Commission Implementing Decision of 16 December 2014 approving certain amended programmes for the eradication, control and monitoring of animal diseases and zoonoses for the year 2014 and amending Implementing Decision 2013/722/EU as regards the Union financial contribution for certain programmes approved by that Decision (notified under document C(2014) 9650) (2014/925/EU)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Decision 2009/470/EC of 25 May 2009 on expenditure in the veterinary field⁽¹⁾, and in particular Article 27(5) and (6) thereof,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 652/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 laying down provisions for the management of expenditure relating to the food chain, animal health and animal welfare, and relating to plant health and reproductive material, amending Council Directives 98/56/EC, 2000/29/EC and 2008/90/EC, Regulations (EC) No 178/2002, (EC) No 882/2004 and (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Decisions 66/399/EEC, 76/894/EEC and 2009/470/EC⁽²⁾, and in particular Article 45(1) thereof,

Whereas:

1. Article 45(1), second sentence of Regulation (EU) No 652/2014, provides that for programmes implemented in 2014, the relevant provisions of Article 27 of Decision 2009/470/EC continue to apply. Decision 2009/470/EC lays down the procedures governing the Union financial contribution for programmes for the eradication, control and monitoring of animal diseases and zoonoses.

2. Commission Decision 2008/341/EC⁽³⁾ provides that, in order to be approved under the Union financial measure provided for in Article 27(1) of Decision 2009/470/EC, programmes submitted by the Member States to the Commission for the eradication, control and monitoring of the animal diseases and zoonoses listed in Annex I to that Decision are required to meet, at least, the criteria set out in the Annex to Decision 2008/341/EC.

3. Commission Implementing Decision 2013/722/EU⁽⁴⁾ approves certain national programmes for the year 2014 and sets out the rate and maximum amount of the Union financial contribution for each programme submitted by the Member States.

4. Implementing Decision 2013/722/EU also defines the measures that are eligible for a Union financial contribution. However, the Commission informed the Member States in writing that certain measures will only be eligible if the activities carried out have been properly implemented. That was the case for the bovine tuberculosis eradication programme approved for Ireland, where the cost of the tuberculin skin test was not deemed eligible due to the unsatisfactory results obtained in previous years.

5. Following progress made by the competent authorities of Ireland in the implementation of the bovine tuberculosis eradication programme, as acknowledged by the experts of the tuberculosis task force, the tuberculin skin test is approved for Union financial contribution, in line with the originally submitted programme.

6. Portugal has submitted an amended programme for the eradication and monitoring of bluetongue. Hungary has submitted an amended programme for the eradication of rabies. Denmark has withdrawn the request for a Union financial contribution in 2014 towards the surveillance programme for avian influenza and the programme for the monitoring and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Poland has submitted an amended programme for the eradication of rabies.

7. The Commission has assessed those amended programmes from both a veterinary and a financial point of view. They comply with relevant Union veterinary legislation and in particular, with the criteria set out in the Annex to Decision 2008/341/EC. They should therefore be approved.

8. Furthermore, the Commission has assessed the intermediate technical and financial reports submitted by the Member States in accordance with Article 27(7) of Decision 2009/470/EC on the expenditure they incurred for the financing of those programmes. The results of that assessment show that certain Member States will not utilise their full allocation for the year 2014, while others will spend in excess of the allocated amount.

9. The Union financial contribution for certain national programmes therefore needs to be adjusted. In order to optimise the use of the earmarked credit, it is appropriate to reallocate funding from national programmes which will not use their full allocation to those that are expected to exceed it due to unforeseen animal health situations in those Member States. The reallocation should be based on the most recent information on the expenditure actually incurred by the Member States concerned.

10. That reallocation exercise requires an important number of amendments to be made to certain Union financial contributions provided for by Implementing Decision 2013/722/EU. For reasons of transparency, it is appropriate to specify the whole range of Union financial contributions towards the approved 2014 programmes concerned by those amendments.

11. According to the opinion of the EU reference laboratory for brucellosis and tuberculosis of 15 July 2014, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test should be considered as an important further step of the bacteriological test. It should therefore be added to the eligible measures for the eradication programmes of bovine brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis and ovine and caprine brucellosis.

12. The Union bluetongue veterinary legislation applies only to domestic animals. For reasons of transparency, it should be clarified that the national programmes for the eradication and monitoring of bluetongue only apply to domestic animals.

13. The use of unit costs under annual and multiannual programmes for the eradication, control and monitoring and surveillance of animal diseases and zoonoses is authorised by Commission Decision C(2014) 1035 final⁽⁵⁾. The unit costs for sampling are based on the hourly salary, the time required to execute the sampling and an overhead of 7 %.

14. Based on information provided by Ireland, it appears that for some of the tuberculin testing carried out, the sampling costs are not entirely incurred by the Member State. In this case, the Union contribution should be based on the real costs incurred on which the decided co-financing rate is applied.

15. It should also be clarified that Member States do not have to prefinance the part of their programmes implemented in third countries.

16. Implementing Decision 2013/722/EU should therefore be amended accordingly.

17. The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: