2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B REGULATION (EC) No 1406/2002 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE
COUNCIL
of27June2002
establishingaEuropeanMaritime SafetyAgency
(TextwithEEArelevance)
(OJ L 208, 5.8.2002, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Regulation (EC) No 1644/2003 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 22 July 2003L 245 10 29.9.2003
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REGULATION (EC) No 1406/2002 OF THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENTANDOFTHECOUNCIL
of27June2002
establishingaEuropeanMaritime SafetyAgency
(TextwithEEArelevance)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and
in particular Article 80(2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (3),
Acting in accordance withth e procedure referred to in Article 251 of
the Treaty (4),
Whereas:
(1)A large number of legislative measures have been adopted in the
Community in order to enhance safety and prevent pollution inmaritime transport. In order to be effective, suchlegislation
must be applied in a proper and uniform manner throughout the
Community. This will ensure a level playing field, reduce thedistortion of competition resulting from the economic advantagesenjoyed by non-complying ships and will reward the seriousmaritime players.
(2)Certain tasks currently done at Community or national levelcould be executed by a specialised expert body. Indeed, there isa need for technical and scientific support and a high level of
stable expertise to properly apply the Community legislation in
the fields of maritime safety and ship pollution prevention, tomonitor its implementation and to evaluate the effectiveness ofthe measures in place. There is a need therefore, within theCommunity's existing institutional structure and balance ofpowers, to establisha European Maritime Safety Agency (‘th e
Agency’).
(3)In general terms, the Agency should represent the technical body
providing the Community with the necessary means to act effec-
tively to enhance overall maritime safety and ship pollution
prevention rules. The Agency should assist the Commission inthe continuous process of updating and developing Communitylegislation in the field of maritime safety and prevention ofpollution by ships and should provide the necessary support to
ensure the convergent and effective implementation of such
legislation throughout the Community by assisting the Commis-sion in performing the tasks assigned to the latter by existing andfuture Community legislation on maritime safety and ship pollu-tion prevention.
(4)For the proper achievement of the purposes for which theAgency is established, it is appropriate that the Agency carriesout a number of other important tasks aimed at enhancing mari-time safety and ship pollution prevention in the waters of the2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ C 120 E, 24.4.2001, p. 83 and
OJ C 103 E, 30.4.2002, p. 184.
(2) OJ C 221, 7.8.2001, p. 64.
(3) OJ C 357, 14.12.2001, p. 1.
(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 14 June 2001 (OJ C 53 E, 28.2.2002,
p. 312), Council Common Position of 7 March2002 (OJ C 119 E,
22.5.2002, p. 27) and Decision of the European Parliament of 12 June
2002 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 25
June 2002.
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Member States. In this respect, the Agency should work with
Member States to organise appropriate training activities onport State control and flag State related issues and to provide
technical assistance related to the implementation of Community
legislation. It should facilitate cooperation between the MemberStates and the Commission as provided for in Directive 2002/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June2002 establishing a Community vessel traffic monitoring and
information system and repealing Council Directive 93/75/
EEC (
1), namely by developing and operating any information
system necessary for the objectives of that Directive, and in theactivities concerning the investigations related to serious mari-time accidents. It should provide the Commission and theMember States withobjective, reliable and comparable informa-
tion and data on maritime safety and on ship pollution
prevention to enable them to take any necessary initiatives toenhance the measures in place and to evaluate their effective-ness. It should place the Community maritime safety know-howat the disposal of the States applying for accession. It should be
open to the participation of these States and to other third coun-
tries which have concluded agreements with the Communitywhereby they adopt and implement Community legislation inthe field of maritime safety and prevention of pollution by ships.
(5)The Agency should favour the establishment of better coopera-tion between the Member States and should develop anddisseminate best practices in the Community. This in turn shouldcontribute to enhancing the overall maritime safety system in theCommunity as well as reducing the risk of maritime accidents,marine pollution and the loss of human lives at sea.
