02012R0966 — EN — 01.01.2017 — 003.001

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Amended by:





Corrected by:









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REGULATION (EU, EURATOM) No 966/2012 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 25 October 2012

on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002

CONTENTS PART ONE COMMON PROVISIONS TITLE I SUBJECT MATTER, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS Article 1 Subject matter Article 2 Definitions Article 3 Compliance of secondary legislation with this Regulation Article 4 Periods, dates and time limits Article 5 Protection of personal data TITLE II BUDGETARY PRINCIPLES Article 6 Respect for budgetary principles Chapter 1 Principles of unity and of budgetary accuracy Article 7 Scope of the budget Article 8 Specific rules on the principles of unity and budgetary accuracy Chapter 2 Principle of annuality Article 9 Definition Article 10 Type of appropriations Article 11 Accounting for revenue and appropriations Article 12 Commitment of appropriations Article 13 Cancellation and carry-over of appropriations Article 14 Carry-over rules for assigned revenue Article 15 Decommitment of appropriations Article 16 Rules applicable in the event of late adoption of the budget Chapter 3 Principle of equilibrium Article 17 Definition and scope Article 18 Balance from financial year Chapter 4 Principle of unit of account Article 19 Use of euro Chapter 5 Principle of universality Article 20 Definition and scope Article 21 Assigned revenue Article 22 Donations Article 23 Rules on deductions and exchange rate adjustments Chapter 6 Principle of specification Article 24 General provisions Article 25 Transfers by institutions other than the Commission Article 26 Transfers by the Commission Article 27 Transfer proposals submitted to the European Parliament and the Council by the institutions Article 28 Specific rules on transfers Article 29 Transfers subject to special provisions Chapter 7 Principle of sound financial management Article 30 Principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness Article 31 Compulsory financial statement Article 32 Internal control of budget implementation Article 33 Cost-effective control systems Chapter 8 Principle of transparency Article 34 Publication of accounts, budgets and reports Article 35 Publication of information on recipients and other information TITLE III ESTABLISHMENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE BUDGET Chapter 1 Establishment of the budget Article 36 Estimates of revenue and expenditure Article 37 Estimated budget of the bodies referred to in Article 208 Article 38 Draft budget Article 39 Letter of amendment to the draft budget Article 40 Obligations of the Member States stemming from the adoption of the budget Article 41 Draft amending budgets Article 42 Early transmission of estimates and draft budgets Chapter 2 Structure and presentation of the budget Article 43 Structure of the budget Article 44 Budget nomenclature Article 45 Prohibition of negative revenue Article 46 Provisions Article 47 Negative reserve Article 48 Emergency Aid Reserve Article 49 Presentation of the budget Article 50 Rules on the establishment plans for staff Chapter 3 Budgetary discipline Article 51 Compliance with the multiannual financial framework Article 52 Compliance of Union acts with the budget TITLE IV IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET Chapter 1 General provisions Article 53 Budget implementation in accordance with the principle of sound financial management Article 54 Basic act and exceptions Article 55 Implementation of the budget by institutions other than the Commission Article 56 Delegation of budget implementation powers Article 57 Conflict of interests Chapter 2 Methods of implementation Article 58 Methods of implementation of the budget Article 59 Shared management with Member States Article 60 Indirect management Article 61 Ex ante assessments and delegation agreements Article 62 Executive agencies Article 63 Limits to delegation of powers Chapter 3 Financial actors Section 1 Principle of segregation of duties Article 64 Segregation of duties Section 2 Authorising officer Article 65 The authorising officer Article 66 Powers and duties of the authorising officer Article 67 Powers and duties of Heads of Union Delegations Section 3 Accounting officer Article 68 Powers and duties of the accounting officer Article 69 Powers which may be delegated by the accounting officer Section 4 Imprest administrator Article 70 Imprest accounts Chapter 4 Liability of financial actors Section 1 General rules Article 71 Withdrawal of delegation and suspension of duties given to financial actors Article 72 Liability of the authorising officer for illegal activity, fraud or corruption Section 2 Rules applicable to authorising officers by delegation and subdelegation Article 73 Rules applicable to authorising officers Section 3 Rules applicable to accounting officers and imprest administrators Article 74 Rules applicable to accounting officers Article 75 Rules applicable to imprest administrators Chapter 5 Revenue operations Section 1 Making own resources available Article 76 Own resources Section 2 Estimate of amounts receivable Article 77 Estimate of amounts receivable Section 3 Establishment of amounts receivable Article 78 Establishment of amounts receivable Section 4 Authorisation of recovery Article 79 Authorisation of recovery Section 5 Recovery Article 80 Rules on Recovery Article 81 Limitation period Article 82 National treatment for Union entitlements Article 83 Fines, penalties and accrued interest imposed by the Commission Chapter 6 Expenditure operations Article 84 Financing decisions Section 1 Commitment of expenditure Article 85 Types of commitments Article 86 Rules applicable to commitments Article 87 Checks applicable to commitments Section 2 Validation of expenditure Article 88 Validation of expenditure Section 3 Authorisation of expenditure Article 89 Authorisation of expenditure Section 4 Payment of expenditure Article 90 Types of payments Article 91 Payment limited to funds available Section 5 Time limits for expenditure operations Article 92 Time limits Chapter 7 IT systems and e-Government Article 93 Electronic management of operations Article 94 Transmission of documents Article 95 e-Government Chapter 8 Administrative principles Article 96 Good administration Article 97 Indication of means of redress Chapter 9 Internal auditor Article 98 Appointment of the internal auditor Article 99 Powers and duties of the internal auditor Article 100 Independence of the internal auditor TITLE V PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AND CONCESSIONS Chapter 1 General provisions Section 1 Scope and award principles Article 101 Definitions for the purposes of this Title Article 102 Principles applicable to public contracts Section 2 Publication Article 103 Publicity measures Section 3 Procurement procedures Article 104 Procurement procedures Article 104a Inter-institutional procurement and joint procurement Article 105 Preparation of a procurement procedure Article 105a Protection of the Union's financial interests by means of detection of risks and imposition of administrative sanctions Article 106 Exclusion criteria and administrative sanctions Article 107 Rejection from a given