COUNCIL OFBrussels, 25 May 2012
THE EUROPEAN UNION
10256/12 ADD 1
Interinstitutional File:
2010/0395 (COD)
FIN 355 CODEC 1402
ADDENDUM TO NOTE
from :
General Secretariat of the Council
to : Permanent Representatives Committee
No. prev. doc.: 9626/1/11 REV 1 FIN 286 CODEC 730 + ADD 1
No. Cion prop.: 5129/11 FIN 5 CODEC 21 - COM(2010) 815 final Subject :
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the annual budget of the Union (first reading)
Proposal for a
REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
on the financial rules applicable to the annual budget of the Union
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 322
thereof, in conjunction with the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and
in particular Article 106a thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission1,
Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors2,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments,
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,
PART ONE
COMMON PROVISIONS
TITLE I
SUBJECT MATTER AND SCOPE
[Article 1 1
Subject matter
-
1.This Regulation lays down the rules for the establishment and the implementation of the
general budget of the European Union, (the "budget") and the presentation and auditing of the
accounts.
-
2.
For the purposes of this Regulation:
- the term "institution" refers to the European Parliament, the European Council
and the Council, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European
Union and the European Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social
Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the European Ombudsman, the
European Data Protection Supervisor and the European External Action Service
[Article 1a 1
Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Regulation:
(a) "Union" means the European Union and/or the European Atomic Energy
Community as the context may require;
(b) "institution" means the European Parliament, the European Council and the
Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of
the European Union, the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social
Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the European Ombudsman, the
European Data Protection Supervisor and the European External Action Service
(EEAS); the European Central Bank shall not be considered as an institution of
the Union;
(c) "budget" means the instrument which, for each financial year, forecasts and
authorises all revenue and expenditure considered necessary for the Union;
(d) "basic act" means a legal[ly binding] act adopted by the European Parliament and
the Council or by the Council in application of the Treaty on the Functioning of
the European Union (the "TFEU") and the Treaty establishing the European
(g) "beneficiary" means any natural or legal person to whom a grant has been
awarded or to whom a grant decision has been notified;
(h) "contractor" means any natural or legal person with whom a procurement
contract has been concluded;
(i) "Staff Regulations" means the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European
Communities and the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European
Communities.]
[Article 2 1
Scope Compliance of secondary legislation with this Regulation
Any provision concerning the implementation of the revenue and expenditure of the budget,
contained in another legislative act, must comply with the budgetary principles set out in Title II
this Regulation.
This Regulation shall apply to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council, the
European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of
Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the
European Ombudsman, the European Data Protection Supervisor and the European External Action
Service (hereinafter referred to as "institution(s)").
[Article 2a 1, 2
Protection of personal data
This Regulation is without prejudice to the requirements of Directive 95/46/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals
with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and of
Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of
18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal
data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data.]
TITLE II
BUDGETARY PRINCIPLES
[Article 3 2
Budgetary principles
The budget shall be established and implemented in compliance with the principles of unity,
budgetary accuracy, annuality, equilibrium, unit of account, universality, specification, sound
financial management which requires effective and efficient internal control, and transparency as
CHAPTER 1
PRINCIPLES OF UNITY AND OF BUDGETARY ACCURACY
[Article 4 1
Definition of the budget
-
1.The budget is the instrument which, for each financial year, forecasts and authorises all
revenue and expenditure considered necessary for the Union and the European Atomic
Energy Community.
-
2.The revenue and expenditure of the Union shall comprise:
(a) the revenue and expenditure of the Union, including administrative expenditure
occasioned for the institutions by the provisions of the Treaty on European Union
relating to the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the operational expenditure
occasioned by implementation of those provisions where this is charged to the budget;
(b) the expenditure and revenue of the European Atomic Energy Community.
-
3.The budget shall record the guarantee for borrowing-and-lending operations entered into by
the Union, including the European Financial Stability Mechanism and Balance of
Payment Facility operations, in accordance with point (d) of Article 46(1).]
-
3.An appropriation may not be entered in the budget if it is not for an item of expenditure
considered necessary.
-
4.Interest yielded by pre-financing payments made from the budget the funds which are the
property of the Union shall not be due to the Union, except as otherwise provided for in the
agreements concluded with the entrusted entities listed in points (ii) to (viii) of
Article 55(1)(c). In those cases, such interest shall be re-used for the corresponding
programme action or either be deducted from the payment requests according to
point (c) of Article 20(1) or be recovered.
Article 5a
Lapse of deadline
Unless otherwise provided, Regulation No 1181/71 of the Council of 3 June 1971 determining
the rules applicable to periods, dates and time limits shall apply to deadlines set by this
Regulation.
CHAPTER 2
PRINCIPLE OF ANNUALITY
Article 6
-
2.Commitment appropriations shall cover the total cost of the legal commitments entered into
during the current financial year, subject to Articles 83(2) and 180(2).
-
3.Payment appropriations shall cover payments made to honour the legal commitments entered
into in the current financial year and/or earlier financial years.
-
4.Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be without prejudice to the special provisions of Titles I, IV and VI
of Part Two. They shall not prevent appropriations being committed globally nor budgetary
commitments being made in annual instalments.
Article 8
Accounting rules for the revenue and appropriations
-
1.The revenue of a financial year shall be entered in the accounts for the financial year on the
basis of the amounts collected during the financial year. However, the own resources for the
month of January of the next financial year may be paid in advance pursuant to Council
Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 implementing Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom on
the system of the European Communities' own resources1.
-
2.The entries in respect of value added tax own resources, the additional resource based on
gross national income and any financial contributions may be adjusted in accordance with the
Regulation referred to in paragraph 1.
-
5.Payments shall be entered in the accounts for a financial year on the basis of the payments
effected by the accounting officer by 31 December of that year at the latest.
-
6.By way of derogation from paragraphs 3, 4 and 5:,
(a) the expenditure of the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund shall be entered in the
accounts for a financial year in accordance with the rules laid down in Title I of Part
Two;
(b) the other expenditure falling under Articles 56 and 57 shall be entered in the accounts
for the reference periods as laid down in the applicable sector-specific rules.
Article 9
Cancellation and carry over of appropriations
1.
Appropriations which have not been used at the end of the financial year for which they were
entered shall be cancelled.
However, they may be carried over to the following financial year only, by a decision taken
by the institution concerned by 15 February at the latest, in accordance with paragraphs 2
and 3 or be carried over automatically in accordance with paragraph 4.
-
3.Payment appropriations may be carried over in respect of amounts needed to cover existing
commitments or commitments linked to commitment appropriations carried over, when the
appropriations provided for the relevant lines in the budget for the following financial year do
not cover requirements. The institution concerned shall first use the appropriations authorised
for the current financial year and shall not use the appropriations carried over until the former
are exhausted.
-
4.Non-differentiated appropriations corresponding to obligations duly contracted at the close of
the financial year shall be carried over automatically to the following financial year only.
-
5.The institution concerned shall inform the European Parliament and the Council by 15 March
at the latest of the carry-over decision it has taken and shall state, for each budget line, how
the criteria in paragraphs 2 and 3 have been applied to each carry-over.
-
6.Without prejudice to Article 10, appropriations placed in reserve and appropriations for staff
expenditure may not be carried over. For the purpose of this article staff expenditure
comprises the remuneration and allowances for members and staff of the institutions to
which the Staff Regulations apply.
Article 10
Carry over rules for assigned revenue
(b) internal assigned revenue shall be carried over for one year only, without prejudice to Council
Article 11
Decommitment of appropriations
Without prejudice to Articles 170 and 174, where amounts are decommitted as a result of total or
partial non-implementation of the actions for which they were earmarked, in any financial year after
that in which the appropriations were entered in the budget, the appropriations concerned shall be
cancelled.
Article 12
Commitment of appropriations
The appropriations entered in the budget may be committed with effect from 1 January, once the
budget has been finally adopted, except as otherwise provided in Title I and Title VI of Part Two.
Article 13
Rules applicable in case of late adoption of the budget
1.
If the budget has not been definitively adopted at the beginning of the financial year, the
provisional twelfths regime mentioned in the first paragraph of Article 315 TFEU shall apply.
Commitments and payments may be made within the limits laid down in paragraph 2.
Payments may be made monthly per chapter to a maximum of one twelfth of the
appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the preceding financial year. That sum
shall not, however, exceed one twelfth of the appropriations provided for in the same chapter
of the draft budget.
-
3.The appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the preceding financial year, as
specified in paragraphs 1 and 2, shall be understood to refer to the appropriations voted in the
budget, including by amending budgets, and after adjustment for the transfers made during
that financial year.
-
4.If the continuity of action by the Union and management needs so require, the Council, acting
by a qualified majority on a proposal of the Commission, may authorise two or more
expenditure in excess of one provisional twelfth but not exceeding the total of four
provisional twelfths both for commitments and for payments over and above those
automatically made available by the provisions in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 3 and 2,
unless in duly justified cases. It shall forward the decision on authorisation without delay to
the European Parliament.
The decision shall enter into force thirty days following its adoption unless the European
Parliament, acting by a majority of its component Members, decides to reduce that
expenditure within those thirty days that time limit.
5. If, for a given chapter, the authorisation of two or more four provisional twelfths granted in
the circumstances and under the procedures provided for in paragraph 4 is not sufficient to
cover the expenditure necessary to avoid a break in continuity of the Union activity in the area
covered by the chapter in question, authorisation may exceptionally be given to exceed the
amount of the appropriations entered in the corresponding chapter of the budget of the
preceding financial year. The European Parliament and the Council shall act under the
procedures provided for in paragraph 4. However, the available overall total of the
appropriations in the budget of the preceding financial year or the draft budget as proposed
may in no circumstances be exceeded.
CHAPTER 3
PRINCIPLE OF EQUILIBRIUM
Article 14
Definition and scope
-
1.Budget revenue and payment appropriations must be in balance.
-
2.The Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, as well as the bodies set up by the
Union as referred to in Article 200, may not raise loans within the framework of the budget.
-
3.After the presentation of the accounts for each financial year, any discrepancy with the
estimates shall be entered in the budget for the following financial year through an amending
budget devoted solely to that discrepancy. In such a case, the draft amending budget must be
submitted by the Commission within 15 days following the submission of the provisional
accounts.
CHAPTER 4
PRINCIPLE OF UNIT OF ACCOUNT
Article 16
Use of euro
The budget shall be drawn up and implemented in euro and the accounts shall be presented in euro.
However, for the cash-flow purposes referred to in Article 65, the accounting officer and, in the
case of imprest accounts, the imprest administrators, and, for the needs of the administrative
management of the Commission and the European External Action Service, the authorising officer
responsible shall be authorised to carry out operations in national currencies as laid down in the
delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199.
CHAPTER 5
Article 18
Assigned revenue
-
1.External assigned revenue and internal assigned revenue shall be used to finance specific
items of expenditure.
-
2.The following shall constitute external assigned revenue:
(a) financial contributions from Member States to certain research programmes pursuant to
the Council Regulation implementing the Decision on the system of the Union' own
resources;
(b) financial contributions from Member States, third countries, including in both cases
their public and parastatal agencies, legal entities or natural persons, to certain external
aid projects or programmes financed by the Union and managed by the Commission on
their behalf;
(c) interest on deposits and the fines provided for in the Regulation on speeding up and
clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure;
(d) revenue earmarked for a specific purpose, such as income from foundations, subsidies,
gifts and bequests, including the earmarked revenue specific to each institution;
(f) assigned revenue referred to in Articles 173(2) and 175(2).
However, in the case provided for in point (b), commitment appropriations may be
made available upon signature by the Member State of a contribution agreement
expressed in Euro. This shall not apply to cases provided for in Articles 173(2)
and 175(2).
3.
The following shall constitute internal assigned revenue:
(a)
revenue from third parties in respect of goods, services or work supplied at their
request;
(b)
proceeds from the sale of vehicles, equipment, installations, materials, and scientific and
technical apparatus which are being replaced or scrapped when the book value is fully
depreciated;
(c)
revenue arising from the repayment of amounts wrongly paid in accordance with
Article 77;
-
(ca) revenue arising from interest on pre-financing subject to Article 5;
(d)
proceeds from the supply of goods, services and works for other departments,
institutions or bodies, including refunds by other institutions or bodies of mission
allowances paid on their behalf;
-
4.The basic act applicable may also assign the revenue for which it provides to specific items of
expenditure. Unless specified otherwise in the basic act applicable, such revenue shall
constitute internal assigned revenue.
5.
The budget shall include lines to accommodate external assigned revenue and internal
assigned revenue and wherever possible shall indicate the amount.
Assigned revenue may be included in the draft budget only for the amounts which are certain
at the date of the establishment of the draft budget.
Article 19
Donations
1.
The Commission may accept any donation made to the Union, such as foundations, subsidies,
gifts and bequests.
-
2.Acceptance of donations of a value of EUR 50 000 or more which involve a financial charge,
including follow-up costs, exceeding 10 % of the value of the donation made, shall be subject
to the authorisation of the European Parliament and of the Council, both of which shall act on
the matter within two months of the date of receipt of the request from the Commission. If no
objection has been made within that period, the Commission shall take a final decision in
(c) interest generated by pre-financing payments;
(d) adjustments for amounts unduly paid.
Adjustments referred to in point (d) of the first subparagraph may be made, by means
of direct deduction, against a new payment of the same type to the same payee under the
chapter, article and financial year in respect of which the excess payment was made, and
which give rise to interim payments or payments of balances.
To the items referred to in points (c) and (d) of the first subparagraph the Union
accounting rules shall apply.
-
2.The cost of products or services provided to the Union incorporating taxes refunded by third
countries on the basis of the relevant agreements the Member States pursuant to the
Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union shall be charged to the
budget for the ex-tax amount. Subsequent reimbursement of taxes shall be treated as
assigned revenue in accordance with Article 18(2).
-
3.The cost of products or services provided to the Union incorporating taxes refunded by third
countries on the basis of the relevant agreements may be charged to the budget:
CHAPTER 6
PRINCIPLE OF SPECIFICATION
Article 21
General provisions
-
1.Appropriations shall be earmarked for specific purposes by title and chapter; the chapters
shall be further subdivided into articles and items.
-
2.Appropriations may be transferred only to budget lines for which the budget has authorised
appropriations or carries a token entry "pro memoria ".
-
3.Appropriations corresponding to assigned revenue may be transferred only if such revenue is
used for the purpose to which it is assigned.
Article 22
Transfers by institutions other than the Commission
-
1.Any institution other than the Commission may, within its own section of the budget, transfer
appropriations:
(a) from one title to another up to a maximum of 10 % of the appropriations for the year
-
3.Any institution other than the Commission may propose to the European Parliament and the
Council, within its own section of the budget, transfers from one title to another exceeding the
limit of 10% of the appropriations for the financial year on the line from which the transfer is
to be made. Those transfers shall be subject to the procedure laid down in Article 24.
-
4.Any institution other than the Commission may, within its own section of the budget, make
transfers within articles without informing the European Parliament and the Council
beforehand.
Article 23
Transfers by the Commission
-
1.The Commission may, within its own section of the budget, autonomously:
(a) transfer appropriations within each chapter;
(b) as regards expenditure on staff and administration which is common to several titles,
transfer appropriations from one title to another up to a maximum of 10% of the
appropriations for the year shown on the line from which the transfer is made, and up to
a maximum of 30 % of the appropriations for the year shown on the line to which the
-
Three weeks before making the transfers referred to in points (b) and (c) of the first
subparagraph, the Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of its
decision intention to do so. In the event of duly substantiated reasons being raised within that
three-week period by either the European Parliament or the Council, the procedure laid down
in Article 24 shall apply.
-
2.However, during the last two months of the financial year, the Commission may
autonomously transfer appropriations concerning expenditure on staff, external staff and other
agents from one title to another within the total limit of 5 % of the appropriations of the
financial year.
The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council within two weeks
after its decision on those transfers.
2. The Commission may, within its own section of the budget, decide on the following
transfer appropriations from one title to another, provided it informs immediately the
budgetary authority of its decision:
(a) transfer appropriations from the "provisions" title referred to in Article 43, where
the only condition to lift the reserve lies in the adoption of a basic act in
accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure foreseen in Article 294 TFEU; -
Article 24
Transfers by the Commission or any other institution submitted to the European Parliament
and the Council
-
1.Transfers not falling under Articles 22 and 23 shall be subject to the approval of the European
Parliament and the Council in accordance with the following provisions.
-
21.The Commission or any other institutions acting in the framework of Article 52 shall submit
their proposals simultaneously to the European Parliament and the Council.
-
32.The European Parliament and the Council shall take decisions on transfers of appropriations
as provided for in paragraphs 4 3 to 7 6, except as otherwise provided for in Title I of
Part Two.
-
43.Except in urgent circumstances, the Council, acting by a qualified majority, and the European
Parliament, shall deliberate upon the transfer proposal within six weeks of the date on which
the two institutions received the proposal for each transfer submitted to them.
-
54.The transfer proposal shall be approved, if, within the six-week period, any of the following
cases occurs:
(a) the European Parliament and the Council approve it;
-
65.The six-week period referred to under paragraph 3 shall be reduced to three weeks, unless
either the European Parliament or the Council requests otherwise, in any of the following
cases:
(a) the transfer represents less than 10 % of the appropriations of the line from which the
transfer is made and does not exceed EUR 5 million;
(b) the transfer concerns only payment appropriations and the overall amount of the transfer
does not exceed EUR 100 million.
-
76.If either the European Parliament or the Council has amended the amount of the transfer while
the other institution has approved it or refrains from acting, or if the European Parliament and
the Council have both amended the amount of the transfer, the smaller amount approved
either by the European Parliament or the Council shall be deemed approved, unless the
institution concerned withdraws its proposal.
Article 24a
Specific rules on transfers
-
1.
Appropriations may be transferred only to budget lines for which the budget has
authorised appropriations or carries a token entry "pro memoria" . -
-
2.Decisions on transfers to allow the use of the emergency aid reserve shall be taken by the
European Parliament and the Council on a proposal from the Commission. [A separate
proposal must be submitted for each individual emergency action.]
The procedure provided for in Article 24(43) and (54) shall apply. If the Commission
proposal is not agreed to by the European Parliament and the Council and there is a failure to
arrive at a common position on the use of this reserve, the European Parliament and the
Council shall refrain from acting on the Commission's transfer proposal.
-
3.In duly substantiated exceptional cases of international humanitarian disasters and crises,
occurring after 15 December of the budgetary year, the Commission may transfer unused
budgetary appropriations for the current budgetary year still available in the budget titles
falling under heading 4 of the multiannual financial framework to the budget titles concerning
the crisis management aid and humanitarian aid operations. The Commission shall inform the
European Parliament and the Council immediately after making such transfers.
CHAPTER 7
PRINCIPLE OF SOUND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Article 26
Principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness
The principle of effectiveness is concerned with attaining the specific objectives set and
achieving the intended results.
-
3.Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed objectives shall be set for all sectors of
activity covered by the budget. Achievement of those objectives shall be monitored by
performance indicators for each activity and information shall be provided by the spending
authorities to the European Parliament and the Council. Such information, as referred to in
point (d) of Article 34(2a), shall be provided annually and at the latest in the documents
accompanying the draft budget.
-
4.In order to improve decision-making, institutions shall undertake both ex ante and ex post
evaluations in line with guidance provided by the Commission. Such evaluations shall be
applied to all programmes and activities which entail significant spending and evaluation
results disseminated to spending, legislative and budgetary authorities.
Article 27
Compulsory financial statement
-
1.Any proposal or initiative submitted to the legislative authority by the Commission, the High
Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (the "High
Representative") or by a Member State, which may have an impact on the budget, including
changes in the number of posts, must be accompanied by a financial statement and by the
-
3.In order to reduce the risk of fraud and irregularities, the financial statement referred to in
paragraph 1 shall provide information on the internal control system set up, an estimation of
the costs and benefits of the checks controls implied by such system and an assessment of the
expected level of risk of non-compliance with the applicable rules error, as well as existing
and planned fraud prevention and protection measures.
-
4.The assessment of the expected level of risk of non-compliance may include an estimate of a
tolerable risk of error.
Such estimate shall be based on an analysis of the costs and benefits of checks, and an
evaluation of the likely scale and type of errors.
The estimate of a tolerable risk of error analysis shall take into account the likely scale and
type of errors, as well as the specific conditions of the policy area concerned and the rules
applicable.
Article 28
Internal control of budget implementation
-
1.The budget shall be implemented in compliance with effective and efficient internal control as
appropriate in each management mode, and in accordance with the relevant sector-specific
(d) prevention, detection and correction of fraud and irregularities and their follow-up;
(e) adequate management of the risks relating to the legality and regularity of the
underlying transactions, taking into account the multiannual character of programmes,
as well as the nature of the payments concerned.