(6)In order properly to carry out the tasks entrusted to the Agency,it is appropriate that its officials carry out visits to the MemberStates in order to monitor the overall functioning of the Commu-nity maritime safety and ship pollution prevention system. The
visits should be carried out in accordance with a policy to be
established by the Agency's Administrative Board and shouldbe facilitated by the authorities of the Member States.
(7)The Agency should apply the relevant Community legislationconcerning public access to documents and the protection of
individuals withregard to th e processing of personal data. It
should give the public and any interested party objective, reliableand easily understandable information withregard to its work.
(8)For the contractual liability of the Agency, which is governed by
the law applicable to the contracts concluded by the Agency, the
Court of Justice should have jurisdiction to give judgmentpursuant to any arbitration clause contained in the contract. TheCourt of Justice should also have jurisdiction in disputes relatingto compensation for any damage arising from the non-contrac-
tual liability of the Agency.
(9)In order to effectively ensure the accomplishment of the func-
tions of the Agency, the Member States and the Commissionshould be represented on an Administrative Board entrustedwith the necessary powers to establish the budget, verify its
execution, adopt the appropriate financial rules, establish trans-
parent working procedures for decision making by the Agency,approve its work programme, examine requests for technicalassistance from Member States, define a policy for visits to theMember States and appoint the Executive Director. In the light
of the highly technical and scientific mission and tasks of the
Agency, it is appropriate for the Administrative Board to consistof one representative of eachMember State and four representa-tives of the Commission, being members with a high level ofexpertise. In order further to ensure the highest level of expertiseand experience in the Administrative Board and with a view to2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 3
(1) See page 10 of this Official Journal.
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involving the sectors most closely concerned in the tasks of the
Agency, the Commission should nominate independent profes-sionals from these sectors as board members without the right
to vote, on the basis of their personal merit and experience in
the field of maritime safety and prevention of pollution by shipsand not as representatives of particular professional organisa-tions.
(10)The good functioning of the Agency requires that its Executive
Director be appointed on the grounds of merit and documented
administrative and managerial skills, as well as competence andexperience relevant for maritime safety and prevention of pollu-tion by ships and that he/she performs his/her duties withcomplete independence and flexibility as to the organisation of
the internal functioning of the Agency. To this end, the Execu-
tive Director should prepare and take all necessary steps toensure the proper accomplishment of the working programmeof the Agency, should prepare each year a draft general reportto be submitted to the Administrative Board, should draw upestimates of the revenues and expenditure of the Agency and
should implement the budget.
(11)In order to guarantee the full autonomy and independence of the
Agency, it is considered necessary to grant it an autonomousbudget whose revenue comes essentially from a contributionfrom the Community.
(12)Over the past years, as more decentralised agencies have beencreated, the budgetary authority has looked to improve transpar-ency and control over the management of the Communityfunding allocated to them, in particular concerning the budgeti-sation of the fees, financial control, power of discharge, pensionscheme contributions and the internal budgetary procedure (code
of conduct). In a similar way, Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-FraudOffice (OLAF)(
1) should apply without restriction to the
Agency, which should accede to the Interinstitutional Agreement
of 25 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council
of the European Union and the Commission of the EuropeanCommunities concerning internal investigations by the EuropeanAnti-Fraud Office (OLAF)(
2).
(13)Within five years from the date of the Agency having taken upits responsibilities, the Administrative Board should commission
an independent external evaluation in order to assess the impact
of this Regulation, the Agency and its working practices onestablishing a high level of maritime safety and prevention ofpollution by ships,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
CHAPTER I
OBJECTIVESANDTASKS
Article 1
Objectives
1. This Regulation establishes a European Maritime Safety Agency
(the Agency) for the purpose of ensuring a high, uniform and effective
level of maritime safety and prevention of pollution by ships within theCommunity.
2. The Agency shall provide the Member States and the Commis-
sion with the technical and scientific assistance needed and with a2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 4
(1) OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 15.
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high level of expertise, in order to help them to apply Community
legislation properly in the field of maritime safety and prevention ofpollution by ships, to monitor its implementation and to evaluate the
effectiveness of the measures in place.
