Spanish System for European Agricultural Funds Management

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Edited by:© Ministry of Agriculture, Food and EnvironmentGeneral Technical SecretariatPublications Centre

Publications Catalogue of the Public Administration: http://publicacionesoficiales.boe.es/

D.L: M-36077-2014

NIPO: 280-14-037-2

THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT

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The Spanish System for European Agricultural Funds Management is carried out through a system made up of agencies dependent on both the Public Administration and each of the 17 Autonomous Regions on which the Spanish State is structured, from a political and administrative point of view.

Said structure is based on the established mandates regarding, on one hand, national legislation laid out in the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the Statutes of Autonomy supporting it, and on the other hand, community regulations that dictate the form and manner in which the Member States of the European Union must carry out European Agricultural Funds Management.

1 > Presentation

2 > Paying Agencies in SpainIn this system, the Public Administration is represented by the Spanish Agrarian Guarantee Fund (FEGA), an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, through the Department’s General Secretariat of Agriculture and Food.

In regards to the autonomous regions, each is represented by a paying agency under the control of the ministries or departments in the corresponding autonomous governments, which is named according to the region concerned. In total there are 18 paying agencies.

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3 > Role of the system’s member agenciesUnder community regulations, the Spanish system for European funds management follows the model of a Member State with several regional paying agencies.

This model must include a coordinating agency in addition to the regional paying agencies.

Under these circumstances, the Spanish Agrarian Guarantee Fund (FEGA-OC) plays the role of the system’s coordinating agency and each of the autonomous regions’ paying agencies manages subsidy payments for its territory, which are to be paid to their beneficiaries.

Management of subsidies not related to a specific territory is the responsibility of the Public Administration, which has designated the Spanish Agrarian Guarantee Fund (FEGA-OP) as the paying agency for these subsidies.

Therefore FEGA plays a double role in the system: that of coordinator of all other paying agencies and that of payer of those subsidies which, due to their nature, are managed by the Public Administration. Meanwhile, the autonomous regions’ paying agencies are responsible for managing subsidy payments linked to their respective territories.

In short, the system works in the following way:

ROLE OR TASK ADMINISTRATION RESPONSIBLE AGENCIES: NAME AND NUMBER

System coordination Public Administration Spanish Agrarian Guarantee Fund (FEGA - Coordinating Agency)

Management of subsidy payments not linked to a territory Public Administration Spanish Agrarian Guarantee Fund (FEGA - Paying Agency)

Management of subsidy payments linked to a territory Regional Administrations 17 Paying Agencies of the Autonomous Regions

4 > Functions corresponding to FEGAAs noted above, (EU) Regulation no. 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and Council on the financing, management and monitoring of the Common Agricultural Policy establishes that Member States which authorise more than one paying agency must also designate a public coordination agency (“the coordinating agency”) to carry out the following functions: gather information and make it available to the Commission; adopt or coordinate, depending on the case, actions to address common deficiencies and keep the Commission informed of this monitoring; and encourage and guarantee, where possible, the coordinated application of Union legislation.

In this framework, FEGA, as the Coordinating Agency, performs the following actions:

• Pre-financing, through the Spanish Public Treasury, of paying agency expenses that make up the system under EAGF and EAFRD.

• Financial co-ordination of paying agency expenses under EAGF and EAFRD. This action encompasses:

• monitoring of payments made by paying agencies

• the reimbursement request to the European Commission for expenses incurred

• presentation of the annual statements of the paying agencies and

• monitoring of procedures for account settlement. The opening of and instructions for proceedings on the identification and impact of liabilities for the breach of European Union law in the area of European Agricultural Funds

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• Technical co-ordination of management and supervisory actions for subsidies from the agricultural funds by the paying agencies in order to promote uniform application in all Autonomous Regions. This action encompasses:

• the development and maintenance of a national database of single payment entitlements

• the geographical identification system for agricultural plots (SIGPAC in Spanish, LPIS in community terminology)

• coordination of the integrated control and management system (SIGC in Spanish, IACS in community terminology)