2a. Effective internal control shall be based on best international practices and include in
particular the following:
(a) segregation of tasks;
(b) an appropriate risk management and control strategy including control at
recipient level;
(c) avoidance of conflicts of interests;
(d) adequate audit trails and data integrity in data systems;
(e) procedures for monitoring of performance and for follow-up of identified internal
control weaknesses and exceptions;
(f) periodic assessment of the sound functioning of the internal control system.
[(c) reliance where appropriate on management declarations of implementation
partners and independent audit opinions, provided that the quality of the
underlying work is adequate and acceptable and that it has been performed in
accordance with agreed standards.]1
(d) the timely application of corrective measures including, where appropriate,
dissuasive penalties;
(e) clear and unambiguous legislation underlying the policies;
(f) the elimination of multiple controls;
(g) the principle of improving the cost-benefit ratio of controls.
-
3.If, during the programme implementation, the level of non-compliance error is persistently
high, the Commission shall identify the weaknesses in the control systems, analyse the cost
and benefits of possible corrective measures and take or propose appropriate action, such as
simplification of the applicable provisions, improvement of the control systems and
re-design of the programme and/or delivery systems.
Article 29
The level of tolerable risk of error shall be based on an analysis of the costs and benefits of controls.
Member States and entities and persons referred to in point (b) Article 55(1) shall on request report
to the Commission on the costs of controls borne by them as well as the number and size of
activities financed by the budget.
The level of tolerable risk of error shall be closely monitored and shall be reviewed in case of major
changes in the control environment.
When presenting revised or new spending proposals, the Commission shall estimate the cost
and benefits of control systems as well as the level of risk of error with the proposed
legislation per fund.
[Integral to the full effectiveness of national management and control systems are
management declarations on these systems submitted by the bodies accredited by the
Member States.]1
CHAPTER 8
PRINCIPLE OF TRANSPARENCY
Article 30
Publication of budgets, accounts, budgets and reports
1.
The budget shall be established and implemented and the accounts presented in compliance
The consolidated annual accounts and the report on budgetary and financial management
drawn up by each institution shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Article 31
Publication of Union funds recipients and other information
-
1.Information on borrowing-and-lending operations contracted by the Union for third parties
shall appear in an Annex to the budget.
-
2.The Commission shall make available, in an appropriate and timely manner, information on
the recipients of funds deriving, as well as the nature and purpose of the measure financed
from the budget held by it when the budget is implemented on a centralised basis and directly
by its departments or by Union Delegations in accordance with the second paragraph of
Article 535, and information on the recipients of funds as provided by the entities to which
budget implementation tasks are delegated under other modes of management.
This obligation shall also apply to the other institutions with regard to their recipients.
-
3.This information shall be made available with due observance of the requirements of
confidentiality and security, in particular the protection of personal data as laid down in
Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council1 and Regulation (EC)
No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council2, and of the requirements of
Where natural persons are concerned, the publication shall be limited to the name of the
contractor or the beneficiary, its localisation, the amount awarded and the purpose of
the award, and the disclosure of these data, shall be based on relevant criteria such as
the periodicity of award, or the type or the importance of the award. The criteria for
disclosure and the level of details published shall take into account the specificities of the
sector and of each management mode referred to in Article 55; the level of details and
criteria shall be defined by means of the delegated regulation referred to in Article 199
and, where applicable, in the relevant sector-specific rules.
TITLE III
ESTABLISHMENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE BUDGET
CHAPTER 1
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BUDGET
Article 32
Estimates of revenue and expenditure
The institutions referred to in Article 1(2) shall draw up an estimate of their revenue and
expenditure, which they shall send to the Commission and in parallel, for information, to the
European Parliament and the Council by before 1 July each year.
Article 33
Estimated budget of the bodies referred to in Article 200
Each body referred to in Article 200 shall, in accordance with the instrument establishing it, send to
the Commission and the European Parliament and the Council by in parallel and no later than
31 March each year an estimate of its revenue and expenditure, including the establishment plan,
and its draft work programme.
Article 34
Draft budget
-
1.The Commission shall submit a proposal containing the draft budget to the European
Parliament and the Council by 1 September of the year preceding that in which the budget is
to be implemented. It shall also transmit it, for information, to the national Parliaments.
The draft budget shall contain a summary general statement of the expenditure and revenue of
the Union and consolidate the estimates referred to in Article 32. The Commission may
submit an opinion on the estimates of the other institutions. Where that opinion covers It may
also contain different estimates, it shall include explanations from those drawn up by the
institutions.
The draft budget shall follow the structure and presentation set out in Articles 41 to 46.
-
2.In order to provide more precise and reliable forecasts concerning the legislation in force and
pending legislative proposals, the Commission shall attach to the draft budget a financial
programming for the following years.
The financial programming shall be updated after the adoption of the budget, to incorporate
the results of the budgetary procedure and any other relevant decisions.
2a. The Commission shall attach to the draft budget:
(a)
where appropriate, the reasons for which the draft budget contains different
estimates for those drawn up by other institutions.
(b) any working paper it considers useful in connection with the establishment plans
of the institutions and the grants which the Commission awards to the bodies
referred to in Article 200 and to the European Schools. Any such working paper,
showing the latest authorised establishment plan, shall present:
(i)
all staff employed by the Union, including its legally separate entities,
displayed by type of contract,
(ii)
a statement of the policy on posts and external personnel and on gender
balance,
(iii) the number of posts actually filled at the beginning of the year in which the
(c) a working document on the planned implementation of appropriations for the year
and commitments outstanding, on the bodies referred to in Article [200] of the
Financial Regulation and the European Schools, on the pilot projects and
preparatory actions;
(ca) as regards funding to international organisations, a working document containing:
(i)
a summary of all contributions, with a breakdown per Union
programme/fund and per international organisation,
(ii)
a statement of reasons explaining why it was more efficient for the Union to -
fund those international organisations rather than to act directly;
(d) activity statements or any other relevant document containing the following:
(i)
information on the achievement of all previously set specific, measurable,
achievable, relevant and timed objectives for the various activities as well as
new objectives measured by indicators,
(ii)
full justification and cost-benefit approach for proposed changes in the level
of appropriations,
(iii) clear rationale for intervention at the Union level complying, inter alia, with
the principle of subsidiarity,
2b. Where the Commission entrusts the budget implementation to public private
partnerships (ppp), it shall attach to the draft budget a working document presenting:
(a) an annual report on the performance of existing implementing ppps in the
previous year, including information on the legal form and the shareholders of
bodies entrusted with budget implementation tasks under point (vii) of
Article 55(1)(c);
(b) the targets set for the year to which the draft budget relates, indicating any specific
budgetary needs dedicated to attaining this target,
(c)
the administrative cost and implemented budget in total and per type as defined in
Article 201 and per individual implementing ppp in the preceding year;
(d) the amount of financial contributions made from the Union's budget and the value
of contributions and contributions in kind made by the other partners for each
implementing ppp;
Where implementing ppps make use of financial instruments, the relevant information
shall be included in the working document referred to in paragraph 2c.
2c. Where the Commission makes use of financial instruments, it shall attach to the draft
budget a working document presenting:
(d) impairments of assets of Equity/Risk Sharing instruments, and called guarantees
for guarantee instruments, both for the previous year and the accumulated
respective figures;
(e) the average duration between the budget commitment to the financial instruments
and the legal commitments for individual projects in the form of equity or debt,
where this exceeds three years, the Commission shall, in the report foreseen under
Article 131(4), explain the reasons and provide where appropriate an action plan
for the reduction of the duration in the framework of the annual discharge
procedure;
(f) the administrative expenditure arising from management fees and other financial
and operating charges paid for the management of financial instruments where
this has been entrusted to third parties in total and per managing party and per
financial instrument managed.
3. The Commission shall also attach to the draft budget any further working paper it
considers useful to support its budget requests.
4. In accordance with Article 8(5) of Decision 2010/427/EU of 26 July 2010 establishing the
organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service1 and in order to
ensure the budgetary transparency in the area of external action of the Union, the
(b) the EEAS' overall administrative expenditure for the previous year, broken down
into expenditure by delegation and expenditure for the EEAS' central
administration; together with the operational expenditure, broken down by
geographic area (regions, countries), thematic areas, Union Delegation and
mission.
The working document shall also:
(a) show the number of posts for each grade in each category and the number of
permanent and temporary posts, including contractual and local staff authorised
within the limits of the budget appropriations in each Union Delegation, as well as
in the central administration of the EEAS;
(b) show any increase or reduction of posts by grade and category in the central
administration of the EEAS, and in all Union Delegations based on the preceding
year;
(c) show the number of posts authorised for the financial year, the number of posts
authorised for the preceding year, as well as the number of posts occupied by
diplomats seconded from the Member States, Council and Commission staff;
(d) provide a detailed picture of all staff in place in the Union Delegations at the time
Article 34a 1
Working documents in support of the draft budget
1.
The Commission shall attach to the draft budget the following working documents in respect
of human resources:
(a)
a statement of the policy on posts and external personnel;
(b) the latest authorised establishment plan, as well as the number of posts actually filled at
the beginning of the year in which the draft budget is presented, indicating their
distribution by grade and administrative unit;
(c)
a list of posts broken down by policy area;
(d) for each category of external staff, the initial estimated number of full-time equivalents
on the basis of the authorised appropriations, as well as the number of persons actually
in place at the beginning of the year in which the draft budget is presented, indicating
their distribution by function group and, as appropriate, by grade.
2.
The Commission shall also provide, in support of the draft budget, the following working
documents and any working paper it considers useful to support its budget requests:
(a) working documents on the implementation of appropriations for the ongoing year, as
(ii) full justification and cost-benefit analysis of proposed changes in the level of
appropriations;
(iii) clear rationale for intervention at the level of the Union complying, inter alia, with
the principle of subsidiarity;
(iv) information on the implementation rates of the activity in the previous year;
(v) an annual assessment of the activities implemented by the executive agencies
defined in Article 59;
(vi) a summary of evaluation results;
(c) a summary statement of the schedule of payments due in subsequent financial years to
meet budgetary commitments entered into in earlier financial years.
-
3.In accordance with Article 8(5) of Decision 2010/427/EU of 26 July 2010 establishing the
organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service1 and in order to ensure
the budgetary transparency in the area of external action of the Union, the Commission shall
transmit to the European Parliament and the Council, together with the draft budget, a
working document presenting, in a comprehensive way:
(a) all administrative and operational expenditure related to the external actions of the
The working document shall also:
(a) show the number of posts for each grade in each category and the number of permanent
and temporary posts, including contractual and local staff authorised within the limits of
the budget appropriations in each Union Delegation, as well as in the central
administration of the EEAS;
(b) show any increase or reduction of posts by grade and category in the central
administration of the EEAS, and in all Union Delegations based on the preceding year;
(c) show the number of posts authorised for the financial year, the number of posts
authorised for the preceding year, as well as the number of posts occupied by diplomats
seconded from the Member States, Council and Commission staff;
(d) provide a detailed picture of all staff in place in the Union Delegations at the time of
presenting the draft budget, including a breakdown by geographic area, individual
country and mission, distinguishing establishment plan posts, contract agents, local
agents and seconded national experts and appropriations requested in the draft budget
for such other types of personnel with corresponding estimates of the equivalent
full-time staff that may be employed within the limits of the appropriations requested.
Article 36
Approval of the outcome of the Conciliation Committee
Once the Conciliation Committee has agreed on a joint text, the European Parliament and the
Council shall endeavour to approve the outcome of the Conciliation Committee as soon as possible
in accordance with Article 314(6) of the TFEU, in accordance with their respective internal rules of
procedure.
Article 37
Obligations of the Member States stemming from the adoption of the budget
Once the budget has been established pursuant to Article 314 TFEU and Article 177 of the Euratom
Treaty, each Member State shall, from 1 January of the following financial year or from the date of
the declaration of final adoption of the budget if that is after 1 January, be bound to make over to
the Union the payments due as specified in the Council Regulation implementing the Decision on
the system of the Union's own resources.
Article 38
Draft amending budgets
-
1.
The Commission may present the following draft amending budgets which are primarily
- to update the revised forecast of own resources and other revenue, as well as to
review the availability and needs for payment appropriations.
Furthermore, Iif there are unavoidable, exceptional or and unforeseen circumstances, in
particular in view of the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund, the
Commission may present draft amending budgets which are primarily expenditure-driven.
Except for the timetable, Articles 34 and 37 shall apply to amending budgets. They must be
substantiated by reference to the budget whose estimates they are amending.
2. Requests for amending budgets, in the same circumstances as referred to in the preceding
paragraph 1, from institutions other than the Commission shall be sent to the Commission.
Before presenting a draft amending budget, the Commission and the other institutions shall
examine the scope for reallocation of the relevant appropriations primarily on the basis of
with particular reference to any expected under-implementation of appropriations.
Except for the timetable, Article 37 shall apply to amending budgets. They must be
substantiated by reference to the budget whose estimates they are amending.
-
3.The Commission shall, except in duly justified exceptional circumstances or in the case of
the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund for which a draft amending
Article 39
Early transmission of estimates and draft budgets
The Commission and the European Parliament and the Council may agree to bring forward certain
dates for the transmission of the estimates, and for the adoption and transmission of the draft
budget. This arrangement may not, however, have the effect of shortening or prolonging the periods
allowed for consideration of these texts under Article 314 TFEU and Article 177 of the Euratom
Treaty.
CHAPTER 2
STRUCTURE AND PRESENTATION OF THE BUDGET
Article 40
Structure of the budget
The budget shall consist of the following:
(a) a general statement of revenue and expenditure;
(b) separate sections subdivided into statements of revenue and expenditure for each institution.
The European Council and the Council shall share the same section of the budget.
A title shall correspond to a policy area and a chapter shall, as a rule, correspond to an
activity.
Each title may include operational appropriations and administrative appropriations.
The administrative appropriations for a title shall be grouped in a single chapter.
2a. When presented by purpose, administrative appropriations for individual titles shall be
classified as follows:
(a) expenditure on staff authorised in the establishment plan: there shall be an
amount of appropriations and a number of establishment plan posts
corresponding to this expenditure;
(b) expenditure on external personnel and other expenditure referred to in point (c) of
Article 23(1) and financed under the "administration" heading of the multiannual
financial framework;
(c) expenditure on buildings and other related expenditure, including cleaning and
maintenance, rental and hiring, telecommunications, water, gas and electricity;
Article 42
Prohibition of negative revenue
The budget may not contain negative revenue.
The own resources paid under the Council Decision on the system of the Union' own resources shall
be net amounts and shall be shown as such in the summary statement of revenue in the budget.
Article 43
Provisions
-
1.Each section of the budget may include a "provisions" title. Appropriations shall be entered in
this title in the following two circumstances:
(a) where no basic act exists for the action concerned when the budget is established;
(b) where there are serious grounds for doubting the adequacy of the appropriations or the
possibility of implementing, under conditions consonant with sound financial
management, the appropriations entered on the lines concerned.
The appropriations in this title may be used only after transfer in accordance with the
procedure laid down in point (d) of Article 23(1), where the adoption of the basic act is
Article 44
egative reserve
The Commission section of the budget may include a "negative reserve" limited to a maximum
amount of EUR 200 million. This reserve, which shall be entered in a separate title, shall comprise
payment appropriations only.
This reserve must be drawn upon before the end of the financial year by means of transfer in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Articles 23 and 24.
Article 45
Emergency Aid Reserve
-
1.The Commission section of the budget shall include a reserve for emergency aid for third
countries.
-
2.The reserve referred to in paragraph 1 shall be drawn upon before the end of the financial year
by means of transfer in accordance with the procedure laid down in Articles 24 and 25.
Article 46
(iii) the commitment and payment appropriations for the financial year concerned;
(iv) the commitment and payment appropriations for the preceding financial year;
(v) the expenditure committed and the expenditure paid in year n - 2 , the latter also
expressed as a percentage of the budget;
(vi) appropriate remarks on each subdivision, as set out in Article 41(1);
(b) in each section of the budget, the revenue and expenditure shall be shown in the same
structure as in point (a);
(c) as regards staff:
(i) for each section of the budget, an establishment plan setting the number of posts
for each grade in each category and in each service and the number of permanent
and temporary posts authorised within the limits of the budget appropriations;
(ii) an establishment plan for staff paid from the research and technological
development appropriations for direct action and an establishment plan for staff
paid from the same appropriations for indirect action; the establishment plans
shall be classified by category and grade and shall distinguish between permanent
(iv) an establishment plan setting the number of posts by grade and by category for
each body referred to in Article 200 which receives a grant charged to the budget.
The establishment plans shall show next to the number of posts authorised for the
financial year the number authorised for the preceding year;
(d) as regards borrowing-and-lending operations:
(i) in the general statement of revenue, the budget lines corresponding to the relevant
operations and intended to record any reimbursements received from recipients
who initially defaulted, leading to activation of the performance guarantee. These
lines shall carry a token entry "pro memoria " and be accompanied by appropriate
remarks;
(ii) in the Commission section:
-
-the budget lines containing the Union's performance guarantees in respect of
the operations concerned. These lines shall carry a token entry "pro
memoria ", so long as no effective charge which has to be covered by
definitive resources has arisen;
-
-remarks giving the reference to the basic act and the volume of the
operations envisaged, the duration and the financial guarantee given by the
(da) as regards financial instruments under Title VIII:
(i) a reference to the basic act;
(ii) budget lines corresponding to the relevant operations;
(iii) a general description of the financial instruments, including their duration
and their impact on budget;
(iv) the envisaged operations, including target volumes based on the leverage
ratio arising from the existing financial instruments;
(db) as regards the funding to bodies entrusted with budget implementation tasks
under point (vii) of Article 55(1)(c):
(i) a reference to the basic act of the relevant programme;
(ii) corresponding budget lines;
(iii) a general description of the tasks entrusted, including their duration and
Article 47
Rules on the Establishment Plan for staff
-
1.The establishment plan described in point (c) of Article 46(1) shall constitute an absolute limit
for each institution or body; no appointment may be made in excess of the limit set.
However, except in the case of grades AD 16, AD 15 and AD 14, each institution or body
may modify establishment plans by up to 10 % of posts authorised, subject to two the
following conditions:
(a) that the volume of staff appropriations corresponding to a full financial year is not
affected, and
(b) that the limit of the total number of posts authorised by each establishment plan is not
exceeded.;
(c) that the institution or body has taken part in a benchmarking exercise with other
institutions and bodies of the Union as initiated by the Commission's staff
screening exercise.1
Three weeks before making the modifications referred to in the second subparagraph, the
institutions shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of their intentions. In the
CHAPTER 3
BUDGETARY DISCIPLINE
Article 48
Compliance of the budget with the multiannual financial framework
The budget shall comply with the multiannual financial framework.
Article 49
Compliance of Union acts with the budget
Where the implementation of a Union act exceeds the appropriations available in the budget, such
act may be implemented in financial terms only after the budget has been amended accordingly.
TITLE IV
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET
CHAPTER 1
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 50
Budget implementation according to sound financial management
Article 51
Basic act and exceptions
1.
A basic act shall first be adopted before the appropriations entered in the budget for any
action by the Union may be used.
A basic act is a legal act which provides a legal basis for the action and for the
implementation of the corresponding expenditure entered in the budget.
[2.
In application of the TFEU and the Euratom Treaty, a basic act is an act adopted by the
legislative authority and may take the form of a regulation, a directive or a decision within the
meaning of Article 288 TFEU.
3.
In application of Title V of the Treaty on European Union (the "TEU"), a basic act may take
one of the following forms specified in Articles 26(2), 28(1), 29, 31(2), 33 and 37 of the
Treaty on European Union.:
-
Council Decision necessary for defining and implementing the common foreign
and security policy (Article 26(2) TEU);
-
Council decision on operational action required by the international situation
(Article 28(1) TEU);
-
Council decision defining the Union's approach to a particular matter of
-
4.Recommendations and opinions do not constitute basic acts within the meaning of this article,
nor do resolutions, conclusions, declarations or other acts which have no legal effects.
