on THE EUROPEAN AGRICULTURAL GUIDANCE AND GUARANTEE FUND

a) Article 10 of counci 1 Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 on the financing of the common agricultural policy * requires the Commission to send each year to the Council and Parliament "a financial report on the administration of the Fund during the preceding financial year and, in particular, on the state of its resources and the nature of its expenditure and the conditions under which Community financing has been effected". This Report covers the operations of the EAGGF Guarantee Section and the clearance of accounts in respect of Community food aid for 1993. The main task of the Guarantee Section is financing the expenditure arising from the common pol icy on agricultural markets an9 prices. Under Articles 2 and 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70, expenditure consists of refunds on exports to non-Community countries, paid under the EEC market organizations, and intervention measures designed to stabi I ize agricultural markets. b) Up to and including 1986, the financial year ~s al~ys the same as the calendar year. The an~ndments made in 1987 to the ~gulations governing the financing of the common agricultural policy resulted, as regards the GUar~tee Section, in adjusbnents to the dates of closure pf accounts for 1987\1), 1988(2J and subsequent financial yearsl3), with a corresponding displac~nt of the GUarantee Sectlon financial year relative to the calendar year. This ~y ~ke it difficult to compare these years with previous years, and should be taken into account in examdning the various tables and annexes