PARALLEL TEXTS
Il Tribunale conferma che il contributo finanziario fornito dal Fondo europeo di sviluppo regionale alla regione italiana Puglia dev’essere ridotto di quasi 80 milioni di euro
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-14-45_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-14-45_it.htm
Data documento: 28-03-2014
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The General Court confirms that the financial aid provided by the European Regional Development Fund to the Italian region of Apulia must be reduced by almost €80 million
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Il Tribunale conferma che il contributo finanziario fornito dal Fondo europeo di sviluppo regionale alla regione italiana Puglia dev’essere ridotto di quasi 80 milioni di euro
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Serious failings by the Italian authorities in the management and monitoring of the use of the EU funds are such as to lead to systemic irregularities
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Le gravi carenze di cui le autorità italiane hanno dato prova nella gestione e nel controllo dell’utilizzo dei fondi dell’Unione sono tali da condurre a irregolarità sistemiche
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In order to strengthen the economic, social and territorial cohesion and reduce the disparities in the development of various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions, the EU takes action by means of Structural Funds1, such as, inter alia, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
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Al fine di rafforzare la coesione economica, sociale e territoriale e di ridurre il divario tra i livelli di sviluppo di varie regioni nonché il ritardo delle regioni meno favorite, l’Unione europea svolge un’azione attraverso fondi strutturali 1, quali in particolare il Fondo europeo di sviluppo regionale (FESR).
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In 1999, Italy submitted to the Commission a draft operational programme for the region of Apulia (‘POR Puglia’).
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Nel 1999 l’Italia ha presentato alla Commissione un progetto di programma operativo per la Regione Puglia («POR Puglia»).
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In 2000, the Commission approved that draft and made available to the Italian authorities €1.72 thousand million under the ERDF.
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Nel 2000 la Commissione ha approvato tale progetto e ha stanziato a favore delle autorità italiane 1,72 miliardi di euro a titolo del FESR.
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To that end, the Commission made preliminary and intermediate payments of a total amount of €1.23 thousand million.
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A tal fine, la Commissione ha effettuato pagamenti preliminari e intermedi per un importo totale di 1,23 miliardi di euro.
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In 2007, the Commission carried out an audit of the management and monitoring systems put in place by the Italian authorities and concluded that they had not established a system ensuring the sound financial management of the funds.
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Nel 2007 la Commissione ha effettuato un audit dei sistemi di gestione e di controllo istituiti dalle autorità italiane e ha concluso che le medesime non avevano stabilito un sistema che garantisse una buona gestione finanziaria dei fondi.
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A new audit carried out in 2007 on the measures taken by the Italian authorities to remedy the deficiencies noted by the previous audit showed that Italy had not complied with its obligations.
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Un nuovo audit, effettuato nel 2007 sul piano d’azione adottato dalle autorità italiane per porre rimedio alle carenze constatate nel corso del precedente audit, ha dimostrato che l’Italia non si era conformata agli obblighi cui è tenuta.
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The Commission therefore suspended the intermediate payments of the ERDF and set Italy a time-limit within which to conduct the necessary controls and to make the necessary corrections.
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La Commissione ha quindi sospeso i pagamenti intermedi del FESR e ha fissato per l’Italia un termine per effettuare i controlli ed apportare le rettifiche necessarie.
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In 2009, a third audit showed that the requirements set out in the suspension decision had not been met within the prescribed time-limits.
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Nel 2009 un terzo audit ha rivelato che i requisiti indicati nella decisione di sospensione non erano stati rispettati entro i termini impartiti.
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A number of irregularities were noted in the first and second-level controls and in the functioning of the payment authority.
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Sono state constatate diverse irregolarità nei controlli di primo e di secondo livello nonché nel funzionamento dell’autorità di pagamento.
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The Commission concluded that the effective functioning of the management and monitoring of POR Puglia was not adequately guaranteed.
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La Commissione ha concluso che non sussistevano ragionevoli garanzie che il sistema di gestione e di controllo del POR Puglia funzionasse efficacemente.
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By decision of 22 December 2009, the Commission reduced the financial aid granted to Italy by applying a flat-rate correction of 10% to the certified expenditure, that is, a reduction of €127.17 million.
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Con decisione del 22 dicembre 2009 la Commissione ha ridotto il contributo finanziario assegnato all’Italia, applicando una rettifica finanziaria del 10% sulle spese certificate, vale a dire una riduzione pari a 127,17 milioni di euro.
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Having regard to the effect of the correction already applied by the Italian authorities to the ERDF’s contribution, the Commission reduced the financial aid by €79.33 million.
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Tenuto conto dell’incidenza sulla partecipazione del FESR della rettifica già apportata dalle autorità italiane, la Commissione ha ridotto il contributo finanziario di un importo pari a 79,33 milioni di euro.
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Italy brought an action against that Commission decision before the General Court, with a view to obtaining its annulment.
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L’Italia ha presentato un ricorso dinanzi al Tribunale dell’Unione europea contro tale decisione della Commissione, al fine di ottenerne l’annullamento.
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In its judgment delivered today, the General Court first points out that only expenditure incurred by the national authorities in conformity with the EU rules is to be charged to the EU budget.
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Nella sua odierna sentenza, il Tribunale ricorda anzitutto che solo le spese effettuate dalle autorità nazionali conformemente alle norme del diritto dell’Unione sono a carico del bilancio dell’Unione.
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In order to ensure the sound financial management of the Structural Funds, it is crucial that the Member States set up management and monitoring systems enabling the delivery of the products and services co-financed and the reality of expenditure claimed to be verified.
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Per rispettare l’esigenza di una buona gestione finanziaria dei fondi strutturali, è essenziale che gli Stati membri predispongano sistemi di gestione e di controllo che consentano la verifica della fornitura dei beni e dei servizi cofinanziati e della veridicità della spesa dichiarata.
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The Member States must also organise, on the basis of appropriate samples, regular controls covering at least 5% of the total expenditure incurred.
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Gli Stati membri devono altresì organizzare, sulla base di campioni adeguati, controlli regolari che devono riguardare almeno il 5% della spesa totale delle operazioni.
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On the other hand, the Commission must, in order to justify its decision, prove that there has been an infringement of the rules governing the Structural Funds.
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Per contro, la Commissione, per giustificare la sua decisione, deve dimostrare l’esistenza di una violazione delle norme che disciplinano i fondi strutturali.
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It is not required to demonstrate exhaustively that the national controls are inadequate, or that there are irregularities in the figures submitted, but must adduce evidence of serious and reasonable doubt on its part regarding those controls or figures.
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Essa non è obbligata a dimostrare esaurientemente l’insufficienza dei controlli nazionali o l’inesattezza dei dati trasmessi, ma deve fornire elementi probatori in grado di corroborare i dubbi seri e ragionevoli che ha espresso a proposito di tali controlli o di tali dati.
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The obligation on the Commission as regards evidence is nevertheless mitigated, given that it is the Member State which is best placed to collect and verify the data required for the clearance of the accounts.
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L’obbligo che incombe alla Commissione in materia di prova è tuttavia temperato dal fatto che è lo Stato membro a disporre delle migliori possibilità per raccogliere e verificare i dati necessari per la liquidazione dei conti.
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Consequently, it is for the Member State to adduce the most detailed and comprehensive evidence that it has carried out controls and that its figures are accurate and, if appropriate, that the Commission’s assertions are incorrect.
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Spetta pertanto allo Stato membro fornire la prova più circostanziata ed esauriente della veridicità dei controlli e dei dati nonché, eventualmente, dell’inesattezza delle affermazioni della Commissione.
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23 |
The General Court takes the view that, in the present case, the EU auditors noted a number of irregularities giving rise to serious doubts as regards the controls and whether the expenditure was admissible.
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Il Tribunale considera che, nel caso di specie, i revisori dell’Unione hanno constatato diverse irregolarità che hanno giustificato dubbi seri nei confronti dei controlli e dell’ammissibilità delle spese.
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In addition to the lack of staff in the bodies comprising the payment authority, those irregularities concern delays in carrying out first and second-level controls, in the transmission of reports, in the follow-up to controls, in keeping the monitoring table and in the checks which the payment authority was supposed to make.
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Oltre alla mancanza di personale nelle strutture dell’autorità di pagamento, tali irregolarità riguardano ritardi nell’esecuzione dei controlli di primo e di secondo livello, nella trasmissione delle relazioni, nel seguito dato ai controlli e nell’aggiornamento della tabella di monitoraggio, nonché nelle verifiche che l’autorità di pagamento avrebbe dovuto effettuare.
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A number of irregularities were not pointed out by those performing the national controls, while other controls were considered to have been terminated without examination of the necessary documents.
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Diverse irregolarità non sono state segnalate dai controllori nazionali, mentre altri controlli erano stati considerati conclusi senza che fossero stati esaminati documenti essenziali.
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The Commission also disputed the reliability of the percentage of the expenditure monitored and the corrections suggested by the Italian authorities and held that the payment authority was not functioning properly.