procurement procedure Article 108 The early detection and exclusion system Article 110 Award of contracts Article 111 Submission, electronic communication and evaluation Article 112 Contacts during the procurement procedure Article 113 Award decision and information to candidates or tenderers Article 114 Cancellation of the procurement procedure Article 114a Performance and modifications of the contract Section 4 Guarantees and corrective action Article 115 Guarantees Article 116 Substantial errors, irregularities or fraud Chapter 2 Provisions applicable to contracts awarded by the institutions on their own account Article 117 The contracting authority Article 118 Thresholds applicable and standstill period Article 119 Rules on access to procurement Article 120 Procurement rules of the World Trade Organisation TITLE VI GRANTS Chapter 1 Scope and form of grants Article 121 Scope of grants Article 122 Beneficiaries Article 123 Forms of grants Article 124 Lump sums, unit costs and flat-rate financing Chapter 2 Principles Article 125 General principles applicable to grants Article 126 Eligible costs Article 127 Co-financing in kind Article 128 Transparency Article 129 Principle of non-cumulative award Article 130 Principle of non-retroactivity Chapter 3 Award procedure Article 131 Applications for grants Article 132 Selection and award criteria Article 133 Evaluation procedure Chapter 4 Payment and control Article 134 Pre-financing guarantee Article 135 Payment of grants and controls Article 136 Periods for record-keeping Chapter 5 Implementation Article 137 Implementation contracts and financial support to third parties TITLE VII PRIZES Article 138 General rules TITLE VIII FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS Article 139 Scope Article 140 Principles and conditions applicable to financial instrument TITLE IX PRESENTATION OF THE ACCOUNTS AND ACCOUNTING Chapter 1 Presentation of the accounts Article 141 Structure of the accounts Article 142 Report on budgetary and financial management Article 143 Rules governing the accounts Article 144 Accounting principles Article 145 Financial statements Article 146 Budgetary implementation reports Article 147 Provisional accounts Article 148 Approval of the final consolidated accounts Chapter 2 Information on the implementation of the budget Article 149 Report on the budgetary guarantees and risks Article 150 Information on budget implementation Chapter 3 Accounting Section 1 Common provisions Article 151 The accounting system Article 152 Common requirements for the institutions' accounting system Section 2 General accounts Article 153 The general accounts Article 154 Entries in the general accounts Article 155 Accounting adjustments Section 3 Budgetary accounts Article 156 Budgetary accounting Chapter 4 Property inventories Article 157 The inventory TITLE X EXTERNAL AUDIT AND DISCHARGE Chapter 1 External audit Article 158 External audit by the Court of Auditors Article 159 Rules and procedure on the audit Article 160 Checks on securities and cash Article 161 Court of Auditors' right of access Article 162 Annual report of the Court of Auditors Article 163 Special reports of the Court of Auditors Chapter 2 Discharge Article 164 Timetable of the discharge procedure Article 165 The discharge procedure Article 166 Follow-up measures Article 167 Specific provisions regarding the EEAS PART TWO SPECIAL PROVISIONS TITLE I EUROPEAN AGRICULTURAL GUARANTEE FUND Article 168 Special provisions on the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund Article 169 Commitments of EAGF appropriations Article 170 Global provisional commitments of EAGF appropriations Article 171 Schedule and timing of EAGF budgetary commitments Article 172 Accounting of EAGF expenditure Article 173 Transfer of EAGF appropriations Article 174 Assigned EAGF revenue TITLE II STRUCTURAL FUNDS, COHESION FUND, EUROPEAN FISHERIES FUND, EUROPEAN AGRICULTURAL FUND FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FUNDS IN THE AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY AND JUSTICE MANAGED IN SHARED MANAGEMENT AND CONNECTING EUROPE FACILITY Article 175 Special provisions Article 176 Respect of the allocations of commitment appropriations Article 177 Payments of contributions, interim payments and repayments Article 178 Decommitment of appropriations Article 178a Carry-over of commitment appropriations for the Connecting Europe Facility Article 179 Transfer of appropriations Article 180 Management, selection and audit TITLE III RESEARCH Article 181 Research funds Article 182 Commitments of Research Fund Article 183 Joint Research Centre TITLE IV EXTERNAL ACTIONS Chapter 1 General provisions Article 184 External actions Chapter 2 Implementation of actions Section 1 General provisions Article 185 Implementation of external actions Section 2 Budget support and multi donor trust funds Article 186 Use of budget support Article 187 Union trust funds for external actions Section 3 Other management modes Article 188 Implementation of external actions through indirect management Article 189 Financing agreements on the implementation of external actions Chapter 3 Procurement Article 190 External action procurement Article 191 Rules on access to procurement Chapter 4 Grants Article 192 Full financing of an external action Article 193 Applicable rules for external action grants Chapter 5 Auditing of accounts Article 194 Union audit in external action TITLE V EUROPEAN OFFICES Article 195 The European Offices Article 196 Appropriations regarding the European offices Article 197 Authorising Officer of European offices Article 198 The accounts of the interinstitutional European offices Article 199 Delegation of authorising officer powers for interinstitutional European offices Article 200 Services to third parties TITLE VI ADMINISTRATIVE APPROPRIATIONS Article 201 General provisions Article 202 Commitments Article 203 Specific provisions regarding administrative appropriations TITLE VII EXPERTS Article 204 Remunerated external experts TITLE VIII CONTRIBUTIONS TO EUROPEAN POLITICAL PARTIES Article 204a General provisions Article 204b Principles Article 204c Budgetary aspects Article 204d Call for contributions Article 204e Award procedure Article 204f Evaluation procedure Article 204g Form of contributions Article 204h Rules for contribution Article 204i Prefinancing Article 204j Guarantees Article 204k Use of contributions Article 204l Report on the use of the contributions Article 204m Payment of the balance Article 204n Control and penalties Article 204o Record keeping Article 204p Selection of external audit bodies or experts PART THREE FINAL PROVISIONS Article 205 Transitional provisions Article 206 Information requests by the European Parliament and the Council Article 207 Thresholds and amounts Article 208 Framework financial regulation for bodies set up under the TFEU and the Euratom Treaty Article 209 Model Financial Regulation for public-private partnership bodies Article 210 Exercise of the delegation Article 211 Review Article 212 Repeal Article 213 Review concerning the EEAS Article 214 Entry into force ANNEX CORRELATION TABLE Joint Statement on MFF-related issues Joint Statement on expenditure related to buildings with reference to Article 203 Joint Statement by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on Article 203(3)







