corrected only in the annual accounts to be sent to the Commission in accordance with Article 90(1), first subparagraph, point (c)(iii), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

The Union contribution shall be paid by the Commission, subject to resource availability, into the account(s) opened by each Member State.

Each Member State shall notify the Commission of the name or number of the account(s) in accordance with the format made available to it by the Commission.

Following the assessment of the justification submitted by the Member State in the context of the performance review referred to in Article 135 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, the Commission may ask the Member State concerned to submit an action plan as referred to in Article 41 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116. The Member State shall submit an action plan within 2 months after receiving the Commission request. In that action plan the Member State shall propose concrete remedial actions to address the shortcomings and identify the interventions, which affect the performance of the CAP Strategic Plan, in particular as regards deviations from milestones set to achieve the specific objectives laid down in Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115. The remedial actions shall be described in sufficient detail to enable the Commission assessing whether the action plan is appropriate to remedy these shortcomings, including, where relevant, the actions to improve the performance of the concerned interventions.

For each of the remedial actions the Member State shall set the planned implementation deadline, which shall not be later than 2 years from the time the action plan is accepted by the Commission. The Member State shall also set up progress indicators towards that deadline, which shall be at least every 3 months throughout the duration of the action plan.

Within a period of 2 months after receipt of the action plan from the Member State concerned, the Commission shall, where appropriate, inform that Member State in writing of its objections to the submitted action plan and request its modification. The Member State concerned shall provide further clarifications or submit an updated action plan within 2 months after receiving the Commission comments.

Following the period referred to in paragraph 3, the Commission shall inform the Member State in writing within a period of 2 months, whether it considers that the action plan is sufficient to address the shortcomings affecting the performance of the CAP Strategic Plan. In case of a positive assessment, the receipt of that assessment by the Member State shall be considered as the date of launching the implementation of the action plan. The launching date is without prejudice to the possibility for the Member State concerned to start implementing remedial actions earlier. In case of a negative assessment, the Commission shall inform the Member State concerned of its intention concerning the suspension of payments, referred to in Article 41(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

Member States shall prepare the action plans using the templates available in the electronic system for the secure exchange of information called ‘SFC 2021’ provided for in Article 3 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2289 ([^E0004]) and report on the progress in their implementation within the deadline for the provision of the annual performance report, laid down in Article 9(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116. The action plans shall be submitted by means of the ‘SFC2021’.

Member State shall submit the action plan referred to in Article 42 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 within 2 months after receiving the Commission request. In its action plan, the Member State concerned shall propose concrete actions to address each of the serious deficiencies indicated by the Commission. The corrective actions shall be adequately described so as to enable the Commission to assess whether the action plan is sufficient to remedy the deficiencies.

For each of the actions Member State shall set the planned implementation deadline which shall not be later than 2 years from the date of the launching of the action plan. In order to enable the review of progress indicators, Member State shall also set milestones towards that deadline which shall be at least every 3 months throughout the duration of the action plan.

Within 2 months after receipt of the action plan from the Member State concerned, the Commission shall, where appropriate, inform that Member State in writing of its objections to the submitted action plan and request its modification. The Member State concerned shall provide further clarifications or submit an updated action plan within 2 months after receiving the Commission comments. In duly justified cases, this period may be extended.

Following the exchanges referred to in paragraph 3, and not later than 2 months after receiving the latest communication from the Member State, the Commission shall inform the Member State in writing of its assessment. In case of a positive assessment, the receipt of that assessment by the Member State shall be considered as the date of launching the implementation of the action plan. The launching date is without prejudice to the possibility for the Member State concerned to start implementing remedial actions earlier. In case of a negative assessment due to a manifestly insufficient action plan, the Commission shall inform the Member State concerned of its intention concerning the suspension of payments, referred to in Article 42(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

Where there is insufficient progress in the implementation of the action plan or it has not been submitted in accordance with the written request of the Commission, the Commission shall inform the Member State concerned of its intention concerning the suspension of payments, referred to in Article 42(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116.

For recurrent serious deficiencies revealed in the quality assessment reports referred to in Articles 68(3), 69(6) and 70(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, the Commission shall request an action plan in accordance with Article 42 (1) of that Regulation, if the same deficiencies are detected without any improvement in the second consecutive year.

Member States shall prepare the action plans and report on the progress in their implementation in accordance with the respective template provided by the Commission. The template shall be available and used in electronic form.

For any undue payment following the occurrence of irregularity or negligence, Member States shall set up a system ensuring a recovery request from the beneficiaries within a reasonable time frame after where applicable, the paying agency or body responsible for the recovery received a control report or similar document, stating that an irregularity has taken place. The system shall ensure that the corresponding amounts are recorded at the time of the recovery request in the debtors' ledger of the paying agency.

The Member States shall have a system in place to ensure that the recovery procedures, including calculation of interest in accordance with the applicable national laws, regulations and administrative provisions referred to in Article 59(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, off-setting and enforcement of unduly paid amounts, are launched and followed up in a timely manner. The follow up of a debt according to the applicable national recovery procedure shall be ensured and the recovered amounts shall be reimbursed to the Funds in due time.

The correction of a debt towards the Funds shall only take place if the absence of any irregularity is recorded by an administrative or legal instrument of a final nature.

The Member States shall properly justify the write-off of a debt and the decision not to pursue the recovery of a debt in accordance with the applicable national rules.

The annual accounts referred to in Article 90(1), first subparagraph, point (c)(iii), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116 shall include:

The annual accounts shall be the basis for the Annual Performance Report to be submitted pursuant to Article 134 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115.

For the purpose of the clearance of accounts pursuant to Article 53 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2116, each Member State shall send to the Commission:

The documents referred to in paragraph 1 shall be sent to the Commission by 15 February at the latest, of the year following the end of the financial year to which they relate. The documents shall be submitted electronically in accordance with the format and under the conditions established by the Commission pursuant to Article 25.