54.1 By way of derogation from paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, the following may be implemented without
a basic act provided the actions which they are intended to finance fall within the powers of
the Union:
(a) appropriations for pilot projects of an experimental nature designed to test the feasibility
of an action and its usefulness. The relevant commitment appropriations may be entered
in the budget for not more than two successive financial years;
(b) appropriations for preparatory actions in the field of application of the TFEU and the
Euratom Treaty, designed to prepare proposals with a view to the adoption of future
actions. The preparatory actions are to follow a coherent approach and may take various
forms. The relevant commitment appropriations may be entered in the budget for not
more than three successive financial years. The legislative procedure must be concluded
before the end of the third financial year. In the course of the legislative procedure, the
commitment of appropriations must correspond to the particular features of the
preparatory action as regards the activities envisaged, the aims pursued and the persons
benefited. Consequently, the means implemented cannot correspond in volume to those
envisaged for financing the definitive action itself.
The total amount of appropriations for new preparatory actions referred to in the
first subparagraph of this point may not exceed EUR 50 million in any budget
year, and the total amount of appropriations actually committed for preparatory
actions may not exceed EUR 100 million.
(c)
appropriations for preparatory measures in the field of Title V of the Treaty on
European Union. These measures shall be limited to a short period of time and shall
be designed to establish the conditions for Union action in fulfilment of the
objectives of the CFSP and for the adoption of the necessary legal instruments.
For the purpose of Union crisis management operations, preparatory measures are
designed inter alia to assess the operational requirements, to provide for a rapid
initial deployment of resources, or to establish the conditions on the ground for the
launching of the operation.
Preparatory measures shall be agreed by the Council, on a proposal by the High
Representative.
In order to ensure the rapid implementation of preparatory measures, the High
Representative shall inform the European Parliament and the Commission as early as
possible on the Council's intention to launch a preparatory measure and in particular of
the estimated resources required for this purpose. In conformity with this Regulation,
the Commission shall take all the necessary measures to ensure a rapid
Article 52
Implementation of the budget by other Institutions
The Commission shall confer on the other institutions the requisite powers for the implementation
of the sections of the budget relating to them.
Detailed arrangements may be agreed with the Commission in order to facilitate the implementation
of the Union Delegations' administrative appropriations. Those arrangements shall not contain any
derogation from the provisions of this Regulation and the delegated Regulation referred to in
Article 199.
Article 53
Delegation of budget implementation powers
The Commission and each of the other institutions may, within their departments, delegate their
powers of budget implementation in accordance with the conditions laid down by this Regulation
and by their internal rules and within the limits which they lay down in the instrument of delegation.
Those so empowered may act only within the limits of the powers expressly conferred upon them.
However, the Commission may delegate its powers of budget implementation concerning the
operational appropriations of its own section to the Heads of Union Delegations. It shall, at the
same time, inform the High Representative thereof. When Heads of Union Delegations act as
Article 54
Conflict of interests
-
1.All financial actors and any other person involved in budget implementation, and
management, including acts preparatory thereto, audit or control shall be prohibited from
taking any action which may bring their own interests into conflict with those of the Union.
Should such a case arise, the person concerned in question must refrain from such actions
and refer the matter to the competent authority authorising officer responsible who shall
confirm in writing whether a conflict of interests exists. The person in question shall also
inform his hierarchical superior. Where a conflict of interest is found to exist, the person
subject to such interest shall cease all his activities in the pending matter. The
authorising officer responsible shall personally take any further appropriate action.
-
2.There is a conflict of interests where the impartial and objective exercise of the functions of a
financial actor or other person, as referred to in paragraph 1, is compromised for reasons
involving family, emotional life, political or national affinity, economic interest or any other
shared interest with the beneficiary.1
CHAPTER 2
METHODS OF IMPLEMENTATION
Article 55
Methods of implementation of the budget
1.
The Commission shall implement the budget in the following ways:
(a) directly, by its departments, by including its staff in the Union Delegations under the
authority of their respective Head of Delegation, in accordance with the second
paragraph of Article 53, or through executive agencies referred to in Article 59;
b)
in shared management with Member States, or
(c)
indirectly, where this is foreseen in the basic act, by entrusting budget implementation
tasks to:1
(i)
third countries or the bodies they have designated;
(ii) international organisations and their agencies;
(iii) financial institutions entrusted with the implementation of Financial Instruments
(vii) bodies governed by private law of a Member State, entrusted with the
implementation of a public and private partnership and providing adequate
financial guarantees;
(viii) persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions in the Common
Foreign and Security Policy pursuant to Title V of the Treaty on the European
Union, and identified in the relevant basic act within the meaning of Article 51.
The Commission remains responsible for the implementation of the budget
(Article 317 TFEU) and shall inform the European Parliament and the Council on the
operations carried out by the entities under points (i) to (viii). Where the entrusted
entity is identified in a basic act, the financial statement provided for in Article 27 shall
provide a full justification for the choice of this particular entity under points (i) to (viii).
1a. The entities and persons entrusted with budget implementation tasks in accordance with
point (c) of Article 55(1) shall fully cooperate in the protection of the European Union's
financial interests. Agreements concluded with such entities shall provide for the right of
the European Court of Auditors, as well as OLAF to comprehensively exert their
competences under the TFEU in the audit of funds so managed.
The Commission shall make the entrustment of implementing tasks contingent upon the
existence of transparent, non-discriminatory, efficient and effective review procedures
-
2.Member States, and entities and persons listed under point (c) of paragraph 1 shall not have
the status of authorising officer by delegation.
-
3.The Commission may not entrust third parties with executive powers it enjoys under the
Treaties where they involve a large measure of discretion implying political choices.
Article 56
Shared management with Member States
-
1.Where the Commission implements the budget under shared management, implementation tasks
shall be delegated to Member States. These Commission and the Member States shall
respect the principles of sound financial management, transparency and non-discrimination
and ensure the visibility of Union action when they manage Union funds. To this end, the
Commission and the Member States shall fulfil their respective control and audit obligations,
and assume the resulting responsibilities laid down in this regulation. Complementary
provisions shall be laid down in sector-specific rules.
-
2.Member States shall when executing tasks relating to the implementation of the budget,
take all the necessary measures, including legislative, regulatory and administrative, to
protect the Union's financial interests, namely:
(a) ensure that actions financed from the budget are implemented correctly and
To this end effect, they shall, respecting the principle of proportionality, and in
compliance with this article, as well as the relevant sector-specific rules, carry out, in
accordance with the principle of proportionality, and in compliance with the relevant
sector-specific rules, ex ante and ex post controls including, where appropriate, on the spot
checks on representative and/or risk-based samples of transactions, to ensure that the actions
financed from the budget are effectively carried out and implemented correctly. They shall
also recover funds unduly paid and bring legal proceedings as necessary.
Member States shall impose effective, dissuasive and proportionate penalties on recipients
where provided for in sector-specific rules and whithout prejudice to in specific provisions in
national legislation.
As part of its risk assessment and in accordance with sector-specific rules, the
Commission shall monitor the management and control systems set in the Member
States. The Commission in its audit work shall respect the principle of proportionality
and shall take into account the level of assessed risk in accordance with the sector-
specific rules.
-
3.In accordance with criteria and procedures laid down in Ssector-specific rules shall
define, in compliance with the provisions set out in this Regulation, the role of the
Commission and the Member States with respect to shall, at the appropriate level,
designate bodies responsible for the management and control of Union funds. These bodies
If the existing audit and control results show that the designated bodies no longer
comply with the criteria set out in the sector-specific rules, Member States shall take the
measures necessary to ensure that deficiencies in the implementation of the tasks of
these bodies are remedied, including by ending the designation in accordance with the
sector-specific rules.
The sector-specific rules shall define the role of the Commission in the process set out in
this paragraph.
-
4.Member States at the appropriate level Bodies designated pursuant to paragraph 3 shall:
(a) set up and ensure the functioning of an effective and efficient internal control system;
(b) use an accounting system providing accurate, complete and reliable information in a
timely manner;
(c) provide the information required in paragraph 5;
(cd) ensure ex-post publication of recipients beneficiaries of Union funds, in conformity
accordance with Article 31(2); and
(d) ensure a protection. Any processing of personal data in conformity shall comply with
-
5.Bodies designated pursuant to paragraph 3, Member States at the appropriate level shall
provide the Commission on a yearly basis by 15 February with:
(a) their accountings at an aggregated level on the expenditure made, during the relevant
reference period as defined in the sector-specific rules, in the execution of their tasks
entrusted and presented to the Commission for reimbursement,. These accounts shall
include pre-financing and sums disbursed for which recovery procedures are underway
or have been completed. Thisey information shall be accompanied by a statement of
management responsibilities declaration confirming that, in the opinion of those in
charge of the management of the funds:
-
-the information is properly presented, complete and accurate;
-
-the expenditure has been used for its intended purpose, as defined in the
sector-specific rules;
-
-the control procedures systems put in place give the necessary guarantees
concerning the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions;
(b) a summary of the results of the final audit reports and of controls carried out,
including an analysis of the nature and extent of errors and of recurrent weaknesses
in systems identified, as well as corrective actions taken or planned.
These elements shall be provided to the Commission by the dates and for the reference
periods laid down in the sector-specific rules and may be published by Member States may,
at the appropriate level, publish this information.
-
6.In order to ensure that Union funds are used in accordance with the applicable rules, the
Commission:
(a) shall apply, in accordance with sector-specific rules, timely clearance-of-accounts
procedures and, where appropriate, financial correction mechanisms, which enable it to
assume final responsibility for the implementation of the budget for the examination
and acceptance of the accounts of the designated bodies, ensuring that the accounts
are complete, accurate and true;
(b) shall exclude from Union financing expenditure for which disbursements have
been made in breach of applicable law;
(ba) shall interrupt payment deadlines or suspend payments where provided for in the
sector-specific rules;
The Commission shall end all or part of the interruption or suspension of payments
after a Member State has presented its observations and as soon as it has taken the
necessary measures. The annual activity report of the Commission's competent
6b. Member States may provide a national declaration on the expenditure made under the
method of shared management, signed at the appropriate political level and based on the
information to be provided under paragraph 5. If such a national declaration:
(a)
covers all funds managed under shared management;
(b) covers at least the reliability of the accounts, the effective functioning of the control
systems in place and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions;
(c)
is provided by 15 February of the year following the financial year concerned; and
(d) has been subject to an opinion from an independent audit body,
the Commission shall take that declaration into account in the definition of its
sector-specific audit strategies and inform the European Parliament and the Council
accordingly.
Article 57
Indirect management
1.
Entities and persons entrusted with budget implementation tasks pursuant to point (c) of
Article 55(1) shall respect the principles of sound financial management, transparency and
non-discrimination and ensure the visibility of Union action when they manage Union funds.
They shall guarantee a level of protection of the financial interests of the Union equivalent to
-
2.To this effect, the entities and persons referred to in paragraph 1 shall, in accordance with the
principle of proportionality:
(a) set up and ensure the functioning of an effective and efficient internal control system;
(b) use an accounting system providing accurate, complete and reliable information in a
timely manner;
(c) be subject to an independent audit, performed in accordance with internationally
accepted auditing standards by an audit service functionally independent of the entity or
person concerned;
(d) apply appropriate rules and procedures for providing financing from Union funds
through grants, procurement and financial instruments;
(e) ensure, in conformity with Article 31(2), annual ex post publication of recipients of
Union funds;
(f) ensure a reasonable protection of personal data, as laid down in Directive 95/46/EC
and Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.
Persons referred to in point (viii) of Article 55(1)(c) shall adopt their financial rules with the
-
3.The entities and persons referred to in paragraph 1 shall prevent, detect and correct
irregularities and fraud when executing tasks related to the implementation of the budget. To
this end they shall carry out, in accordance with the principle of proportionality, ex ante and
ex post checks controls including, where appropriate, on the spot checks on representative
and/or risk-based samples of transactions, to ensure that the actions financed from the
budget are effectively carried out and implemented correctly. They shall also recover funds
unduly paid and bring legal proceedings as necessary.
-
4.The Commission may suspend payments to entities and persons referred to in paragraph 1, in
particular when systemic errors which question the reliability of the internal control systems
of the entity or person concerned or the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions
are detected.
The authorising officer by delegation may interrupt payments to such entities or persons fully
or partially for the purpose of further checks when information comes to his notice indicating
a significant deficiency in the functioning of the internal control system or that the
expenditure certified by the entity or person concerned is linked to a serious irregularity and
has not been corrected, provided the interruption is necessary to prevent significant damage to
the financial interests of the Union.
-
-the expenditure has been used for its intended purpose, as defined in the
sector-specific rules or in the delegation agreements concluded with the entrusted
entities;
-
-the control procedures put in place give the necessary guarantees concerning the
legality and regularity of the underlying transactions;
(c) a summary of the results of the final audits reports, including an analysis of recurrent
-
weaknesses as well as corrective actions taken or planned;
These documents shall be accompanied by an independent audit opinion of an independent
audit body, drawn up in accordance with internationally accepted audit standards, on whether
the accounting information give a true and fair view, and expenditure for which
reimbursement has been requested from the Commission is legal and regular the
completeness, accuracy and veracity of the accounts, on the proper functioning of the
control systems put in place, as well as on the legality and regularity of the underlying
transactions. Thise opinion shall indicate if also state whether the examination puts in doubt
the assertions made in the statement of management responsibilities declaration.
These elements shall be provided to the Commission by 15 March 1 February each of the
following financial year with the exception of the audit opinion referred to in the second
subparagraph. The latter shall be provided at the latest by 15 March.1
-
6.In order to ensure that the funds are used in accordance with the applicable rules, tThe
Commission shall apply, in accordance with sector-specific rules and relevant agreements,
timely clearance-of-accounts procedures and, where appropriate, financial correction
mechanisms, which enable it to assume final responsibility for the implementation of the
budget.:
(a) supervise that these persons and entities fulfil their responsibilities, in particular by
carrying out audits and evaluations on the programme implementation;
(b) apply procedures for the examination and acceptance of the accounts of the entrusted
entities and persons, ensuring that the accounts are complete, accurate and true;
(c) exclude from Union financing expenditure the disbursements which have been made in
breach of the applicable rules.
-
7.Paragraphs 5 and 6 shall not apply to Union entities and persons which are subject to a
separate discharge procedure.
Article 58
Ex ante checks and agreements under indirect management
-
2.Unless the implementing entity is identified in the basic act, the Commission shall select an
entity from a category listed in points (ii), (iii), (vi) and (vii) of Article 55(1)(c) taking due
account of the nature of the tasks to be entrusted, as well as the experience and the operational
and financial capacity of the entities concerned. The choice shall be transparent, justified on
objective grounds and may not give rise to a conflict of interest.
3.
Agreements concluded under indirect management shall stipulate the requirements laid down
in points (a) to (d) of Article 57(2). They shall clearly define the tasks entrusted and contain
an undertaking of the entities or persons concerned to fulfil the obligations laid down in
points (e) to (f) of Article 57(2), and to refrain from any act which may give rise to a conflict
of interests.
Article 59
Executive agencies
1.
The executive agencies shall be legal persons under Union law created by Commission
Decision to which powers may be delegated to implement all or part of a Union programme
or project on behalf of the Commission and under its responsibility in accordance with
Council Regulation (EC) No 58/20031.
-
2.Implementation of the corresponding operational appropriations shall be carried out by the
director of the agency in direct management.
-
2.The tasks which may be entrusted by contract to external private-sector entities or bodies
other than those which have a public-service mission are technical expertise tasks and
administrative, preparatory or ancillary tasks involving neither the exercise of public authority
nor the use of discretionary powers of judgment.
CHAPTER 3
FINANCIAL ACTORS
SECTION 1
Principle of segregation of duties
Article 61
Segregation of duties
The duties of authorising officer and accounting officer shall be segregated and mutually
incompatible.
SECTION 2
Authorising officer
Article 62
-
4.The powers of authorising officer shall be delegated or subdelegated only to staff.
-
5.Authorising officers by delegation or subdelegation may act only within the limits set by the
instrument of delegation or subdelegation. The responsible authorising officer by delegation
or subdelegation may be assisted in his task by one or more members of staff entrusted, under
his responsibility, to carry out certain operations necessary for implementation of the budget
and presentation of the accounts.
-
6.Where Heads of Union Delegations act as authorising officers by subdelegation in accordance
with the second paragraph of Article 53, they shall be subject to the Commission as the
institution responsible for the definition, exercise, monitoring and appraisal of their duties and
responsibilities as authorising officers by subdelegation. The Commission shall, at the same
time, inform the High Representative thereof.
6a. The authorising officer responsible may be assisted in his duties by persons covered by
the Staff Regulations entrusted, under his responsibility, with certain operations
required for the implementation of the budget and production of the financial and
management information. In order to prevent any conflict of interests, staff assisting
authorising officers by delegation or subdelegation shall be subject to the obligations
referred to in Article 54.
6b. The Court of Auditors and the European Parliament and the Council shall be informed
Article 63
Powers and duties of the authorising officer
1.
The authorising officer shall be responsible in each institution for implementing revenue and
expenditure in accordance with the principles of sound financial management and for
ensuring that the requirements of legality and regularity are complied with.
2.
For the purposes of paragraph 1, the authorising officer by delegation shall, in accordance
with Article 28 and the minimum standards adopted by each institution and having due regard
to the risks associated with the management environment and the nature of the actions
financed, put in place the organisational structure and the internal control systems suited to
the performance of his duties. The establishment of such structure and systems shall be
supported by a comprehensive risk analysis, which takes into account their cost-effectiveness.
3.
To implement expenditure, the authorising officer by delegation and by subdelegation shall
make budgetary commitments and legal commitments, shall validate expenditure and
authorise payments and shall undertake the preliminaries for the implementation of
appropriations.
4.
Implementation of revenue shall comprise drawing up estimates of amounts receivable,
establishing entitlements to be recovered and issuing recovery orders. It shall involve waiving
established entitlements where appropriate.
5.
Each operation shall be subject at least to an ex ante check control based on a desk review of
6. The authorising officer by delegation may put in place ex post controls to verify
operations already approved following ex ante controls. Such controls may be organised
on a sample basis according to risk.
The ex ante controls shall be carried out by the members of staff other than those
responsible for the ex post controls. The members of staff responsible for the ex post
controls shall not be subordinate to the members of staff responsible for the ex ante
controls.
In case the authorising officer by delegation implements financial audits of beneficiaries
as ex-post controls, the related audit rules should be clear, consistent and transparent,
respecting the rights of both the Commission and the auditees.
7.
All staff responsible for controlling the management of financial operations must have
the necessary professional skills. They shall respect a specific code of professional
standards established by each institution.
-
68.Any member of staff, involved in the financial management and approval control of
transactions who considers that a decision he is required by his superior to apply or to agree to
is irregular or contrary to the principles of sound financial management or the professional
rules he is required to observe, shall inform his hierarchical superior who shall, if the
information is given in writing, reply in writing. If the hierarchical superior fails to take
action or confirms the initial decision or instruction and the member of staff believes
-
79.The authorising officer by delegation shall report to his institution on the performance of his
duties in the form of an annual activity report containing financial and management
information, including the results of checks controls, declaring that, except as otherwise
specified in any reservations related to defined areas of revenue and expenditure, he has
reasonable assurance that:
(a) the information contained in the report presents a true and fair view;
(b) the resources assigned to the activities described in the report have been used for their
intended purpose and in accordance with the principle of sound financial management;
(c) the control procedures put in place give the necessary guarantees concerning the legality
and regularity of the underlying transactions.
That report shall indicate the results of the operations by reference to the objectives set, the
risks associated with these operations, the use made of the resources provided and the
efficiency and effectiveness of the internal control systems, including an overall assessment of
the costs effectiveness of checks as provided for in paragraph 2 and benefits of controls. No
later than 15 June each year, the Commission shall send to the European Parliament and the
Council a summary of the annual reports for the previous year. The annual activity reports of
the authorising officers by delegation shall also be made available to the European Parliament
To this effect, they shall take the measures necessary to prevent any situation susceptible to
put at stake the responsibility of the Commission for the implementation of the budget
subdelegated to them, as well as any conflict of priorities which is likely to have an impact on
the implementation of the financial management tasks subdelegated to them.
Where a situation or conflict referred to in the second subparagraph arises, the Heads of
Union Delegations shall inform the responsible Directors-General of the Commission and of
the EEAS thereof without delay. Those Directors-General shall take appropriate steps to
remedy the situation.
-
2.If Heads of Union Delegations find themselves in a situation referred to in Article 63(86),
they shall refer the matter to the specialised financial irregularities panel set up pursuant to
Article 70(6). In the event of any illegal activity, fraud or corruption which may harm the
interests of the Union, they shall inform the authorities and bodies designated by the
applicable legislation.