Article 2
Tasks
In order to ensure that the objectives set out in Article 1 are met in the
appropriate manner, the Agency shall perform the following tasks:
(a) it shall assist the Commission, where appropriate, in the prepara-
tory works for updating and developing Community legislation in
the field of maritime safety and prevention of pollution by ships,in particular in line withth e development of international legisla-tion in that field. That task shall include the analysis of researchprojects carried out in the field of maritime safety and prevention
of pollution by ships;
(b) it shall assist the Commission in the effective implementation of
Community legislation on maritime safety and prevention of pollu-tion by ships throughout the Community. In particular, the Agencyshall:
(i) monitor the overall functioning of the Community port State
control regime, which may include visits to the Member
States, and suggest to the Commission any possible improve-
ments in that field;
(ii) provide the Commission with the technical assistance neces-
sary to take part in the work of the technical bodies of the
Paris Memorandum of Understanding on port State control;
(iii) assist the Commission in the performance of any task assigned
to the Commission by existing and future Community legisla-tion on maritime safety and ship pollution prevention, notably
legislation applicable to classification societies, the safety of
passenger ships, as well as that applicable to the safety,training, certification and watchkeeping of ships' crews;
(c) it shall work with the Member States to:
(i) organise, where appropriate, relevant training activities in fields
which are the responsibility of the port State and flag State;
(ii) develop technical solutions and provide technical assistance
related to the implementation of Community legislation;
(d) it shall facilitate cooperation between the Member States and the
Commission in the field covered by Directive 2002/59/EC. In parti-cular the Agency shall:
(i) promote cooperation between riparian States in the shipping
areas concerned in the fields covered by that Directive;
(ii) develop and operate any information system necessary for
attaining the objectives of that Directive;
(e) it shall facilitate cooperation between the Member States and the
Commission in the development, with due regard to the different
legal systems in the Member States, of a common methodologyfor investigating maritime accidents according to agreed interna-tional principles, in the provision of the support of the MemberStates in activities concerning investigations related to serious
maritime accidents, and in the carrying out of an analysis of
existing accident investigation reports;
(f) it shall provide the Commission and the Member States with objec-
tive, reliable and comparable information and data on maritimesafety and on pollution by ships to enable them to take the neces-sary steps to improve maritime safety and prevention of pollution
by ships and to evaluate the effectiveness of existing measures.
Such tasks shall include the collection, recording and evaluationof technical data in the fields of maritime safety and maritimetraffic, as well as in the field of marine pollution, both accidentaland deliberate, the systematic exploitation of existing databases,including their cross-fertilisation, and, where appropriate, the devel-2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 5
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opment of additional databases. On the basis of the data collected,
the Agency shall assist the Commission in the publication, everysix months, of information relating to ships that have been refused
access to Community ports pursuant to Council Directive 95/21/EC
of 19 June 1995 concerning the enforcement, in respect of shippingusing Community ports and sailing in the waters under the jurisdic-tion of the Member States, of international standards for shipsafety, pollution prevention and shipboard living and working
conditions (port State control) (
1). The Agency will also assist the
Commission and the Member States in their activities to improvethe identification and pursuit of ships making unlawful discharges;
(g) in the course of negotiations with States applying for accession the
Agency may provide technical assistance as regards the implemen-
tation of Community legislation in the field of maritime safety and
prevention of pollution by ships. That task shall be coordinatedwith the existing regional cooperation programmes and shallinclude, where appropriate, the organisation of relevant trainingactivities.
Article 3
VisitstoMember States
1. In order to perform the tasks entrusted to it, the Agency may
carry out visits to the Member States in accordance with the policydefined by the Administrative Board. The national authorities of the
Member States shall facilitate the work of the Agency's staff.
2. The Agency shall inform the Member State concerned of the
planned visit, the names of the delegated officials, and the date on
which the visit starts. The Agency officials delegated to carry outsuch visits shall do so on presentation of a decision from the ExecutiveDirector of the Agency specifying the purpose and the aims of theirmission.
3. At the end of each visit, the Agency shall draw up a report and
send it to the Commission and to the Member State concerned.
Article 4
Transparencyandprotectionofinformation
1. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents (
2) shall apply to
documents held by the Agency.