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La Commissione ha altresì contestato l’affidabilità della percentuale delle spese controllate e delle rettifiche proposte dalle autorità italiane e ha constatato il malfunzionamento dell’autorità di pagamento.
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Italy, for its part, did not adduce any evidence which could call into question the Commission’s findings.
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L'Italia, per parte sua, non ha fornito prove che consentissero di confutare quanto constatato dalla Commissione.
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The General Court also observes that, since the first audit mission, the Commission has continued negotiations with the Italian authorities.
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Il Tribunale rileva inoltre che, dopo la prima missione di audit, la Commissione ha proseguito il dialogo con le autorità italiane.
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Those authorities have therefore had the opportunity to present their point of view and have been correctly involved in the procedure which led to the adoption of the decision.
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Esse hanno pertanto avuto la possibilità di presentare il loro punto di vista e sono state coinvolte in modo corretto nel procedimento che ha condotto all’adozione della decisione.
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30 |
According to the General Court, the Commission did not infringe its obligation to state reasons, bearing in mind in particular that Italy was sufficiently involved in the process by which the decision came about and was aware of the reasons for which the Commission took the view that it must not charge the sum in dispute to the Fund.
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Secondo il Tribunale, la Commissione non è venuta meno all’obbligo di motivazione cui è tenuta, in particolare in considerazione del fatto che l’Italia è stata strettamente associata al processo di elaborazione della decisione e conosceva i motivi per i quali la Commissione riteneva di non dover imputare al fondo l’importo controverso.
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The General Court also takes the view that the flat-rate correction of 10% complies with the rules of administrative conduct.
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Il Tribunale ritiene inoltre che la rettifica forfettaria del 10% sia conforme alle norme di comportamento amministrativo .
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Lastly, the General Court considers that the failings noted by the Commission call into question the effectiveness of the entire system for the management and monitoring of POR Puglia and therefore represent a significant risk of loss for the EU budget.
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Infine il Tribunale ritiene che le insufficienze constatate dalla Commissione rimettano in discussione l’efficacia dell’insieme del sistema di gestione e di controllo del POR Puglia e presentino quindi un rischio rilevante di perdita per il bilancio dell’Unione.
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The Commission was thus fully entitled to apply a correction rate of 10%, that rate reflecting the seriousness, the nature and the duration of the inadequacies by which the key elements of the system for monitoring POR Puglia were affected.
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La Commissione ha quindi avuto ragione nell’applicare un tasso di rettifica del 10% che esprime la gravità, il carattere e la durata delle insufficienze relative agli elementi essenziali del sistema di controllo del POR Puglia.
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On those grounds, the General Court dismisses Italy’s action.
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Per tali motivi, il Tribunale respinge il ricorso dell’Italia.
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NOTE:
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IMPORTANTE:
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An appeal, limited to points of law only, may be brought before the Court of Justice against the decision of the General Court within two months of notification of the decision.
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Contro la decisione del Tribunale, entro due mesi a decorrere dalla data della sua notifica, può essere proposta un'impugnazione, limitata alle questioni di diritto, dinanzi alla Corte.
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NOTE:
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IMPORTANTE:
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An action for annulment seeks the annulment of acts of the institutions of the European Union that are contrary to European Union law.
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Il ricorso di annullamento mira a far annullare atti delle istituzioni dell’Unione contrari al diritto dell’Unione.
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The Member States, the European institutions and individuals may, under certain conditions, bring an action for annulment before the Court of Justice or the General Court.
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A determinate condizioni, gli Stati membri, le istituzioni europee e i privati possono investire la Corte di giustizia o il Tribunale di un ricorso di annullamento.
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If the action is well founded, the act is annulled.
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Se il ricorso è fondato, l'atto viene annullato.
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The institution concerned must fill any legal vacuum created by the annulment of the act. |
L'istituzione interessata deve rimediare all’eventuale lacuna giuridica creata dall’annullamento dell’atto. |
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
••
The General Court confirms that the financial aid provided by the European
Regional Development Fund to the Italian region of Apulia must be reduced by
almost €80 million
Serious failings by the Italian authorities in the management and
monitoring of the use of the EU funds are such as to lead to systemic
irregularities
In order to strengthen the economic, social and territorial cohesion and
reduce the disparities in the development of various regions and the
backwardness of the least favoured regions, the EU takes action by means of
Structural Funds1, such as, inter alia, the European Regional Development Fund
(ERDF).
In 1999, Italy submitted to the Commission a draft operational programme for
the region of Apulia (‘POR Puglia’).
In 2000, the Commission approved that draft and made available to the Italian
authorities €1.72 thousand million under the ERDF.