PART ONE

COMMON PROVISIONS







TITLE I

SUBJECT MATTER, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

1. This Regulation lays down the rules for the establishment and the implementation of the general budget of the European Union and the presentation and auditing of the accounts.

2. This Regulation shall apply to the implementation of the budget for the Euratom Supply Agency.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) "Union" means the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community, or both, as the context may require;

(b) "institution" means the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the European Ombudsman, the European Data Protection Supervisor and the European External Action Service (the "EEAS"); the European Central Bank shall not be considered as an institution of the Union;

(c) "budget" means the instrument which, for each financial year, forecasts and authorises all revenue and expenditure considered necessary for the Union;

(d) "basic act" means a legal act which provides a legal basis for an action and for the implementation of the corresponding expenditure entered in the budget.

A basic act may take any of the following forms:

(i) in implementation of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (the Euratom Treaty), the form of a regulation, a directive or a decision within the meaning of Article 288 TFEU; or

(ii) in implementation of Title V of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), one of the forms specified in Articles 26(2), 28(1), 29, 31(2), 33 and 37 TEU.

Recommendations and opinions shall not constitute basic acts;

(e) "method of implementation" means the method of budget implementation described in Articles 58, 59 or 60;

(f) "delegation agreement" means an agreement concluded with entities and persons entrusted with budget implementation tasks pursuant to points (i) to (viii) of Article 58(1)(c);

(g) "beneficiary" means a natural or legal person with whom a grant agreement has been signed or to whom a grant decision has been notified;

(h) "contractor" means a natural or legal person with whom a procurement contract has been concluded;

(i) "recipient" means a beneficiary, contractor, or any natural or legal person that receives prizes or funds under a financial instrument;

(j) "prize" means a financial contribution given as a reward following a contest.

(k) "loan" means an agreement which obliges the lender to make available to the borrower an agreed sum of money for an agreed period of time and under which the borrower is obliged to repay that amount within the agreed time;

(l) "guarantee" means a written commitment to assume responsibility for all or part of a third party's debt or obligation or for the successful performance by that third party of its obligations if an event occurs which triggers such guarantee, such as a loan default;

(m) "equity investment" means the provision of capital to a firm, invested directly or indirectly in return for total or partial ownership of that firm and where the equity investor may assume some management control of the firm and may share the firm's profits;

(n) "quasi-equity investment" means a type of financing that ranks between equity and debt, having a higher risk than senior debt and a lower risk than common equity. Quasi-equity investments can be structured as debt, typically unsecured and subordinated and in some cases convertible into equity, or as preferred equity;

(o) "risk-sharing instrument" means a financial instrument which allows for the sharing of a defined risk between two or more entities, where appropriate in exchange for an agreed remuneration;

(p) "financial instruments" means Union measures of financial support provided on a complementary basis from the budget in order to address one or more specific policy objectives of the Union. Such instruments may take the form of equity or quasi-equity investments, loans or guarantees, or other risk-sharing instruments, and may, where appropriate, be combined with grants;

(q) "Staff Regulations" means the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union laid down in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 ( 1 );

(r) "control" means any measure taken to provide reasonable assurance regarding the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of operations, the reliability of reporting, the safeguarding of assets and information, the prevention and detection and correction of fraud and irregularities and their follow-up, and the adequate management of the risks relating to the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, taking into account the multiannual character of programmes as well as the nature of the payments concerned. Controls may involve various checks, as well as the implementation of any policies and procedures to achieve the objectives described in the first sentence;

(s) "check" means the verification of a specific aspect of a revenue or expenditure operation.

Article 3

Compliance of secondary legislation with this Regulation

1. Provisions concerning the implementation of the revenue and expenditure of the budget, and contained in a basic act, shall respect the budgetary principles set out in Title II of Part One.

2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, any proposal or amendment to a proposal submitted to the legislative authority containing derogations from provisions other than those in Title II of Part One or from delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation shall clearly indicate such derogations and shall state the specific reasons justifying them in the recitals and in the explanatory memorandum of such proposals.

Article 4

Periods, dates and time limits

Unless otherwise provided, Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1182/71 of 3 June 1971 determining the rules applicable to periods, dates and time limits ( 2 ) shall apply to deadlines set by this Regulation.

Article 5

Protection of personal data

This Regulation is without prejudice to the requirements of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data ( 3 ) and of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.







TITLE II

BUDGETARY PRINCIPLES

Article 6

Respect for budgetary principles

The budget shall be established and implemented in accordance with the principles of unity, budgetary accuracy, annuality, equilibrium, unit of account, universality, specification, sound financial management which requires effective and efficient internal control, and transparency as set out in this Regulation.







CHAPTER 1

Principles of unity and of budgetary accuracy

Article 7

Scope of the budget

1. The budget shall comprise:

(a) the revenue and expenditure of the Union, including administrative expenditure occasioned for the institutions by the provisions of the TEU relating to the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the operational expenditure occasioned by implementation of those provisions where this is charged to the budget;

(b) the revenue and expenditure of the European Atomic Energy Community.

2. The budget shall record the guarantees for borrowing-and-lending operations entered into by the Union, including the European Financial Stability Mechanism and Balance of Payment Facility operations, in accordance with point (d) of Article 49(1).

Article 8

Specific rules on the principles of unity and budgetary accuracy

1. Without prejudice to Article 83, no revenue shall be collected and no expenditure effected unless booked to a line in the budget.

2. No expenditure may be committed or authorised in excess of the authorised appropriations.

3. An appropriation may be entered in the budget only if it is for an item of expenditure considered necessary.

4. Interest generated by pre-financing payments made from the budget shall not be due to the Union except as otherwise provided for in the delegation agreements, with the exception of those agreements concluded with third countries or the bodies they have designated. In cases in which it is provided for, such interest shall either be re-used for the corresponding action, deducted from payment requests in accordance with point (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 23(1) or recovered.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the accounting of interest generated by pre-financing payments.







CHAPTER 2

Principle of annuality

Article 9

Definition

The appropriations entered in the budget shall be authorised for a financial year which shall run from 1 January to 31 December.

Article 10

Type of appropriations

1. The budget shall contain differentiated appropriations, which consist of commitment appropriations and payment appropriations, and non-differentiated appropriations.

2. Commitment appropriations shall cover the total cost of the legal commitments entered into during the financial year, subject to Article 86(4) and Article 189(2).

3. Payment appropriations shall cover payments made to honour the legal commitments entered into in the financial year or preceding financial years.

4. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article are without prejudice to the special provisions of Titles I, IV and VI of Part Two and shall not prevent appropriations being committed globally or budgetary commitments being made in annual instalments.

Article 11

Accounting for revenue and appropriations

1. The revenue of a financial year shall be entered in the accounts for the financial year on the basis of the amounts collected during that financial year. However, the own resources for the month of January of the following financial year may be made available in advance pursuant to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 of 22 May 2000 implementing Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom on the system of the European Communities' own resources ( 4 ).

2. The entries in respect of value-added-tax own resources, of the additional resource based on gross national income and of any financial contributions may be adjusted in accordance with Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000.

3. The appropriations authorised for a financial year shall be used solely to cover expenditure committed and paid in that financial year and to cover amounts due against commitments from preceding financial years.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules for appropriations for the financial year.

4. Commitments shall be entered in the accounts on the basis of the legal commitments entered into up to 31 December. By way of exception, the global budgetary commitments referred to in Article 86(4) and the financing agreements referred to in Article 189(2) and concluded with third countries shall be entered in the accounts on the basis of the budgetary commitments up to 31 December.

5. Payments shall be entered in the accounts for a financial year on the basis of the payments effected by the accounting officer by 31 December of that year.

6. By way of derogation from paragraphs 3, 4 and 5, the expenditure of the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund shall be entered in the accounts for a financial year in accordance with the rules laid down in Title I of Part Two.

Article 12

Commitment of appropriations

The appropriations entered in the budget may be committed with effect from 1 January, once the budget has been definitively adopted, except as otherwise provided for in Title I and Title VI of Part Two.

Article 13

Cancellation and carry-over of appropriations

1. Appropriations which have not been used by the end of the financial year for which they were entered shall be cancelled.

However, they may be carried over, but only to the following financial year, by a decision taken by 15 February by the institution concerned, in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3, or they may be carried over automatically in accordance with paragraph 4.