2. The Agency may communicate on its own initiative in the fields
within its mission. It shall ensure in particular that the public and anyinterested party are rapidly given objective, reliable and easily under-standable information withregard to its work.
3. The Administrative Board shall adopt the practical arrangements
for implementing Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 within six months
after the entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 1644/2003 of theEuropean Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2003 amendingRegulation (EC) No 1406/2002 establishing a European MaritimeSafety Agency (
3).
4. The information collected in accordance with this Regulation by
the Commission and the Agency shall be subject to Regulation (EC)2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 6
(1) OJ L 157, 7.7.1995, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2001/106/
EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 19, 22.1.2002, p.
17).
(2) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.
(3) OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 10.▼M1
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No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18
December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to theprocessing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies
and on the free movement of such data (
1).
5. Decisions taken by the Agency pursuant to Article 8 of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1049/2001 may form the subject of a complaint to theOmbudsman or of an action before the Court of Justice of theEuropean Communities, under Articles 195 and 230 of the EC Treaty
respectively.
CHAPTER II
INTERNALSTRUCTUREANDFUNCTIONING
Article 5
Legalstatus,regionalcentres
1. The Agency shall be a body of the Community. It shall have legal
personality.
2. In each of the Member States, the Agency shall enjoy the most
extensive legal capacity accorded to legal persons under their laws. It
may in particular, acquire or dispose of movable and immovable prop-
erty and may be a party to legal proceedings.
3. At the request of the Commission, the Administrative Board may
decide, with the agreement of the Member States concerned, to estab-
lishth e regional centres necessary in order to carry out tasks related to
the monitoring of navigation and maritime traffic, as provided for inDirective 2002/59/EC.
4. The Agency shall be represented by its Executive Director.
Article 6
Staff
1. The Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities,
the Conditions of employment of other servants of the EuropeanCommunities and the rules adopted jointly by the institutions of theEuropean Communities for the purposes of the application of thoseStaff Regulations and conditions of Employment shall apply to the staff
of the Agency. The Administrative Board, in agreement with the
Commission, shall adopt the necessary detailed rules of application.
2. Without prejudice to Article 16, the powers conferred on the
appointing authority by the Staff Regulations and the Conditions of
employment of other servants shall be exercised by the Agency inrespect of its own staff.
3. The Agency's staff shall consist of officials assigned or seconded
by the Commission or Member States on a temporary basis and of
other servants recruited by the Agency as necessary to carry out itstasks.
Article 7
Privileges andimmunities
The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European
Communities shall apply to the Agency and to its staff.2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 7
(1) OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.▼M1
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Article 8
Liability
1. The contractual liability of the Agency shall be governed by the
law applicable to the contract in question.
2. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction to give judgment
pursuant to any arbitration clause contained in a contract concludedby the Agency.
3. In the case of non-contractual liability, the Agency shall, in
accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the
Member States, make good any damage caused by its departments or
by its servants in the performance of their duties.
4. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in disputes relating to
the compensation for damage referred to in paragraph 3.
5. The personal liability of its servants towards the Agency shall be
governed by the provisions laid down in the Staff Regulations orConditions of employment applicable to them.
Article 9
Languages
1. The provisions laid down in Regulation No 1 of 15 April 1958
determining the languages to be used in the European EconomicCommunity (
1) shall apply to the Agency.
2. The translation services required for the functioning of the
Agency shall be provided by the Translation Centre of the bodies ofthe European Union.
Article 10
CreationandpowersoftheAdministrativeBoard
1. An Administrative Board is hereby set up.2. The Administrative Board shall:
(a) appoint the Executive Director pursuant to Article 16;
(b) shall adopt the annual report on the Agency's activities and forward
it by 15 June at the latest to the European Parliament, the Council,
the Commission, the Court of Auditors and the Member States.