-
3.Heads of Union Delegations acting as authorising officers by subdelegation in accordance
with the second paragraph of Article 53 shall report to their authorising officer by delegation
so that the latter can integrate their reports in his annual activity report referred to in
Article 63(97). The reports of the Heads of Union Delegations shall include information on
the efficiency and effectiveness of internal management and control systems put in place in
their delegation, as well as on the management of operations subdelegated to them, and
-
4.Heads of Union Delegations acting as authorising officers by subdelegation in accordance
with the second paragraph of Article 53 shall reply to any request by the authorising officer
by delegation of the Commission at its own request or, in the context of discharge, at the
request of the European Parliament.
-
5.The Commission shall ensure that subdelegating powers are not detrimental to the discharge
procedure in accordance with Article 319 TFEU.
SECTION 3
Accounting officer
Article 65
Powers and duties of the accounting officer
-
1.Each institution shall appoint an accounting officer who shall be responsible in each
institution for the following:
(a) proper implementation of payments, collection of revenue and recovery of amounts
established as being receivable;
(b) preparing and presenting the accounts in accordance with Title IX;
The responsibilities of the accounting officer of the EEAS shall concern only the EEAS
section of the budget as implemented by the EEAS. The accounting officer of the
Commission shall remain responsible for the entire Commission section of the budget,
including accounting operations relating to appropriations subdelegated to Heads of Union
Delegations.
The accounting officer of the Commission shall also act as the accounting officer of the EEAS
in respect of the implementation of the EEAS section of the budget, subject to Article 208.
-
2.The accounting officer of the Commission shall be responsible for laying down the
accounting rules and the harmonised charts of accounts in accordance with Title IX.
-
3.The accounting officer shall obtain from authorising officers, who shall guarantee its
reliability, all the information necessary for the production of accounts which give a true
image of the Institutions' financial situation and of budgetary implementation.
-
4.Before the adoption of the accounts by the institution or the body referred to in Article 200,
the accounting officer shall sign them off, thereby certifying that he has a reasonable
assurance that the accounts present a true and fair view of the financial situation of the
institution or body referred to in Article 200.
For that purpose, the accounting officer shall verify that the accounts have been prepared in
-
5.The accounting officer shall be empowered to check the information received as well as to
carry out any further checks he deems necessary in order to sign off the accounts.
The accounting officer shall make reservations, if necessary, explaining exactly the nature and
scope of such reservations.
-
6.Except as otherwise provided in this Regulation, only the accounting officer is empowered to
manage cash and cash equivalents. He shall be responsible for their safekeeping.
-
7.Within the implementation of a programme or an action, fiduciary accounts may be opened in
the name of the Commission and on its behalf in order to allow their management by an entity
listed in the first paragraph of points (iii) and (iv) of Article 55(1)(c).
These accounts shall be opened under the responsibility of the authorising officer in charge of
the implementation of the programme or action in agreement with the accounting officer of
the Commission.
That bank account is managed under the responsibility of the authorising officer.
7a. The accounting officer of the Commission shall lay down rules for the management of
the fiduciary accounts and their use.
SECTION 4
Imprest administrator
Article 67
Imprest accounts
1.
Imprest accounts may be set up for the collection of revenue other than own resources and for
the payment of small sums as defined in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199.
However, in the field of crisis management aid and humanitarian aid operations within the
meaning of Article 118, imprest accounts may be used without any limitation on the amount
while respecting the level of appropriations decided by the European Parliament and the
Council on the corresponding budget line for the current financial year.
-
2.Imprest accounts shall be endowed by the institution's accounting officer and shall be placed
under the responsibility of imprest administrators designated by the institution's accounting
officer.
CHAPTER 4
LIABILITY OF THE FINANCIAL ACTORS
SECTION 1
-
3.Without prejudice to any disciplinary action, imprest administrators may at any time be
suspended temporarily or definitively from their duties by the authority which appointed
them.
Article 69
Liability of the authorising officer for illegal activity, fraud or corruption
-
1.The provisions of this chapter are without prejudice to any liability under criminal law which
the financial actors referred to in Article 68 may incur as provided in the applicable national
law and in the provisions in force on the protection of the Union's financial interests and on
the fight against corruption involving officials of the Union or officials of Member States.
-
2.Each authorising officer, accounting officer or imprest administrator shall be liable to
disciplinary action and payment of compensation as laid down in the Staff Regulations,
without prejudice to Articles 70, 71 and 72. In the event of illegal activity, fraud or corruption
which may harm the interests of the Union, the matter shall be submitted to the authorities and
bodies designated by the applicable legislation, in particular to the European Anti-Fraud
Office.
SECTION 2
Rules applicable to authorising officers by delegation and subdelegation
-
2.The obligation to pay compensation shall apply in particular if:
(a) the authorising officer, whether intentionally or through gross negligence on his part,
determines entitlements to be recovered or issues recovery orders, commits expenditure
or signs a payment order without complying with this Regulation and the delegated
Regulation referred to in Article 199;
(b) the authorising officer, whether intentionally or through gross negligence on his part,
omits to draw up a document establishing an amount receivable, neglects to issue a
recovery order or is late in issuing it or is late in issuing a payment order, thereby
rendering the institution liable to civil action by third parties.
-
3.An authorising officer by delegation or subdelegation who considers that a decision which it
is his responsibility to take is irregular or contrary to the principles of sound financial
management shall inform the delegating authority in writing. If the delegating authority then
gives a reasoned instruction in writing to the authorising officer by delegation or
subdelegation to take that decision, the authorising officer may not be held liable.
-
4.In the event of subdelegation within his services, the authorising officer by delegation
continues to be responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal management
and control systems put in place and for the choice of the authorising officer by
Heads of Union Delegations shall report on their responsibilities pursuant to the first
subparagraph of this paragraph in accordance with Article 64(3).
Each year, Heads of Union Delegations provide to the authorising officer by delegation of the
Commission the assurance on the internal management and control systems put in place in
their Delegation, as well as on the management of operations subdelegated to them and the
results thereof, in order to allow the authorising officer to establish his statement of assurance,
as provided for in Article 63(9).
-
6.Each institution shall set up a specialised financial irregularities panel or participate in a joint
panel established by several institutions. The panels shall function independently and
determine whether a financial irregularity has occurred and what the consequences, if any,
should be.
On the basis of the opinion of this panel, the institution shall decide whether to initiate
proceedings entailing liability to disciplinary action or to payment of compensation. If the
panel detects systemic problems, it shall send a report with recommendations to the
authorising officer and to the authorising officer by delegation, provided the latter is not the
person involved, as well as to the internal auditor.
-
7.Where Heads of Union Delegations act as authorising officers by subdelegation in accordance
with the second paragraph of Article 53, the specialised financial irregularities panel set up by
On the basis of the opinion of the panel, the Commission may request the High
Representative to initiate, in the High Representative's capacity as appointing authority,
proceedings entailing liability to disciplinary action or to payment of compensation against
authorising officers by subdelegation if irregularities concern the competencies of the
Commission subdelegated to them. In such a case the High Representative shall take
appropriate action in accordance with the Staff Regulation in order to enforce decisions on
disciplinary action and/or the payment of compensation, as recommended by the Commission.
The Member States shall fully support the Union in the enforcement of any liability under
Article 22 of the Staff Regulations of temporary staff to whom point (e) of Article 2of the
Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities applies.
SECTION 3
Rules applicable to accounting officers and imprest administrators
Article 71
Rules applicable to accounting officers
An accounting officer shall be liable to disciplinary action and payment of compensation, as laid
down and in accordance with the procedures in the Staff Regulations. He may in particular become
liable by any of the following forms of misconduct:
Article 72
Rules applicable to imprest officers
An imprest officer shall be liable to disciplinary action and payment of compensation, as laid down
and in accordance with the procedures in the Staff Regulations. He may in particular become liable
by any of the following forms of misconduct:
(a) he loses or damages funds, assets and documents in his keeping;
(b) he cannot provide proper supporting documents for the payments he has made;
(c) he makes payments to persons other than those entitled;
(d) he fails to collect revenue due.
CHAPTER 5
REVENUE OPERATIONS
SECTION 1
Making own resources available
SECTION 2
Estimate of amounts receivable
Article 74
Estimate of the amount receivable
-
1.When the authorising officer responsible has sufficient and reliable information in respect of
any measure or situation which may give rise to an amount owing to the Union, the
authorising officer responsible shall first make an estimate of the amount receivable.
-
2.The estimate of the amount receivable is adjusted by the authorising officer responsible as
soon as he is aware of an event modifying the measure or the situation which has generated its
drawing up.
When establishing the recovery order on a measure or situation that had previously resulted in
an estimate of amounts receivable, the amounts thereof shall be adjusted accordingly by the
authorising officer responsible.
When the recovery order is drawn up for the same amount, the estimate of amounts receivable
shall be reduced to zero.
SECTION 3
Establishment of amounts receivable
Article 75
Establishment of amounts receivable
-
1.Establishment of an amount receivable is the act by which the authorising officer by
delegation or subdelegation:
(a) verifies that the debt exists;
(b) determines or verifies the reality and the amount of the debt;
(c) verifies the conditions in which the debt is due.
-
2.The own resources made available to the Commission and any amount receivable that is
identified as being certain, of a fixed amount and due must be established by a recovery order
to the accounting officer followed by a debit note sent to the debtor, both drawn up by the
authorising officer responsible.
SECTION 4
Authorisation of recovery
Article 76
Authorisation of recovery
-
1.The authorisation of recovery is the act whereby the authorising officer by delegation or
subdelegation responsible instructs the accounting officer, by issuing a recovery order, to
recover an amount receivable which he has established.
[2. The institution Council, the Commission or the European Central Bank may formally
establish an amount as being receivable from persons other than Member States by means of a
decision which shall be enforceable within the meaning of Article 299 TFEU. As regards the
other institutions, the Commission may adopt, on their behalf, such an enforceable
decision within the meaning of Article 299 TFEU, under the conditions laid down in the
delegated regulation referred to in Article 199.]1
SECTION 5
Recovery
Article 77
-
2.Where the responsible competent authorising officer by delegation is planning to waive or
partially waive recovery of an established amount receivable, he shall ensure that the waiver
is in order and complies with the principle of sound financial management and proportionality
in accordance with the procedures and the criteria laid down in the delegated Regulation
referred to in Article 199. The waiver decision must be substantiated. The authorising officer
may delegate the decision only as laid down in the delegated Regulation referred to in
Article 199.
The responsible competent authorising officer may cancel an established amount receivable
in full or in part, in accordance with the conditions set out in the delegated Regulation referred
to in Article 199. The partial cancellation of an established amount receivable does not imply
a waiver of a Union's established entitlement.
The rules for the procedures and criteria of a waiver decision as well as the delegation
thereof by the authorising officer and the cancellation of an established amount shall be
laid down in the delegated regulation referred to Article 199.
3. The Member States shall in the first instance be responsible for carrying out controls
and audits and for recovering amounts unduly spent, as provided for in the
sector-specific rules. As far as Member States detect and correct on their own account
irregularities, they shall be exempt from financial corrections by the Commission
concerning these irregularities.
The Commission shall, when deciding the amount of a correction, take account of the
nature and gravity of the breach of applicable law and the financial implications for the
Union budget, including in case of deficiencies in management and control systems.
The criteria for establishing financial corrections and the procedure to be applied may
be laid down in the sector-specific rules.
Article 78
Limitation period
Without prejudice to the provisions of specific regulations and the application of the Council
Decision relating to the Union's own resources system, entitlements of the Union in respect of third
parties and entitlements of third parties in respect of the Union shall be subject to a limitation period
of five years.
The date for calculating the limitation period and the conditions for interrupting this period shall be
laid down in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199.
Article 79
ational treatment for Union entitlements
In the event of insolvency proceedings, Union entitlements shall be given the same preferential
Article 80
Fines, penalties and accrued interest imposed by the Commission
Amounts received by way of fines, penalties and sanctions, and any accrued interest or other
income generated by them shall not be recorded as budgetary revenue as long as the decisions
imposing them may be overruled by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The amounts referred to in the first paragraph shall be recorded as budgetary revenue as soon as
possible and at the latest in the year following the exhaustion of all legal remedies to the extent that
they are not returned to the entity that paid them following a judgment of the Court of Justice of the
European Union.
The first paragraph shall not apply to decisions on clearance of accounts or financial corrections.
CHAPTER 6
EXPENDITURE OPERATIONS
Article 81
Financing decision
In case of indirect management, it shall also specify the implementing partner chosen,
the criteria used and the tasks entrusted to it.
The delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199 may determine further details to be
included in financing decisions, and the conditions under which decisions adopting work
programmes shall be considered financing decisions.
SECTION 1
Commitment of expenditure
Article 82
Types of commitments
-
1.The budgetary commitment is the operation reserving the appropriation necessary to cover
subsequent payments to honour legal commitments.
The legal commitment is the act whereby the authorising officer enters into or establishes an
obligation which results in a charge.
The budgetary commitment and the legal commitment shall be adopted by the same
authorising officer, except in duly substantiated cases as provided for in the delegated
Regulation referred to in Article 199.
-
3.Budgetary commitments for actions extending over more than one financial year may be
broken down over several years into annual instalments only where the basic act so provides
or for administrative expenditure. Where the budgetary commitment is thus divided into
annual instalments, the legal commitment shall stipulate this, except in the case of expenditure
on staff.
Article 83
Rules applicable to commitments
-
1.In respect of any measure which may give rise to expenditure chargeable to the budget, the
authorising officer responsible must first make a budgetary commitment before entering into a
legal obligation with third parties or transferring funds to a trust fund on the basis of
Article 178.
-
2.The obligation for a budgetary commitment before entering into a legal commitment as
stipulated in paragraph 1, is not applicable to legal commitments concluded following a
declaration of a crisis situation in the framework of the Business Continuity Plan, in
accordance with the procedures adopted by the Commission or by any other institution under
its administrative autonomy.
-
3.In case of humanitarian aid operations, civil protection operations and crisis management aid,
provided that it is indispensable for the efficient delivery of the Union's intervention to enter
At the end of the periods referred to in the first and second subparagraphs, the unused balance
of these budgetary commitments shall be decommitted by the authorising officer responsible.
The amount of each individual legal commitment adopted following a global commitment
shall, prior to signature, be registered by the authorising officer responsible in the budgetary
accounts and booked to the global commitment.
-
5.The budgetary and legal commitments entered into for actions extending over more than one
financial year shall, except in the case of staff expenditure, have a final date for
implementation set in compliance with the principle of sound financial management.
Any parts of such commitments which have not been executed six months after that date shall
be decommitted in accordance with Article 11.
The amount of a budget commitment corresponding to a legal commitment for which no
payment within the meaning of Article 87 has been made in a period of two years following
the signing of the legal commitment shall be decommitted, exception made for cases under
litigation before judicial courts or arbitral bodies and for the special provisions laid down in
sector-specific rules.
Article 84
Checks applicable to commitments
(d) the principle of sound financial management is complied with. The opportunity of
pre-financing payments, its amount and the overall payment schedule shall be
commensurate with the planned duration, the progress in implementation and the
financial risks such pre-financing entails.
-
2.When registering a legal commitment by physical or electronic signature, the authorising
officer shall ensure that:
(a) the commitment is covered by the corresponding budgetary commitment;
(b) the expenditure is regular and conforms to the provisions of the Treaties, of the budget,
of this Regulation, of the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199 and of all acts
adopted in accordance with the Treaties and the regulations;
(c) the principle of sound financial management is respected.
SECTION 2
Validation of expenditure
Article 85
SECTION 3
Authorisation of expenditure
Article 86
Authorisation of expenditure
Authorisation of expenditure is the act whereby the authorising officer responsible, having verified
that the appropriations are available and by issuing a payment order, instructs the accounting officer
to pay an amount of expenditure which he has validated.
Where periodic payments are made with regard to services rendered, including rental services, or
goods delivered, and subject to his risk analysis, the authorising officer may order the application of
a direct debit system.
SECTION 4
Payment of expenditure
Article 87
Types of payments
-
1.Payment shall be made on production of proof that the relevant action is in accordance with
the provisions of the basic act or the contract and shall cover one or more of the following
(ii) one or more interim payments as a counterpart of a partial execution of the action;
(iii) payment of the balance of the amounts due where the action is completely
executed.
-
2.A distinction shall be made in the budgetary accounting between the different types of
payment referred to in paragraph 1 at the time they are made.
-
3.The accounting rules referred to in Article 143 shall include the rules for clearing the
pre-financing in the accounts and for the acknowledgment of the eligibility of costs.
-
4.(a) Pre-financing payments shall be cleared regularly by the responsible authorising officer,
following the economic nature and the timing of the underlying project.
(b) When the responsible authorising officer deems inefficient to request cost
statement from beneficiaries and contractors, he shall obtain from them
information on cumulative spending for grants or contracts above EUR 5 000 000,
and at least twice once a year, in a manner to avoid excessive amounts of uncleared
pre-financing .
(c) To this effect appropriate provisions shall be included in the contracts, grant decisions
and agreements, as well as the delegation agreements entrusting implementation tasks to
Article 88
Payment limited to funds available
Payment of expenditure shall be made by the accounting officer within the limits of the funds
available.
SECTION 5
Time limits for expenditure operations
Article 89
Time limits for expenditure
1. The validation, authorisation and time allowed for making payments shall be: of
expenditure must be completed as rapidly as possibly and in any case within the time limits
laid down in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199, which shall also specify the
circumstances in which creditors paid late are entitled to receive default interest charged to
the line from which the principal was paid.
(a) 90 calendar days for agreements concluded with the entities referred to in
points (i) to (viii) of Article 55(1)(c), contracts, grant agreements and decisions
involving technical services or actions which are particularly complex to evaluate
and for which payment depends on the approval of a report or a certificate;
2. The authorising officer responsible may suspend the time limit for payment by
informing creditors, at any time that the payment request cannot be met, either because
the amount is not due or because the appropriate supporting documents have not been
produced. If information comes to the notice of the authorising officer responsible which
puts in doubt the eligibility of expenditure appearing in a payment request, the
authorising officer responsible may suspend the time limit for payment for the purpose
of further verification, including on the spot checks, in order to ascertain, prior to
payment, that the expenditure has been indeed eligible.
The creditors concerned shall be informed in writing of the reasons for suspension.
The creditor may request a decision by the authorising officer responsible on the
continuity of the suspension, where the suspension exceeds two months.
On expiry of the time limits laid down in paragraph 1, the creditor shall be entitled to
interest. This sub-paragraph shall not apply to Member States.
The delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199 may determine further details for
payment delays and shall also specify the circumstances in which creditors paid late are
entitled to receive default interest charged to the line from which the principal was paid.
Article 91
Transmission of documents between institutions
Subject to the prior agreement of the institutions and Member States concerned, any transmission
of documents between institutions them may be done by electronic means.
Article 91a
Electronic government (e-government)
In shared management, all official exchanges of information between the Member States and
the Commission shall be carried out by means indicated in the sector-specific rules, which
shall provide for interoperability of data gathered or otherwise received and transmitted in
the management of the budget.
The Institutions and the executive agencies as well as entities referred to in Article 200 shall
establish and apply uniform standards for the electronic exchange of information with third
parties participating in procurement and grants procedures. In particular, they shall, to the
greatest possible extent, design and implement solutions for the submission, storage and
processing of data submitted in grants and procurement procedures, and to this end, shall put
in place a single `electronic data interchange area' for applicants, beneficiaries or candidates
CHAPTER 7A
ADMI ISTRATIVE PRI CIPLES
Article 91b
Good administration
The need to supply evidence and/or documentation, its form and prerequisite content as well
as, where appropriate, the indicative timetable for completion of the award procedure shall be
announced at the earliest possible convenience.
Where, due to an obvious clerical error on the part of the applicant or tenderer, there is a
failure to submit evidence or to give statements, the evaluation committee or, where
appropriate, the authorising officer responsible shall, except in duly justified cases1, ask the
applicant or tenderer to provide the missing information or clarify supporting documents.
Such information or clarifications many not substantially change the proposal or alter the
terms of the tender.
Article 91c
Indication of means of redress
Where a procedural act of an authorising officer adversely affects the rights of an applicant
or tenderer, beneficiary or contractor, it shall contain an indication of the available means of
CHAPTER 8
INTERNAL AUDITOR
Article 92
Appointment of the internal auditor
Each institution shall establish an internal auditing function which must be performed in
compliance with the relevant international standards.
The internal auditor appointed by the institution shall be answerable to the latter for verifying the
proper operation of budgetary implementation systems and procedures. The internal auditor may
not be either authorising officer or accounting officer.
For the purposes of the internal auditing of the EEAS, Heads of Union Delegations, acting as
authorising officers by subdelegation in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 53 shall be
subject to the verifying powers of the internal auditor of the Commission for the financial
management subdelegated to them.
