1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COMMISSIONREGULATION(EURATOM,ECSC,EC)No3418/93
of9December 1993
layingdowndetailedrulesfortheimplementationofcertainprovisionsoftheFinancialRegulation
of21December 1977
(OJ L 315, 16.12.1993, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Commission Decision 97/594/ECSC, EC, Euratom of 30 July 1997 L 239 54 30.8.1997
►M2Commission Decision 98/539/EC, ECSC, Euratom of 7 September 1998 L 252 67 12.9.1998
►M3Commission Decision 1999/537/EC, ECSC, Euratom of 23 July 1999 L 206 24 5.8.1999
►M4Commission Decision 2000/716/EC of 16 November 2000 L 290 52 17.11.2000
►M5Commission Decision 2001/642/EC of 21 August 2001 L 226 7 22.8.2001
►M6Commission Regulation (EC) No 1687/2001 of 21 August 2001 L 228 8 24.8.2001
NB: This consolidated version contains references to the European unit of account and/or the ecu, which from 1 January 1999
should be understood as references to the euro — Council Regulation (EEC) No 3308/80 (OJ L 345, 20.12.1980, p. 1) andCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).
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COMMISSIONREGULATION(EURATOM,ECSC,EC)No3418/
93
of9December 1993
laying down detailed rules for the implementation of certain
provisionsoftheFinancial Regulationof21December1977
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and SteelCommunity,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European AtomicEnergy
Community,
Having regard to the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977
applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(
1), as last
amended by Council Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EEC) No 610/90(2),
and in particular Article 126 thereof,
After consulting the European Parliament and the Council,
Having regard to the opinions of the Court of Justice, the Court of
Auditors and the Economic and Social Committee,
Whereas certain provisions of Articles 11, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 36, 37,
38, 41, 45, 46, 49, 53, 54, 56, 58, 59, 60, 63, 64a, 65, 66, 70, 70a, 75, 94,
97 and 123 of the Financial Regulation explicitly provide that detailedrules will be drawn up for their implementation;
Whereas Commission Regulation 86/610/EEC, Euratom, ECSC(
3)
requires a number of changes, in particular as a result of the revision
of the Financial Regulation;
Whereas implementing rules should be laid down to clarify the treatment
of certain contributions by third parties to Community activities;
Whereas it would be clearer and more rational to incorporate all the
implementing rules in force in one text and to repeal Regulation 86/610/
EEC, Euratom, ECSC;
Whereas the drawing-up of the rules in question does not preclude the
drawing-up at a later date of other implementing rules for which no
formal provision is made in the Financial Regulation but which might
subsequently appear appropriate,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
TITLE I
EVALUATIONOFEXPENDITURE
(Article 2 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 1
1. Proposals for all new programmes and actions occasioning
expenditure from the general budget of the European Communities
shall be the subject of an ex anteevaluation, which shall identify:
(a) the need to be met in the short or long term;
(b) the objectives to be realised;
(c) the results expected and the indicators needed to measure them;1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 2
(1) OJ No L 356, 31. 12. 1977, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 70, 16. 3. 1990, p. 1.
(3) OJ No L 360, 19. 12. 1986, p. 1.▼M6
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(d) the added value of Community involvement;
(e) the risks, including fraud, linked with the proposals and the
alternative options available;
(f) the lessons learned from similar experiences in the past;
(g) the volume of appropriations, human resources and other adminis-
trative expenditure to be allocated with due regard to the cost-effectiveness principle;
(h) the monitoring system to be set up.
2. All programmes or actions shall then be the subject of an ex post
evaluation in terms of the human and financial resources allocated andthe results obtained in order to verify that they were in keeping with theobjectives set.
3. The results obtained in carrying out a multiannual programme shall
be periodically evaluated in accordance with a timetable which will
allow the findings of this evaluation to be taken into account for anydecision on the continuation, modification or suspension of theprogramme.
Actions financed on an annual basis shall have their results evaluated at
least every six years.
TITLE Ia
CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE ►M6 EURO ◄IS TO BE
APPLIEDTOREVENUEANDEXPENDITURE
(Article 11 (4) of the Financial Regulation)
Article 1
Conversions between the ►M6EURO◄and national currencies shall
as a rule be made at the daily ►M6EURO◄rate published in the
Official Journal of the European Communities . However, for accounting
purposes provided for in Articles 69 to 72 of the Financial Regulation,
pursuant to Article 11 (4) of the Financial Regulation, conversion
between the ►M6EURO◄and national currencies shall be made at
the monthly ►M6EURO◄rates calculated on the basis of the rate on
the penultimate working day of the month preceding that for which therates are established.
Article 1a
1. The Commission shall determine the rate of the euro against each
of the currencies which the institutions have to use for the implementa-tion of the budget on the basis of the reference exchange ratesestablished by the European Central Bank and published in the Official
Journal of the European Communities .
2. Conversions between the euro and national currencies shall be
made at the daily euro rate published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities . However, for the accounting purposes provided
for in Articles 69 to 72 of the Financial Regulation, pursuant to Article11(4) of the Financial Regulation, conversion between the euro andnational currencies shall be made at the monthly euro rates calculated on
the basis of the rate on the penultimate working day of the month
preceding that for which the rates are established.
3. The Commission shall use any source of information it considers
reliable when determining the rate of the euro against currencies forwhich the daily rate is not published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities .1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 3
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Article 2
Where commitment proposals and debt establishments are drawn up in a
national currency, they shall be converted into ►M6EURO◄in
accordance with the rule laid down in ►M6Article 1a ◄.
The corresponding payment order and the recovery order must be drawn
up in the same currency.
The balance, expressed in ►M6EURO◄, of a commitment or of an
established entitlement in a national currency shall be revalued everymonth when the statement of the budgetary accounts is established. Thefinal revaluation of the balance of commitments for the financial yearshall be made at the December rate; the balance of established
entitlements shall be revalued at the rate of 31 December for the
purposes of drawing up the balance sheet.
In addition, these balances may also be revalued in the course of a
month if there has been a currency realignment.
Article 3
By way of derogation from the provisions of ►
M6Article 1a ◄, the
rate to be used for the month ‘n’ for which statements of expenditure outof advances financed by the EAGGF Guarantee Section are madepursuant to Article 3 (5) of ►
M6Commission Regulation (EC) No
296/96◄(1), shall be that of the tenth day of the month ‘n + 1’ or the
first preceding day for which a general quotation is available.
This rate shall also be used for the corresponding advances laid down in
Articles 4 and 5 of ►M6Commission Regulation (EC) No 296/96 ◄.
The differences in national currency between the financial resources
made available to the Member States for month ‘n’ and the expenditureentered in the accounts for the same month shall be reconverted into►
M6EURO◄at the rate on the tenth day of the month ‘n + 2’.
Article 4
The December rates of the ►M6EURO◄shall be used to calculate
the commitments outstanding at the end of the financial year and, in thecase of non-differentiated appropriations, to determine the appropria-
tions to be carried over.
Payments made in respect of a given financial year between the first and
15th day of January of the following year shall be entered in theaccounts, for budget purposes, at the December rate of the►
M6EURO◄.
Article 5
Payments against outstanding commitments under non-differentiated
appropriations shall be made, for the equivalent of the amounts carriedover, in national currencies or in ►
M6EURO◄; payments shall be
entered in the accounts at the rates in force at the time of payment. Any
payments made in excess of the appropriations carried over for each
budget heading shall be taken into account when the balance for the yearis being calculated in accordance with Article 15 of Council Regulation(EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89(
2).
In the case of differentiated appropriations, the adjustments of
commitments outstanding from earlier years worked out at the time of
the revaluations shall be entered in the budget accounts and included in
the table in the revenue and expenditure account recording paymentsagainst commitments from previous financial years.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 4
(1) OJ No L 249, 8. 9. 1988, p. 9.
(2) OJ No L 155, 7. 6. 1989, p. 1.
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TITLE II
DELEGATIONSANDSUBCONTRACTING
(Article 22 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 6
The acts by which powers are delegated pursuant to Article 22 (4) of the
Financial Regulation shall designate those members of staff of theinstitution authorized to sign for and on behalf of the delegator.
In such acts reference shall be made to the provisions of the rules of
procedure referred to in Article 22 (4) setting out the conditions
governing the delegation of powers.
Article 7
The acts referred to in Article 6, accompanied by a specimen signature
of the official to whom powers have been delegated, shall becommunicated:
— to the delegatee,
— to the institution's accounting officer, who may not make any
payment which has been authorized by officials not empowered todo so,
— to the institution's financial controller, who shall be responsible for
verifying the legality and regularity of revenue and expenditure,
— to the authorizing officers, only in the case of delegation of powers
by the financial controller or by the accounting officer, or of thesubdelegation of powers by authorizing officers within the limits of
the powers delegated to them,
— to the Court of Auditors.
The acts terminating such delegations of powers shall also be
communicated as provided for above.
Article 8
In every case act of delegation shall specify the limits within which the
delegatees are authorized to draw up proposals for the establishment ofdebts and for recovery orders, proposals for the commitment of
expenditure and payment orders, the numbers of the articles and items
in respect of which powers have been delegated and, where appropriate,the length of time for which powers have been delegated.
Article 9
Acting in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Regulation
and of this Regulation, each institution shall adopt such measures foradministering appropriations as it deems necessary for the properimplementation of its section of the budget.
Each institution shall draw up a document containing the internal
provisions adopted for this purpose. This document shall include thebasicrules on the assignment of responsibilities to authorizing offic ersand administering departments for the implementation of the statement
of expenditure and statement of revenue within the section for each
institution.
The document referred to in the second paragraph and any other internal
instructions of general scope for implementing the budget and the
accounts shall be made available to all the departments involved in the
management of the budget and to the Court of Auditors.
Article 9a
Before embarking on any act implementing the budget, delegators and
delegatees shall declare to their hierarchical superior, in writing, anyconfusion or conflict of interests which might impair their ability to1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 5
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perform their duties impartially and objectively. This confusion or
conflict of interests may arise in particular through family or emotionalties, political or national affinity, economic interest or any other
pertinent connection with the beneficiary. The hierarchical superior of
the delegator or delegatee shall confirm in writing whether or not aconfusion or conflict of interests exists. If it does, the act may not becarried out by this delegator or delegatee.