2. Differentiated commitment appropriations and non-differentiated appropriations not yet committed at the end of the financial year may be carried over in respect of:

(a) amounts corresponding to commitment appropriations, or to non-differentiated appropriations relating to building projects, for which most of the preparatory stages of the commitment procedure have been completed by 31 December. Such amounts may then be committed up to 31 March of the following year, or up to 31 December of the following year for amounts relating to building projects;

(b) amounts which are necessary when the legislative authority has adopted a basic act in the final quarter of the financial year and the Commission has been unable to commit the appropriations provided for this purpose by 31 December;

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(c) amounts corresponding to commitment appropriations for the Emergency Aid Reserve.

The amounts referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph may be carried over to the next financial year only.

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3. Payment appropriations may be carried over in respect of amounts needed to cover existing commitments or commitments linked to commitment appropriations carried over, where the payment appropriations provided for in the relevant budget lines for the following financial year are not sufficient to cover requirements.

The institution concerned shall first use the appropriations authorised for the current financial year and shall not use the appropriations carried over until the former are exhausted.

4. Non-differentiated appropriations corresponding to obligations duly contracted at the end of the financial year shall be carried over automatically to the following financial year only.

5. The institution concerned shall inform the European Parliament and the Council by 15 March of the carry-over decision it has taken and shall state, for each budget line, how the criteria in paragraphs 2 and 3 have been applied to each carry-over.

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6. Without prejudice to point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article and to Article 14, appropriations placed in reserve and appropriations for staff expenditure shall not be carried over. For the purposes of this Article, staff expenditure comprises the remuneration and allowances for members and staff of the institutions to which the Staff Regulations apply.

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7. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules for the cancellation and carry-over of appropriations.

Article 14

Carry-over rules for assigned revenue

Carry-over of assigned revenue referred to in Article 21, and of appropriations not used and available at 31 December arising from such revenue, shall comply with the following rules:

(a) external assigned revenue shall be carried over automatically and shall be fully used by the time all the operations relating to the programme or action to which it is assigned have been carried out. External assigned revenue received during the last year of the programme or action may be used in the first year of the succeeding programme or action;

(b) internal assigned revenue shall be carried over for one year only, with the exception of internal assigned revenue defined in point (g) of Article 21(3), which shall be carried over automatically.

Article 15

Decommitment of appropriations

Without prejudice to Articles 178 and 182, where appropriations are decommitted in any financial year after that in which the appropriations were entered in the budget as a result of total or partial non-implementation of the actions for which they were earmarked, the appropriations concerned shall be cancelled.

Article 16

Rules applicable in the event of late adoption of the budget

1. If the budget has not been definitively adopted at the beginning of the financial year, the procedure set out in the first paragraph of Article 315 TFEU (the provisional twelfths regime) shall apply. Commitments and payments may be made within the limits laid down in paragraph 2 of this Article.

2. Commitments may be made per chapter up to a maximum of one quarter of the total appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the previous financial year plus one twelfth for each month which has elapsed.

The limit of the appropriations provided for in the draft budget shall not be exceeded.

Payments may be made monthly per chapter up to a maximum of one twelfth of the appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the preceding financial year. That sum shall not, however, exceed one twelfth of the appropriations provided for in the same chapter of the draft budget.

3. The appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the preceding financial year, as specified in paragraphs 1 and 2, shall be understood as referring to the appropriations voted in the budget, including by amending budgets, and after adjustment for the transfers made during that financial year.

4. If the continuity of action by the Union and management needs so require, the Council, acting by qualified majority on a proposal of the Commission, may authorise expenditure in excess of one provisional twelfth but not exceeding the total of four provisional twelfths, except in duly justified cases, both for commitments and for payments over and above those automatically made available in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2. It shall forward the decision on authorisation without delay to the European Parliament.

The decision shall enter into force 30 days following its adoption unless the European Parliament:

(a) acting by a majority of its component Members, decides to reduce that expenditure within that time limit, in which case the Commission shall submit a new proposal;or

(b) informs the Council and the Commission that it does not wish to reduce that expenditure, in which case the decision shall enter into force before the expiry of the 30 days.

The additional twelfths shall be authorised in full and shall not be divisible.

5. If, for a given chapter, the authorisation of four provisional twelfths granted in accordance with paragraph 4 is not sufficient to cover the expenditure necessary to avoid a break in continuity of action by the Union in the area covered by the chapter in question, authorisation may exceptionally be given to exceed the amount of the appropriations entered in the corresponding chapter of the budget of the preceding financial year. The European Parliament and the Council shall act in accordance with the procedures provided for in paragraph 4. However, the overall total of the appropriations available in the budget of the preceding financial year or in the draft budget, as proposed, may in no circumstances be exceeded.







CHAPTER 3

Principle of equilibrium

Article 17

Definition and scope

1. Revenue and payment appropriations shall be in balance.

2. The Union and the bodies referred to in Article 208, may not raise loans within the framework of the budget.

Article 18

Balance from financial year

1. The balance from each financial year shall be entered in the budget for the following financial year as revenue in the case of a surplus or as a payment appropriation in the case of a deficit.

2. The estimates of such revenue or payment appropriations shall be entered in the budget during the budgetary procedure and in a letter of amendment presented pursuant to Article 39. The estimates shall be drawn up in accordance with Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000.

3. After the presentation of the provisional accounts for each financial year, any discrepancy between those accounts and the estimates shall be entered in the budget for the following financial year through an amending budget devoted solely to that discrepancy. In such a case, the Commission shall submit the draft amending budget simultaneously to the European Parliament and the Council within 15 days of submission of the provisional accounts.







CHAPTER 4

Principle of unit of account

Article 19

Use of euro

1. The multiannual financial framework and the budget shall be drawn up and implemented in euro and the accounts shall be presented in euro. However, for the cash-flow purposes referred to in Article 68(1), the accounting officer and, in the case of imprest accounts, the imprest administrators, and, for the needs of the administrative management of the Commission and the EEAS, the authorising officer responsible, shall be authorised to carry out operations in other currencies as laid down in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation.

2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the rate of conversion between euro and other currencies.







CHAPTER 5

Principle of universality

Article 20

Definition and scope

Without prejudice to Article 21, total revenue shall cover total payment appropriations. Without prejudice to Article 23, all revenue and expenditure shall be entered in full without any adjustment against each other.

Article 21

Assigned revenue

1. External assigned revenue and internal assigned revenue shall be used to finance specific items of expenditure.

2. The following shall constitute external assigned revenue:

(a) financial contributions from Member States to certain research programmes pursuant to Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000;

(b) financial contributions from Member States and third countries, including in both cases their public agencies, entities or natural persons, to certain external aid projects or programmes financed by the Union and managed by the Commission on their behalf;

(c) interest on deposits and the fines provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 of 7 July 1997 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure ( 5 );

(d) revenue earmarked for a specific purpose, such as income from foundations, subsidies, gifts and bequests, including the earmarked revenue specific to each institution;

(e) financial contributions, not covered by point (b), to Union activities from third countries or from non-Union bodies;

(f) assigned revenue referred to in Articles 181(2) and 183(2);

(g) internal assigned revenue referred to in paragraph 3, to the extent that it is ancillary to the other revenue under this paragraph.