• coordination of control plans for the cross-compliance system

In addition, in its capacity as the paying agency for Public Administration subsidies, it carries out the following actions, among others:

• management and payment of export refunds

• intervention purchases in the form of public storage

• the food subsidy for the most needy

• food promotion subsidies

• collection of the milk levy

• act as the paying agency for EAGF expenses relative to the common organisation of markets in the fishing and aquaculture products sector

These actions require the following tasks to be carried out, among others:

• performing administrative and on-site controls, agreed upon in the relevant national plans

• weekly claim of funds for making payments and planning future payments

• settlement of the annual account

• assist in competent agency supervision missions (National Courts of Auditors and those of the EU and European Commission)

5 > Functions corresponding to the autonomous regions’ paying agenciesIn Spain, under the constitutional division of powers, each autonomous region has designated a single paying agency for EAGF and EAFRD expenses, whose main activities are related to the management of:

• Dissociated direct subsidies (mainly Single Payment Scheme)

• Other direct subsidies

• Subsidies for the wine, fruit and vegetable, and beekeeping sectors

• Subsidies for the Canary Islands Specific Options Programme (POSEICAN)

• Subsidies to finance the Rural Development Programmes in each autonomous region

• Other EAGF and EAFRD subsidies

These processes involve carrying out the following main tasks:

• the development and implementation of the provisions relating to annual subsidy campaigns

• the admission of requests for the different subsidies

• performing administrative and on-site controls agreed upon in the relevant national plans

• weekly requests for funds for making payments and planning future payments

• settlement of the annual account

• assist in competent agency supervision missions (Regional Courts of Auditors and those of the EU and European Commission)

The autonomous regions’ paying agencies manage 98.4% of EAGF and EAFRD payments.

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6 > System coordinationCoordination of the system is performed by FEGA through working groups, in which agency staff and representatives designated by the autonomous regions and by other units of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment affected by the subject of coordination work together.

These groups plan meetings every six months and are generally presided over by a FEGA deputy director general.

Operation of the groups is based on the participation of these representatives, particularly those from autonomous regions, to address technical issues related to the implementation of subsidies financed by EAGF and EAFRD. Their work is reflected in the form of circulars, procedures and interpretative notes, basic tools for the correct application of community legislation in a national context.

Sugar

Wine SectorTechnical

Coordination

Wine SectorInvestments

PrivateStorage

Fruit andVegetables

IntegratedSystemAreas

FodderIntegratedSystemAnimals

RuralDevelopment

Controls

Cross-Compliance

System

SchoolMeals

Programme

Promotionof wine

Publicintervention

SigPAC

AgriculturalFunds

MilkLevy

InternalAudit

InformationSystems

Plan Aidmost needy

SinglePayment

EFFexpenditure

Directors of Paying Agencies

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Below, payment figures managed by the system and its various components during the 2013 financial year (16 October 2012 to 15 October 2013) are shown, along with total EU spending.

EAGF (M€)

EAFRD (M€)

Paying Agency

Funds managed (in millions of EUR) Financial Year 2013

Main beneficiary sectors (EAGF)EAGF EAFRD

Andalusia 1,638.6 305.9 RPU, cotton,

Aragón 444.8 39.3 RPU

Asturias (Kingdom of)

64.1 32.3 RPU, beef, specific subsidy art. 68

Balearic Islands 26 9.9 RPU, specific subsidy art. 68

Canary Islands 285.8 30.4Canary Islands Specific Options Programme (POSEICAN)

Cantabria 41.3 12.3 RPU, beef, specific subsidy art. 68

Castilla- La Mancha

793.5 133.4 RPU, wine

Castilla and León

909.4 120.1 RPU, beef, beetroot

Catalonia 308.3 42.8 RPU, fruit and vegetables

Valencia (Region)

162.2 22.3 RPU, fruit and vegetables

Extremadura 525.1 93.3 RPU, beef,

Galicia 175.6 96.1 RPU, specific subsidy art. 68, beef,

Madrid (Region)