Delegators or delegatees who fail to declare the existence of a confusion
or conflict of interests shall be liable to disciplinary action and payment
of compensation in accordance with Articles 73 to 77 of the Financial
Regulation. They shall be similarly liable if they carry out an actimplementing the budget when their hierarchical superior has confirmedthe existence of a confusion or conflict of interests.
Article 9b
In order to guarantee the transparency of subcontracted operations,
management costs and expenses shall be broken down separately and theinterest and other revenue from the funds held by the co-contractor on
behalf of the Commission shall be identified.
The contracts concluded shall contain appropriate provisions concerning
matters such as the treatment of interest and other revenue, the keepingof accounts and the recovery of unduly paid amounts.
Rules on the management of funds made available to subcontractors,
especially as regards payments to the beneficiaries of Communityprogrammes or actions, and rules of conduct as regards incompatibil-
ities, confusion of interest and confidentiality shall be laid down in the
contracts which the institutions conclude with subcontractors.
TITLE III
MANAGEMENTBYMEANSOFINTEGRATEDCOMPUTERSYSTEMS
(Article 23 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 10
1. For the purposes of Article 23 of the Financial Regulation
‘integrated computer systems’ means computerized management andaccounting programmes which require the intervention of the author-izing officer, the financial controller and the accounting officer and setup by joint agreement between these departments.
2. Use of the systems is subject to the following rules:
(a) the system must check the availability of appropriations for the
operation proposed and reject any operation for which appropria-
tions are not available;
(b) the system must ensure that each operation is handled only by those
officials empowered to do so in the departments of the authorizing
officer, the financial controller and the accounting officer, in
accordance with the provisions adopted by each institution underArticle 9;
(c) the system must ensure effective separation of the functions of the
authorizing officer, the financial controller and the accounting
officer;
(d) the institution shall ensure that its internal and external procedures
guarantee the security of the information and of the operation of the
system;
(e) the institution shall ensure that the physical security of the system is
guaranteed;
(f) without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 84, 87 and 89 of the
Financial Regulation, each institution may, where the authorizingofficer, the financial controller and the accounting officer considerby common accord that the system offers guarantees satisfying itssecurity requirements, substitute computer media for the paper1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 6
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documents used previously, viz. commitment proposals,
►M6payment orders, estimates of amounts receivable and
recovery orders. This shall also apply to the replacement of original
supporting documents by electronic document management
systems◄.
3. When operations are managed by integrated computer systems in
accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2, the verifications carried out by the
accounting officer to validate payment operations may be replaced or
supplemented by regular verifications of these systems which may becarried out on the spot if necessary.
TITLE IV
RULES APPLICABLE TO THE ACCOUNTING OFFICER, TO THE
ASSISTANT ACCOUNTING OFFICERS AND TO THE IMPREST
ADMINISTRATORS
(Articles 25 and 75 of the Financial Regulation)
Section I
General provisions
Article 11
Each institution shall, by reasoned decision, appoint an accounting
officer who shall be responsible for:
(a) the recovery of debts, the collection of receipts, the payment of
expenditure and cash management;
(b) the keeping of the accounts and the preparation of financial
statements in accordance with Articles 69 to 72 and 78 to 81 of theFinancial Regulation.
Article 12
The institution may appoint, on the basis of the reasoned opinion of the
accounting officer, one or more assistant accounting officers who shall
report to the accounting officer and whose responsibilities shall be
determined by the latter.
Article 13
The accounting officer shall be appointed by each institution from
officials of category A or B who are nationals of the Member States.
Assistant accounting officers shall be appointed by each institution from
officials of categories A and B and, in special cases, of category C whoare nationals of the Member States.
The imprest administrators appointed under Article 83 of this Regulation
shall be chosen from officials of categories A, B and C, or, should theneed arise, from other staff having a status equivalent to thosecategories.
Article 14
The accounting officer and assistant accounting officers shall be chosen
by the institution on the grounds of their particular qualifications as
evidenced by diplomas or by equivalent professional experience.
Imprest administrators shall be appointed on the grounds of their
particular qualifications as evidenced by diplomas or by equivalentprofessional experience or appropriate prior training, having due regardto the size of the imprests they are required to administer.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 7
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Article 15
The duties performed by the accounting officer and the assistant
accounting officers are incompatible with those of the authorizingofficers, the imprest administrators and the financial controller.
The duties performed by the imprest administrators are incompatible
with those of the financial controller.
Article 16
The accounting officer shall exercise his specific responsibilities in
accordance with the provisions of the Financial Regulation.
In particular, the accounting officer shall ensure objectiveness in the
keeping of the accounts and the preparation of the financial statementsin accordance with Articles 69 to 72 and 78 to 81 of the FinancialRegulation.
The institution shall provide the accounting officer with the personnel
and equipment required for the proper performance of his duties.
Prior to the implementation of expenditure, the accounting officer shall
ensure compliance with the requirements laid down by the Financial
Regulation and by this Regulation, and shall ascertain the validity of the
discharge and the absence of any material error.
He shall suspend payment and indicate all the reasons for this decision
whenever the checks carried out reveal that the provisions referred to inthe first four paragraphs have not been complied with.
Payments effected in non-compliance with the requirements of Article
51 (3) of the Financial Regulation shall result in disciplinary andpossibly financial measures against accounting officers, assistantaccounting officers and imprest administrators under the terms laid
down in Article 22 and Articles 86 to 89 of the Staff Regulations of
officials of the European Communities and the conditions of employ-ment of other servants of the Communities (hereinafter referred to as‘the Staff Regulations’).
Article 17
When the preliminary draft budget is being drawn up, the accounting
officer shall be consulted on any problem of budgetary presentationwhich may affect budgetary accounting.
Section II
Performance of duties relating to the keeping of accounts and the
preparationoffinancialstatements
Article 18
1. In accordance with the fourth paragraph of Article 25 of the
Financial Regulation, the accounting officer shall prepare the periodical
statements and the revenue and expenditure account and balance sheet of
the institution to which he belongs. For this purpose, he shall keep theaccounts of all operations in the financial year and shall close theaccounts at the end of the year.
2. The financial statements shall be submitted pursuant to Articles 79
and 81 of the Financial Regulation to the financial controller, thenfinally adopted by the institution.
3. In the event of an accounting officer terminating his duties, an
interim statement of account shall be drawn up on the date of thetermination of the officer's duties.
The statement shall be signed in acceptance by the accounting officer
who is terminating his duties and by the new accounting officer.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 8
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Article 20
The Commission's accounting officer shall centralize all the information
he needs and shall draw up the consolidated revenue and expenditure
account and balance sheet of the European Communities so that theCommission can adopt them and send them to the European Parliament,the Council and the Court of Auditors by 1 May.
Article 21
After its accounting officer has consulted the accounting officers of the
other institutions, the Commission shall:
— adopt accounting methods common to all the institutions,
— adopt and keep up to date the structure of the chart of accounts of the
institutions,
— harmonize the presentation of balance sheets.
It shall justify and explain any chance in accounting practice in the notes
annexed to the balance sheet.
Section III
Performance ofdutiesrelatingtocashmanagement
Article 22
In accordance with the first paragraph of Article 25 of the Financial
Regulation the accounting officer, who is responsible for the collectionof revenue and the payment of expenditure, shall manage thecorresponding monies.
The institution shall open or cause to be opened the necessary bank
accounts after negotiating the terms in accordance with the principles ofsound financial management. The operating terms for the accounts shallbe subject to periodic review and where necessary to renegotiation; theyshall be monitored by the financial controller.
The Commission's accounting officer shall be responsible, after
consultation with the accounting officers of the other insitutions, forharmonizing the operating terms for the accounts opened by the variousinstitutions.
Article 23
The accounting officer shall be responsible for managing the assets of
the institution to which he belongs, for authorizing transfers betweenbank accounts and for conducting currency conversion operations insuch a way that none of these accounts are in debit.
Transfers between bank accounts must be made within the limits of
available funds.
Article 24
The Commission's accounting officer shall divide the funds available in
the national treasuries and the central banks of the Member States
between the Member States in accordance with Article 12 of
►
M6Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 ◄.
Article 25
The accounting officer shall regularly reconcile the bank accounts with
the bookkeeping and shall check that the terms negotiated are being
properly applied.
Article 26
The accounting officer shall replenish the imprest accounts and monitor
the financial aspects of these accounts.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 9
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Section IV
Insurance
Article 28
The accounting officer, assistant accounting officers and imprest
administrators shall insure themselves, through the institution, againstthe financial risks inherent in their duties.
Article 29
The premiums for the insurance shall be paid direct to the insurer by the
institution.
Article 30
Without prejudice to:
— Articles 86 to 89 to the Staff Regulations,
— Article 75 of the Financial Regulation,— the institution's right of recovery vis-à-vis third parties,
the institution, in accordance with the second paragraph of
►
M6Article 288 ◄of the EEC Treaty, shall bear all risks and
deficits not covered by the insurers, in so far as the amounts credited to
the guarantee account opened in the name of the official whose liability
is involved are not sufficient to cover the deficit.
Section V
Specialallowance andguaranteeaccount
Article 31
The monthly amount of the special allowance referred to in Article 75(4)
of the Financial Regulation shall be:
(a) EUR 139 for the accounting officer;
(b) EUR 94 for assistant accounting officers;
(c) EUR 47 for imprest administrators, where the amount of the imprest
is at least EUR 3 800 and where the period of the imprest is at least30 consecutive days.
This allowance shall be denominated in euro and the appropriate amount
shall be credited in euro to the guarantee account provided for in Article32.
Article 32
A guarantee account in the name of each staff member concerned shall
be opened in the institution's general accounts. At the request of eachinstitution concerned, this account may be centralized in the Commis-sion's general accounts. ►
M6This account shall be credited
periodically with the monthly allowance referred to in Article 31 and
with annual interest corresponding to the annual average of the monthlyrates applied by the European Central Bank to its main refinancingoperations in euro. ◄
It shall be debited by the amount of the deficit for which the person
concerned is declared liable by the institution which appointed him, in
so far as the deficit is not covered by payments from the insurers.
Article 33
1. When an accounting officer or assistant accounting officer
terminates his duties, any balance standing to his credit in the guarantee1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 10
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account shall be paid to him or to those entitled through him, after a
decision has been taken by the authorities referred to in Article 22 of theFinancial Regulation and the final discharge referred to in Article 77 of
the Financial Regulation has been granted, and after the accounting
officer, save where he himself is concerned, and the financial controllerhave given a favourable opinion.