The Agency shall annually forward to the budgetary authority all
information relevant to the outcome of the evaluation procedures;
(c) examine, in the framework of the preparation of the work
programme, requests from Member States for technical assistance,
as referred to in Article 2(c)(ii);
(d) adopt, by 31 October each year, and taking the opinion of the
Commission into account, the work programme of the Agency forthe coming year and forward it to the Member States, the European
Parliament, the Council and the Commission;
This work programme shall be adopted without prejudice to the
annual Community budgetary procedure. In case the Commissionexpresses, within 15 days from the date of adoption of the workprogramme its disagreement with the said programme, the Admin-
istrative Board shall re-examine the programme and adopt it,
possibly amended, within a period of two months, in secondreading either with a two-thirds majority, including the Commis-2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 8
(1) OJ 17, 6.10.1958, p. 385/58. Regulation as last amended by the 1994 Act of
Accession.▼M1
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sion representatives, or by unanimity of the representatives of the
Member States;
(e) adopt the final budget of the Agency before the beginning of the
financial year, adjusting it, where necessary, according to the
Community contribution and any other revenue of the Agency;
(f) establishprocedures for decision-making by th e Executive
Director;
(g) define a policy for the visits to be carried out pursuant to Article 3;(h) perform its duties in relation to the Agency's budget pursuant to
Articles 18, 19 and 21;
(i) exercise disciplinary authority over the Executive Director and the
heads of unit referred to in Article 15(3);
(j) establishits rules of procedure.
Article 11
CompositionoftheAdministrativeBoard
1. The Administrative Board shall be composed of one representa-
tive of eachMember State and four representatives of th eCommission, as well as of four professionals from the sectors most
concerned, nominated by the Commission, without the right to vote.
Board members shall be appointed on the basis of their degree of rele-
vant experience and expertise in the field of maritime safety andprevention of pollution by ships.
2. Each Member State and the Commission shall appoint their
members of the Administrative Board as well as an alternate who willrepresent the member in his/her absence.
3. The duration of the term of office shall be five years. The term of
office may be renewed once.
4. When appropriate, the participation of representatives of third
countries and the conditions thereof shall be established in the arrange-ments referred to in Article 17(2).
Article 12
ChairmanshipoftheAdministrativeBoard
1. The Administrative Board shall elect a Chairperson and a Deputy-
Chairperson from among its members. The Deputy Chairperson shallautomatically take the place of the Chairperson if he/she is preventedfrom attending to his/her duties.
2. The terms of office of the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson
shall be three years and shall expire when they cease to be membersof the Administrative Board. The terms of office shall be renewable
once.
Article 13
Meetings
1. The meetings of the Administrative Board shall be convened by
its Chairperson.
2. The Executive Director of the Agency shall take part in the delib-
erations.
3. The Administrative Board shall hold an ordinary meeting twice a
year. In addition, it shall meet on the initiative of the Chairperson or atthe request of the Commission or of one-third of the Member States.
4. When there is a matter of confidentiality or conflict of interest,
the Administrative Board may decide to examine specific items of itsagenda without the presence of the members nominated in their capa-city as professionals from the sectors most concerned. Detailed rules2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 9
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for the application of this provision may be laid down in the rules of
procedure.
5. The Administrative Board may invite any person whose opinion
can be of interest to attend its meetings as an observer.
6. The members of the Administrative Board may, subject to the
provisions of its rules of procedure, be assisted by advisers or experts.
7. The secretariat for the Administrative Board shall be provided by
the Agency.
Article 14
Voting
1. The Administrative Board shall take its decisions by a two-thirds
majority of all members with the right to vote.
2. Each member shall have one vote. The Executive Director of the
Agency shall not vote.
In the absence of a member, his/her alternate shall be entitled to exer-
cise his/her right to vote.
3. The rules of procedure shall establish the more detailed voting
arrangements, in particular, the conditions for a member to act on
behalf of another member.
Article 15
DutiesandpowersoftheExecutive Director
1. The Agency shall be managed by its Executive Director, who
shall be completely independent in the performance of his/her duties,
without prejudice to the respective competencies of the Commissionand the Administrative Board.