The internal auditor of the Commission shall also act as the internal auditor of the EEAS in respect
of the implementation of the EEAS section of the budget, subject to Article 208.
He shall be responsible in particular:
(a) for assessing the suitability and effectiveness of internal management systems and the
performance of departments in implementing policies, programmes and actions by
reference to the risks associated with them;
(b) for assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal control and audit systems
applicable to every budgetary implementation operation.
-
2.The internal auditor shall perform his duties on all the institution's activities and departments.
He shall enjoy full and unlimited access to all information required to perform his duties, if
necessary on the spot, including in the Member States and in third countries.
The internal auditor shall take note of the annual report of the authorising officers and any
other pieces of information identified.
-
3.The internal auditor shall report to the institution on his findings and recommendations. The
institution shall ensure that action is taken on recommendations resulting from audits. The
internal auditor shall also submit to the institution an annual internal audit report indicating
the number and type of internal audits carried out, the recommendations made and the action
taken on those recommendations.
The summary report shall include information on any review that recommends changes
to any major acquisition project or grant or that recommends significant budgetary
savings, and on the impact of actions taken on the recommendations for the institution
as well as further possible improvements proposed by an audit committee, where it
exists.
In the context of the implementation of Article 319(2) TFEU, the Commission shall
make available to the European Parliament, upon request, its final internal audit
reports. For the purpose of the present article, audit reports shall be understood as final
reports after contradictory procedure that included auditee's position.
Subject to paragraph 4a, they shall be treated confidentially.1
4a. The reports and findings of the Internal Auditor, as well as the report of the institution,
shall be accessible to the public only after validation by the Internal Auditor of the
actions taken for their implementation.
Article 94
Independence of the internal auditor
Special rules applicable to the internal auditor shall be laid down by the institution and shall be such
as to guarantee that he is totally independent in the performance of his duties and to establish his
TITLE V
PROCUREMENT
CHAPTER 1
GENERAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 1
Scope and award principles
Article 95
Definition of public contracts
1.
Public contracts are contracts for pecuniary interest concluded in writing between one or more
economic operators and one or more contracting authorities within the meaning of
Articles 111 and 181, in order to obtain, against payment of a price paid in whole or in part
from the budget, the supply of movable or immovable assets, the execution of works or the
provision of services.
These contracts comprise:
(a) building contracts;
-
3.This title does not apply to grants, without prejudice to Articles 100 to 103, or to service
contracts for technical assistance, as defined in the delegated act referred to in
Article 199, concluded between the Commission, on the one hand, and with the European
Investment Bank or, the European Investment Fund or any other subsidiary of the European
Investment Bank, on the other hand. -
Article 96
Principles applicable to public contracts
-
1.All public contracts financed in whole or in part by the budget shall comply with the
principles of transparency, proportionality, equal treatment and non-discrimination.
-
2.All procurement contracts shall be put out to tender on the broadest possible base, except
when use is made of the negotiated procedure referred to in point (d) of Article 98(1).
Contracting authorities may not use framework contracts improperly or in such a way that the
purpose or effect is to prevent, restrict or distort competition.
SECTION 2
Publication
Publication of certain information after the contract has been awarded may be dropped where
it would hinder application of the law, would be contrary to the public interest or would harm
the legitimate business interests of public or private undertakings or could distort fair
competition between them.
-
2.Contracts with a value below the thresholds provided for in Article 112 or Article 181 and the
service contracts referred to in Annex IIB to Directive 2004/18/EC shall be advertised by
appropriate means, as specified in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199.
SECTION 3
Procurement procedures
Article 98
Procurement procedures
-
1.Procurement procedures shall take one of the following forms:
(a) the open procedure;
(b) the restricted procedure;
Where a public contract or framework contract is necessary for the implementation of a joint
action between an institution and aone or more contracting authorityies from a Member
States, the procurement procedure may be carried out jointly by the institution and theis
contracting authorityies, as specified in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199.
Joint procurement may be conducted with EFTA countries, as well as candidate
countries, if this possibility has been specifically foreseen in a bilateral or multilateral
Treaty. Detailed rules for the implementation of this provision shall be established in the
delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199.
-
2.For contracts where the value exceeds the thresholds provided for in Article 112 or
Article 181, use of the negotiated procedure shall be authorised only in the cases provided for
in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199.
-
3.The thresholds below which the contracting authority may either use a negotiated procedure
or, by way of derogation from the first subparagraph of Article 95(1), simply pay costs against
invoices shall be determined in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199.
-
4.The delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199 shall define the procurement procedure,
referred to in paragraph 1, applicable to service contracts covered by Annex IIB to Directive
2004/18/EC and to contracts which are declared to be secret, whose performance must be
accompanied by special security measures, or when the protection of essential interests of the
Article 100
Exclusion criteria applicable for participation in tenders
-
1.Candidates or tenderers shall be excluded from participation in procurement procedures if:
(a) they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts,
have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are
the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation
arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations;
(b) they or persons having powers of representation, decision making or control over them
have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment
of a competent authority of a Member State which has the force of res judicata ;
(c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the
contracting authority can justify including by decisions of the European Investment
Bank and international organisations;
(d) they are not in compliance with their obligations relating to the payment of social
security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of
the country in which they are established or with those of the country of the contracting
authority or those of the country where the contract is to be performed;
Points (a) to (d) shall not apply in the case of purchase of supplies on particularly
advantageous terms from a supplier which is definitively winding up its business activities or
from the receivers or liquidators of a bankruptcy, through an arrangement with creditors, or
through a similar procedure under national law.
Points (b) and (e) shall not apply when the candidates or tenderers can demonstrate that
adequate measures have been adopted against the persons having powers of representation,
decision making or control over them who are subject to the judgement referred to in
points (b) or (e).
-
2.In case of a negotiated procedure where, for technical or artistic reasons, or for reasons
connected with the protection of exclusive rights, the contract can be awarded only to a
particular economic operator, the institution may decide not to exclude the economic operator
at stake on the grounds referred to in points (a), (c) and (d) of paragraph 1, if this is
indispensable in order to ensure the continuity of service of the institution. In this case, it shall
duly justify its decision.
-
3.Candidates or tenderers shall certify that they are not in one of the situations listed in
paragraph 1. However, the contracting authority may refrain from requiring such certification
for very low value contracts, as specified in the delegated Regulation referred to in
-
4.The delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199 shall determine the maximum period
during which the situations referred to in paragraph 1 give rise to the exclusion of candidates
or tenderers from participation in a procurement procedure. The maximum period shall not
exceed 10 years.
Article 101
Exclusion criteria applicable during procurement procedure
A contract shall not be awarded to candidates or tenderers who, during the procurement procedure
for this contract:
(a) are subject to a conflict of interest;
(b) are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the contracting
authority as a condition of participation in the procurement procedure or fail to supply this
information;
(c) find themselves in one of the situations of exclusion, referred to in Article 100(1), for this
procurement procedure.
Article 102
-
2.The authorities of the Member States and third countries as well as the bodies, other than
those referred to in paragraph 1, participating in the implementation of the budget in
accordance with Articles 55 and 58, shall communicate to the competent authorising officer
information on candidates and tenderers which are in one of the situations referred to in
point (e) of Article 100(1), where the conduct of the operator concerned was detrimental to
the Union's financial interest. The authorising officer shall receive this information and
request the accounting officer to enter it into the database.
The authorities and bodies mentioned in the first subparagraph shall have access to the
information contained in the database and may take it into account, as appropriate and on their
own responsibility for the award of contracts associated with the implementation of the
budget.
-
3.The European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Investment
Fund shall have access to the information contained in the database for the purpose of
protecting their own funds and may take it into account, as appropriate and on their own
responsibility for the award of contracts in accordance with their procurement rules.
They shall communicate to the Commission information on candidates and tenderers which
are in one of the situations referred to in point (e) of Article 100(1), where the conduct of the
operators concerned was detrimental to the Union's financial interests.
Article 103
Administrative and financial penalties
-
1.The contracting authority may impose administrative and/or financial penalties on the
following:
(a) contractors, candidates or tenderers in the cases referred to in point (b) of Article 101;
(b) contractors who have been declared to be in serious breach of their obligations under
contracts covered by the budget.
In all cases, however, the contracting authority must first give the person concerned an
opportunity to present his observations.
-
2.The penalties referred to in paragraph 1 shall be proportionate to the importance of the
contract and the seriousness of the misconduct, and may consist in:
(a) the exclusion of the candidate or tenderer or contractor concerned from the contracts
and grants financed by the budget, for a maximum period of ten years; and/or
(b) the payment of financial penalties by the candidate or tenderer or contractor up to the
The decision to publish a decision imposing administrative or financial penalties
referred to in the first subparagraph shall take into account, in particular, the
seriousness of the misconduct including its impact on the Union's financial interests and
image and the time which has elapsed since the misconduct took place, the duration and
recurrence of the misconduct, the intention or degree of negligence of the entity
concerned and the measures taken by the entity concerned to remedy the situation.
The decision on the publication shall be included in the decision imposing administrative
or financial penalties and shall expressly provide for publication of the decision
imposing penalties, or of a summary thereof, on the internet site of the institution.
In order to ensure a deterrent effect, the summary published shall include the name of
the person responsible for the misconduct, a short description of that misconduct, the
programme concerned and the duration of the exclusion and/or the amount of the
financial penalties.
The decision shall be published after the legal remedies against the decision have been
exhausted or after the expiry of the deadlines for redress and the publication shall
remain on the internet site until the end of the exclusion period or until 6 months after
the payment of the financial penalties where these penalties constitute the sole measure
Article 104
Award criteria for contracts
-
1.Contracts shall be awarded on the basis of award criteria applicable to the content of the
tender after the capability of economic operators not excluded under Articles 100, 101 and
point (a) of Article 103(2) has been checked in accordance with the selection criteria
contained in the documents relating to the call for tenders.
-
2.Contracts shall be awarded by the automatic award procedure or by the best-value-for-money
procedure.
Article 105
Submission of tenders
-
1.The arrangements for submitting tenders shall be such as to ensure that there is genuine
competition and that the contents of tenders remain confidential until they are all opened
simultaneously.
1a. The Commission shall ensure by appropriate means and in application of Article 91a
that tenderers may enter the contents of the tenders and any supporting evidence in an
electronic format (e-procurement). -
-
3.With the exception of the low value contracts referred to in Article 98(3), applications and
tenders shall be opened by an opening board appointed for this purpose. Any tender or
application declared by the board not to satisfy the conditions laid down shall be rejected.
-
4.All requests to participate or tenders declared by the opening board as satisfying the
conditions laid down shall be evaluated, on the basis of the criteria provided in the documents
relating to the call for tenders, in order to propose to the contracting authority the award of the
contract or to proceed with an electronic auction.
Article 106
Principles of equal treatment and transparency
While the procurement procedure is under way, all contacts between the contracting authority and
candidates or tenderers must satisfy conditions ensuring transparency and equal treatment. They
may not lead to amendment of the conditions of the contract or the terms of the original tender.
Article 107
The award decision
-
1.The authorising officer shall decide to whom the contract is to be awarded, in compliance
with the selection and award criteria laid down in advance in the documents relating to the
call for tenders and the procurement rules.
However, certain details need not be disclosed where disclosure would hinder application of
the law, would be contrary to the public interest or would harm the legitimate business
interests of public or private undertakings or could distort fair competition between those
undertakings. -
Article 108
Cancellation of the procurement procedure
The contracting authority may, before the contract is signed, either abandon the procurement or
cancel the award procedure without the candidates or tenderers being entitled to claim any
compensation.
The decision must be substantiated and be brought to the attention of the candidates or tenderers.
SECTION 4
Guarantees and corrective action
Article 109
Guarantees
-
1.The contracting authority shall require contractors to lodge a guarantee in advance in the
cases specified in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199.
Article 110
Errors, irregularities and fraud in the procedure
Where the award procedure proves to have been subject to substantial errors, irregularities or fraud,
the contracting authority shall suspend the procedure and may take whatever measures are
necessary, including the cancellation of the procedure.
Where, after the award of the contract, the award procedure or the performance of the contract
prove to have been subject to substantial errors, irregularities or fraud, the contracting authority
may, depending on the stage reached in the procedure, refrain from concluding the contract or
suspend performance of the contract or, where appropriate, terminate the contract.
Where those errors, irregularities or fraud are attributable to the contractor, the contracting authority
may in addition refuse to make payments, may recover amounts already paid or may terminate all
the contracts concluded with this contractor, in proportion to the seriousness of the errors,
irregularities or fraud.
CHAPTER 2
PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO CONTRACTS AWARDED BY THE INSTITUTIONS ON
THEIR OWN ACCOUNT
Article 112
Thresholds applicable
-
1.Subject to Title IV of Part Two, Directive 2004/18/EC lays down the thresholds which
determine:
(a) the publication arrangements referred to in Article 97;
(b) the choice of procedures referred to in Article 98(1);
(c) the corresponding time limits.
-
2.Subject to exceptions and conditions specified in the delegated Regulation referred to in
Article 199, the contracting authority shall not, in the case of contracts covered by
Directive 2004/18/EC, sign the contract or framework contract with the successful tenderer
until a period of standstill has elapsed.
Article 113
Rules on tender participation
1. Participation in tendering procedures shall be open on equal terms to all natural and legal
persons coming within the scope of the Treaties and to all natural and legal persons in a third
Article 114
Procurement rules of the World Trade Organisation
Where the Multilateral Agreement on Government Procurement concluded within the World Trade
Organisation applies, the contracts shall also be open to nationals of the States which have ratified
this agreement, under the conditions laid down in that agreement.
TITLE VI
GRANTS
CHAPTER 1
SCOPE AND FORM OF GRANTS
Article 115
Scope of grants
-
1.Grants are direct financial contributions, by way of donation, from the budget in order to
finance any of the following:
(a) an action intended to help achieve an objective forming part of a Union policy;
(b) the functioning of a body which pursues an aim of general European interest or has an
-
2.The following shall not constitute grants within the meaning of this title:
(a) expenditure on the members and staff of the institutions and contributions to the
European schools;
(b) public contracts referred to in Article 95 and aid paid as macro financial assistance and
budgetary support;
(c) financial instruments as referred to in Title VIII of Part One, as well as shareholdings or
equity participations in international financial institutions such as the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) or specialised Union bodies such as the
European Investment Fund;
(d) contributions paid by the Union as subscriptions to bodies of which it is member;
(e) expenditure implemented under shared management and indirect management within
the meaning of Articles 55, 56 and 57;
(f) contributions made by virtue of their constitutive basic act to bodies set up under
Article 59;
(g) expenditure relating to fisheries markets referred to in point f of Article 3(2)(f) of
2a. Interest rate rebates and guarantee fee subsidies shall be assimilated to grants, provided
that they are not combined in a single measure with financial instruments as referred to
in Title VIII.
They shall be subject to the provisions of this Title, with the exception of the following:
(a) the co-financing principle as referred to in Article 117(3);
(b) the no-profit principle as referred to in Article 117(4);
(c) for actions where the objective is to reinforce the financial capacity of a beneficiary
or to generate an income, the assessment of the financial capacity of the applicant
as referred to in Article 123(1).
-
3.Each institution may award grants for communication activities where, for duly justified
reasons, the use of public procurement procedures is not appropriate.
Article 115a
Beneficiaries
1. For the purposes of this Title, the term "beneficiary" shall mean one or several entities
to which the grant is awarded.
4. For the purpose of this Title, the following entities shall be considered as entities
affiliated to the beneficiary:
(a) Legal entities forming the beneficiary in accordance with paragraph 3;
(b) Legal entities satisfying the eligibility and non-exclusion criteria and having a link
with the beneficiary, notably a legal or capital link, which is neither limited to the
action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation.
Article 116
Forms of grants
Grants may take any of the following forms:
(a) reimbursement of a specified proportion of the eligible costs actually incurred;
(b) lump sums, including reimbursement on the basis of predefined unit costs;
(c) lump sums;
-
Article 116a
Lump sums, unit costs and flat-rate financing
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of the basic act, the use of lump sums, unit costs or
flat-rate financing shall be authorised by way of a Commission decision ensuring the
respect of the principle of equal treatment of beneficiaries for the same category of
actions or work programmes.
Where the maximum amount per grant does not exceed EUR 50 000, the authorisation
may be given by the authorising officer responsible.
2. The authorisation shall at least be supported by the following:
-
a)
justification of the appropriateness of these forms of financing with regard to the
nature of the supported actions or work programmes as well as to the risks of
irregularities and fraud and costs of control;
-
b)
identification of the costs or categories of costs covered by lump sums, unit costs or
flat-rate financing, which shall exclude ineligible costs according to the applicable
Union rules;
c) description of the methods to determine lump sums, unit costs or flat-rate
3. Where recourse to the usual cost accounting practices of the beneficiary is authorised,
the authorising officer responsible may assess compliance of these practices with the
conditions set out in paragraph 2 ex ante or through an appropriate strategy for ex post
controls.
If the compliance of the usual cost accounting practices of the beneficiary with the
conditions set out in paragraph 2 has been established ex ante, the amounts of lump
sums, unit costs or flat-rate financing determined by application of these practices shall
not be challenged by ex post controls.
The authorising officer responsible may consider that the usual cost accounting
practices of the beneficiary are compliant with the conditions set out in paragraph 2 if
they are accepted by the national authorities under comparable funding schemes.
4. The grant decision or agreement may authorise or impose, in the form of flat-rates,
funding of the beneficiary's indirect costs up to a maximum of 7 % of total eligible
direct costs for the action, except where the beneficiary is in receipt of an operating
grant financed from the Union budget. The 7 % ceiling may be exceeded by reasoned
decision of the Commission.
5. SME1 owners and other natural persons who do not receive a salary may declare eligible
personnel costs for the work carried out under an action or work programme, on the
CHAPTER 2
PRINCIPLES
Article 117
General principles applicable to grants
1.
Grants shall be subject to the principles of transparency and equal treatment.
2.
Without prejudice to Article 120, they may not be cumulative or awarded retrospectively.
3.
Grants must involve co-financing without prejudice to the specific rules laid down in Title IV
of Part Two.
Grants shall not exceed an overall ceiling expressed in terms of an absolute value which is
established on the basis of estimated eligible costs.
The grant shall not exceed the eligible costs.1
Unless otherwise specified in this Regulation, the regulations governing political parties
at European level and the rules regarding their funding are laid down in
4.
Grants may not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit within the framework of the
action or the work programme of the beneficiary.
(b) study, research or training scholarships paid to natural persons
(ba) other direct support paid to natural persons in most need, such as unemployed
persons and programmes for refugees;
(bb) grants based on flat rates and/or lump sums and/or unit costs where these comply
with the conditions set out in Article 116a(2);
(bc) low value grants.
Where a profit is made, the Commission shall be entitled to recover the percentage of
the profit corresponding to the Union contribution to the eligible costs actually incurred
by the beneficiary to carry out the. action or work programme
4a. For the purpose of this Title, profit shall be defined as a surplus of the receipts over the
eligible costs incurred by the beneficiary, when the request is made for final payment.
The receipts referred to in the previous subparagraph shall be limited to income
generated by the action or work programme as well as financial contributions
specifically assigned by the donors to the financing of the eligible costs.
In the case of an operating grant, amounts dedicated to the building up of reserves shall
not be taken into account for the purpose of verifying compliance with the no-profit
For the purpose of verifying compliance with the no-profit rule, the own resources, in
particular donations and membership fees, aggregated in the annual operations of a political
party at Union level, which exceed 15 % of the eligible costs to be borne by the beneficiary,
shall not be taken into account.
The second subparagraph shall not apply if the financial reserves of a political party at
European level exceed 100 % of its average annual income.
-
6.For lumps sums, standard scale of unit costs and flat rate financing, the no-profit and the co-
financing rules laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4 shall be reasonably ensured at the time of
their determination or at the stage of the evaluation of the grant application. Grants may be
awarded without a call for proposals to the European Investment Bank or the European
Investment Fund for actions of technical assistance as defined in a delegated act. In such
cases Articles 122(2) to (4) and 123(1) shall not apply.
Article 117a
Eligible costs
1. Grants shall not exceed an overall ceiling expressed in terms of an absolute value which
is to be established on the basis of estimated eligible costs.
Grants shall not exceed the eligible costs.