To that end, the Commission made preliminary and intermediate payments of a
total amount of €1.23 thousand million.
In 2007, the Commission carried out an audit of the management and monitoring
systems put in place by the Italian authorities and concluded that they had not
established a system ensuring the sound financial management of the funds.
A new audit carried out in 2007 on the measures taken by the Italian
authorities to remedy the deficiencies noted by the previous audit showed that
Italy had not complied with its obligations.
The Commission therefore suspended the intermediate payments of the ERDF and
set Italy a time-limit within which to conduct the necessary controls and to
make the necessary corrections.
In 2009, a third audit showed that the requirements set out in the suspension
decision had not been met within the prescribed time-limits.
A number of irregularities were noted in the first and second-level controls
and in the functioning of the payment authority.
The Commission concluded that the effective functioning of the management and
monitoring of POR Puglia was not adequately guaranteed.
By decision of 22 December 2009, the Commission reduced the financial aid
granted to Italy by applying a flat-rate correction of 10% to the certified
expenditure, that is, a reduction of €127.17 million.
Having regard to the effect of the correction already applied by the Italian
authorities to the ERDF’s contribution, the Commission reduced the financial aid
by €79.33 million.
Italy brought an action against that Commission decision before the General
Court, with a view to obtaining its annulment.
In its judgment delivered today, the General Court first points out that only
expenditure incurred by the national authorities in conformity with the EU rules
is to be charged to the EU budget.
In order to ensure the sound financial management of the Structural Funds, it
is crucial that the Member States set up management and monitoring systems
enabling the delivery of the products and services co-financed and the reality
of expenditure claimed to be verified.
The Member States must also organise, on the basis of appropriate samples,
regular controls covering at least 5% of the total expenditure incurred.
On the other hand, the Commission must, in order to justify its decision,
prove that there has been an infringement of the rules governing the Structural
Funds.
It is not required to demonstrate exhaustively that the national controls are
inadequate, or that there are irregularities in the figures submitted, but must
adduce evidence of serious and reasonable doubt on its part regarding those
controls or figures.
The obligation on the Commission as regards evidence is nevertheless
mitigated, given that it is the Member State which is best placed to collect and
verify the data required for the clearance of the accounts.
Consequently, it is for the Member State to adduce the most detailed and
comprehensive evidence that it has carried out controls and that its figures are
accurate and, if appropriate, that the Commission’s assertions are incorrect.
The General Court takes the view that, in the present case, the EU auditors
noted a number of irregularities giving rise to serious doubts as regards the
controls and whether the expenditure was admissible.
In addition to the lack of staff in the bodies comprising the payment
authority, those irregularities concern delays in carrying out first and
second-level controls, in the transmission of reports, in the follow-up to
controls, in keeping the monitoring table and in the checks which the payment
authority was supposed to make.
A number of irregularities were not pointed out by those performing the
national controls, while other controls were considered to have been terminated
without examination of the necessary documents.
The Commission also disputed the reliability of the percentage of the
expenditure monitored and the corrections suggested by the Italian authorities
and held that the payment authority was not functioning properly.
Italy, for its part, did not adduce any evidence which could call into
question the Commission’s findings.
The General Court also observes that, since the first audit mission, the
Commission has continued negotiations with the Italian authorities.
Those authorities have therefore had the opportunity to present their point
of view and have been correctly involved in the procedure which led to the
adoption of the decision.
According to the General Court, the Commission did not infringe its
obligation to state reasons, bearing in mind in particular that Italy was
sufficiently involved in the process by which the decision came about and was
aware of the reasons for which the Commission took the view that it must not
charge the sum in dispute to the Fund.
The General Court also takes the view that the flat-rate correction of 10%
complies with the rules of administrative conduct.
Lastly, the General Court considers that the failings noted by the Commission
call into question the effectiveness of the entire system for the management and
monitoring of POR Puglia and therefore represent a significant risk of loss for
the EU budget.
The Commission was thus fully entitled to apply a correction rate of 10%,
that rate reflecting the seriousness, the nature and the duration of the
inadequacies by which the key elements of the system for monitoring POR Puglia
were affected.
On those grounds, the General Court dismisses Italy’s action.
NOTE:
An appeal, limited to points of law only, may be brought before the Court of
Justice against the decision of the General Court within two months of
notification of the decision.
NOTE:
An action for annulment seeks the annulment of acts of the institutions of
the European Union that are contrary to European Union law.
The Member States, the European institutions and individuals may, under
certain conditions, bring an action for annulment before the Court of Justice or
the General Court.
If the action is well founded, the act is annulled.
The institution concerned must fill any legal vacuum created by the annulment
of the act.
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