40.8 9.6 RPU, beef

Murcia (Region) 116 40.9 RPU, fruit and vegetables

Navarre (Region)

106.8 19 RPU

Basque Country 52.3 17.4RPU, beef, specific subsidy art. 68, beetroot

Rioja (La) 45.6 7.4 RPU, fruit and vegetables, beetroot

FEGA 91.5 2.7Help for the most needy, promotion measures

SPAIN 5,827.7 1,034.9RPU, beef, POSEICAN, specific subsidy art. 68, wine, fruit and vegetables

EU 44,850.4 13,200.0

7 > Volume of funds managed by the system and each of its components

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P.A.Castilla - La Mancha

P.A. Madrid

FEGA

P.A.La Rioja

P.A.Navarre

P.A.Aragón

P.A.Valencia

P.A. Balearic Islands

P.A. Canary Islands

P.A.Murcia

P.A.BasqueCountry

P.A.CantabriaP.A. Asturias

P.A.Galicia

P.A.Catalonia

P.A.Extremadura

Paying Agencies

P.A. Castilla and León

P.A. Andalusia

8 > Location of the Agencies that comprise the System

Autonomous Regions’ Paying Agencies

Paying Agency Location Responsible unit Website Address

Andalusia Government of Andalusia - Local Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Environment Directorate General of Agricultural Funds http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/

Aragón Government of Aragón - Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Environment General Technical Secretariat http://www.aragon.es/

Asturias (Kingdom of) Government of the Kingdom of Asturias - Local Ministry of Livestock Farming and Regional Resources General Technical Secretariat http://www.asturias.es/

Balearic Islands Government of the Autonomous Region of the Balearic Islands - Local Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Territory

Agricultural and Fishing Guarantee Fund of the Balearic Islands (FOGAIBA) http://www.caib.es/

Canary Islands Government of the Canary Islands - Local Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Water Sub-Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/

Cantabria Government of Cantabria - Local Ministry of Livestock, Fishing and Rural Development General Directorate of Rural Development http://www.cantabria.es/

Castilla-La Mancha Government of Castilla-La Mancha - Local Ministry of Agriculture General Secretariat of Agriculture http://www.castillalamancha.es/

Castilla and León Government of Castilla and León - Local Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Technical Secretariat of the Paying Agency http://www.jcyl.es/

Catalonia Government of Catalonia - Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fishing, Food and Environment General Secretariat of Agriculture and Food http://www.gencat.net/

Valencia (Region) Government of Valencia - Local Ministry of the Presidency, Agriculture, Fishing, Food and Water Regional Secretary of Agriculture, Fishing, Food and Water http://www.vicepresidencia.gva.es/

Extremadura Government of Extremadura - Local Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Environment and Energy General Directorate of Regional Agricultural Policy http://www.gobex.es/

Galicia Government of Galicia - Local Ministry of Rural Areas and the Sea Galician Agricultural Guarantee Fund (FOGGA) http://www.xunta.es/

Madrid (Region) Government of Madrid - Local Ministry of Environment and Territorial Planning General Sub-Directorate of Agricultural Policy and Rural Development http://www.madrid.org/

Murcia (Region) Government of Murcia - Local Ministry of Agriculture and Water General Directorate of Common Agricultural Policy http://www.carm.es/

Navarre (Region) Government of Navarre - Department of Rural Development, Environment and Local Administration General Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock http://www.navarra.es/

Basque Country Government of Basque Country - Department of Economic Development and Competitiveness Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock http://www.euskadi.net/

Rioja (La) Government of La Rioja - Local Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Environment General Technical Secretariat http://www.larioja.org/

Payment Agency of the Public Administration

Website Address

FEGA (Spanish Agrarian Guarantee Fund) http://www.fega.es/Address Telephone numberC/José Abascal, no. 4, 7th Floor Madrid - 28003

913476500 (main switchboard)

Coordinating Agency Website Address

FEGA (Spanish Agrarian Guarantee Fund) http://www.fega.es/Address Telephone numberC/Beneficencia, no. 8 Madrid - 28004

913476500 (main switchboard)

www.fega.es