2. When an imprest administrator terminates his duties, any balance
standing to his credit in the guarantee account shall be paid to him or to
those entitled through him, after agreement and verification by the
accounting officer and the authorizing officer concerned and after thefinancial controller has given a favourable opinion.
3. The payments referred to in the first and second paragraphs shall
be made exclusively on the written instructions of the head of theDirectorate-General or administrative unit to which the accounting
officer is assigned.
TITLE V
RULES APPLICABLE TO THE FINANCIAL CONTROLLER, THE
ASSISTANT FINANCIAL CONTROLLERS AND THE INTERNAL
AUDITOR
(Articles 24 and 24a of the Financial Regulation)
Article 34
Each institution shall, by reasoned decision, appoint a financial
controller who shall be responsible for verification of the commitment
and authorization of all expenditure and verification of all revenue under
the budget of the Communities in respect of which the institution is theauthorizing body.
Article 35
The institution may appoint one or more assistant financial controllers.
They shall report to the financial controller, who shall decide on thepowers to be delegated to them. They shall bear responsibility for the
approvals they grant in pursuance of the powers delegated to them.
Article 36
The financial controller and the assistant financial controllers shall be
chosen by the institution from nationals of the Member States on thegrounds of their particular qualifications.
Article 37
The institution shall place at the disposal of the financial controller the
staff and equipment necessary for the proper discharge of his control
duties.
Article 38
All decisions relating to the delegation and subdelegation of powers by
the financial controller or the assistant financial controllers shall complywith the provisions of Articles 6, 7 and 8.
Article 39
In carrying out his control duties, the financial controller shall be
completely independent and shall be accountable only to the institution.
He may not receive any instructions nor accept any constraint as regards
the performance of the duties assigned to him pursuant to the provisionsof the Financial Regulation by virtue of his appointment.
These provisions shall also apply to the assistant financial controllers,
within the limits of the powers delegated to them by their immediatesuperior, the financial controller.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 11
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Article 40
The financial controller may present reports to the institution at any time
and on any subject having financial implications, especially as regardsthe application of Article 2 of the Financial Regulation.
The institution shall, on request, send these reports to the European
Parliament and the Court of Auditors unless it considers them
confidential.
Article 41
The financial controller and assistant financial controllers shall have
access to all supporting documents and to all other documents relating to
the expenditure and revenue to be checked. They may carry out on-the-
spot checks.
Article 42
The liability of the financial controller and of the assistant financial
controller to disciplinary action and, where appropriate, to payment of
compensation, within the meaning of Article 74 of the Financial
Regulation, can be invoked only by the institution itself, in thecircumstances set out in the second, third, fourth and fifth paragraphs.
The institution shall take a reasoned decision to conduct an inquiry. This
decision shall be communicated to the person concerned and, if he is anassistant financial controller, to the financial controller. The institutionmay, on its direct responsibility, instruct one or more officials of a grade
not lower than that of the member of staff concerned and not carrying
out the duties of financial controller, authorizing officer or accountingofficer, to conduct the inquiry. During the inquiry the person concernedand, if he is an assistant financial controller, the financial controller,must be given a hearing.
The report on the inquiry shall be communicated to the person
concerned and, if he is an assistant financial controller, to the financial
controller. The person concerned shall then be given a hearing by the
institution with regard to that report.
On the basis of the report and of the hearing, the institution shall take a
reasoned decision to give the person concerned a discharge in respect ofthe matter examined or a reasoned decision under Articles 22 and 86 to89 of the Staff Regulations. Decisions entailing disciplinary action and/or financial penalties shall be communicated to the person concernedand, for information purposes, to the other institutions, the Court of
Auditors and, if the person concerned is an assistant financial controller,
to the financial controller.
The person concerned may lodge an appeal with the Court of Justice, in
accordance with the provisions of the Staff Regulations, in respect ofsuch decisions.
Article 43
Without prejudice to the appeal procedures provided for in the Staff
Regulations, the financial controller and the assistant financialcontrollers may lodge an appeal with the Court of Justice with regardto any act relating to their control duties. Such appeals must be lodgedwithin three months from the date of notification of the act in question.
The provisions of the first paragraph shall also apply to appeals by the
institution against its financial controller or its assistant financial
controllers.
Appeals shall be investigated and heard as provided for in Article 91 (5)
of the Staff Regulations.
Article 43a
The internal audit function shall be performed in accordance with the
relevant international standards. Internal audit activities shall focus on1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 12
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the effectiveness and efficiency of management and control systems.
The audit reports shall be sent to the services audited and to the bodiesdesignated by each institution to ensure that its services follow up the
recommendations.
Article 43b
The internal auditor shall be chosen from nationals of the Member States
on the grounds of their particular qualifications.
TITLE VI
RECOVERYOFDEBTS
(Articles 28 and 29 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 44
►M6In accordance with Article 28(1) of the Financial Regulation, the
competent authorising officer shall draw up an estimate of amounts
receivable for any measure or situation which may give rise to or modify
a debt due to the Communities. ◄An estimate shall also be drawn up
even where it is not possible from the act or decision giving rise to afuture debt to ascertain the amount or due date: where possible, it shallindicate the estimated amount and the probable due date.
The estimate shall be forwarded to the financial controller for his
approval and to the accounting officer for provisional registration.
Article 45
1. In accordance with Article 28 (2) of the Financial Regulation, the
competent authorizing officer shall make out a recovery order withoutdelay in respect of every established debt.
The recovery order shall be forwarded to the financial controller for his
approval and to the accounting officer for registration. In particular, it
shall indicate the due date.
2. The accounting officer shall proceed with recovery of the debt
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3. Upon actual recovery of the sum due the accounting officer shall
make out a revenue voucher, which shall be registered in the accounts.
He shall inform the authorizing officer and the financial controller of therecovery effected.
4. Where a debt is not paid by the due date, the accounting officer
shall take all due care to initiate the procedure for effecting recovery,where necessary, by all legal means.
5. Where a debt is to be recovered in successive instalments either in
the course of a single financial year or over several financial years, itshall be registered in the accounts by means of a recovery order made
out for the full amount as soon as it is established.
Article 46
Forward estimate within the meaning of Article 28 of the Financial
Regulation shall be strictly limited to recurring revenue.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 13
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Individual cases to which such a forward estimate relates need not,
therefore, be submitted separately to the financial controller for hisapproval.
Before the end of the financial year, the authorizing officer shall submit
amendments to forward estimates to the financial controller for hisapproval to ensure that they correspond to the debts actually established.
Article 47
In accordance with Article 45 (3), the authorizing officer and the
financial controller must be informed as soon as possible of eachpayment received. Where no recovery order has been made out pursuantto Article 45 in respect of a payment received, the amount in question
shall be immediately credited to a suspense account in the general
accounts and the competent authorizing officer should initiate theprocedure for establishing the debt and make out the necessary recoveryorder with a view to booking the revenue to the budget. Any sumcredited to such a suspense account which is found to have been undulypaid shall be repaid as soon as possible.
Article 48
Estimates and recovery orders shall be entered separately in the accounts
and numbered chronologically so that the following can be readily
ascertained in respect of all the debts of the institution:
— the measures taken which may give rise to a debt,
— the amounts of debts to be recovered,— the due dates for payment of the debts,— the debts which have been recovered,
— the debts still to be recovered together with the steps taken to secure
recovery.
Article 49
The accounts must be organized in such a way that the financial
controller is able to check, at any given moment, that the registration ofthe estimate of a debt and of recovery orders is correct and to carry outthe tasks required of him under Article 29 (3) of the FinancialRegulation.
Article 50
In accordance with Article 29 (2) of the Financial Regulation any
proposal by the authorizing officer to waive the right to recover an
established debt shall specify in particular the debtor, the type of
revenue, the estimated amount, the budget item in question, the stepstaken to secure recovery and the grounds for the proposed waiver.
If the superior authority of the institution overrules the financial
controller's refusal to give approval, the decision shall be forwarded tothe authorizing officer, who shall return the waiver proposal, together
with the decision, to the financial controller. The waiver proposal,
together with the decision, shall be registered in accordance with thefirst subparagraph of Article 28 (2) of the Financial Regulation.
TITLE VII
COMMITMENTOFEXPENDITURE
(Article 36 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 51
Before taking any measure which may give rise to expenditure, the
competent authorizing officer must present the financial controller with
a commitment proposal. The authorizing officer must ensure in advancethat this measure is in conformity with the principles of sound financialmanagement and in particular those of economy and cost-effectivenessprovided for in Article 2 of the Financial Regulation. Such proposals1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 14
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shall in principle be drawn up in accordance with a standard form to be
adopted by unanimous agreement by the authorizing officer, theaccounting officer and the financial controller. Such commitment
proposals must give the information referred to in Article 37 of the
Financial Regulation.
Article 52
Decisions of principle taken by the institution and entailing an obligation
vis-à-vis third parties to incur expenditure shall constitute commitments
of expenditure.
Article 53
If an item of expenditure requires a decision of principle by the
institution, the draft of that decision cannot be adopted by the institution
unless it has first received the agreement of the financial controller. Thefinancial controller shall give his agreement only if the draft satisfies therequirements of sound financial management. The authorising officershall submit a commitment proposal in respect of the decision of
principle to the financial controller together with the draft decision itself.
When the institution has approved the draft decision, the corresponding
global commitment proposal together with the corresponding draft legal
commitment, as appropriate, shall be submitted to the financialcontroller for approval.
Where the institution does not approve the draft decision or reduces the
amount of expenditure proposed, the commitment proposal shall beamended or cancelled or, where applicable, replaced by an appropriatecommitment proposal, which shall be submitted to the financial
controller for approval.
The authorising officer shall conclude the individual legal commitments
within the time limits laid down in Article 36(2) of the Financial
Regulation. Before being signed by the authorising officer, eachindividual budget commitment shall be submitted to the financialcontroller for approval in accordance with the second paragraph ofArticle 37 of the Financial Regulation, recorded in the accounts by the
authorising officer and booked to the global budget commitment.
On expiry of the time limit for implementation of the global
commitment, the authorising officer shall, without delay and, at the
latest, within three months, decommit the difference between the amountof the commitment referred to in the second paragraph and the sum ofthe of the amounts recorded in the central accounts in accordance withthe fourth paragraph.
Article 54
Provisional commitments within the meaning of Article 36 (1) of the
Financial Regulation shall be strictly limited to recurring expenditure.Individual commitments covered by such provisional commitments neednot be submitted separately to the financial controller for approval.
