Title, commencement and extent

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Rural Enterprise Regulations 2000 and shall come into force on 5th December 2000.

(2) These Regulations shall extend to England only.

Interpretation

2. —(1) In these Regulations—

• “applicant" means a person who has made an application pursuant to regulation 4, the result of which is still pending;

• “approved project" means a project which the Minister has approved under these Regulations for the receipt of financial assistance, and “approve" and “approval" are to be construed accordingly;

• “beneficiary" means a person who has been granted approval for a project;

• “Community assistance" means assistance from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund granted pursuant to the Community legislation;

• “the Community legislation" means the instruments listed in the Schedule to these Regulations, in so far as they relate to expenditure for which support may be granted pursuant to Article 4 or 33 of Council Regulation 1257/1999/EC ;

• ^M3 “ Council Regulation 1257/1999/EC " means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) ;

• ^M4 “electronic communication" has the same meaning as in the Electronic Communications Act 2000 ;

• “the ERDP" means the England Rural Development Programme approved by the Commission in the Decision referred to in the Schedule to these Regulations, and “the relevant part of the ERDP" means that part of the ERDP which relates to expenditure for which support may be granted pursuant to Article 4 or 33 of Council Regulation 1257/1999/EC ;

• “financial assistance" means an amount paid or payable under these Regulations; and

• “the Minister" means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

(2) A reference in these Regulations to anything done in writing or produced in written form includes a reference to an electronic communication which has been recorded and is consequently capable of being reproduced.

Assistance for rural enterprise

3. The Minister may pay financial assistance to a beneficiary towards expenditure incurred or to be incurred by him in connection with an approved project.

Applications in respect of projects

4. An application for the approval of a project shall be made in such form and contain such information as the Minister reasonably may require.

Approval of projects

5. —(1) The Minister may—

(a) refuse to approve a project for the receipt of financial assistance, or

(b) approve it in whole or in part, unconditionally or subject to such conditions as he may determine,

but he shall not approve it unless he is satisfied that the project—

(i) is eligible for Community assistance;

(ii) is in accordance with the relevant part of the ERDP; and

(iii) ^M5 is not a project which is eligible for financial assistance under the Energy Crops Regulations 2000 .

(2) The Minister may vary an approval by varying any condition to which it is subject, or imposing conditions.

(3) Where the Minister decides to refuse approval for a project under paragraph (1) or to vary an approval under paragraph (2), he shall—

(a) give the applicant or beneficiary, as the case may be, notice in writing of his decision with a statement of his reasons;

(b) give that applicant or beneficiary an opportunity to make written representations within such time as the Minister considers reasonable; and

(c) consider any such representations.

(4) An approval or variation under this regulation shall be in writing.

Claims

6. A claim for financial assistance shall be made at such time or within such period and in such form, and be accompanied by such information, as the Minister reasonably may require.

Payment

7. —(1) The Minister may pay financial assistance by payment of a single lump sum or by instalments.

(2) Payments may be made—

(a) at such time or times as the Minister reasonably may determine; and

(b) subject to such conditions as the Minister reasonably may determine.

Information

8. —(1) A beneficiary shall supply the Minister such information about an approved project as the Minister reasonably may require.

(2) Where the Minister requires such information, the beneficiary shall supply him with it within such period as the Minister reasonably may determine.

Record keeping

9. —(1) A beneficiary shall keep any invoice, account or other document relating to an approved project for the period of six years beginning with the day on which the last payment of financial assistance under these Regulations is made to him in connection with that project, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) If a beneficiary transfers the original of any such document to another person in the normal course of business, he shall instead keep a copy of that document for that period.

(3) Paragraph (1) shall not apply where the document has been removed by any person lawfully authorised to remove it.

regulation 2(1)

SCHEDULE MEANING OF “COMMUNITY LEGISLATION"

1. Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (OJ No. L160, 26.6.1999, p. 80).

2. Council Regulation (EC) No. 1750/1999 of 23 July 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (OJ No. L214, 13.8.1999, p. 31, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2075/2000 of 29 September 2000 (OJ No. L246, 30.9.2000, p. 46)).

3. Commission Decision No. C(2000) 3003 of 11 October 2000 approving the rural development programming document for England (UK) for the 2000–06 programming period.