3. The following shall constitute internal assigned revenue:

(a) revenue from third parties in respect of goods, services or work supplied at their request;

(b) proceeds from the sale of vehicles, equipment, installations, materials, and scientific and technical apparatus which are replaced or scrapped when the book value is fully depreciated;

(c) revenue arising from the repayment, in accordance with Article 80, of amounts wrongly paid;

(d) revenue arising from interest on pre-financing payments, subject to Article 8(4);

(e) proceeds from the supply of goods, services and works for other departments within an institution, institutions or bodies, including refunds by other institutions or bodies of mission allowances paid on their behalf;

(f) insurance payments received;

(g) revenue from lettings;

(h) revenue from the sale of publications and films, including those on an electronic medium;

(i) repayments to financial instruments pursuant to Article 140(6);

(j) revenue arising from subsequent reimbursement of taxes pursuant to point (b) of Article 23(3).

4. A basic act may also assign the revenue for which it provides to specific items of expenditure. Unless specified otherwise in the basic act, such revenue shall constitute internal assigned revenue.

5. The budget shall include lines to accommodate external assigned revenue and internal assigned revenue and wherever possible shall indicate the amount.

Assigned revenue may be included in the draft budget only for the amounts which are certain at the date of the establishment of the draft budget.

6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the establishment of the structure to accommodate external and internal assigned revenue and the provision of the corresponding appropriations, and concerning rules for the contribution from Member States to research programmes. Furthermore, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the proceeds of sanctions imposed pursuant to Article 126(11) TFEU, and concerning assigned revenue resulting from the participation of EFTA states in certain Union programmes.

Article 22

Donations

1. The Commission may accept any donation made to the Union, such as foundations, subsidies, gifts and bequests.

2. Acceptance of a donation of a value of EUR 50 000 or more which involves a financial charge, including follow-up costs, exceeding 10 % of the value of the donation made, shall be subject to the authorisation of the European Parliament and of the Council, both of which shall act on the matter within two months of receiving the request from the Commission. If no objection is made within that period, the Commission shall take a final decision regarding the acceptance of the donation.

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the acceptance of donations made to the Union.

Article 23

Rules on deductions and exchange rate adjustments

1. The following deductions may be made from payment requests which shall then be passed for payment of the net amount:

(a) penalties imposed on parties to procurement contracts or beneficiaries;

(b) discounts, refunds and rebates on individual invoices and cost statements;

(c) interest generated by pre-financing payments;

(d) adjustments for amounts unduly paid.

The adjustments referred to in point (d) of the first subparagraph may be made, by means of direct deduction, against a new interim payment or payment of a balance to the same payee under the chapter, article and financial year in respect of which the excess payment was made.

Union accounting rules shall apply to the deductions referred to in points (c) and (d) of the first subparagraph.

2. The cost of products or services, provided to the Union, incorporating taxes refunded by the Member States pursuant to the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, shall be charged to the budget for the ex-tax amount.

3. The cost of products or services, provided to the Union, incorporating taxes refunded by third countries on the basis of relevant agreements, may be charged to the budget for:

(a) the ex-tax amount; or

(b) the tax-inclusive amount. In such a case, subsequently reimbursed taxes shall be treated as internal assigned revenue.

4. Adjustments may be made in respect of exchange differences occurring in the implementation of the budget. The final gain or loss shall be included in the balance for the year.

5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the accounts for recoverable taxes.







CHAPTER 6

Principle of specification

Article 24

General provisions

Appropriations shall be earmarked for specific purposes by title and chapter. The chapters shall be further subdivided into articles and items.

Article 25

Transfers by institutions other than the Commission

1. Any institution other than the Commission may, within its own section of the budget, transfer appropriations:

(a) from one title to another up to a maximum of 10 % of the appropriations for the year shown on the line from which the transfer is made;

(b) from one chapter to another and from one article to another without limit.

2. Three weeks before making a transfer, as referred to in paragraph 1, the institution shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of its intention to do so. In the event that duly justified reasons are raised within that period by either the European Parliament or the Council, the procedure laid down in Article 27 shall apply.

3. Any institution other than the Commission may propose to the European Parliament and the Council, within its own section of the budget, transfers from one title to another exceeding the limit of 10 % of the appropriations for the year shown on the line from which the transfer is to be made. Those transfers shall be subject to the procedure laid down in Article 27.

4. Any institution other than the Commission may, within its own section of the budget, make transfers within articles without informing the European Parliament and the Council beforehand.

5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the calculation of percentages of transfers by institutions other than the Commission.

Article 26

Transfers by the Commission

1. The Commission may, within its own section of the budget, autonomously:

(a) transfer appropriations within each chapter;

(b) with regard to expenditure on staff and administration which is common to several titles, transfer appropriations from one title to another up to a maximum of 10 % of the appropriations for the year shown on the line from which the transfer is made, and up to a maximum of 30 % of the appropriations for the year shown on the line to which the transfer is made;

(c) with regard to operational expenditure, transfer appropriations between chapters within the same title, up to a maximum of 10 % of the appropriations for the year shown on the line from which the transfer is made.

Three weeks before making the transfers referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph, the Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of its intention to do so. In the event that duly justified reasons are raised within that period by the European Parliament or the Council, the procedure laid down in Article 27 shall apply.

By way of exception from the second subparagraph, the Commission may, during the last two months of the financial year, autonomously transfer appropriations concerning expenditure on staff, external staff and other agents from one title to another within the total limit of 5 % of the appropriations for the year. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council within two weeks after its decision on those transfers.

2. The Commission may, within its own section of the budget, decide on the following transfer of appropriations from one title to another, provided it immediately informs the European Parliament and the Council of its decision:

(a) transfer of appropriations from the "provisions" title referred to in Article 46, where the only condition for lifting the reserve is the adoption of a basic act pursuant to Article 294 TFEU;

(b) in duly justified exceptional cases such as international humanitarian disasters and crises occurring after 1 December of the financial year, transfer unused appropriations for that financial year still available in the budget titles falling under heading 4 of the multiannual financial framework to the budget titles concerning crisis management aid and humanitarian aid operations.

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the calculation of percentages of internal transfers by the Commission, and grounds for transfer requests.

Article 27

Transfer proposals submitted to the European Parliament and the Council by the institutions

1. Each institution shall submit its transfer proposals simultaneously to the European Parliament and the Council.

2. The European Parliament and the Council shall take decisions on transfers of appropriations as provided for in paragraphs 3 to 6 of this Article, except as otherwise provided for in Title I of Part Two.

3. Except in urgent circumstances, the European Parliament and the Council, the latter acting by qualified majority, shall deliberate upon each transfer proposal within six weeks of its receipt by both institutions.