In the case of provisional commitments, the authorizing officer shall
check, on his own responsibility, that the individual commitments do not
exceed the provisional commitment covering them.
Such provisional commitments shall not give rise to the automatic
carryover of appropriations as provided for in Article 7 of the FinancialRegulation unless they correspond, at the end of the financial year, tofinancial commitments actually entered into before the deadlines laiddown in the Financial Regulation.
Expenditure of an administrative nature which is incurred repeatedly
during the same budgetary year such as:
— staff expenditure (salaries and various allowances, recruitment
expenditure, etc.),
— mission expenses,1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 15
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— representation expenses,
— meeting expenses,
— freelance interpreters ►M6or translators ◄,
— exchanges of officials,— rent,
— miscellaneous insurance,
— cleaning and maintenance,— leasing,
— telecommunications,
— water, gas and electricity,— periodicals (monthly bulletins, etc.),
— subscriptions,
shall be regarded as recurring expenditure.
Article 55
If, in the case of certain measures which may give rise to expenditure,
no exact figures can be given for the expenditure when the relevantcommitment proposal is presented to the financial controller andcommunicated to the accounting officer, the authorizing officer must
estimate the expenditure involved and set out in his commitment
proposal the basis on which he has arrived at his estimate.
Article 56
All commitment proposals must be submitted to the financial controller
sufficiently early for him to state his position and make any comments
he considers appropriate which may then be taken into account.
Article 57
Without prejudice to Article 23 of the Financial Regulation, proposals
for the commitment of expenditure must be accompanied by all relevant
supporting documents and, where appropriate, by any other documentsand information which are necessary to enable the financial controller toestablish what is required by Article 38 (1) of the Financial Regulation.
TITLE VIII
REGISTRATION OF PROPOSALS FOR THE COMMITMENT OF
EXPENDITURE AFTER THE FINANCIAL CONTROLLER HAS
GRANTEDAPPROVAL
(Article 37 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 58
Commitment proposals shall be registered by the institution's accounts
department. This registration procedure must make it possible toascertain at any given moment for each budget item or heading for thefinancial year:
1. the appropriations available;
2. the amounts of commitments entered into;
3. the payments made against these commitments;
4. the balance of commitments outstanding.
The registration must also make it possible to ascertain at any given
moment:
1. the amount of the initial commitment, increased where applicable by
any additional commitments;
2. the payments made against these commitments under previous
financial years;
3. the amount of the commitment still to be paid at the beginning of the
financial year;
4. payments in respect of the financial year;1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 16
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5. the balance outstanding.
The amount of global provisional commitments under Article 99 of the
Financial Regulation shall be similarly registered.
Article 59
The accounts must be organized in such a way as to guarantee that the
financial controller is able to check that commitments and payments
have been registered accurately.
TITLE IX
APPROVAL OF PROPOSALS FOR THE COMMITMENT OF EXPEN-
DITURE
(Article 38 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 60
Subject to the provisions of Articles 10 and 61, approval shall take the
form of the signature of the financial controller — or of an assistantfinancial controller or an official to whom powers have been delegatedor subdelegated in accordance with Article 38 — on the commitment
proposal, which shall be stamped and dated.
Article 61
In urgent cases, approval may be given in a note or by telex or by any
other means which leaves no doubt as to the fact that the commitment
proposal in question has been approved.
Article 62
If, pursuant to Article 39 of the Financial Regulation, the superior
authority of the institution overrules the financial controller's refusal to
grant approval, the decision shall be forwarded to the authorizing
officer, who shall return the commitment proposal, together with thedecision, to the financial controller. The commitment proposal, togetherwith the decision to overrule, shall be registered in accordance with theprovisions of Article 37 of the Financial Regulation.
Article 63
Articles 60, 61 and 62 shall apply to the proposals of global provisional
commitments within the meaning of Article 99 of the FinancialRegulation.
Article 64
If the financial controller considers that the supporting documents
provided for in Articles 28 (2), 37, 41 and 45 of the Financial Regulationand further defined in Articles 65 to 73 of this Regulation are inadequate
or incomplete, he shall postpone approval and return the proposal to the
authorizing officer, specifying the supporting evidence required.
TITLE X
SUPPORTINGDOCUMENTS
(Articles 28 (2), 37, 41 and 45 of the Financial Regulation)
Section I
Recovery ofdebts
Article 65
For recovery orders, the following shall constitute supporting docu-
ments: the decision or act giving rise to the debt, accompanied bydocuments enabling a check to be made of the type of debt, the1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 17
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calculation of the amount, the due date and the identity of the debtor,
such as:
(a) in the case of own resources(1):
— for customs duties, agricultural levies and sugar levies: the
statements of accounts from the Member States in accordancewith the implementing regulations(
2);
— for VAT and GNP-based resources: the budget for the financial
year (year n) which determines the amount, and, for the
respective balances (year n+1 and subsequent years), the various
statements, summary documents and statements of accountsprovided for by the implementing regulations (
2);
(b) in the case of other miscellaneous revenue: the basic act, decision,
contract or agreement giving rise to the debt and the documents
giving all the components of the calculation.
Section II
Commitmentofexpenditure
Article 66
For proposals for the commitment of expenditure, the following draft
acts constituting obligations on the part of the institution shall consitutesupporting documents:
(a) for expenditure incurred by virtue of contracts:
the draft agreement, contract, order form or similar document,
accompanied, in the case of contracts, by the tenders received, thereasons for private treaty and, where appropriate, the opinion of theAdvisory Committee on Procurement and Contracts (hereinafterreferred to as ‘the CCAM’);
(b) for aid granted autonomously:
— for financial assistance under the various funds or similar
schemes: any documents which may be provided for in the
relevant basicregulations and the dec isions to grant the aid;
— for subsidies in general:
— the application submitted by the recipient, accompanied,
where applicable, by an implementation report on previously
granted subsidies,
— the reasons for the amount granted,
— the draft letter of agreement or similar documents,— the budget estimate for the year for which the subsidy is
requested or any substituting document.
Section III
Validationandpaymentofexpenditure
Article 67
For supplies in general, the invoice drawn up by the supplier,
accompanied, where appropriate, by a copy of the document givingrise to the Community's obligation (e.g. order form or contract) shallconstitute a supporting document.
In all cases the document drawn up by the supplier must indicate:
— the nature and quantity of the supplies or, where appropriate, a
description of the services rendered in that connection,
— the unit price and the total price,1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 18
(1) Council Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom (OJ No L 185, 15. 7. 1988, p. 24).
(2) — Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89;
— Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1553/89 (OJ No L 155, 7. 6.
1989, p. 9).
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— the Community's exemption from charges and taxes and, where
appropriate, the amount of any charges, taxes and customs dutiesincluded in the price of the goods supplied.
This document or an attached document must be endorsed by the
authorizing officer, or the official to whom he has delegated authority, tothe effect that:
— the supplies have been duly received, with an indication of the date
and the place of receipt,
— the supplies have been entered in the inventory, where this is
required,
— all items in the invoice have been checked, and
— the opinion of the CCAM has been given where required.
Article 68
For services, the invoice (or bill of costs) drawn up by the supplier,
accompanied, where appropriate, by the contract, shall constitute a valid
supporting document.
This invoice (or bill of costs) must:
— state the nature of the service, where appropriate the unit price, the
total price and the Community's exemption from charges and taxes
or, in so far as this is possible, the amount of any charges and taxes
in respect of the service which are included in the price,
— bear the endorsement ‘passed for payment’ signed by the authorizing
officer or by the official to whom he has delegated authority,certifying that the service has been rendered properly and that all theitems in the invoice (or bill of costs) have been checked.
Article 69
1. For study and research contracts, the following shall constitute
supporting documents.
(a) a copy of the contract and of any supplementary agreements, to be
attached to the first order to pay;
(b) any document which, pursuant to the financial provisions in the
contract, substantiates the corresponding payments (request from thecontractor, invoices, titles of the management committees in the case
of contracts of association, or any other document substantiating
expenditure). The final payment must be accompanied by adocument drawn up by the authorizing officer certifying that theservice has been rendered.
2. For decisions granting financial support under the various funds or
similar measures, the following shall constitute supporting documents:
(a) a copy of the decision to be attached to the first order to pay;
(b) any document which, pursuant to the financial provisions in the
basic regulations or the decisions to grant financial support,substantiates the corresponding payments (request for payment,declaration that the work has begun, progress reports and other
documents). The final payment must be accompanied by a document
certifying that the programme or project has been completed andcontaining a statement of the expenditure actually incurred on theprogramme or project.
3. For the subsidies referred to in the second indent of point (b) of
Article 66, the following shall constitute supporting documents:
(a) a copy of the decision granting the subsidy;
(b) confirmation by the recipient that he accepts the Community checks
referred to in Article 87 of the Financial Regulation and, if thevolume of the subsidy warrants, a report on the implementation ofthe project and use of the funds received.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 19
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Article 70
For staff expenditure, the following shall constitute supporting
documents:
(a) in respect of monthly salary:
— the complete list of staff, giving all the components of
remuneration. This list shall be attached to the payment order,
— a form (personal information sheet) showing any change
occurring in any component of remuneration. This form shallbe drawn up on the basis of the decisions taken in each particularcase,
— in the case of recruitments or appointments, a certified true copy
of the recruitment or appointment decision shall accompany thefirst salary payment;
(b) in respect of other remunerations (staff paid on an hourly or daily
basis):
— a statement produced by the authorizing officer showing the days
and hours of attendance;
(c) in respect of overtime:
— a statement signed by the authorized official certifying the
amount of overtime worked by the member of staff;
(d) in respect of mission expenses:
— the travel order duly signed by the competent authority,
— the ‘statement of mission expenses’ showing, in particular, the
place of mission, the dates and times of departure and arrival at
the place of mission, travel expenses, subsistence expenses, and
other expenses duly authorized on production of supportingdocuments; this statement shall be signed by the official onmission and by the administrative superior to whom theappropriate powers have been delegated;
(e) in respect of other staff expenditure:
— the supporting documents referring to the decision on which the
expenditure is based and giving all the components of the
calculation.
Article 71
In the case of all commitments which involve payments in instalments, a
certified true copy of the contract or the decision granting financial
support shall be attached to the first payment order. Reference to thatdocument and to the preceding payment(s) shall be made on the otherpayment orders.
When the final payment order is drawn up, the authorizing officer shall
certify that the operation has been completed so that the appropriatemeasures may be taken as regards the accounts with, where appropriate,the cancellation of any commitment which has been entered into but notimplemented.