(c) they are necessary for the implementation of the action or of the work programme
which is the subject of the grant;
(d) they are identifiable and verifiable, in particular being recorded in the accounting
records of the beneficiary and determined according to the applicable accounting
standards of the country where the beneficiary is established and according to the
usual cost accounting practices of the beneficiary;
(e) they comply with the requirements of applicable tax and social legislation;
(f) they are reasonable, justified, and comply with the requirements of sound financial
management, in particular regarding economy and efficiency.
3. The call for proposals shall specify the categories of costs considered as eligible for
Union funding.
Without prejudice to paragraph 2 and to the basic act, the following eligibility
conditions shall apply to the following categories of costs, where considered as eligible by
the authorising officer responsible under the call for proposals:
(a) costs relating to a pre-financing guarantee lodged by the beneficiary of the grant,
where required by the authorising officer responsible pursuant to Article 125;
(d) depreciation costs, provided they are actually incurred by the beneficiary;
(e) salary costs of the personnel of national administrations to the extent that they
relate to the cost of activities which the relevant public authority would not carry
out if the project concerned were not undertaken.
4. Costs incurred by entities affiliated to a beneficiary as referred to in Article 115a may be
accepted as eligible by the authorising officer responsible under the call for proposals. In
such a case, the following conditions shall apply cumulatively:
(a) the concerned entities are identified in the grant agreement or decision;
(b) the concerned entities abide by the rules applicable to the beneficiary under the
grant agreement or decision with regard to eligibility of costs and rights of audits
by the Commission, OLAF and the Court of Auditors.
Article 117b
Co-financing in kind
1. For the purpose of calculating the profit generated by the grant, co-financing in the
form of in-kind contributions shall not be taken into account. -
Such contributions must not exceed:
(a) either the costs actually borne and duly supported by accounting documents;
(b) or, in the absence of such documents, the costs generally accepted on the market in
question.
In-kind contributions shall be presented separately in the estimated budget to reflect the
total resources allocated to the action. Their unit value is evaluated in the provisional
budget and shall not be subject to subsequent changes.
In-kind contributions shall comply with national tax and social security rules.
Article 118
Transparency
-
1.Grants shall be subject to a work programme, to be published prior to its implementation.
That work programme shall be implemented through the publication of calls for proposals,
except in duly substantiated exceptional cases of urgency or where the characteristics of the
beneficiary or of the action leave no other choice for a given action, or where the beneficiary
is identified in a basic act as recipient of a grant.
1a. Calls for proposals shall specify the planned date by which all applicants shall have been
informed of the outcome of the evaluation of their application and the indicative date for
the signature of grant agreements or notification of grant decisions.
Those dates shall be fixed on the basis of the following periods:
(a) a maximum of six months from the final date for the submission of complete -
proposals for informing all applicants;
(b) a maximum of three months from the date of information of the successful
applicants for signing grant agreements with them or notifying grant decisions to
them.
Those time limits do not include the time necessary to comply with the specific
procedures that may be required by the basic act in accordance with Regulation (EU)
No 182/2011 and may be exceeded in exceptional cases, in particular for complex
actions, large number of proposals or delays attributable to the applicants.
The authorising officer by delegation shall report in his annual activity report on the
average times for informing applicants and signing grant agreements or notifying grant
decisions. In case the time-limits referred to in the second subparagraph are exceeded,
he shall give reasons and, where not duly justified in accordance with the third
Article 119
Principle of non-cumulative award
Each action may give rise to the award of only one grant from the budget to any one beneficiary,
except where the relevant basic acts authorise otherwise.
A beneficiary may be awarded only one operating grant from the budget per financial year.
The applicant shall immediately inform the authorising officers of any multiple applications and
multiple grants relating to the same action or to the same work programme.
In no circumstances shall the same costs be financed twice by the budget.
Article 120
Retroactivity award Principle of non-retroactivity
-
1.A grant may be awarded for an action which has already begun only where the applicant can
demonstrate the need to start the action before the grant is awarded.
In such cases, costs eligible for financing may not have been incurred prior to the date of
submission of the grant application, except in duly substantiated exceptional cases as provided
for in the basic act or in case of extreme urgency for crisis management aid, civil protection
CHAPTER 3
AWARD PROCEDURE
Article 122
Applications for grants
1.
Grant applications shall be submitted in writing, including, where appropriate, in a secure
electronic format.
The Commission shall provide, where it deems it feasible, the possibility for online
applications.
-
2.Grant applications shall be eligible if submitted by the following:
(a) legal persons;
(b) natural persons in so far as this is required by the nature or characteristics of the action
or the objective pursued by the applicant.
For the purposes of point (a), grant applications may be eligible if submitted by entities which
do not have legal personality under the applicable national law, provided that their
representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on the behalf of the entity and
offer guarantee for the protection of the Union's financial interests equivalent to that offered
The verification of financial capacity shall not apply to natural persons in receipt of
scholarships, to natural persons in most need in receipt of direct support, to public
bodies or international organisations. The authorising officer responsible may,
depending on a risk assessment, waive the obligation to verify the operational capacity
of public bodies or international organisations.
3.
Articles 100(1) and 101 to 103 shall also apply to grant applicants. Applicants must certify
that they are not in one of the situations referred to in Articles 100(1) and 101 to 103.
However, the authorising officer may refrain from shall not requiringe such certification, as
specified in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199, for any of the following:
(a)
very low value grants;
(b)
when such certification has recently been provided in another award procedure;
(c) when there is a material impossibility to provide such certification.
4.
Administrative and financial penalties which are effective, proportionate and dissuasive may
be imposed on applicants by the authorising officer, in accordance with Article 103.
Those penalties may also be imposed on beneficiaries who at the moment of the submission
of the application or during the implementation of the grant, have made false declarations in
supplying the information required by the authorising officer or fail to supply that
Article 124
Evaluation procedure
-
1.Proposals shall be evaluated, on the basis of pre-announced selection and award criteria, with
a view to determining which proposals may be financed.
-
2.The authorising officer responsible shall then, on the basis of the evaluation provided for in
paragraph 1, draw up the list of beneficiaries and the amounts approved.
-
3.The authorising officer responsible shall inform applicants in writing of the decision on their
application. If the grant requested is not awarded, the institution shall give the reasons for the
rejection of the application, with reference in particular to the selection and award criteria
already announced.
CHAPTER 4
PAYMENT AND CONTROL
Article 125
Pre-financing guarantee
The authorising officer responsible may, if he deems it appropriate and proportionate, on a
case-by-case basis and subject to risk analysis, require the beneficiary to lodge a guarantee in
-
2.Where the award procedure proves to have been subject to substantiveal errors,
irregularities or fraud are committed during the award procedure or the implementation of the
grant and after the beneficiary has been given the opportunity to make his observations, the
responsible authorising officer responsible may shall suspend the procedure and may take
the necessary whatever measures referred to in Article 110 are necessary, including the
cancellation of the procedure. He shall inform OLAF immediately of suspected cases of
fraud.
2a. Where, after the award of the grant, the award procedure or the implementation of the
grant proves to have been subject to substantial errors, irregularities or fraud, the
authorising officer responsible may, depending on the stage reached in the procedure,
refrain from signing the grant agreement or notifying the grant decision, suspend
implementation of the grant or, where appropriate, terminate the grant agreement or
decision after the applicant or beneficiary has been given the opportunity to make his
observations.
2b. Where those errors, irregularities or fraud are attributable to the beneficiary, or should
the beneficiary fail to comply with his obligations under a grant agreement or decision,
the authorising officer responsible may in addition reduce the grant or recover amounts
unduly paid under the grant agreement or decision, in proportion to the seriousness of
the errors, irregularities or fraud or of the breach of obligations, after the beneficiary
has been given the opportunity to make his observations.
The authorising officer responsible may in addition proceed to financial corrections for
all the grants concerned by the systemic or recurrent errors or irregularities referred to
above that may be audited in accordance with the grant agreements or decisions by
either reducing the grants or recovering amounts unduly paid under the grant
agreements or decisions, following an adversarial procedure.
The authorising officer responsible shall determine the amount of financial corrections
to be made wherever possible and practicable on the basis of costs unduly declared as
eligible for each grant concerned, following acceptance of the revised financial
statements submitted by the beneficiary.
Where it is not possible or practicable to quantify the amount of ineligible costs precisely
for each grant concerned, financial corrections may be determined by extrapolating the
correction rate applied to the grants for which the systemic or recurrent errors or
irregularities have been demonstrated or, where ineligible costs may not serve as a basis
for determining financial corrections, by applying a flat rate, having regard to the
principle of proportionality. The beneficiary shall be given the opportunity to make his
observations on the extrapolation method or flat rate to be applied and to propose a
duly substantiated alternative method or rate before the financial correction is made.
3a. The Commission shall ensure equal treatment of beneficiaries of a programme, in
particular where it is implemented by several authorising officers responsible.
2. Records related to audits, appeals, litigation or the settlement of claims arising out of the
performance of the project shall be retained until such audits, appeals, litigation or
claims have been disposed of.
3. The Commission may define periods for record keeping by the designated bodies in the
meaning of Article 56 and by the Commission in the delegated regulation referred to in
Article 199.
CHAPTER 5
IMPLEMENTATION
Article 127
Subcontracting and grant redistribution Implementation contracts and financial support
to third parties
-
1.Where implementation of the action, or the work programme in case of operating grant,
requires the award of procurement contracts by the beneficiary, the relevant procedures shall
be as set out in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199.
-
2.Where implementation of the action or the work programme requires financial support to be
given to third parties, the beneficiary of a Union grant may give such financial support
provided that the following conditions are met:
(c) the amounts concerned are small, as defined in the delegated Regulation referred to in
Article 199, except where the financial support is the primary aim of the action.
-
3.Each grant decision or agreement shall provide expressly for the Commission and the Court
of Auditors to exercise their powers of control, on documents and on the premises and on
information, even stored on electronic media, over all third parties who have received Union
funds.
TITLE VII
PRIZES
Article 128
Definition Scope of prizes
"Prizes" are financial contributions given as rewards following contests.1
Article 129
General rules
-
1.Prizes are subject to the principles of transparency and equal treatment and must promote
the achievement of policy objectives of the Union.
The rules of the contest shall at least lay down the conditions for participation, the award
criteria, the amount of the prize and the payment arrangements.
Prizes may not be awarded directly without a contest and shall be published annually in
application of Article 31(2) and (3).1
All prizes awarded in the course of a financial year shall be published annually in accordance
with Article 31(2) and (3).
-
3.Entries in a contest shall be evaluated by a panel of experts on the basis of the published rules
of the contest.
Prizes shall then be awarded by the authorising officer responsible, on the basis of the
evaluation provided by the panel of experts who are free to decide whether or not to
recommend the award of prizes, depending on their appraisal of the quality of the entries.
-
4.The amount of the prize shall not be linked to the costs incurred by the recipient.
-
5.Where implementation of an action or work programme requires prizes to be given to third
parties by a beneficiary of a Union grant, this beneficiary may give such prizes provided that
the minimum content of the rules of the contest, as referred to in paragraph 2, is strictly
defined in the grant decision or agreement between the beneficiary and the Commission, with
TITLE VIII
FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
Article 130
Definition and scope
-
1.For the purpose of this Regulation, "financial instruments" shall mean Union measures of
financial support provided from the budget on a complementary basis1 from the budget in
order to address, when necessary and duly justified, one or more specific policy objectives of
the Union. Such instruments may take the form of loans, including loans with interest rate
rebates, guarantees, equity or quasi-equity, equity/debt investments or participations, or other
facilitated where appropriate by the Union through risk-sharing instruments, and may, where
appropriate, be possibly combined with grants.
Financial instruments shall be authorised by means of a basic act.2
Notwithstanding the second subparagraph, financial instruments may be established, in
duly justified cases, without being authorised by means of a basic act, provided that such
instrument is included in the budget in accordance with point (da) of Article 46(1).
The following definitions shall apply:1
(a) "loan" means an agreement which obliges the lender to make available to the
borrower a sum of money for the agreed amount and time. The borrower is
obliged to repay during a certain period the loan made available to him. Usually
the borrower is obliged to pay interest on the loan amount;
(b) "guarantee" means a written commitment to be responsible for all or part of the
debt, obligation or successful performance of a third party in an event that triggers
such guarantee, such as a loan default;
(c) "equity investment" means the provision of capital to a firm, invested directly or
indirectly in return for total or partial ownership of that firm and where the equity
investor may assume some management control of the firm and may share the
firm's profits;
(d) "quasi-equity investment " means a type of financing that ranks between equity and
debt, having a higher risk than senior debt and a lower risk than common equity.
Quasi-equity investments can be structured as debt, typically unsecured and
subordinated and in some cases convertible into equity, or as preferred equity.
(e) "risk-sharing instrument " means a financial instrument which allows for the sharing
-
2.The Where Union support is provisionsded of this title shall also apply to by means of
financial instruments pursuant to Article 130(1) and combined in a single measure with
elements directly related to financial instruments targeting the same final recipients,
including technical assistance, interest rate rebates and guarantee fee subsidies, Title VIII
shall apply to all elements of that measure.
2a. Where financial instruments are combined with grants funded from the Union budget
under Title VI for elements not directly relating to financial instruments, separate
records shall be maintained for each source of financing.
-
3.The Commission may implement financial instruments in direct management mode or in
indirect management mode, as set out in the basic act, by entrusting tasks to financial
institutions, including those established in Member States and aiming at the achievement of
public interests under the control of public authorities, as well as the European Investment
Bank, the European Investment Fund or any other subsidiary of the bank the entities referred
to in points (ii), (iv) and (vi) of Article 55(1)(c).
The entities referred to in points (ii), (iv) and (vi) of Article 55(1)(c), when implementing
financial instruments, may further entrust, under their responsibility, part of the
implementation to financial intermediaries provided that these entities ensure that the
financial intermediaries satisfy the criteria laid down in Article 131(1), (2) and (4).
Financial intermediaries shall be selected on the basis of open, transparent,
-
4.In case of Where financial instruments are implemented in shared management with Member
States, the provisions applying to those instruments, including rules for contributions to
financial instruments managed directly or indirectly under this Title, may shall be laid
down in the regulations referred to in Article 167.
Article 131
Principles and conditions applicable to financial instruments
-
1.Financial instruments shall be used in accordance with the principles of sound financial
management, transparency, proportionality, non-discrimination and, equal treatment and
subsidiarity, and in accordance with their objectives and, where applicable, for the
duration established in the basic act that applies to for those financial instruments.
1a2. Financial instruments shall comply with the following conditions:
(a) added value of the Union intervention, which means that financial instruments shall
only be implemented at Union level where their objectives, in particular by reason of
their scale or effects, can be better achieved at Union level than at national level;
(ba) they shall be implemented in order to addressing market failures or sub-optimal
investment situations, which have proven to be financially viable but do not give rise to
sufficient funding from market sources;
(ed) financial instruments shall be implemented in a way which does leverage effect, which
means that: the Union contribution to a financial instrument shall aim at mobiliseing a
global investment exceeding the size of the Union contribution according to the
indicators defined in advance;
(fe) appropriate measures shall be put in place to ensure that the entrusted entity has
alignmentd of interest, which means that: when implementing financial instruments, the
Commission shall ensure that there is a common interest in achieving the policy
objectives defined for a financial instrument, possibly fostered by provisions such as
co-investment, risk sharing requirements or financial incentives, while preventing
conflict of interest with other activities of the entrusted entity;
(g) financial instruments shall be established on the basis of on an ex ante evaluation.
1b. When the implementation of financial instruments gives rise to revenues and repayments,
these shall be entered in the Union budget as revenue, unless the relevant basic act provides
otherwise for duly justified reasons.
-
23.The budgetary expenditure linked to a financial instrument and the financial liability of the
Union shall in no case exceed the amount of the relevant budgetary commitment made for it,
thus excluding contingent liabilities for the Union budget.
-
4.Each agreement between an eEntityies referred to in points (ii), (iv) and (vi) of
Article 130(3) 55(1)(c), and a financial intermediaryies referred to in paragraph 3 involved in
managing Union financial instruments, and final recipients of Union support under this
Title shall provide afford expressly for the access of the Commission and the Court of
Auditors to documents, premises and information, even stored on electronic media, of the
financial intermediaries who have received Union funds all the facilities and give it all the
information which the Court of Auditors considers necessary for the performance of its
task, pursuant to Article 152.
Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 and Regulation XXX1 shall apply to Union
support under this Title.
5. Amounts corresponding at least to the Union contribution, or, where applicable,
multiples thereof shall be used for the attainment of the specific policy objectives
targeted through the financial instrument and shall not generate undue advantages, in
particular in the form of undue dividends or profits for third parties.
Without prejudice to sector-specific rules for shared management, interest, capital
resources paid back to the Commission or fiduciary accounts opened for financial
instruments from investments or from the release of resources committed for guarantee
contracts, guarantee fees, dividends, capital gains or any other income receipts
attributable to the support from the Union budget to under a financial instrument shall
5a. Payments to fiduciary accounts shall be made by the Commission on the basis of
payment requests that are duly substantiated with disbursement forecasts, taking into
account the balances available on the fiduciary accounts and the need to avoid excessive
balances on such amounts. In case the amounts on the fiduciary accounts are sufficient
to cover the contractually stipulated minimum reserve on the fiduciary accounts,
increased by the disbursement forecasts for the current financial year and the amounts
needed to exclude contingent liabilities in relation to out-currency payment obligations,
no further payment to the fiduciary accounts will be made. Disbursement forecasts are
to be provided on an annual or, where appropriate, on a semi-annual basis.
-
56.The Commission shall submit annually a comprehensive and detailed report annually to the
European Parliament and the Council on the activities supported by. The report shall
include, for each financial instruments, supported:
(a) an identification of the financial instrument and the basic act;
(b) a description of the financial instrument, implementation arrangements and the
added value of the Union contribution;
(c) on the financial institutions involved in their implementation, including any issues
relating to the application of paragraph 4; -
(g) the additional resources, including interest, capital resources paid back to the
financial instrument, guarantee fees, dividends, capital gains or any other income
receipts attributable to the support from the Union budget;
(h) the value of equity investments, with respect to previous years;
(i)
the accumulated figures on impairments of assets of equity/risk-sharing
instruments, and on called guarantees for guarantee instruments;
(j)
the target leverage effect, and the achieved one;
(k) the contribution of the financial instrument to the achievement of the objectives of
the programme concerned as measured by the established indicators, including,
where applicable, the geographical diversification.
6a. Where the European Parliament and/or the Council consider that a financial instrument
has not achieved its objectives effectively, they may request that the Commission submit
a proposal for a revised basic act with a view to discontinue appropriations for that
financial instrument or, where appropriate, with a view to the winding down of the
instrument. In such an event, any new revenue of such financial instrument pursuant to
the second subparagraph of paragraph 5 shall be considered as general revenue.
7.
The purpose of the financial instruments and, where applicable, their specific legal form
and legal place of registration shall be published on the Commission website.
9. The Commission shall ensure a harmonised management of financial instruments in
particular in the area of accounting, reporting, monitoring and financial risk
management.
-
10.
The Commission may determine details for the implementation of financial instruments
in the delegated act referred to Article 199.1
TITLE IX
PRESENTATION OF THE ACCOUNTS AND ACCOUNTING
CHAPTER 1
PRESENTATION OF THE ACCOUNTS
Article 132
Structure of the Union accounts
The Union accounts shall comprise:
(a) the consolidated financial statements, which present the consolidation of the financial
information contained in the financial statements of the institutions financed by the budget,
those of the bodies referred to in Article 200 and of other bodies whose accounts must be
consolidated in accordance with Union accounting rules;
Article 133
Report on budgetary and financial management
1.
Each institution and body referred to in Article 132 shall prepare a report on budgetary and
financial management of the financial year.
They shall send the report to the European Parliament and the Council and the Court of
Auditors, by 31 March following the financial year.
2.
The report referred to in paragraph 1 shall give an account, both in absolute terms and
expressed as a percentage, at least, of the rate of implementation of the appropriations
together with summary information on the transfers of appropriations among the various
budget items.
Article 134
Rules governing the accounts
The accounting officer of the Commission shall adopt rules based on internationally accepted
accounting standards for the public sector. The accounting officer may diverge from these if he
considers this necessary to give a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities, charges, income and
cash flow. Where an accounting rule diverges materially from these standards, the notes to the
financial statements shall disclose this fact and the reasons for it.