4. The transfer proposal shall be approved, if, within the six-week period, any of the following occurs:

(a) the European Parliament and the Council approve it;

(b) either the European Parliament or the Council approves it and the other institution refrains from acting;

(c) the European Parliament and the Council refrain from acting or do not take a decision to amend or refuse the transfer proposal.

5. The six-week period referred to in paragraph 3 shall be reduced to three weeks, unless either the European Parliament or the Council requests otherwise, in the following cases:

(a) the transfer represents less than 10 % of the appropriations of the line from which the transfer is made and does not exceed EUR 5 000 000 ;

(b) the transfer concerns only payment appropriations and the overall amount of the transfer does not exceed EUR 100 000 000 .

6. If either the European Parliament or the Council has amended the amount of the transfer while the other institution has approved it or refrains from acting, or if the European Parliament and the Council have both amended the amount of the transfer, the lesser of the two amounts shall be deemed approved, unless the institution concerned withdraws its transfer proposal.

Article 28

Specific rules on transfers

1. Appropriations may only be transferred to budget lines for which the budget has authorised appropriations or which carry a token entry "pro memoria".

2. Appropriations corresponding to assigned revenue may be transferred only if such revenue is used for the purpose for which it is assigned.

Article 29

Transfers subject to special provisions

1. Transfers within the titles of the budget devoted to the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund, the Structural Funds, the Cohesion Fund, the European Fisheries Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and Research shall be the subject of special provisions under Titles I, II and III of Part Two.

2. Decisions on transfers to allow the use of the Emergency Aid Reserve shall be taken by the European Parliament and the Council on a proposal from the Commission. A separate proposal shall be submitted for each emergency action.

For the purposes of this paragraph, the procedure provided for in Article 27(3) and 27(4) shall apply. If the European Parliament and the Council do not agree to the Commission proposal and cannot reach a common position on the use of this reserve, they shall refrain from acting on the Commission's transfer proposal.

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on requests for transfers from the Emergency Aid Reserve.







CHAPTER 7

Principle of sound financial management

Article 30

Principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness

1. Appropriations shall be used in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, namely in accordance with the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

2. The principle of economy requires that the resources used by the institution in the pursuit of its activities shall be made available in due time, in appropriate quantity and quality and at the best price.

The principle of efficiency concerns the best relationship between resources employed and results achieved.

The principle of effectiveness concerns the attainment of the specific objectives set and the achievement of the intended results.

3. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed objectives shall be set for all sectors of activity covered by the budget. The achievement of those objectives shall be monitored by performance indicators for each activity, and the information referred to in point (e) of Article 38(3) shall be provided by the spending authorities to the European Parliament and the Council. That information shall be provided annually and at the latest in the documents accompanying the draft budget.

4. In order to improve decision-making, institutions shall undertake both ex ante and ex post evaluations in line with guidance provided by the Commission. Such evaluations shall be applied to all programmes and activities which entail significant spending and evaluation results shall be disseminated to the European Parliament, the Council and spending administrative authorities.

5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on ex ante, mid-term and ex post evaluations.

Article 31

Compulsory financial statement

1. Any proposal or initiative submitted to the legislative authority by the Commission, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (the "High Representative") or by a Member State, which may have an impact on the budget, including changes in the number of posts, shall be accompanied by a financial statement and by an ex-ante evaluation as provided for in Article 30(4).

Any amendment to a proposal or initiative submitted to the legislative authority which may have appreciable implications for the budget, including changes in the number of posts, shall be accompanied by a financial statement prepared by the institution proposing the amendment.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the requirements of the financial statement.

2. During the budgetary procedure, the Commission shall provide the necessary information for a comparison between changes in the appropriations required and the initial forecasts made in the financial statement in the light of the progress of deliberations on the proposal or initiative submitted to the legislative authority.

3. In order to reduce the risk of fraud and irregularities, the financial statement referred to in paragraph 1 shall provide information on the internal control system set up, an estimate of the costs and benefits of the controls implied by such system and an assessment of the expected level of risk of error, as well as existing and planned fraud prevention and protection measures.

Such analysis shall take into account the likely scale and type of errors, as well as the specific conditions of the policy area concerned and the rules applicable thereto.

Article 32

Internal control of budget implementation

1. The budget shall be implemented in compliance with effective and efficient internal control as appropriate in each method of implementation, and in accordance with the relevant sector-specific rules.

2. For the purposes of the implementation of the budget, internal control is defined as a process applicable at all levels of management and designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving the following objectives:

(a) effectiveness, efficiency and economy of operations;

(b) reliability of reporting;

(c) safeguarding of assets and information;

(d) prevention, detection, correction and follow-up of fraud and irregularities;

(e) adequate management of the risks relating to the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, taking into account the multiannual character of programmes as well as the nature of the payments concerned.

3. Effective internal control shall be based on best international practices and include, in particular, the following:

(a) segregation of tasks;

(b) an appropriate risk management and control strategy including control at recipient level;

(c) avoidance of conflicts of interests;

(d) adequate audit trails and data integrity in data systems;

(e) procedures for monitoring of performance and for follow-up of identified internal control weaknesses and exceptions;

(f) periodic assessment of the sound functioning of the internal control system.

4. Efficient internal control shall be based on the following elements:

(a) the implementation of an appropriate risk management and control strategy coordinated among appropriate actors involved in the control chain;

(b) the accessibility for all appropriate actors in the control chain of the results of controls carried out;

(c) reliance, where appropriate, on management declarations of implementation partners and independent audit opinions, provided that the quality of the underlying work is adequate and acceptable and that it was performed in accordance with agreed standards;

(d) the timely application of corrective measures including, where appropriate, dissuasive penalties;

(e) clear and unambiguous legislation underlying the policies;

(f) the elimination of multiple controls;

(g) improving the cost-benefit ratio of controls.

5. If, during implementation, the level of error is persistently high, the Commission shall identify the weaknesses in the control systems, analyse the costs and benefits of possible corrective measures and take or propose appropriate action, such as simplification of the applicable provisions, improvement of the control systems and re-design of the programme or delivery systems.

Article 33

Cost-effective control systems

When presenting revised or new spending proposals, the Commission shall estimate the costs and benefits of control systems, as well as the level of risk of error as referred to in Article 31(3).







CHAPTER 8

Principle of transparency

Article 34

Publication of accounts, budgets and reports

1. The budget shall be established and implemented and the accounts presented in accordance with the principle of transparency.

2. The President of the European Parliament shall have the budget and any amending budget, as definitively adopted, published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The budgets shall be published within three months of the date on which they are declared definitively adopted.

The consolidated annual accounts and the report on budgetary and financial management drawn up by each institution shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the provisional publication of the budget.

Article 35

Publication of information on recipients and other information

1. Information on borrowing-and-lending operations contracted by the Union for third parties shall appear in an Annex to the budget.

2. The Commission shall make available, in an appropriate and timely manner, information on recipients, as well as the nature and purpose of the measure financed from the budget, where the latter is implemented directly in accordance with point (a) of Article 58(1), and information on recipients as provided by the entities, persons and Member States to which budget implementation tasks are entrusted under other methods of implementation.