Where, pursuant to Article 1 (7) of the Financial Regulation, a time limit
has been determined, the accounts shall make it possible to identify andextract commitments which have not been definitively implemented onemonth prior to the date in question. The authorizing officers shall then
be required to prepare the proposal for cancelling the commitment which
has not been implemented or, where the requirements of Article 1 (7) arefulfilled, to submit a proposal amending the initial commitmentaccompanied by appropriate reasons.
Article 72
If a single supporting document covers several payments, all the
payment orders shall bear a reference to the original document and thenumber of the payment order to which it is attached.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 20
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Article 73
Except in the cases referred to in Articles 65 to 72 above, if an original
supporting document cannot be produced, a certified true copy may be
substituted for it by the authorizing officer, who must explain why theoriginal could not be produced and must certify that the payment has notbeen made.
TITLE XI
THEGRANTINGOFADVANCES
(Article 46 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 74
Apart from the advances provided for in the Staff Regulations or a
provision laid down by regulation, the authorizing officer may grantadvances to cover expenditure to be incurred by an official or otherservant on behalf of his institution. Such expenditure, which generallycomes under staff and administrative expenditure, may arise fromspecific business or relate to likely expenditure, the nature or amount of
which is uncertain.
Article 75
The granting of such advances and the designation of the official or
other servant shall be the subject of a decision by the authorities referredto in Article 22 of the Financial Regulation, on a proposal from the
authorizing officer, after the financial controller has granted approval
and a favourable opinion has been given by the accounting officer. Suchdecisions shall specify the amount of the advance and the period duringwhich it is to be used.
Where the nature of the expenditure is sufficiently certain, a
commitment proposal shall be made before any advance is paid.
Article 76
The designated official or other servant shall be responsible for the funds
placed at his disposal and shall take every precaution to ensure theirsafekeeping.
No later than 10 days after the purpose for which the advance was
granted has been achieved, he shall give the accounting officer a
detailed account of the use made of it and shall pay back any unusedamount.
No later than six weeks after the above point in time the authorizing
officer shall clear the advance in order to close the suspense account
opened when it was granted.
TITLE XII
BANKANDPOSTOFFICEGIROACCOUNTS
(Article 53 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 77
To carry out financial transactions the institution may open bank and/or
post office giro accounts in the Member States and, where appropriate,in non-member countries.
Article 78
The institution may also hold accounts with each Member State's central
bank or approved financial institution.
Article 79
The institution shall communicate to all the financial institutions with
which it has opened accounts the names and specimen signatures of the1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 21
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staff designated by it who are specifically authorized to open and draw
on such accounts, and any limits on the withdrawals authorized for eachmember of staff so designated.
Article 80
To draw on accounts the joint signatures of two duly authorized
members of the staff shall be required, one signature necessarily beingthat of the accounting officer, an assistant accounting officer or animprest administrator.
In accordance with Article 53 of the Financial Regulation the institution
shall designate officials empowered to sign cheques and postal and bankcredit transfers.
Before signing any such document those officials shall check that the
payment orders and the relevant cheques and postal and bank credit
transfers correspond.
Article 81
As a general rule, payment of:
— the monthly remunerations of officials and other servants, and
— expenditure relating to supplies or services exceeding
►
M6EUR 420 ◄must be made by cheque, post office giro or
bank credit transfer.
Article 81a
1. The accounting officer may make payments by bank credit transfer
or post office giro only if the payment beneficiary's bank account details
have previously been entered in a ledger managed centrally by eachinstitution.
Entry in the ledger of the beneficiary's bank account details or
modification of those details shall be carried out on the basis of a
document issued on paper or in electronic form by the beneficiary's bank
or, in the case of payments to officials and other servants, by thebeneficiary.
2. With a view to payment by bank credit transfer or post office giro,
authorising officers may enter into a commitment vis-a-vis a third party
on behalf of their institution only if that third party has provided the
documentation required for its entry in the ledger.
Authorising officers shall ensure that the bank account details
communicated by the beneficiary remain valid during the periodcorresponding to the institution's commitment vis-a-vis the beneficiary.
Where appropriate, the authorising officer shall update the bank account
details in accordance with the second subparagraph of paragraph 1.
TITLE XIII
IMPRESTS
(Article 54 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 82
Imprest accounts may be set up when, because of its nature or particular
urgency, the payment of certain expenditure cannot be effected bymeans of a payment order signed by the authorizing officer and
approved by the financial controller. By way of derogation from Articles
40 and 51 of the Financial Regulation the imprest account administratorshall be authorized to make provisional withdrawals and effect thepayment of expenditure subject to the subsequent application of Articles40, 41, 44, 45, 47 and 50 of the Financial Regulation.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 22
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Decisions to set up imprest accounts or to amend or substantially alter
the conditions governing their operation shall be taken by the accountingofficer on a duly reasoned proposal from the authorising officer after
obtaining the financial controller's approval.
Article 83
Decisions to appoint imprest administrators shall be taken by the
accounting officer on a duly reasoned proposal from the authorisingofficer.
Such decision shall indicate the responsibilities of the imprest
administrator.
Article 84
The decisions referred to in Articles 82 and 83 shall be communicated to
the authorizing officers, the financial controller, the accounting officer
and the Court of Auditors.
Article 85
1. The decision setting up an imprest shall specify, in particular:
(a) the maximum amount which can be set aside as an imprest and its
purpose;
(b) whether a bank and/or post office giro account is to be opened in the
name of the institution concerned;
(c) the nature and maximum amount of every item of expenditure which
may be effected without prior authorization;
(d) the frequency with which supporting documents must be produced
and the procedure for producing them;
(e) the procedure to be followed if the imprest has to be replenished;
(f) the time within which imprest system transactions must be settled.
2. Payments may be made only on the basis and within the limits of
prior commitments signed by the authorizing officer and approved by
the financial controller.
Article 86
In accordance with the second paragraph of Article 54 of the Financial
Regulation, only the accounting officer may replenish the imprestaccounts.
However, miscellaneous local revenue such as that arising from:
— sales of equipment,
— publications,
— miscellaneous repayments,
— interest, etc.,
shall be entered directly into the appropriate imprest accounts and the
situation shall be regularized in accordance with the applicableprovisions of the Financial Regulation and this Regulation.
The amounts in question shall be deducted by the accounting officer
when he subsequently replenishes these imprest accounts.
Article 87
Every imprest administrator shall be accountable to the authorizing
officer for the settlement of sums due to third parties and to theaccounting officer for the making of payments.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 23
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Article 88
The imprest administrator shall keep an account of the funds at his
disposal and of the expenditure effected and amounts received, in
accordance with the instructions of the accounting officer.
Article 89
The imprest administrator shall take all the necessary precautions to
safeguard the funds placed at his disposal.
Article 90
Without prejudice to the audits performed by the financial controller, the
accounting officer must himself, or through an assistant accountingofficer, or through an official specially empowered for this purpose,carry out checks, which should normally be effected on the spot andwithout warning and, as far as possible, at frequent intervals, on thefunds allocated to the imprest administrators and on their accounts.
Article 91
The accounting officer and the financial controller shall inform each
other of the results of their checks and shall communicate them to the
authorizing officer.
TITLE XIV
CONDITIONS FOR THE PAYMENT OF INTEREST WHEN UNDUE
PAYMENTSARERECOVERED
(Article 49 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 92
The provisions of this Title shall apply to the recovery of undue
payments by the Community without prejudice to any provisions laiddown in the basic sectoral acts relating to Community policies.
Article 93
1. The recovery order referred to in Article 28 (2) of the Financial
Regulation shall indicate, in respect of every debt established, the duedate for the recovery of amounts wrongly paid.
2. The accounting officer, in collaboration with the authorizing
officer concerned, may allow additional time for payment only at the
written request of the debtor, with due indication of the reasons,provided that the debtor undertakes to pay interest at the rate specified inArticle 94 for the entire additional period allowed, starting from the dateon which the payment was originally due.
3. When additional time is allowed, the accounting officer may ask
the debtor to lodge a security covering both the principal sum and the
interest in order to safeguard the Community's rights more effectively.
Article 94
1. Any debt not repaid on the due date shall be subject to interest as
follows:
— debts denominated in ►
M6EURO◄: the rate of interest applied
by the►M6European Central Bank to its main refinancing
operations in EURO ◄(1), increased by one and a half percentage
points,
— debts denominated in a national currency: the three-month interbank
offer rate for the appropriate market, increased by one and a halfpercentage points.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 24
(1) Rate published every month in the C series of the Official Journal of the
European Communities .
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2. The rate of interest applicable is that in force during the month in
which the debt is due.
3. Interest shall be calculated from the due date laid down in the
recovery order to the date on which the debt is repaid in full.
Article 95
The accounting officer, in agreement with the financial controller, may
waive interest where, by reason of either the amount of the debt or thelength of time by which it is overdue, the amount involved is negligiblein relation to the administrative cost of the operation.
Article 96
Any partial repayments shall first cover the interest determined in
accordance with Article 94 and then the principal.
TITLE XV
PROCUREMENTPROCEDURES
(Articles 56 and 58 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 97
1. The Council directives on public works, supply and service
contracts shall be applicable to the award of contracts by the institutions
whenever the amounts involved are equal to or greater than the amountsprovided for in those directives.
The provisions of these directives govern in particular:
(a) contract award procedures;
(b) common advertising rules;
(c) common rules on technical specifications;
(d) common rules on participation;
(e) qualitative selection criteria;
(f) contract award criteria.
2. This shall also apply to contracts awarded by the Commission in
accordance with the provisions of the Plurilateral Agreement on
Government Procurement concluded within the World Trade Organisa-tion. The rules of procedure which the Commission is to follow inapplying this agreement are those contained in the Council directivescoordinating the procedures for the award of public works, supply and
service contracts.
Article 97a
The terms ‘works contracts’, ‘supply contracts’ and ‘service contracts’
shall be construed in accordance with the definitions laid down in thedirectives referred to in Article 97.
Article 97b
Where the contracts are financed from appropriations entered in their
own section of the budget of the European Communities, the institutions
shall be regarded as the ‘contracting authorities’ within the meaning ofthe directives referred to in Article 97, save when the institutions act fora beneficiary non-member country or a body it has designated.
