Agricultural expenditure from the EU budget has over the years tended to be affected by a lower level of error than some other areas of operational expenditure.

122. Notes that the action plan to strengthen the Commission's supervisory role under shared management of structural actions, presented in 2008, was not fully implemented in 2008 and would not have remedied the main problem, namely that of over-complex rules combined with implementation requirements which differ from one Member State to another and sometimes even between different regions; asks the Commission to provide for translation in due course of the guidelines for public authorities in the Member States; stresses moreover that its impact cannot be assessed as errors committed in previous years are still affecting the expenditure rei ...[+++]mbursed by the Commission, as the Court has rightly pointed out in its Annual Report (point 6.34);

120. Notes that the action plan to strengthen the Commission’s supervisory role under shared management of structural actions, presented in 2008, was not fully implemented in 2008 and would not have remedied the main problem, namely that of over-complex rules combined with implementation requirements which differ from one Member State to another and sometimes even between different regions; asks the Commission to provide for translation in due course of the guidelines for public authorities in the Member States; stresses moreover that its impact cannot be assessed as errors committed in previous years are still affecting the expenditure rei ...[+++]mbursed by the Commission, as the Court has rightly pointed out in its Annual Report (point 6.34);

36. Notes the Court's observation in its 2006 report that in 2006, payment rates were 56 % of appropriations for administrative expenditure (Title II) and 50 % of those for operational activities (Title III); 20 % of appropriations carried over from 2005 were cancelled at the end of 2006; a large number of transfers were made, with a high concentration of them at year-end so that the budgetary principle of specification was not strictly observed;

However, when the irregularity results from systemic deficiencies, which are evidently long-standing and affecting several years' expenditure, then the correction should concern all the expenditure declared by the Member State while the system deficiency obtained until the month in which it was remedied.

The interinstitutional agreement specifies that any revision of the compulsory expenditure may not lead to a reduction of the amount available for non-compulsory expenditure.