The obligation set out in the first subparagraph shall also apply to the other institutions with regard to their recipients.

3. This information shall be made available with due observance of the requirements of confidentiality and security, in particular the protection of personal data.

Where natural persons are concerned, the publication shall be limited to the name and locality of the recipient, the amount awarded and the purpose of the award.The disclosure of those data shall be based on relevant criteria such as the periodicity of award, or the type or importance of the award. The criteria for disclosure and the level of detail published shall take into account the specificities of the sector and of each method of implementation.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the establishment of detailed rules on the publication of information on recipients. Where applicable, the level of detail and criteria shall be defined in the relevant sector-specific rules.







TITLE III

ESTABLISHMENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE BUDGET







CHAPTER 1

Establishment of the budget

Article 36

Estimates of revenue and expenditure

1. Each institution other than the Commission shall draw up an estimate of its revenue and expenditure, which it shall send to the Commission, and in parallel, for information, to the European Parliament and the Council, before 1 July each year.

2. The High Representative shall hold consultations with the Members of the Commission responsible for development policy, neighbourhood policy and international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response, regarding their respective responsibilities.

3. The Commission shall draw up its own estimates, which it shall also send, directly after their adoption, to the European Parliament and the Council.

In preparing its estimates, the Commission shall use the information referred to in Article 37.

Article 37

Estimated budget of the bodies referred to in Article 208

By 31 March each year, each body referred to in Article 208 shall, in accordance with the instrument establishing it, send the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council an estimate of its revenue and expenditure, including its establishment plan, and its draft work programme.

Article 38

Draft budget

1. The Commission shall submit a proposal containing the draft budget to the European Parliament and the Council by 1 September of the year preceding that in which the budget is to be implemented. It shall transmit that proposal, for information, also to the national parliaments.

The draft budget shall contain a summary general statement of the revenue and expenditure of the Union and shall consolidate the estimates referred to in Article 36. It may also contain different estimates from those drawn up by the institutions.

The draft budget shall follow the structure and presentation set out in Articles 44 to 49.

Each section of the draft budget shall be preceded by an introduction drawn up by the institution concerned.

The Commission shall draw up the general introduction to the draft budget. The general introduction shall comprise financial tables covering the main data by titles and justifications for the changes in the appropriations from one financial year to the next by categories of expenditure of the multiannual financial framework.

2. In order to provide more precise and reliable forecasts of the budgetary implications of legislation in force and of pending legislative proposals, the Commission shall attach to the draft budget a financial programming for the following years.

The financial programming shall be updated after the adoption of the budget, to incorporate the results of the budgetary procedure and any other relevant decisions.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on financial programming.

3. The Commission shall attach to the draft budget:

(a) where appropriate, the reasons for which the draft budget contains different estimates from those drawn up by other institutions;

(b) any working document it considers useful in connection with the establishment plans of the institutions and the contributions which the Commission awards to the bodies referred to in Article 208 and to the European Schools. Any such working document, showing the latest authorised establishment plan, shall present:

(i) all staff employed by the Union, including its legally separate entities, displayed by type of contract,

(ii) a statement of the policy on posts and external personnel and on gender balance,

(iii) the number of posts actually filled at the beginning of the year in which the draft budget is presented, indicating their distribution by grade and administrative unit,

(iv) a list of posts broken down per policy area,

(v) for each category of external staff, the initial estimated number of full-time equivalents on the basis of the authorised appropriations, as well as the number of persons actually in place at the beginning of the year in which the draft budget is presented, indicating their distribution by function group and, as appropriate, by grade.

(c) a working document on the planned implementation of appropriations for the financial year and on commitments outstanding, on the bodies referred to in Article 208 and the European Schools, and on the pilot projects and preparatory actions;

(d) as regards funding to international organisations, a working document containing:

(i) a summary of all contributions, with a breakdown per Union programme or fund and per international organisation,

(ii) a statement of reasons explaining why it was more efficient for the Union to fund those international organisations rather than to act directly;

(e) activity statements or any other relevant document containing the following:

(i) information on the achievement of all previously set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed objectives for the various activities, as well as new objectives measured by indicators,

(ii) a full justification, including a cost-benefit analysis for proposed changes in the level of appropriations,

(iii) a clear rationale for intervention at Union level in accordance, inter alia, with the principle of subsidiarity,

(iv) information on the implementation rates of the preceding year's activity and implementation rates for the current year,

(v) a summary of evaluation results when relevant to budget changes,

(vi) information on prizes with a unit value of EUR 1 000 000 or more;

(f) a summary statement of the schedule of payments due in subsequent financial years to meet budgetary commitments entered into in previous financial years.

4. Where the Commission entrusts budget implementation to public-private partnerships (PPPs), it shall attach to the draft budget a working document presenting:

(a) an annual report on the performance of existing PPPs in the preceding financial year, including information on the legal form and the shareholders of entities entrusted pursuant to point (vii) of Article 58(1)(c);

(b) the targets set for the financial year to which the draft budget relates, indicating any specific budgetary needs dedicated to achieving this target;

(c) the administrative costs and the implemented budget in total and per body referred to in Article 209 and per PPP in the preceding financial year;

(d) the amount of financial contributions made from the budget, the amount of financial contributions and the value of contributions in kind made by the other partners for each PPP;

However, where PPPs make use of financial instruments, the information relating to those instruments shall be included in the working document referred to in paragraph 5.

5. Where the Commission makes use of financial instruments, it shall attach to the draft budget a working document presenting the following:

(a) the aggregate budgetary commitments and payments from the budget for each financial instrument;

(b) revenues and repayments under Article 140(6), and accrual for additional resources for the financial year;

(c) the total amount of provisions for risks and liabilities, as well as any information on the financial risk exposure of the Union;

(d) impairments of assets of equity or risk-sharing instruments, and called guarantees for guarantee instruments, both for the preceding year and the respective accumulated figures;

(e) the average duration between the budgetary commitment to the financial instruments and the legal commitments for individual projects in the form of equity or debt, where their duration exceeds three years. The Commission shall, in the report provided for under Article 140(8), explain the reasons and provide, where appropriate, an action plan for the reduction of the duration in the framework of the annual discharge procedure;

(f) the administrative expenditure arising from management fees and other financial and operating charges paid for the management of financial instruments, where that management has been entrusted to third parties, in total and per managing party and per financial instrument managed.

6. The Commission shall also attach to the draft budget any further working document it considers useful to support its budget requests.

7. In accordance with Article 8(5) of Council Decision 2010/427/EU of 26 July 2010 establishing the organisation and functioning of the European External Action Service ( 6 ) and in order to ensure budgetary transparency in the area of external action of the Union, the Commission shall transmit to the European Parliament and the Council, together with the draft budget, a working document presenting, in a comprehensive way:

(a) all administrative and operational expenditure relating to the external actions of the Union, including Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy tasks, and financed from the budget;

(b) the EEAS' overall administrative expenditure for the preceding year, broken down into expenditure per Union delegation and expenditure for the EEAS' central administration; together with operational expenditure, broken down by geographic area (regions, countries), thematic areas, Union Delegation and mission.