Article 97c
For contracts other than those referred to in Articles 97 to 97b, Articles
97d and 97e shall apply.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 25
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Article 97d
1. Contracts shall be awarded by invitation to tender, by open or
restricted procedure, or by private treaty or by negotiated procedure.
2. Contracts by invitation to tender are contracts concluded between
the contracting parties following a competitive tendering procedure.
An open tendering procedure is one where any bidder may submit a
tender; a restricted procedure is one where only bidders selected by theinstitution on the strength of their particular qualifications may submit
tenders.
3. Contracts shall be concluded by private treaty or by negotiated
procedure where the contracting authorities consult the tenderers of their
choice and negotiate the terms of the contract with one or more of them.
Article 97e
For contracts to which the directives do not apply, the deadline for the
submission of tenders shall be fixed according to the nature of the
contract and shall be dependent on the length of time necessary for the
preparation of the reply to the invitation to tender.
For open or restricted procedures, it may not be less than 21 calendar
days. In cases of emergency making it impossible to comply with thistime limit, the deadline for the submission of tenders may be reduced to10 calendar days, in the case of a restricted procedure, provided it allowsgenuine competition between tenderers.
Article 97f
The following provisions shall apply to all contracts.
Article 98
The contract notices shall be drawn up in accordance with the models
annexed to the Council directives on public contracts referred to in
Article 97.
Article 98a
1. The purpose of the contract must be stated in comprehensive, clear
and precise terms.
2. In all procurement procedures the following selection criteria shall
apply:
(a) admissibility of the bidder for the contract in question after
verification of the cases of exclusion;
(b) criteria for assessing the bidders' financial and economic standing
and technical and professional competence.
3. In all procurement procedures the following award criteria shall
apply:
(a) either to the lowest among comparable bids submitted that are in
order and satisfy the conditions laid down;
(b) or to the bid offering the best value for money having regard, in
particular, to the price proposed, running costs, technical merit andcharacteristics, methodology, time required for performance ordelivery, and after-sales service. The documentation for the
invitation to tender must specify any weighting of award criteria
and the method used to determine value for money.
4. Criteria for selection and awarding of contracts must be set out in
the contract notice, the specifications or the call for tenders.
Article 98b
1. The invitation to tender shall clearly state whether a firm, non-
revisable price must be quoted.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 26
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If this is not the case, it shall lay down the conditions and/or formulas
for revision of prices during the lifetime of the contract.
2. If prices can be revised during the lifetime of the contract, the
institution shall take particular account of:
(a) the type of goods/services and the economic situation in which they
are to be supplied;
(b) the type of contract and its duration;
(c) the institution's financial interests.
Article 99
In addition, every invitation to tender shall:
(a) specify the procedure for submitting tenders and stipulate how they
are to be presented, including, in particular, any requirement as to
the use of a standard reply form;
(b) state that the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities applies and
make reference to the general conditions applicable to the contract
concerned (supplies, works, services or publications) and to any
document containing conditions specifically applicable to theparticular contract concerned;
(c) include a clause stating that the submission of a tender implies
acceptance of the relevant conditions;
(d) specify the terms under which an inspection may be made, to be set
out in detail in the case of on-the-spot inspections;
(e) specify the period during which a tender will remain valid and may
not be varied in any respect;
(f) specify the penalties for failure to comply with the provisions of the
contract;
(g) specify the details which must be contained in the invoices (or in the
relevant supporting documents) in accordance with the provisions of
Articles 65 to 73;
(h)►
M6prohibit any contact between the institution and tenderers
during a procurement procedure save in the following exceptionalcircumstances: ◄
before the closing date for the submission of tenders:
— at the instance of tenderers:
the institutions may provide additional information solely for the
purpose of clarifying the nature of the contract; such information
shall be communicated simultaneously to all tenderers who have
requested the specifications,
— at the instance of the institution:
if the institution's departments notice an error, a lack of
precision, an omission or any other clerical defect in the text
of the contract notice, the invitation to tender or the specifica-tions, they may inform those concerned simultaneously underexactly the same conditions as for the invitation to tender;
— after the opening of tenders:
if some clarification is required in connection with a tender or if
obvious clerical errors in the tender need to be corrected, theinstitution may contact the tenderer provided that the terms ofthe tender are not modified as a result.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 27
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Article 100
In every case where contact has been made under the conditions
provided for in Article 99 (h), a ‘Note for the file’ shall be drawn up andsuch contact shall be mentioned in the report to be submittedsubsequently to the CCAM.
Article 101
Specifications shall be drawn up for each contract and attached to the
invitation to tender. The general terms and conditions applicable to
contracts shall also be attached.
Article 103
Tenderers may submit tenders:
— either by post:
in which case the invitation to tender must specify that the relevant
date shall be that on which the tender is posted, as evidenced by thepostmark. Tenders submitted by post must be registered,
— or by hand-delivery to the institution direct or by any agent of the
tenderer, including ►
M6messenger services ◄:
in which case the invitation to tender must state the date and time by
which tenders must be submitted to the institution and specify thedepartment to which they must be delivered against a signed anddated receipt.
The date must be the same in both cases.In order to maintain secrecy and to avoid any difficulties, the invitation
to tender must include a provision as follows: ‘Tenders must besubmitted in a sealed envelope itself enclosed within a second sealedenvelope. The inner envelope shall bear, in addition to the name of thedepartment to which it is addressed, as indicated in the invitation to
tender, the words “Invitation to tender — Not to be opened by the mail
service”. If self-adhesive envelopes are used they must be sealed withadhesive tape and the sender must sign across this tape.’
Article 104
1. All tenders that satisfy the requirements of Article 103 shall be
opened.
2. Tenders shall be opened by an opening committee appointed for
this purpose.
The committee shall have at least three members, representing at least
two different departments, a department being one of the highest tier
administrative units created within the institution.
The financial controller shall be informed of the opening of tenders. The
financial controller or his representative may be present as an observer if
he considers it necessary.
3. The members of the opening committee shall:
(a) either initial each page of each tender, or
(b) initial the cover page and the pages containing the financial details
of each tender, the integrity of the initial tender being guaranteed bythe placing of seals or any other equivalent technique by a
department that is independent of the department handling the
tender, and
(c) sign a written record of the opening of the tenders received, listing
those tenders which satisfy the requirements and those which do not,and stating the grounds on which tenders rejected do not satisfy therequirements.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 28
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4. All tenders declared to satisfy the requirements shall be evaluated
by an evaluation committee appointed for this purpose which alsocarries out a classification among the tenders.
The committee shall have at least three members, representing at least
two different departments. The committee may be composed of the samemembers as the committee opening the tenders.
Tenders which do not satisfy the essential requirements set out in the
supporting documentation for invitations to tender or the specificrequirements of the contract notice, the invitation to tender and/or the
specifications shall be eliminated. However, the evaluation committee
may ask candidates or tenderers to supply additional material or toclarify within a deadline it fixes the supporting documents submitted,where it is a question of documentation for the purpose of determiningwhether candidates or tenderers satisfy the selection criteria.
A written record of the evaluation and classification of tenders declared
to satisfy the requirements shall be drawn up and signed by all themembers of the committee. It shall be kept for future reference.
Article 105
All the tenderers shall be informed of the decision taken with regard to
their tenders.
TITLE XVI
DETERMINATIONOFTHEVARIOUSTHRESHOLDSINRESPECTOF
CONTRACTS
Article 106
The limit below which contracts may be made by private treaty under
point (a) of Article 59 of the Financial Regulation shall be EUR 13 800.
Article 107
1. The limit above which the powers of the Advisory Committee on
Procurement and Contracts provided for in Article 63 of the Financial
Regulation take effect shall be:
(a) EUR 500 000 for the Commission;
(b) EUR 100 000 for the other institutions.
In the case of contracts worth between EUR 50 000 and EUR 500 000
for the Commission or between EUR 50 000 and EUR 100 000 for theother institutions, the authorising officer shall send the ACPC aninformation sheet to enable it to decide whether or not an opinion shouldbe given on the contract. The ACPC shall inform the authorising officer
of its decision within five working days of receiving the request. In the
meantime the authorising officer may not enter into any commitmentson behalf of the institution.
2. An authorising officer may also request that the ACPC deliver an
opinion a contract which he has submitted.
3. Information sheets and requests for opinions by authorising
officers shall be examined by a permanent department under the
authority of the chair of the ACPC. This department shall makerecommendations to the ACPC, in the light of volume, risks involvedand unusual nature, as to which items should be examined in detail bythe ACPC.
Article 108
The threshold for compulsory security provided for in Article 64a of the
Financial Regulation shall be EUR 345 000.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 29
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Article 109
The limits below which contracts may be made against an invoice or a
bill of costs under Article 60 of the Financial Regulation shall be:
(a) EUR 1 050 for expenditure at the places of work of the institution;
(b) EUR 2 700 for expenditure away from the places of work of the
institution.
Article 110
In accordance with Article 97 of the Financial Regulation, with regard to
the award of contracts relating to research and technological develop-
ment appropriations, the limit below which contracts may be made byprivate treaty (Article 59(a) of the Financial Regulation) shall beEUR 103 500 for scientific and technical equipment and for workscontracts.
The limit above which the powers of the ACPC take effect shall be fixed
in accordance with Article 107 of this Regulation. For scientific andtechnical contracts and for works contracts the threshold above which
the authorising officer shall submit the information sheet referred to in
the second subparagraph of Article 107(1) shall be EUR 103 500.
TITLE XVII
FUNCTIONING OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PROCURE-
MENTANDCONTRACTS(ACPC)
(Articles 63 and 97 of the Financial Regulation)
Section I
General provisions
Article 111
The CCAM shall be required to give its opinion, in an advisory capacity,
►M6in accordance with the provisions of Articles 63, 64 and 97 of the
Financial Regulation ◄, on:
(a) all proposed contracts for works, supplies or services, including
studies, involving amounts exceeding those given in Articles 107
and 110 of this Regulation and on proposed purchases of immovableproperty, irrespective of the amount involved;
(b) any proposed agreement supplementary to any contract as referred to
in (a) whenever there are significant changes, particularly when theeffect of such supplementary agreement would be to alter the
amount involved in the original contract;
(c) any proposed supplementary agreement the effect of which would be
to raise the total amount involved in a contract already concluded toan amount above the limits referred to in (a);
(d) the standard forms and texts for invitations to tender and any
proposed texts involving an appreciable departure from such
standard texts;
(e) proposed invitations to tender which are particularly important or
are of a special nature;
(f) questions arising at the time of conclusion or in the course of
performance of contracts (e.g. cancellation of orders, requests forremission of penalties for delay, departures from the specifications
and general conditions of contract), should the matter be sufficiently
serious to justify a request for an opinion;
(g) at the request of the competent authorizing officer or of a member of
the CCAM, proposed contracts involving an amount below thelimits referred to in (a), where he considers that such contractsinvolve questions of principle or are of a special nature.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 30
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Article 112
The CCAM shall make:
(a) recommendations with regard to the general supply policy both
within and outside the Community and shall carry out, or havecarried out, such investigations and studies as may be necessary;
(b) recommendations with regard to general conditions for procurement
and contracts.
