12. Doubts whether specific operational programmes for functional geographical entities such as groups of authorities including local areas, or sea or river basins will yield additional benefits, in particular in cases where there are no political authorities (including democratically elected authorities) with a sufficiently wide-ranging remit to implement them; calls instead for closer coordination of macroregional, metropolitan regional or environmental-geographic strategies at inter-governmental level and for appropriate consideration to be given to these functional geographical entities within national operational programmes in order to facili ...[+++]tate the use of EU funding for interregional development projects; considers that specific operational programmes should be an option for delivery in regions where sub-regional delivery provides added value vis-à-vis national and regional programmes and where partnerships have been formed by political bodies for implementation purposes; calls for cross-border groupings to be involved in devising the operational programmes for cross-border programmes, on the basis of the EGTC Regulation;

12. Doubts whether specific operational programmes for functional geographical entities such as groups of authorities including local areas, or sea or river basins will yield additional benefits, in particular in cases where there are no political authorities (including democratically elected authorities) with a sufficiently wide-ranging remit to implement them; calls instead for closer coordination of macroregional, metropolitan regional or environmental-geographic strategies at inter-governmental level and for appropriate consideration to be given to these functional geographical entities within national operational programmes in order to facili ...[+++]tate the use of EU funding for interregional development projects; considers that specific operational programmes should be an option for delivery in regions where sub-regional delivery provides added value vis-à-vis national and regional programmes and where partnerships have been formed by political bodies for implementation purposes; calls for cross-border groupings to be involved in devising the operational programmes for cross-border programmes, on the basis of the EGTC Regulation;

The first option concerns the programme 2000-2006, and can involve modification of the programme complements of national operational programmes and the regional operational programmes in order to reconstruct agricultural potential after national disaster measures.

The first option concerns the programme 2000-2006, and can involve modification of the programme complements of national operational programmes and the regional operational programmes in order to reconstruct agricultural potential after national disaster measures.

1. The national authorising officer, who bears in the first instance the responsibility for investigating irregularities, shall make the financial adjustments where irregularities or negligence are detected in operations or operational programmes, by cancelling all or part of the Community contribution to the operations or the operational programmes concerned.

Where the public expenditure allocated to the operational programme is limited, it is appropriate that there should be an option for the Member State to rely more on national bodies and rules for carrying out certain functions related to the control and audit arrangements and that the Commission should therefore specify which verifications, which audits of operations and which obligations may be carried out and executed according to national rules and by national bodies.