2. The Executive Director shall have the following duties and
powers:
(a) he/she shall prepare the work programme and submit it to the
Administrative Board after consultation of the Commission. He/she shall take the necessary steps for its implementation. He/sheshall respond to any requests for assistance from the Commission
or from a Member State in accordance withArticle 10(2)(c);
(b) he/she shall decide to carry out the visits provided for in Article 3,
after consultation of the Commission and following the policy
established by the Administrative Board according to Article
10(2)(g);
(c) he/she shall take all necessary steps, including the adoption of
internal administrative instructions and the publication of notices,to ensure the functioning of the Agency in accordance with theprovisions of this Regulation;
(d) he/she shall organise an effective monitoring system in order to be
able to compare the Agency's achievements with its operationalobjectives. On this basis the Executive Director shall prepare adraft general report eachyear and submit it to th e Administrative
Board. He/she shall establish regular evaluation procedures that
meet recognised professional standards;
(e) he/she shall exercise, in respect of the staff, the powers laid down
in Article 6(2);
(f) he/she shall draw up estimates of the Agency's revenue and expen-
diture, in accordance with Article 18, and shall implement the
budget in accordance withArticle 19.
3. The Executive Director may be assisted by one or more Heads of
Unit. If the Executive Director is absent or indisposed, one of the headsof unit shall take his place.2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 10
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Article 16
AppointmentoftheExecutiveDirector
1. The Executive Director of the Agency shall be appointed by the
Administrative Board on the grounds of merit and documented admin-istrative and managerial skills, as well as competence and experiencerelevant for maritime safety and prevention of pollution by ships. The
Administrative Board shall take its decision by a four-fifths majority of
all members with the right to vote. The Commission may propose acandidate or candidates.
Power to dismiss the Executive Director shall lie with the Administra-
tive Board, according to the same procedure.
2. The term of office of the Executive Director shall be five years.
This term of office is renewable once.
Article 17
Participation ofthirdcountries
1. The Agency shall be open to the participation of third countries,
which have entered into agreements with the European Community,whereby they have adopted and are applying Community law in thefield of maritime safety and prevention of pollution by ships.
2. Under the relevant provisions of these agreements, arrangements
will be developed which shall, inter alia , specify the nature and the
extent of the detailed rules for the participation by these countries in
the work of the Agency, including provisions on financial contributions
and staff.
CHAPTER III
FINANCIALREQUIREMENTS
Article 18
Budget
1. The Agency's revenues shall consist of:
(a) a contribution from the Community;
(b) possible contributions from any third country which participates in
the work of the Agency in accordance with Article 17;
(c) charges for publications, training and/or any other services
provided by the Agency.
2. The Agency's expenditure shall cover staff and administrative,
infrastructure and operational expenses.
3. The Executive Director shall draw up a draft statement of esti-
mates of the Agency's revenue and expenditure for the following yearand shall forward it to the Administrative Board, together with a draftestablishment plan.
4. Revenue and expenditure shall be in balance.5. Each year the Administrative Board, on the basis of a draft state-
ment of estimates of revenue and expenditure, shall produce a
statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure for the Agency for
the following financial year.
6. This statement of estimates, which shall include a draft establish-
ment plan together with the provisional work programme, shall by 31March at the latest be forwarded by the Administrative Board to theCommission and to the States with which the Community hasconcluded agreements in accordance withArticle 17.
7. The statement of estimates shall be forwarded by the Commission
to the European Parliament and the Council (hereinafter referred to as2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 11
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the budgetary authority) together with the preliminary draft general
budget of the European Union.
8. On the basis of the statement of estimates, the Commission shall
enter in the preliminary draft general budget of the European Union theestimates it deems necessary for the establishment plan and the amountof the subsidy to be charged to the general budget, which it shall placebefore the budgetary authority in accordance with Article 272 of theTreaty.
9. The budgetary authority shall authorise the appropriations for the
subsidy to the Agency.
The budgetary authority shall adopt the establishment plan for the
Agency.
10. The budget shall be adopted by the Administrative Board. It
shall become final following final adoption of the general budget of
the European Union. Where appropriate, it shall be adjusted accord-ingly.
11. The Administrative Board shall, as soon as possible, notify the
budgetary authority of its intention to implement any project whichmay have significant financial implications for the funding of the
budget, in particular any projects relating to property suchas th e rental
or purchase of buildings. It shall inform the Commission thereof.