Article 113
The files submitted to the CCAM for an opinion shall be accompanied
by a report drawn up and presented by the competent official or by analternate designated by the authorizing officer.
This report shall include:
(a) a technical and financial assessment of each tender, including a
comparative table of unit prices;
(b) the grounds for the choice of tenderer recommended.
Article 114
Every case shall be the subject of an opinion, which shall be signed by
the chairman of the CCAM. Such opinions shall be communicated to thedepartments concerned.
Article 115
Each CCAM shall draw up its own rules of procedure, which shall be
communicated to the institution concerned, to the CCAM of the other
institutions and to the Court of Auditors.
Each CCAM shall ensure proper application of the Council directives
referred to in ►
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Section III
Advisory committee on procurement and contracts common to the
institutions(CCAMI) (1)
Article 117
The heads of administration of the institutions of the Community may
take the necessary measures to set up a CCAMI with the objective ofstepping up cooperation between the institutions, in accordance with therequirements of sound financial management for the joint award ofcertain supply contracts and other contracts in connection with themanagement of appropriations for financing interinstitutional operations.
Article 118
The CCAMI shall exercise the following powers in particular:
(a) it shall be consulted when all or several institutions decide to award
joint contracts in the areas specified in Article 117 in view of thefinancial advantages which this procedure might bring.
It shall give its opinion on the correctness of the procedure followed,
the choice of tenderer and, in general, the conditions for the awardof the contract with due regard for the interests of all the institutions.
In this case, CCAM of the individual institutions shall no longer
need to be consulted on the matter but shall be informed of the
opinion delivered;1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 31
(1) The term institution shall be construed in accordance with Article 22 (5) of
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(b) it may be called upon, in particular at the request of one or more
heads of administration or one or more CCAM of the individualinstitutions, to examine and make recommendations on any matter
likely to be of interest or to have repercussions from an
interinstitutional angle in respect of the award of contracts in theareas specified in Article 117.
It shall examine the question raised and make whatever suggestions
it considers appropriate.
Article 119
The CCAMI shall consist of two representatives from each institution,
appointed, as far as possible, from the members of the CCAMI of eachinstitution, and shall at all events, by agreement between the institutions,
comprise the following representatives in addition to the representatives
of the respective administrative departments:
— one representative of the departments responsible for legal questions,
— one representative of the departments responsible for finances,— one representative of the financial controller as an observer.
A revolving system may be agreed by the institutions for the
representatives of these three departments.
The CCAMI shall be chaired by each of the institutions in turn for a
period of two years.
The Commission shall provide secretariat services.
Article 120
As regards procedures, Articles 113 and 114 shall apply.
Article 121
The CCAMI shall draw up its own rules of procedure, which shall be
communicated to each institution.
TITLE XVIII
GUARANTEES AND PRELIMINARY DEPOSIT BY WAY OF GUAR-
ANTEEOFPERFORMANCEOFCONTRACTS
(Article 64A of the Financial Regulation)
Article 122
When, by way of guarantee of performance of contracts, the supplier,
contractor or provider of services is required to provide a preliminarydeposit, such deposit must cover not only the entire period of theguarantee but also a period long enough to allow the guarantee to beinvoked. The deposit must, in principle, consist of a payment made tothe institution in the same currency as that prescribed for the payment to
be made for the supplies or works.
Article 123
This deposit may be replaced by a joint and several personal guarantee
given by a third party approved by the institution's accounting officer.The guarantee shall be denominated in the currency prescribed forpayment in the contract and must comply with the same rules as the
guarantee referred to in Article 122.
Article 124
The usual supporting documents accompanying the first order to pay
drawn up pursuant to a contract requiring the provision of a deposit shallbe supplemented by a copy, certified true by the accounting officer, ofthe receipt issued when the deposit was paid, or by a copy, certified true1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 32
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by the accounting officer, of a declaration from the establishment or
third party providing the guarantee.
Article 125
Deposits shall be repaid, or the guarantees referred to in Article 123
given in place thereof released, in accordance with the provisionsrelating to the conclusion of contracts, except in cases of non-performance or late performance as referred to in the fourth paragraph►
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TITLE XX
VALUE ABOVE WHICH MOVABLE PROPERTY MUST BE ENTERED
INTHEINVENTORY
(Article 65 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 130
Entries must be made in the inventory for all movable property:
— with a purchase price of at least ►M6EUR 420 ◄,
— with a normal useful life of more than one year (two years in the case
of movable property of a scientific or technical nature)(1) and
— which is not consumable.
For each item acquired, the entries in the inventory, of which the
receipts form an integral part, shall provide an appropriate description ofthe item acquired and specify its location, the date of acquisition and theunit cost.
Detailed receipts shall be regarded as an appropriate description.
Article 131
Inventory checks by the institutions should verify the physical existence
of each item and its conformity with the inventory entry. The checks
should form part of a three-year audit programme.
TITLE XXA
RULES FOR WRITING DOWN THE VALUE OF ASSETS AND
CONSTITUTINGPROVISIONS
(Article 70a of the Financial Regulation)
Article 131a
The Commission's accounting officer shall lay down the accounting
rules applicable to depreciation and inventories after consulting theaccounting officers of the other institutions, in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 21 of this Regulation.
Article 131b
1. The value of fixed assets, other than financial fixed assets, at the
closure of accounts (balance sheet value) shall be determined inaccordance with a depreciation plan.
2. The depreciation plan shall apply the straight-line method of
depreciation for each full year since the year when the asset came intoservice.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 33
(1) Defined for the joint research centre in the ‘Recueil des instructions relatives
aux inventaires’ (Doc. 13.131/XV/68-F) and the ‘Nomenclature des matériels
— canevas général’ (Doc. 2168/IX/1972-F and updatings).▼M6
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3. When the current value of non-depreciable fixed assets is lower
than their book value, an exceptional depreciation shall be applied if theloss in value is judged to be irreversible.
Article 131c
1. A reduction in the value of an asset or an increase in liabilities due
in the more or less long term must lead to the establishment of
provisions.
2. The establishment of these provisions must result from causes
whose effects are not necessarily irreversible.
TITLE XXI
ADVERTISEMENTOFSALESOFMOVABLEPROPERTY
(Article 66 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 132
1. The sale of movable property shall be:
(a) suitably advertised locally if the unit purchase price was at least
►M6EUR 8 100 ◄; at least 14 days must elapse between the date
of publication of the last advertisement and the conclusion of thecontract of sale;
(b) advertised by a notice of sale published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities if the unit purchase price was at least
►
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in the press of the Member States. At least one month must elapsebetween the date of publication of the notice in the Official Journal
of the European Communities and the conclusion of the contract of
sale.
2. Advertisements in the press shall not be necessary if, in view of the
cost involved, no particular benefit would be gained.
3. The institutions shall always seek to obtain the best prices for the
sale of movable property.
TITLE XXII
THE DRAWING-UP AND OPERATION OF THE CHART OF
ACCOUNTS
(Article 70 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 133
The accounts shall distinguish between general accounts and budget
accounts, and these two accounts shall be coordinated with one another.The chart of accounts shall be drawn up so as to permit the keeping ofthese two sets of accounts.
Article 134
Budgetaccounts
1. The budget accounts shall show, for every subdivision of the
budget:
(a) in the case of expenditure:
— the appropriations authorized in the initial budget, the appro-
priations entered in supplementary and/or amending budgets, theappropriations available as a result of contributions by thirdparties, transfers of appropriations and the total appropriationsthus available. Commitment appropriations and payment appro-priations shall be entered separately,1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 34
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— the commitments and payments in respect of the financial year in
question;
(b) in the case of revenue:
— the estimates entered in the initial budget, the estimates entered
in supplementary and/or amending budgets, revenue from
contributions by third parties and the total amount of estimatesthus determined,
— the entitlements established and the amounts received in respect
of the financial year in question;
(c) a record of commitments still to be paid out and of revenue still to
be recovered from previous financial years.
The global provisional commitments relating to the EAGGF Guarantee
Section and the corresponding payments in the form of advances shallalso be recorded in the budget accounts.
These commitments shall be presented in respect of total EAGGF
Guarantee appropriations.
2. Separate accounts shall be opened so that
— the use of appropriations carried over,
— the use of appropriations made available again,— the payments made against outstanding commitments,
can be recorded separately.On the revenue side, separate accounts shall be opened so that amounts
still to be recovered from previous financial years can be recordedseparately.
3. The accounts may be itemized in order to provide a basis for
analytical results.
4. The accounts shall be kept in books, or on file cards, or by means
of any computerized system.
Article 135
Generalaccounts
1. The general accounts shall make it possible to ascertain the
institution's assets and liabilities.
2. The list of accounts to be used for the general accounts shall be
drawn up on the basis of a decimal classification system.
3. The list of accounts shall consist of the following classes:
— class 1: fixed capital account,
— class 2: fixed asset accounts,
— class 3: stock accounts,— class 4: accounts with third parties,— class 5: financial accounts,— class 6: expenditure accounts,— class 7: income accounts,— class 8: special accounts.
4. Each class shall be divided into groups and subgroups, depending
on the requirements of the institution, to allow operations to be enteredin accordance with the accounting principles referred to in Article136(10).
5. Class 4 ‘Accounts with third parties’ shall record all operations
with third parties and adjustment accounts.
In particular, it shall contain suspense accounts for the entry of revenue
deriving from the repayment of advances provided for in point 7 ofArticle 7 of the Financial Regulation and accounts recording the re-1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 35
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utilization operations provided for in Article 27 (2) of the Financial
Regulation.
6. Class 5 ‘Financial accounts’ shall indicate the transactions in
securities, cash office, bank and post office giro transactions, andtransactions carried out by the assistant accounting officers and theimprest administrators. A separate account shall be opened for each
bank account, post office giro account, cash office and imprest.
