8.5.2003 Official Journal of the European Union L 114/55 COMMISSION DECISION of 7 May 2003 on the clearance of the accounts of Member States' expenditure financed by the European Agricul- tural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), Guarantee Section, for the 2002 financial year (notified under document number C(2003) 1519) (2003/313/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the financing of the Common Agricultural Policy (), and in particular Article 7(3) thereof, After consulting the Fund Committee, Whereas: 1 ( ( ( ( ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) O ) O] ) O] ) O] ) O Under Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999, the Commission, on the basis of the annual accounts submitted by the Member States, accompanied by the information required for clearance and a certificate regarding the veracity, completeness, and accuracy of the accounts transmitted clears the accounts of the paying agencies referred to in Article 4(1) of this Regula- tion. With regard to Article 7(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 296/96 of 16 February 1996 on data to be transmitted by the Member States and the monthly booking of expenditure financed under the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (%), as last amended by Regula- tion (EC) No 1997/2002 (), account is taken for the 2002 financial year of expenditure incurred by the Member States between 16 October 2001 and 15 October 2002. The time limits granted to the Member States for the submission to the Commission of the documents referred to in Article 6(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) 1258/ 1999 and in Article 4(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1663/95 of 7 July 1995 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/ 70 regarding the procedure for the clearance of accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section (*), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2025/2001 (), have expired. L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103. L 39, 17.2.1996, p. 5. L 308, 9.11.2002, p. 9. L 158, 8.7.1995, p. 6. L 274, 17.10.2001, p. 3. (4) The Commission has checked the information submitted and communicated to the Member States before the 31 March 2003 the results of its verifications with the necessary amendments. Under the first subparagraph of Article 7(1) of Regula- tion (EC) No 1663/95, the accounts clearance decision referred to in Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1258/ 1999 must determine, without prejudice to decisions taken subsequently in accordance with Article 7(4) of the Regulation, the amount of expenditure effected in each Member State during the financial year in question recognised as being chargeable to the EAGGF Guarantee Section, on the basis of the accounts referred to in Article 6(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 and the reductions and suspensions of advances for the financial year concerned, including the reductions referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No 296/96. Under Article 154 of Council Regula- tion (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 (%) on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, the outcome of the clearance decision, that is to say, any discrepancy which may occur between the total expenditure booked to the accounts for a financial year pursuant to Article 151(1) and Article 152 and the total expenditure taken into consideration by the Commission in this Decision, is to be booked, under a single article, as additional expenditure or a reduction in expenditure. For certain paying agencies, in the light of the verifica- tions made, the annual accounts and the accompanying documents permit the Commission to take a decision on the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the accounts submitted. Annex I lists the amounts cleared by Member State. The details of these amounts have been described in the Summary Report that has been presented to the Fund Committee at the same time as the present Decision. In the light of the verifications made, the information submitted by certain other Paying Agencies requires additional inquiries and their accounts cannot be cleared in this decision. Annex II lists the paying agencies concerned. () OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.