Where a branch of the budgetary authority has notified its intention to
deliver an opinion, it shall forward its opinion to the AdministrativeBoard within a period of six weeks after the date of notification of
the project.
Article 19
Implementationandcontrolofthebudget
1. The Executive Director shall implement the Agency's budget.2. By 1 March at the latest following each financial year, the
Agency's accounting officer shall communicate the provisionalaccounts to the Commission's accounting officer together with a report
on the budgetary and financial management for that financial year. The
Commission's accounting officer shall consolidate the provisionalaccounts of the institutions and decentralised bodies in accordancewithArticle 128 of th e general Financial Regulation.
3. By 31 March at the latest following each financial year, the
Commission's accounting officer shall forward the Agency's provisional
accounts to the Court of Auditors, together with a report on thebudgetary and financial management for that financial year. The reporton the budgetary and financial management for the financial year shallalso be forwarded to the European Parliament and the Council.
4. On receipt of the Court of Auditors' observations on the Agency's
provisional accounts, under Article 129 of the general Financial Regu-
lation, the Executive Director shall draw up the Agency's final accountsunder his own responsibility and submit them to the AdministrativeBoard for an opinion.
5. The Administrative Board shall deliver an opinion on the
Agency's final accounts.
6. The Executive Director shall, by 1 July at the latest following
each financial year, forward the final accounts to the European Parlia-ment, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, togetherwithth e Administrative Board's opinion.
7. The final accounts shall be published.
8. The Executive Director shall send the Court of Auditors a reply
to its observations by 30 September at the latest. He shall also sendthis reply to the Administrative Board.
9. The Executive Director shall submit to the European Parliament,
at the latter's request, all information necessary for the smooth applica-2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 12
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tion of the discharge procedure for the financial year in question, as
laid down in Article 146(3) of the general Financial Regulation.
10. The European Parliament, on a recommendation from the
Council acting by a qualified majority, shall, before 30 April of yearN + 2, give a discharge to the Executive Director in respect of theimplementation of the budget for year N.
Article 20
Combatingfraud
1. In order to combat fraud, corruption and other unlawful activities,
the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 shall apply withoutrestriction to the Agency.
2. The Agency shall accede to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 25
May 1999 concerning internal investigations by OLAF and shall issue,without delay, the appropriate provisions applicable to all of its staff.
3. The decisions concerning funding and the implementing agree-
ments and instruments resulting from them shall explicitly stipulate
that the Court of Auditors and OLAF may carry out, if necessary, on-
the-spot checks of the recipients of the Agency's funding and the agentsresponsible for allocating it.
Article 21
Financial provisions
The financial rules applicable to the Agency shall be adopted by the
Administrative Board after the Commission has been consulted. Theymay not depart from Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for
the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC,
Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to thegeneral budget of the European Communities (
1) unless sucha depar-
ture is specifically required for the Agency's operation and theCommission has given its prior consent.
CHAPTER IV
FINALPROVISIONS
Article 22
Evaluation
1. Within five years from the date of the Agency having taken up its
responsibilities, the Administrative Board shall commission an indepen-dent external evaluation on the implementation of this Regulation. TheCommission shall make available to the Agency any information the
latter considers relevant to that evaluation.
2. The evaluation shall assess the impact of this Regulation, the
Agency and its working practices on establishing a high level of mari-time safety and prevention of pollution by ships. The AdministrativeBoard shall issue specific terms of reference in agreement with theCommission, following consultations withth e parties involved.
3. The Administrative Board shall receive the evaluation and issue
recommendations regarding changes to this Regulation, the Agencyand its working practices to the Commission. Both the evaluation find-ings and recommendations shall be forwarded by the Commission tothe European Parliament and the Council and shall be made public.2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 13
(1) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72; corrigendum in OJ L 2, 7.1.2003, p. 39.▼B
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Article 23
StartoftheAgency'sactivities
The Agency shall be operational within twelve months of the entry into
force of this Regulation.
Article 24
Entryintoforce
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following
that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Commu-
nities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.2002R1406 — EN — 01.10.2003 — 001.001 — 14