
Article 1 
Regulation (EC) No 1974/2006 is amended as follows:

((1)) in paragraphs (2) and (4) of Article 9, ‘1 %’ is replaced by ‘3 %’;
((2)) in Article 14, the following paragraph 5 is added:
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5. No new legal commitments to beneficiaries shall be undertaken pursuant to Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 after 31 December 2013.';
((3)) in Article 21, the following paragraph 3 is added:
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3. No new legal commitments to beneficiaries shall be undertaken pursuant to Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 after 31 December 2013.';
((4)) in the second subparagraph of Article 27(12), ‘2013’ is replaced by ‘2014’;
((5)) in Article 31, the following paragraph 5 is added:
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5. No new legal commitments to beneficiaries shall be undertaken pursuant to Article 43 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, including where these measures are implemented by local action groups in accordance with Article 63(a) of that Regulation, after 31 December 2013.';
((6)) in Article 32, the following second paragraph is added:
'No new legal commitments to beneficiaries shall be undertaken pursuant to Article 45 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, including where these measures are implemented by local action groups in accordance with Article 63(a) of that Regulation, after 31 December 2013.';
((7)) in Article 32a, ‘2013’ is replaced by ‘2014’;
((8)) the following Article 41a is inserted:
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Article 41a 

1. For the purposes of Article 66(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, preparation activities of programme assistance shall include the following for the programming period following the 2007-13 programming period:
(a) expenditure relating to the ex-ante evaluation of programmes;
(b) preparatory costs for the development of local development strategies;
(c) expenditure relating to other preparatory activities, provided that they are:
((i)) directly linked to the activities of the current rural development programmes; and
((ii)) necessary to ensure continuity as regards the implementation of rural development policy and a smooth passage from one programming period to the following programming period.
2. Application of paragraph 1 shall be subject to the inclusion of a relevant provision in rural development programmes.';
((9)) the following Article 41b is inserted in Chapter III, Section 2:
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Article 41b 

1. Where the amount allocated to the programme and/or measure is used up at a date earlier than the final date of eligibility laid down in Article 71(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005, Member States shall not undertake new legal commitments to beneficiaries.
2. Member States shall not undertake new legal commitments to beneficiaries pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 as of the day from which they start undertaking legal commitments to beneficiaries pursuant to the legal framework for the 2014-20 programming period.Member States may apply the first subparagraph either at the programme or at the measure level.
3. For LEADER, Member States may apply paragraph 2 at the level of the local action group, referred to in Article 62 of Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005.
4. Paragraph 2 shall not apply to LEADER preparatory support and technical assistance.'.
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.Done at Brussels, 12 April 2013.
For the Commission
The President
José Manuel BARROSO