The budgetary accounts referred to in Article 132 shall comply with the budgetary principles laid
Article 136
Financial statements
-
1.The financial statements shall be presented in millions of euro and shall comprise:
(a) the balance sheet and the statement of financial performance, which represent the all
assets and liabilities1 and financial situation and the economic result at 31 December of
the previous year; they shall be presented in accordance with the structure laid down by
the Directives of the European Parliament and of the Council on the annual accounts of
certain types of companies, but with account being taken of the specific nature of the
Union's activities relevant accounting rules adopted by the Accounting Officer of
the Commission;
(b) the cash-flow statement showing amounts collected and disbursed during the year and
the final treasury position;
(c) the statement of changes in net assets presenting an overview of the movements during
the year in reserves and accumulated results.
-
2.The notes to the financial statements shall supplement and comment on the information
presented in the statements referred to in paragraph 1 and shall supply all the additional
information prescribed by internationally accepted accounting practice where such
Article 137
Budgetary implementation reports
The budgetary implementation reports shall be presented in millions of euro. They shall comprise:
(a) the budget implementation reports, which aggregate all budgetary operations for the year in
terms of revenue and expenditure;
(b) the notes to the budget implementation reports, which shall supplement and comment on the
information given in the reports.
The structure in which budget implementation reports are presented shall be the same as that of the
budget itself.
Article 138
Provisional accounts
The accounting officers of the other institutions and bodies referred to in Article 132 shall send to
the accounting officer of the Commission and to the Court of Auditors by 1 March of the following
year at the latest their provisional accounts.
The accounting officers of the other institutions and bodies referred to in Article 132 shall also send
Article 139
Approval of the final consolidated accounts
1.
The Court of Auditors shall, by the 1st of June at the latest, make its observations on the
provisional accounts of other institutions and each body referred to in Article 132, and by
15 June at the latest, make its observations on the provisional accounts of the Commission
and the consolidated Union provisional accounts.
2.
The institutions other than the Commission, and each of the bodies referred to in Article 132,
shall draw up their final accounts and send them to the accounting officer of the Commission,
the Court of Auditors, the European Parliament and the Council by 1 July of the following
year at the latest with a view to drawing up the final consolidated accounts.
The accounting officers of the other institutions and bodies referred to in Article 132 shall
also send by 1 July of the following year at the latest, a reporting package to the accounting
officer of the Commission, in a standardized format as laid down by the accounting officer of
the Commission for consolidation purposes.
3.
The accounting officer of each institution and body referred to in Article 132 shall also send
to the Court of Auditors, with copy to the accounting officer of the Commission, at the same
date as the transmission of his final accounts, a representation letter covering these final
accounts.
The final accounts shall be accompanied by a note established by the accounting officer, by
-
5.After approving the final consolidated accounts and its own final accounts, the Commission
shall send them both to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors by
31 July of the following financial year.
By the same date, the accounting officer of the Commission shall transmit a representation
letter covering the final consolidated accounts to the Court of Auditors.
-
6.The final consolidated accounts shall be published in the Official Journal of the European
Union together with the statement of assurance given by the Court of Auditors in accordance
with Article 287 TFEU and Article 160c of the Euratom Treaty by 15 November of the
following financial year.
CHAPTER 2
INFORMATION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET
Article 140
Report on the budgetary guarantees and risks
In addition to the statements provided for in Articles 136 and 137, the Commission shall report to
the European Parliament and to the Council twice once a year on budgetary guarantees referred to
in point (d) of Article 46(1) and the corresponding risks.
These figures shall also provide details of the utilisation of appropriations carried over.
The figures shall be sent within 10 working days following the end of each month.
-
2.Three times a year, within the 30 working days following 31 May, 31 August and
31 December, the Commission's accounting officer shall send to the European Parliament and
to the Council a report on the implementation of the budget, covering both revenue and
expenditure broken down by chapter, article and item.
Thiese reports shall also provide details of the utilisation of appropriations carried over from
previous financial years.
-
3.The figures and the report on implementation of the budget shall at the same time be sent to
the Court of Auditors and published on the Internet.
3a. By 15 September of each year, the accounting officer shall send to the European
Parliament and to the Council a report containing information on current risks noted,
general trends observed, new accounting issues encountered, progress on accounting
matters, including those raised by the Court of Auditors, and information on recoveries. -
CHAPTER 3
-
2.The accounts shall consist of general accounts and budgetary accounts. These accounts shall
be kept in euro on the basis of the calendar year.
-
3.Notwithstanding paragraph 2, the authorising officer by delegation may keep analytical
accounts.
Article 143
Common provision to the institutions' accounting system
-
1.The accounting officer of the Commission shall, in accordance with Article 134, after
consulting the accounting officers of the other institutions and bodies referred to in Article 132,
adopt the accounting rules and the harmonised chart of accounts to be applied by all the
institutions financed by the budget, the offices referred to in Title V of Part Two and all the
bodies referred to in Article 132.
-
2.When adopting the rules and methods referred to in paragraph 1, the accounting officer of the
Commission shall be guided by the internationally accepted accounting standards for the public
sector but may depart from them where justified by the specific nature of the Union's activities.
SECTION 2
Article 145
Entries in the accounts
-
1.Movements on the accounts and the balances shall be entered in the accounting ledgers.
-
2.All accounting entries, including adjustments to the accounts, shall be based on supporting
documents, to which they shall refer.
-
3.The accounting system must be such as to leave a clear audit trail for all accounting entries.
Article 146
Accounting adjustments
The accounting officer shall, after the close of the budgetary year and up to the date of presentation
of the accounts, make any adjustments which, without involving disbursement or collection in
respect of that year, are necessary for a true and fair presentation of the accounts which complies
with the Union's accounting rules.
SECTION 3
Budgetary accounts
CHAPTER 4
PROPERTY INVENTORIES
Article 148
The inventory
-
1.Each institution and each body referred to in Article 132 shall keep inventories showing the
quantity and value of all the Union's tangible, intangible and financial assets in accordance
with a model drawn up by the accounting officer of the Commission.
Each institution and each body referred to in Article 132 shall check that entries in the
inventory correspond to the actual situation.
-
2.The sale of property shall be suitably advertised.
TITLE X
EXTERNAL AUDIT AND DISCHARGE
CHAPTER 1
EXTERNAL AUDIT
-
3.The Court of Auditors shall be informed of the appointment of authorising officers, internal
auditors, accounting officers and imprest administrators and of delegation decisions under
Articles 53, 65, 66, 67 and 92.
Article 150
Rules and procedure on the audit
-
1.The examination by the Court of Auditors of whether all revenue has been received and all
expenditure incurred in a lawful and proper manner shall have regard to the provisions of the
Treaties, the budget, this Regulation, the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199 and
all other acts adopted pursuant to the Treaties.
-
2.In the performance of its task, the Court of Auditors shall be entitled to consult, in the manner
provided for in Article 152, all documents and information relating to the financial
management of departments or bodies with regard to operations financed or co-financed by
the Union. It shall have the power to make enquiries of any official responsible for a revenue
or expenditure operation and to use any of the auditing procedures appropriate to the
aforementioned departments or bodies. The audit in the Member States shall be carried out in
conjunction liaison with the national audit institutions or, where they do not have the
necessary powers, with the competent national departments responsible. The Court of
Auditors and the national audit bodies institutions of the Member States shall cooperate in a
spirit of trust while maintaining their independence.
-
3.In order to perform its task, the Court of Auditors shall notify the institutions and authorities
to which this Regulation applies of the names of the members of its staff who are empowered
to audit them.
Article 151
Checks on securities and cash
The Court of Auditors shall ensure that all securities and cash on deposit or in hand are checked
against vouchers signed by the depositories or against official memoranda of cash and securities
held. It may carry out such checks itself.
Article 152
Court of Auditors' right of access
1.
The Commission, the other institutions, the bodies administering revenue or expenditure on
the Union's behalf and the final recipients of payments from the budget shall afford the Court
of Auditors all the facilities and give it all the information which the Court of Auditors
considers necessary for the performance of its task. They shall place at the disposal of the
Court of Auditors all documents concerning the award and performance of contracts financed
by the budget and all accounts of cash or materials, all accounting records or supporting
documents, and also administrative documents relating thereto, all documents relating to
revenue and expenditure, all inventories, all organisation charts of departments, which the
Court of Auditors considers necessary for auditing the budgetary and financial outturn report
-
2.The officials whose operations are checked by the Court of Auditors shall:
(a) show their records of cash in hand, any other cash, securities and materials of all kinds,
and also the supporting documents in respect of their stewardship of the funds with
which they are entrusted, and also any books, registers and other documents relating
thereto;
(b) present the correspondence and any other document required for the full implementation
of the audit referred to in Article 150(1).
The information supplied under point (b) may be requested only by the Court of Auditors.
-
3.The Court of Auditors shall be empowered to audit the documents in respect of the revenue
and expenditure of the Union which are held by the departments of the institutions and, in
particular, by the departments responsible for decisions in respect of such revenue and
expenditure, the bodies administering revenue or expenditure on the Union's behalf and the
natural or legal persons receiving payments from the budget.
-
4.The task of establishing that the revenue has been received and the expenditure incurred in a
lawful and proper manner and that the financial management has been sound shall extend to
the utilisation, by bodies outside the institutions, of Union funds received by way of grants.
Article 153
Annual report of the Court of Auditors
-
1.The Court of Auditors shall transmit to the Commission and the institutions concerned by
30 June at the latest, any observations which are, in its opinion, such that they should appear
in the annual report. These observations must remain confidential and are subject to a
contradictory procedure. Each institution shall address its reply to the Court of Auditors by
15 October at the latest. The replies of institutions other than the Commission shall be sent to
the Commission at the same time.
-
2.The annual report shall contain an assessment of the soundness of financial management.
-
3.The annual report shall contain a section for each institution. The Court of Auditors may add
any summary report or general observations which it sees fit to make.
The Court of Auditors shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the replies of each
institution to its observations are published next to or after each observation to which they
relate.
-
4.The Court of Auditors shall transmit to the authorities responsible for giving discharge and to
the other institutions, by 15 November at the latest, its annual report accompanied by the
replies of the institutions and shall ensure publication thereof in the Official Journal of the
Article 154
Special reports of the Court of Auditors
-
1.The Court of Auditors shall transmit to the institution or the body concerned any observations
which are, in its opinion, such that they should appear in a special report. These observations
must remain confidential and are subject to an contradictory procedure.
The institution or the body concerned shall have two-and-a half months within which to
inform the Court of Auditors of any replies it wishes to make on those observations.
The Court of Auditors shall adopt the definitive version of the special report the following
month upon the receipt of the replies made by the institution or the body concerned.
The special reports, together with the replies of the institutions or bodies concerned, shall be
transmitted without delay to the European Parliament and the Council, each of which shall
decide, where appropriate in conjunction with the Commission, what action is to be taken in
response.
The Court of Auditors shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the replies of each
institution or body concerned to its observations are published together with the report.
CHAPTER 2
DISCHARGE
Article 156
Timetable of the discharge procedure
-
1.The European Parliament, upon a recommendation from the Council acting by a qualified
majority, shall, before 15 May of year n + 2 give a discharge to the Commission in respect of
the implementation of the budget for year n .
-
2.If the date provided for in paragraph 1 cannot be met, the European Parliament or the Council
shall inform the Commission of the reasons for the postponement.
-
3.If the European Parliament postpones the decision giving a discharge, the Commission shall
make every effort to take measures, as soon as possible, to remove or facilitate removal of the
obstacles to that decision.
Article 157
The discharge procedure
-
1.The discharge decision shall cover the accounts of all the Union's revenue and expenditure,
the resulting balance and the assets and liabilities of the Union shown in the balance sheet.
-
3.The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, at the latter's request, any
information required for the smooth application of the discharge procedure for the financial
year concerned, in accordance with Article 319 TFEU.1 -
Article 158
Follow-up measures
-
1.In accordance with Article 319 TFEU and Article 180b of the Euratom Treaty, the
Commission and the other institutions shall take all appropriate steps to act on the
observations accompanying the European Parliament's discharge decision and on the
comments accompanying the recommendation for discharge adopted by the Council.
-
2.At the request of the European Parliament or the Council, the institutions shall report on the
measures taken in the light of these observations and comments, and, in particular, on the
instructions they have given to those of their departments which are responsible for the
implementation of the budget. The Member States shall cooperate with the Commission by
informing it of the measures they have taken to act on these observations so that the
Commission may take them into account when drawing up its own report. The reports from
the institutions shall also be transmitted to the Court of Auditors.
Article 159
Specific provisions regarding the EEAS
The EEAS shall be fully subject to the procedures provided for in Article 319 TFEU and in
Articles 156, 157 and 158 of this Regulation. The EEAS shall fully cooperate with the institutions
involved in the discharge procedure and provide, as appropriate, any additional necessary
information, including through attendance at meetings of the relevant bodies.
PART TWO
SPECIAL PROVISIONS
TITLE I
EUROPEAN AGRICULTURAL GUARANTEE FUND
Article 160
Special provisions on the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund
1.
Parts One and Three shall apply to expenditure effected by the authorities and bodies referred
to in the rules relating to the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF), and to revenue,
except as otherwise provided in this title.
-
2.Operations managed directly by the Commission shall be implemented in accordance with the
rules laid down in Parts One and Three.
-
3.Non-committed appropriations relating to the actions referred to in Article 3(1) of Regulation
(EC) No 1290/2005 may be carried over to the next financial year only.
Such carryover shall not exceed, within a limit of 2 % of the initial appropriations referred to
in the first subparagraph, the amount of the adjustment of direct payments referred to in
Article 11 of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/20091 and which was applied during the last
financial year.
Appropriations which are carried over shall be returned exclusively to the budgetary lines
which cover the actions referred to in point (c) of Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC)
No 1290/2005.
Such carryover may lead to an additional payment only to the final recipients who have been
subject, in the last financial year, to the adjustment of direct payments in accordance with
Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.
The carryover decision shall be taken, at the latest on 15 February of the year to which the
carryover is being made, by the Commission, which shall inform the European Parliament and
the Council.
Article 162
Global provisional commitments of EAGF appropriations
-
3.As from 15 November, routine management expenditure for the EAGF may be committed in
advance against the appropriations provided for the following financial year. Such
commitments may not, however, exceed three quarters of the total corresponding
appropriations for the current financial year. They may apply only to expenditure for which
the principle is laid down in an existing basic act.
Article 163
Schedule and timing of budgetary commitments of EAGF funds
-
1.Expenditure effected by the authorities and bodies referred to in the rules relating to the
EAGF shall, within two months following receipt of the statements sent in by Member States,
be the subject of a commitment by chapter, article and item. Such commitment may be made
after the elapse of that two-month period whenever a procedure for a transfer of
appropriations concerning the relevant budget lines is necessary. Except where payment has
not yet been made by the Member States or where eligibility is in doubt, the amounts shall be
charged as payments within the same two-month period.
This budgetary commitment shall be deducted from the global provisional commitment
referred to in Article 162.
-
2.Global provisional commitments which have been made for a financial year and which have
not given rise to commitment on specific lines in the budget nomenclature by 1 February of
Article 164
Accounting of EAGF funds
In budgetary accounting, expenditure shall be booked to the accounts for a financial year on the
basis of the repayments made by the Commission to the Member States by 31 December of the year
concerned at the latest, provided that the payment order has reached the accounting officer by
31 January of the following financial year at the latest.
Article 165
Transfer of EAGF appropriations
-
1.Where the Commission may transfer appropriations pursuant to Article 23(1), it shall take its
decision by 31 January of the following financial year at the latest and shall inform the
European Parliament and the Council as provided for in Article 23(1).
-
2.In cases other than those referred to in paragraph 1, the Commission shall submit transfer
proposals to the European Parliament and the Council by 10 January of the following
financial year at the latest.
The European Parliament and the Council shall take decisions on such transfers in accordance
with the procedure provided for in Article 24, but within a time limit of three weeks.
TITLE II
STRUCTURAL FUNDS, COHESION FUND, EUROPEAN FISHERIES FUND,
EUROPEAN AGRICULTURAL FUND FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND FUNDS IN
THE AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY AND JUSTICE MANAGED IN SHARED
MANAGEMENT
Article 167
Special provisions
-
1.Parts One and Three shall apply to expenditure effected by the authorities and bodies referred
to in Regulation (EC) No 1290 1698/2005 on European Agricultural Fund for Rural
Development1, Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council
on the European Regional Development Fund2, Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 of the
European Parliament and of the Council on the European Social Fund3, Council Regulation
(EC) No 1083/2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development
Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund4, Council Regulation (EC)
No 1084/2006 on the Cohesion Fund5, Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 on the
European Fisheries Fund6 and funds in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice including
the Funds under the "Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows" Programme,
managed in shared management pursuant to Article 56, (the "Funds"), and to their revenue,
except as otherwise provided in this title.
Article 168
Respect of the allocations of commitment appropriations
The European Parliament and the Council undertake to respect the allocations of commitment
appropriations provided for in the relevant basic acts for structural operations, rural development
and the European Fisheries Fund.
Article 169
Payments of contributions, interim payments and repayments
-
1.Payment by the Commission of financial contributions from the Funds shall be made in
accordance with the regulations referred to in Article 167.
-
2.The time limit for interim payments by the Commission shall be laid down in accordance with
the regulations referred to in Article 167.
-
3.
In accordance with the regulations referred to in Article 167 the repayment in full or in
part of pre-financing payment in respect of a given operation shall not have the effect of
reducing the contribution from the funds to the operation concerned.
Amounts repaid shall constitute assigned revenue in accordance with point (c) of
5. In budgetary accounting, expenditure shall be booked to the accounts for a financial
year on the basis of reimbursements made by the Commission to the Member States by
31 December of the year concerned at the latest, including the expenditure charged by
31 January of the following financial year at the latest against the payment
appropriations made available in this month following the transfers referred to in
Article 171.
Article 170
Decommitment of appropriations
The Commission shall automatically decommit appropriations that have been committed as
provided for in the regulations referred to in Article 167.
The decommitted appropriations may be made available again in the event of a manifest error
attributable solely to the Commission.
To this end, the Commission shall examine decommitments made during the previous financial year
and decide, by 15 February of the current year, on the basis of requirements, whether it is necessary
to make the corresponding appropriations available again.
Article 171
2. In cases other than those referred to in paragraph 1, the Commission may submit
proposals for transfers to the Funds of payment appropriations to the European
Parliament and the Council by 10 January of the following financial year at the latest.
The transfer of the payment appropriations may be made from any item of the budget.
The European Parliament and the Council shall take decisions on such transfers in
accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 24, but within a time limit of
three weeks.
3.
If the transfer is not approved or only partially approved by the European Parliament
and the Council, the corresponding part of the expenditure referred to in Article 169(5)
shall be charged to the payment appropriations of the following financial year.
Article 172
Management, selection and audit
Aspects concerning tThe management and selection of projects and audit shall be governed by the
regulations referred to in Article 167.
TITLE III
RESEARCH
Article 173
-
2.The appropriations relating to the revenue generated by the Research Fund for Coal and Steel
established by the Protocol annexed to the TFEU on the financial consequences of the expiry
of the ECSC Treaty and on the Research Fund for Coal and Steel shall be treated as assigned
revenue within the meaning of Article 18. The commitment appropriations generated by this
revenue shall be made available as soon as the amount receivable has been estimated and the
payment appropriations as soon as the revenue has been received.
-
3.With regard to the operational expenditure referred to in this title, the Commission may make
transfers from one title to another, provided that the appropriations are used for the same
purpose.
-
4.Experts paid from the research and technological development appropriations shall be
recruited in accordance with the procedures laid down by the Council when it adopts each
research framework programme.
Article 174
Commitments of Research Fund
-
1.The commitment appropriations corresponding to the amount of the commitment
decommitted as a result of total or partial non-implementation of the projects relating to
research for which they were earmarked may, exceptionally and in duly substantiated cases,
be made available again where it is essential to carry out the programme originally planned,
-
3.The European Parliament and the Council shall decide on the Commission's proposals within
six weeks. Where no decision is taken within this time limit, the proposals shall be deemed to
be approved.
The amount of commitment appropriations to be made available again in year n shall in no
case exceed 25 % of the total amount decommitted on the same budget line in year n - 1 .
4.
Commitment appropriations made available again shall not be carried over.
Legal commitments relating to the commitment appropriations which have been made
available again shall be concluded by 31 December of year n .
At the end of year n , the unused balance of the commitment appropriations made available
again shall be definitively decommitted by the authorising officer responsible.
Article 175
Participation of the Joint Research Centre
-
1.The Joint Research Centre (JRC) may receive funding charged to appropriations entered
outside the titles and the chapters referred to in Article 173(1) in respect of its participation to
procurement and grant procedures following Titles V and VI of Part One, and financed in
whole or in part from the budget.
(c) activities undertaken under an administrative agreement with other institutions or other
Commission's departments for the provision of technical-scientific services
shall be treated as assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 18(2).