7. Class 6 ‘Expenditure accounts’ shall record the gross amounts of
items of expenditure entered in the budget accounts.
Separate accounts shall be opened for expenditure relating to:
— appropriations for the current financial year,
— appropriations carried over pursuant to point 1 (b) of Article 7 of the
Financial Regulation,
— appropriations carried over pursuant to point 1 (a) of Article 7 of the
Financial Regulation,
— appropriations carried over pursuant to point 2 of Article 7 of the
Financial Regulation,
— appropriations relating to contributions by third parties pursuant to
Article 4 (2) of the Financial Regulation.
8. Class 7 ‘Income accounts’ shall indicate the amounts of revenue
entered in the budget accounts.
Separate accounts shall be opened for the recovery of:
— entitlements established in the course of the current financial year,
— established entitlements still outstanding from previous financial
years.
9. Class 8 ‘Special accounts’ shall record the operations to close the
accounts at the end of the year.
10. Without prejudice to Article 21, the accounting officer of each
institution shall draw up a detailed chart of accounts in line with the listof accounts referred to in paragraph 3. He shall create groups, subgroupsand individual accounts depending on his particular management
requirements, indicating in every case the purpose of these accounts
and the conditions of operation.
Article 136
Operationofthegeneral accounts
1. The general accounts shall be kept for each calendar year using the
double entry method.
2. The accounts shall be kept by means of a computer program.3. The accounts shall enable the general balance of the accounts to be
established, i. e. the statement of all the institution's assets and liabilities
accounts, including the balanced accounts with, in each case:
— account number,
— description,
— total debits,
— total credits,— balance.
4. The accounts shall be kept in such a way as to enable a detailed
analysis of the transactions and balances to be made. The financialstatements shall be drawn up so as to reflect properly, by means of
appropriate headings, the assets and liabilities of the institution. The
revenue to be recovered shall appear in the liabilities section underaccruals and deferred income and the corresponding claims shall appearin the assets section under the heading ‘receivable account’ or otherappropriate headings. Expenditure for the financial year not yet chargedto the revenue and expenditure account shall appear in the assets section1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 36
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under the heading ‘expenditure to be charged’. The revenue and
expenditure account shall include all the information necessary for thepurposes of the balance sheet.
The balance shown by each account shall be periodically compared with
the supporting documents and other external evidence, and, in particular:
—►
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— cash at bank and post office giro account — by monthly
reconciliation of the statements of account from the financialinstitutions,
— cash in cash offices — by reconciliation with the cash book,
— imprest accounts and other advances under Article 74 — by
verifying compliance with the conditions relating to imprest accountsand the granting of advances and with the rules for accounting,
— the expenditure accounts and income accounts of classes 6 and 7 —
to be reconciled monthly with the corresponding totals in the budgetaccounts.
5. The interinstitutional liaison accounts shall be cross-checked
monthly and cleared periodically.
6. The suspense accounts shall be reviewed periodically as follows:
— amounts outstanding — by the accounting officer informing the
authorizing officer of revenue not covered and of the steps taken,
— payments outstanding — by the accounting officer communicating to
the authorizing officer the grounds for non-implementation and the
amounts involved,
— funds to be transferred — by reference to payroll summaries or other
similar statements,
— other suspense accounts — by means of analysis of balances on the
account and by notification to the authorizing officer of any item notcleared within the periods to be defined annually.
The suspense accounts shall be cleared without delay and in any case
within the periods laid down in Article 71 of the Financial Regulation.
8. The financial (bank and post office giro) accounts shall be kept innational currencies and in euro.
Amounts expressed in national currencies shall be converted into euro at
rates to be determined in accordance with Article 1a. The balances ineuro of accounts held in national currencies shall be revalued eachmonth.
9. The accounts of the Joint Research Centre shall be consolidated in
the Commission's general accounts.
10. The financial statements must comply with the rules and be
accurate and comprehensive and present a true and fair view of assets,the financial situation and the outturn of the financial year. They shall bedrawn up on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles. The
practical arrangements for applying these principles, which will be
updated periodically, shall be laid down in accordance with theprovisions of Article 21.
11. The accounting officer shall enter provisions for liabilities and
charges to cover past or ongoing events of a specified nature whoseoutcome is uncertain.
12. The provisions for liabilities and charges provided for in
paragraph 11, for reductions in the value of assets provided for inArticle 131c and for depreciations provided for in Article 131b shall beentered in the non-budget expenditure and income account and shownseparately in the annex to the balance sheet.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 37
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TITLE XXIII
PROVISIONSAPPLICABLETORTDAPPROPRIATIONS
(Article 94 and 96 of the Financial Regulation)
Article 137
For activities coming under the Joint Research Centre, a table shall be
drawn up to accompany the budget showing the equivalence between the
purpose of expenditure — research objectives and other activities — and
the nature of the means of implementation employed:
— staff covered by the Staff Regulations and staff not covered by the
Staff Regulations,
— administrative and technical infrastructure,— scientific and technical support,— direct operating costs.
For the management of each of the activities falling within its
jurisdiction, including activities regarding services for third parties andsupport for Commission departments, the Joint Research Centre shallkeep appropriate accounts which enable actual costs to be monitored on
the basis of the information contained in the table of equivalence.
Article 138
For activities coming under indirect action, a table shall be drawn up to
accompany the budget showing the equivalence between the purpose —
research objectives and other activities — and nature of expenditure, inaccorance with the following breakdown:
— operations,
— staff not covered by the Staff Regulations(
1),
— administration,— infrastructure,— information and publications,— staff covered by the Staff Regulations (
1).
Appropriate measures shall be taken for the keeping of accounts to
ensure that budgetary implementation can be monitored for eachresearch objective by reference to the various components contained inthe table of equivalence.
TITLE XXIV
PROVISIONSAPPLICABLETOTHEMANAGEMENTOFAPPROPRIA-
TIONS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE OUTSIDE THE
COMMUNITY
(►M6Articles 121 and 123 ◄of the Financial Regulation)
Section I
Imprests
Article 140
For the payment of certain categories of expenditure, an imprest account
shall be set up for each local unit outside the Community in accordancewith Article 54 of the Financial Regulation.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 38
(1) ‘Staff covered by the Staff Regulations’ are officials in posts contained in the
establishment plan and staff covered by the Conditions of employment. ‘Staff
not covered by the Staff Regulations’ are all other staff (agency staff,
seconded national officials, service contracts, work contracts, etc.) — see the
Commission's rules of 22 May 1990 on mini-budgets.▼M6
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The decision establishing such imprest account shall lay down the terms
for its operation on the basis of the specific needs of each local unit.
Section II
CommitmentsandPayments
Article 141
Proposals for global provisional commitments shall be drawn up for all
local units.
Such proposals, accompanied by an estimate of expenditure for each
local unit, shall be sent to the financial controller for approval and thenrecorded in the accounts: these global commitments may be reviewed inline with changing requirements.
Article 142
1. In delegations with only a limited number of officials or staff who
may be empowered to sign cheques or post office or bank transfers, the
authorities referred to in Article 22 of the Financial Regulation may, ona proposal from the authorizing officer and after receiving a favourableopinion from the accounting officer and financial controller, allow asingle signature.
2. The Commission shall lay down the conditions under which the
staff it designates and empowers to administer accounts under thedelegation procedure are authorized to communicate the names and
specimen signatures to local banks.
Section III
Specificconditionsforreferring contractstotheCCAM
Article 143
1. In accordance with ►
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Regulation and Article 111 of this Regulation, contracts involving therenting of a building outside the Community may, by way of exception,
be concluded directly by the authorizing officer provided that the
CCAM has been suitably informed in advance about the state of themarket in the country or cities concerned and has accepted the basiccriteria to be adopted concerning:
— the type of building to be rented, depending on proposed use
(accommodation, offices, etc.),
— surface area and price parameters, with indication of range where
appropriate,
— details of contracts.
2. Where the authorizing officer is faced with a situation which
diverges from the criteria agreed upon pursuant to paragraph 1 and
accepted in advance by the CCAM, the specific case or cases shall again
be referred to the CCAM.
3. The authorizing officer shall report periodically to the CCAM on
the application of paragraph 1.
Section IV
Inventories
Article 144
1. In the case of the delegations, the permanent inventories of
movable property belonging to the Communities shall be kept locally.They shall be sent regularly to the central departments in accordance
with the rules adopted by the Commission.
Movable property in transit to the delegations shall be entered on a
provisional list before being recorded in the permanent inventories.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 39
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2. The advertising arrangements for sales of delegations' movable
property shall be adapted to the local situation and local legalconditions.
TITLE XXV
TRANSITIONALANDFINALPROVISIONS
Article 144a
For a transitional period, the limit referred to in Article 107 above which
the powers of the ACPC take effect shall be reduced, for theCommission, to EUR 300 000 from the entry into force of this
amending regulation until such time as the Commission approves an
evaluation report relating to the first six months of its application andshowing that the threshold of EUR 500 000 is appropriate in view of thequality requirements for the control of Community management.
Article 145
The fixed amounts specified in this Regulation shall be updated in
proportion to changes in the Community consumer price index as
follows:
— save in the event of an exceptional change in this index, every three
years in the case of the amounts referred to in Articles 31 (amount ofthe imprest), 81, 130 and 132 and in Articles 106 to 110; theseamounts shall be rounded as appropriate,
— every year in the case of the amounts referred to in Article 31
(amount of the allowance); these amounts shall be rounded up or
down to the nearest ►
M6EURO◄.
The Commission shall establish these new amounts in accordance with
the above timetable and criteria and shall communicate them to the otherinstitutions.
Article 146
The provisions of this Regulation shall not affect the application of the
special provisions of the Financial Regulation relating to research andtechnological development appropriations (Title VII of the FinancialRegulation), the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural
Guidance and Guarantee Fund (Title VIII of the Financial Regulation),
external aid (Title IX of the Financial Regulation), the management ofappropriations relating to staff serving outside the Community and totheir administration (Title X of the Financial Regulation) and the Officefor Official Publications of the European Communities (Title XI of theFinancial Regulation).
Article 147
Within six months of the date of entry into force of this Regulation, the
institutions shall inform the Court of Auditors of the provisions that they
have adopted in order to apply it.
Article 148
Regulation 86/610/EEC, Euratom, ECSC is hereby repealed.
Article 149
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1994.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.1993R3418 — EN — 31.08.2001 — 006.001 — 40
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