The commitment appropriations generated by revenue referred to in points (a) and (c) shall be
made available as soon as the amount receivable has been estimated.
For activities referred to in point (c), appropriations not used within five years shall be
cancelled.
The use of these appropriations shall be shown in a set of analytical accounts in the budgetary
outturn account for each category of action to which it relates; it shall be separate from
revenue originating from financing by third parties (public or private) and from revenue from
other services carried out by the Commission for third parties.
-
3.When participating in grants or tender procedures in accordance with paragraph 1, the JRC
shall not be subject to the conditions laid down in Article 100, points (b) and (c) of
Article 101, Articles 102, 103, 122(3) and 122(4) regarding provisions on exclusion and
sanctions in relation to procurements and grants.
The JRC shall also be presumed to meet the requirements on economic and financial capacity.
TITLE IV
EXTERNAL ACTIONS
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 176
External actions
-
1.Parts One and Three shall apply to external actions financed from the budget, except as
otherwise provided in this title.
-
2.The appropriations for the actions referred to in paragraph 1 shall be used by the Commission:
(a) either within the framework of aid granted on an autonomous basis;
(b) or in partnership with a third country referred to in point (i) of Article 55(1)(c), through
the signature of a financing agreement;
-
3.Where external actions are co-financed both from appropriations entered in the budget and
from external assigned revenue referred to in point (b) of Article 18(2) the funds which
remain unspent are not committed after the financial closure end of the contracting period
CHAPTER 2
IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIONS
Section 1
General provisions
Article 177
Implementation of external actions
The actions referred to in this title may be implemented directly by the Commission pursuant to
point (a) of Article 55(1), by shared management pursuant to point (b) of Article 55(1) or indirectly
by any of the entities or persons listed in point (c) of Article 55(1), in accordance with the relevant
provisions of Articles 55 to 60. Appropriations for external actions may be combined with funds
from other sources to achieve a joint objective.
Article 177a
Use of budget support
1. Where provided for in the relevant basic acts, the Commission may use budget support
within a third country if the beneficiary country's management of public finances is
sufficiently transparent, reliable and effective. -
3. The Commission includes in the corresponding financing agreement concluded in
accordance with point (b) of Article 176(2), the appropriate provisions following which
the concerned beneficiary country commits to immediately reimburse all or part of the
relevant operation funding, in the event that it is established that the payment of the
concerned Union funds has been vitiated by serious irregularities attributable to the
beneficiary country.
For processing the reimbursement referred to in the first subparagraph, Article 77(1)
concerning recovery by offsetting may be applied.
4. The Commission shall support the development of parliamentary control and audit
capacities and to increase transparency and public access to information.
Article 178
EU trust funds for external actions
-
1.For emergency or, post-emergency or thematic actions, the Commission may create EU
trust funds may be created together under an agreement concluded with two or more other
donors within the limits of the following provisions. The constitutive act of each EU trust
fund shall define its the objectives of the trust fund and may entail a financial agreement
They shall be implemented directly by the Commission pursuant to point (a) of
Article 55(1), with the exception of EU trust funds for emergency or post-emergency
actions, which may also be implemented indirectly by entrusting budget implementation
tasks to entities referred to in points (i), (ii) and (vi) of Article 55(1)(c).
-
3.EU trust funds shall comply with the following conditions:
(a) added value of the Union intervention, which means that: trust funds shall only be
created and implemented at Union level where their objectives, in particular by reason
of their scale or effects, can be better achieved at Union level than at national level;
(b) additionality, which means that: EU trust funds shall not overlap with other funding
channels aiming at similar objectives. EU thematic trust funds shall not aim at
replacing existing trust funds.
-
4.A board chaired by the Commission is shall be established for each EU trust fund to ensure
the representation of the donors and, as observers, of the other EU non contributing Member
States and to decide for the use of the funds.
-
5.EU trust funds are created for a limited duration determined in their constitutive act. This
duration may be extended by a decision of the Commission upon request of the board.
-
6.The contributions of the Union and the donors shall be entered into a specific bank account.
The contributions of the Union shall not be transferred to this account before their on the
basis of payment requests that are duly substantiated with disbursement is called for
forecast, taking into account the balances available on the account and the resulting
need for additional payments. Disbursement forecasts are to be provided on an annual
or where appropriate on a semi annual basis. These contributions are not integrated in the
budget and are managed by the Commission under the responsibility of the authorising officer
by delegation.
The accounting officer of a EU trust fund shall be the accounting officer of the Commission.
He shall be responsible for laying down accounting procedures and chart of accounts common
to all EU trust funds.
The Commission's internal auditor and the Court of Auditors shall exercise the same powers
over the trust fund as they do in respect of other actions carried out by the Commission.
The specific bank account shall be opened and closed by the accounting officer.
The Commission shall ensure a strict separation of duties between accountant and authorising
officers.
Funds shall be committed and paid by financial actors of the Commission.
8. The Commission shall submit its draft decisions concerning the creation, the extension
and the liquidation of a EU trust fund to the competent committee provided for in the
basic act under which the Union contribution to the EU trust fund is provided.1
-
89.Further detailed rules for the management, reporting and governance of these trust funds are
laid down in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199.
The Commission shall submit its draft decision concerning the creation of a EU trust fund to
the competent committee provided for in the basic act.
-
910.The Commission shall submit annually a comprehensive and detailed report to the European
Parliament and the Council on the activities supported by EU trust funds, on their
implementation and performance, as well as on their accounts. The Commission shall attach
its report to the synthesis report referred to in Article 63(7).
Section 3
Other management modes
Article 179
Implementation of external actions through indirect management
The implementation of actions implemented indirectly is subject to scrutiny by the Commission and
Article 180
Financing agreements on the implementation of external actions
1.
Actions carried out shall give rise to one or more of the following instruments:
(a)
an agreement between the Commission and an entity referred to in Article 177;
(b)
a contract or a grant agreement between the Commission and natural or legal persons
responsible for carrying out the actions.
The terms on which the external aid is given shall be laid down in the instrument by which the
agreements or the contracts or the grants provided for in points (a) and (b) shall be managed.
-
2.Financing agreements with the entities referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall be
concluded by 31 December of year n + 1 at the latest, year n being the one in which the
budgetary commitment was made.
The financing agreements shall lay down the period within which the entities referred to in
point (a) of paragraph 1 shall conclude all individual contracts and grants which implement
the action. Such period shall not be longer than three years following the date of conclusion of
the agreement, except:
(a)
for multi-donor actions;
-
3.Paragraph 2 shall not apply to the multiannual programmes that are implemented through split
commitments in the following cases:
(a) the transition assistance and institution building, the cross-border cooperation, regional
development, human resources development and rural development components of the
Pre-Accession Assistance,
(b) the cross-border cooperation component of the European Neighbourhood and
Partnership policy.
In these cases, the appropriations shall be automatically decommited by the Commission in
accordance with the sector-specific rules.
CHAPTER 3
PROCUREMENT
Article 181
External action procurement
-
1.The provisions of Chapter 1 of Title V of Part One relating to the general provisions on
procurement shall be applicable under direct and indirect management to contracts covered by
this title subject to the special provisions relating to thresholds and the arrangements for
-
3.The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to actions under sector-specific basic acts
relating to crisis management aid, to civil protection operations and to humanitarian aid
operations, as referred to in Article 118.
Article 182
Rules on participation in tender procedures
-
1.Participation in tendering procedures shall be open on equal terms to all persons coming
within the scope of the Treaties and to any other natural or legal person in accordance with the
specific provisions in the basic instruments governing the cooperation sector concerned.
-
2.In cases referred to in Article 51(5), it may be decided, under exceptional circumstances duly
motivated by the authorising officer, to allow third-country nationals other than those referred
to in paragraph 1 to tender for contracts.
-
3.Where an agreement on widening the market for procurement of goods or services to which
the Union is party applies, the contracts for procurement financed by the budget shall also be
open to third-country nationals other than those referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, under the
conditions laid down in this agreement.
CHAPTER 4
Article 184
Applicable rules for external action grants
Grant procedures to be applied in indirect management by the entities referred to in Article 177
shall be laid down in the agreements concluded between the Commission and those entities.
Article 185
Income generated by an action
The responsible authorising officer may deduct the income generated by an action from the profit
referred to in Article 117(4) where a generation of income was provided for in the grant agreement,
and the income in question does not exceed a certain amount as laid down in the delegated
Regulation referred to in Article 199, and it is reinvested to ensure the sustainability of the action.
CHAPTER 5
AUDITING OF ACCOUNTS
Article 186
EU audit in external action grants
Each agreement between the Commission and an entity referred to in Article 177, or grant
agreement or grant decision must expressly provide for the Commission and the Court of Auditors
to have the power of audit, on the basis of documents and on the spot, over all contractors and
subcontractors who have received Union funds.
-
2.This title shall apply to the operation of the European Anti-fraud Office, with the exception of
Articles 190, 191 and 192.
-
3.Parts One and Three shall apply to the operation of the European offices, except as otherwise
provided in this title.
Article 188
Appropriations regarding the offices
-
1.The appropriations for each European office, the total amount of which shall be entered in a
specific budget line within the section of the budget relating to the Commission, shall be set
out in detail in an Annex to that section.
The Annex shall take the form of a statement of revenue and expenditure, subdivided in the
same way as the sections of the budget.
The appropriations entered in that Annex shall cover all the financial requirements of each
European office in the performance of its duties on behalf of the institutions.
-
2.Each European office's establishment plan shall be annexed to that of the Commission.
Article 189
Authorising officer of the interinstitutional offices
The Commission shall, in respect of the appropriations entered in the Annex for each European
office, delegate the powers of authorising officer to the Director of the European office concerned,
in accordance with Article 62.
Article 190
The accounts of the interinstitutional Offices
-
1.Each interinstitutional European office shall draw up analytical accounts of its expenditure,
enabling the proportion of its services supplied to each of the institutions to be determined.
The Director of the European office concerned shall adopt, after approval by its Management
Committee, the criteria on which the accounting system shall be based.
-
2.The remarks concerning the specific budget line in which is entered the total appropriation for
each interinstitutional European office shall show an estimate of the cost of services supplied
by the office to each of the institutions. This shall be based on the analytical accounts
provided for in paragraph 1.
-
3.Each interinstitutional European office shall notify the institutions concerned of the results of
Article 192
Services to third parties
Should the remit of a European office involve supplies to third parties for pecuniary interest, its
Director shall, after approval of the Management Committee, lay down the specific provisions
governing how these supplies are to be made and the keeping of the corresponding accounts.
TITLE VI
ADMINISTRATIVE APPROPRIATIONS
Article 193
General provisions
Parts One and Three shall apply to administrative appropriations, except as otherwise provided in
this title.
Article 194
Commitments
-
1.As from 15 October of each year, routine administrative expenditure may be committed in
advance against the appropriations provided for the following financial year. Such
commitments may not, however, exceed one quarter of the appropriations decided by the
Article 195
Specific provisions regarding administrative appropriations
-
1.Administrative appropriations shall be non-differentiated appropriations.
-
2.Administrative expenditure arising from contracts covering periods that extend beyond the
financial year, either in accordance with local practice or relating to the supply of equipment,
shall be charged to the budget of the financial year in which it is effected.
-
3.The Each institutions1 shall request the approval of provide the European Parliament and the
Council as soon as possible for any building project likely to have significant financial
implications for the budget, as specified in the delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199
by 1 June each year with a working document on its building policy incorporating the
following information:
(a) for each building, expenditure and areas covered by the appropriations of the
corresponding budget lines;
(b) expected evolution of the global programming of areas and locations for the
coming years with a description of the building projects in planning phase which
4. For any building project likely to have significant financial implications for the budget,
the Institution shall inform the European Parliament and the Council as early as
possible about the building surface area required and provisional planning before any
prospecting of the local market in the case of building contracts or before invitations to
tender are issued or takes place, in the case of building works.
5.
For any building project likely to have significant financial implications for the budget,
the Institution shall present the building project including its detailed estimated costs
and its financing and request the approval of the European Parliament and the Council
before contracts are concluded. At the request of the institution, the draft contract shall
be treated confidentially.
Except in in urgent circumstances cases of force majeure , the European Parliament and the
Council shall deliberate upon the building project proposal, which shall include a list of the
draft contracts envisaged, within six four weeks of the date on which the two institutions
received it.
The building project proposal shall be deemed to be approved at the expiry of this six four-
week period, unless the European Parliament and/or the Council take a decision contrary to
the proposal within this period of time.
If the European Parliament and/or the Council raise duly substantiated concerns within
that four-week period, that period shall be extended once by two weeks.
7. Building projects likely to have significant financial implications for the budget are:
(i) any acquisition of land;
(ii) the acquisition, sale, structural renovation works, construction of buildings or any
project combining these elements to be implemented in the same timeframe,
exceeding EUR 3 million;
(iii) any new building contract (including usufructs and long-term leases) not covered by
point (ii) with an annual charge of at least EUR 750 000;
(iv) the renewal of existing building contracts (including usufruct and long term leases)
with an annual charge of at least EUR 3 million, except where the building project
is renewed under the same or more favourable conditions.
Points (i) to (iv) apply also to building projects which have an interinstitutional nature,
as well as to EU delegations.
8. Building projects may, by way of derogation from Article 14, be financed through a loan
to be contracted by the proposing institution on behalf of the Union.
All loan-financed building projects shall be submitted to the European Parliament and
TITLE VII
EXPERTS
Article 196
Experts
The delegated Regulation referred to in Article 199 shall include a specific procedure for the
selection of natural persons as experts, for assisting the institutions in the evaluation of grant
applications, projects and tenders, and for providing opinion and advice in specific cases. These
persons shall be paid on the basis of a fixed amount announced in advance and shall be chosen on
the basis of their professional capacity. The selection shall be done on the basis of selection criteria
respecting the principles of non-discrimination, equal treatment and absence of conflict of interests.
PART THREE
FINAL PROVISIONS
[Article 197 1
Transitional provisions
-
1.The Funds referred to in Article 167(1) for which the basic acts were repealed before the date
of application of this Regulation, appropriations which were decommitted in application of
Article 170 may be made available again in the case of a manifest error attributable solely to
-
2.For transfers of appropriations concerning operational expenditure referred to in Regulation
(EC) No 1260/1999, Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005, Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006,
Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006, Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006, Regulation (EC)
No 1084/2006 and Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 for the 2000 to 2006 programming period,
for which Union payments still have to be made for the financial settlement of outstanding
Union commitments until the closure of the assistance, the Commission may make transfers
from one title to another, provided that the appropriations concerned are for the same
objective or relate to Union initiatives or to technical assistance and innovative measures and
are transferred to measures of the same nature.]
Article 198
Information requests by the European Parliament and the Council
The European Parliament and the Council shall be empowered to obtain any information or
explanations regarding budgetary matters within their fields of competence.
Article 199 1
Adoption of the detailed rules for the application of this Regulation
The Commission shall adopt a delegated Regulation on detailed rules for the application of this
Regulation in accordance with Articles 202, 203 and 204.
The delegated Regulation shall include rules on the implementation of administrative expenditure
2. The delegation of power referred to in Articles [5, 8, 9, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27,
30, 31, 34, 38, 41, 46, 50, 51, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 63, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77,
77b, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103,
104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 117a, 118, 119, 120,
122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 126a, 126c, 127, 133, 135, 136, 137, 139, 142, 145, 147, 148, 173,
175, 176, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 187, 188, 191, 193, 195, 196, 197] shall be
conferred on the Commission for a period of [3] years from [XX]1. The Commission
shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months
before the end of the X-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended
for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council
opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.
3. The delegation of power referred to in Articles [5, 8, 9, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27,
30, 31, 34, 38, 41, 46, 50, 51, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 63, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77,
77b, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103,
104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 117a, 118, 119, 120,
122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 126a, 126c, 127, 133, 135, 136, 137, 139, 142, 145, 147, 148, 173,
175, 176, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 187, 188, 191, 193, 195, 196, 197] may be
revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision of
revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It
shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal
of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity
5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Articles [5, 8, 9, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 30,
31, 34, 38, 41, 46, 50, 51, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 63, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77, 77b,
78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104,
105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 117a, 118, 119, 120, 122,
123, 124, 125, 126, 126a, 126c, 127, 133, 135, 136, 137, 139, 142, 145, 147, 148, 173, 175,
176, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 187, 188, 191, 193, 195, 196 or 197] shall enter into
force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the
Council within a period of [2 months] of notification of that act to the European
Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European
Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not
object. That period shall be extended by [2 months] at the initiative of the European
Parliament or the Council.
Article 200
Framework financial regulation for agencies and bodies set up under the TFEU and the Euratom
Treaty
-
1.The Commission shall adopt a A framework financial regulation shall be adopted by means
of a delegated act in accordance with Articles 202, 203 and 204 for bodies which are set up
under the TFEU and the Euratom Treaty and which have legal personality and receive
contributions charged to the budget by means of a delegated act in accordance with Articles
The financial rules of those bodies may not depart from the framework financial regulation
except where their specific needs so require and with the Commission's prior consent. Such
exception may not concern the budgetary principles referred to in Title II of Part One, the
principle of equality of treatment of operators, and specific provisions set out in the basic acts
establishing such bodies.
-
2.Discharge for the implementation of the budgets of the bodies referred to in paragraph 1, shall
be given by the European Parliament on the recommendation of the Council. The bodies
referred to in paragraph 1 shall fully cooperate with the institutions involved in the
discharge procedure and provide, as appropriate, the additional necessary information,
including through attendance at meetings of the relevant bodies.
-
3.The Commission's internal auditor shall exercise the same powers over the bodies referred to
in paragraph 1 as he does in respect of the Commission departments.
-
4.Unless otherwise provided for in the basic act Each of the bodies referred to in paragraph 1
shall appoint by contract, after consultation of, the Court of Auditors, shall examine the
legality and regularity of the revenue and expenditure of this body before its accounts
are consolidated with the Commission's accounts. This examination shall rely on the
audit report established by an independent external auditor designated by the body and
whose mission is to verify the conformity of the body's accounts with Article 134 and to
undertake an analysis, under the direction of the Court of Auditors, of the legality and
Article 201
Model Financial Regulation for public-private partnership bodies
The bodies having legal personality set up by a basic act and entrusted with the implementation of a
public-private partnership pursuant to point (v) of Article 55(1)(c)shall adopt their financial rules.
Those rules shall include a set of principles necessary to ensure sound financial management of
Union funds. These principles shall be laid down in a model financial regulation adopted by the
Commission, by means of a delegated act in accordance with Articles 202, 203 and 204, and be
based on Article 57.
The financial rules of those bodies may not depart from the model financial regulation except
where their specific needs so require and with the Commission's prior consent.
Article 202
Exercise of the delegation
-
1.The powers to adopt the delegated act referred to in Articles 199, 200 and 201 shall be
conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time.
-
2.As soon as it adopts this delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the
European Parliament and to the Council.
Article 203
Revocation of the delegation
1.
The delegation of power referred to in Article 199 may be revoked at any time by the
European Parliament or by the Council.
2.
The institution which has commenced an internal procedure for deciding whether to revoke
the delegation of power shall inform the other institution and the Commission within a
reasonable time before the final decision is taken, indicating the delegated powers which
could be subject to revocation and possible reasons for a revocation.
3.
The decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the powers specified in that
decision. It shall take effect immediately or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect
the validity of the delegated acts already in force. It shall be published in the Official Journal
of the European Union .
Article 204
Objections to delegated acts
1.
The European Parliament and the Council may object to the delegated act within a period of
two months from the date of notification. At the initiative of the European Parliament or the
Council this period shall be extended by one two months.
Article 205
Review
This Regulation shall be reviewed whenever it proves necessary to do so, and in any case at
the latest two years before the end of the multiannual financial framework.
The Commission may amend, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 202, all
the thresholds and amounts laid down in this Regulation, without prejudice to Article 112.1
Article 206
Repeal
Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 is repealed.
However, Article 53b of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/20022 shall continue to apply to all
commitments made before 31 December 2013 of funds referred to in Article 167.
References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall
be read in accordance with the correlation table in the Annex.
Article 207
[Article 208 1
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the
Official Journal of the European Union .
It shall apply as of [1 January 2012].
Article 56 shall apply only to commitments made as of 1 January 2014 of funds referred to in
Article 167.
Article 79 shall apply as of 1 January 2014.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States.]
Done at [...], -
For the European Parliament For the Council -
The President The President
| publicatiedatum | 25-05-2012 |
|---|---|
| kenmerk | 10256/12 ADD 1 |