8. The working document referred to in paragraph 7 shall also:

(a) show the number of posts for each grade in each category and the number of permanent and temporary posts, including contractual and local staff authorised within the limits of the appropriations in each Union Delegation, as well as in the central administration of the EEAS;

(b) show any increase or reduction of posts by grade and category in the central administration of the EEAS, and in all Union Delegations based on the preceding financial year;

(c) show the number of posts authorised for the financial year, the number of posts authorised for the preceding year, as well as the number of posts occupied by diplomats seconded from the Member States, and Council and Commission staff;

(d) provide a detailed picture of all staff in place in Union Delegations at the time of presenting the draft budget, including a breakdown by geographic area, gender, individual country and mission, distinguishing establishment plan posts, contract agents, local agents and seconded national experts and appropriations requested in the draft budget for such other types of personnel with corresponding estimates of the equivalent full-time staff that may be employed within the limits of the appropriations requested.

Article 39

Letter of amendment to the draft budget

On the basis of any new information which was not available at the time the draft budget was established, the Commission may, on its own initiative or if requested by one of the other institutions in respect of its respective section, submit simultaneously to the European Parliament and the Council letters of amendment to the draft budget before the Conciliation Committee referred to in Article 314 TFEU is convened. The letters may include a letter of amendment updating, in particular, expenditure estimates for agriculture.

Article 40

Obligations of the Member States stemming from the adoption of the budget

1. The President of the European Parliament shall declare the budget definitively adopted in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 314(9) TFEU and Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty.

2. Once the budget has been declared definitively adopted, each Member State shall, from 1 January of the following financial year or from the date of the declaration of definitive adoption of the budget if this occurs after 1 January, be bound to make the payments due to the Union, as specified in Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000.

Article 41

Draft amending budgets

1. The Commission may present draft amending budgets which are primarily revenue-driven in the following circumstances:

— to enter in the budget the balance of the preceding financial year, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18,

— to revise the forecast of own resources on the basis of updated economic forecasts, and

— to update the revised forecast of own resources and other revenue, as well as to review the availability of, and need for, payment appropriations.

If there are unavoidable, exceptional and unforeseen circumstances, in particular in view of the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund, the Commission may present draft amending budgets which are primarily expenditure-driven.

2. Requests for amending budgets, in the same circumstances as referred to in paragraph 1, from institutions other than the Commission shall be sent to the Commission.

Before presenting a draft amending budget, the Commission and the other institutions shall examine the scope for reallocation of the relevant appropriations, with particular reference to any expected under-implementation of appropriations.

Article 40 shall apply to amending budgets. Amending budgets shall be substantiated by reference to the budget the estimates of which they are amending.

3. The Commission shall, except in duly justified exceptional circumstances or in the case of the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund for which a draft amending budget can be presented at any time of the year, submit its draft amending budgets simultaneously to the European Parliament and the Council by 1 September of each financial year. It may attach an opinion to the requests for amending budgets from the other institutions.

4. The European Parliament and the Council shall discuss the draft amending budgets while having due regard to their urgency.

5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on draft amending budgets.

Article 42

Early transmission of estimates and draft budgets

The Commission, the European Parliament and the Council may agree to bring forward certain dates for the transmission of the estimates, and for the adoption and transmission of the draft budget. Such an arrangement may not, however, have the effect of shortening or extending the periods for which provision is made for consideration of those texts under Article 314 TFEU and Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty.







CHAPTER 2

Structure and presentation of the budget

Article 43

Structure of the budget

The budget shall consist of the following:

(a) a general statement of revenue and expenditure;

(b) separate sections for each institution, with the exception of the European Council and the Council which shall share the same section, subdivided into statements of revenue and expenditure.

Article 44

Budget nomenclature

1. Commission revenue and the revenue and expenditure of the other institutions shall be classified by the European Parliament and the Council according to their type or the use to which they are assigned under titles, chapters, articles and items.

2. The statement of expenditure for the Commission section shall be set out on the basis of a nomenclature adopted by the European Parliament and the Council and classified according to purpose.

Each title shall correspond to a policy area and each chapter shall, as a rule, correspond to an activity.

Each title may include operational appropriations and administrative appropriations.

The administrative appropriations for a title shall be grouped in a single chapter.

3. When presented by purpose, administrative appropriations for individual titles shall be classified as follows:

(a) expenditure on staff authorised in the establishment plan: there shall be an amount of appropriations and a number establishment plan posts corresponding to that expenditure;

(b) expenditure on external personnel and other expenditure referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 26(1) and financed under the "administration" heading of the multiannual financial framework;

(c) expenditure on buildings and other related expenditure, including cleaning and maintenance, rental and hiring, telecommunications, water, gas and electricity;

(d) external personnel and technical assistance directly linked to the implementation of programmes.

Any administrative expenditure of the Commission of a type which is common to several titles shall be set out in a separate summary statement classified by type.

4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the classification of the budget.

Article 45

Prohibition of negative revenue

1. The budget shall not contain negative revenue.

2. The own resources paid under Council Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom, of 7 June 2007 on the system of the European Communities' own resources ( 7 ) shall be net amounts and shall be shown as such in the summary statement of revenue in the budget.

Article 46

Provisions

1. Each section of the budget may include a "provisions" title. Appropriations shall be entered in that title where:

(a) no basic act exists for the action concerned when the budget is established; or

(b) there are serious grounds for doubting the adequacy of the appropriations or the possibility of implementing, under conditions in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, the appropriations entered on the lines concerned.

The appropriations in that title may be used only after transfer in accordance with the procedure laid down in point (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 26(1) of this Regulation, where the adoption of the basic act is subject to the procedure laid down in Article 294 TFEU, and in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 27 of this Regulation, for all other cases.

2. In the event of serious implementation difficulties, the Commission may propose, in the course of a financial year, that appropriations be transferred to the "provisions" title. The European Parliament and the Council shall take a decision on such transfers as provided for in Article 27.

Article 47

Negative reserve

The Commission section of the budget may include a "negative reserve" limited to a maximum amount of EUR 200 000 000 . Such a reserve, which shall be entered in a separate title, shall comprise payment appropriations only.

That negative reserve shall be drawn upon before the end of the financial year by means of transfer in accordance with the procedure laid down in Articles 26 and 27.

Article 48

Emergency Aid Reserve

1. The Commission section of the budget shall include a reserve for emergency aid for third countries.

2. The reserve referred to in paragraph 1 shall be drawn upon before the end of the financial year by means of transfer in accordance with the procedure laid down in Articles 27 and 29.

Article 49

Presentation of the budget

1. The budget shall show:

(a) in the general statement of revenue and expenditure:

(i) the estimated revenue of the Union for the financial year concerned ('year n');

(ii) the estimated revenue for the preceding financial year and the revenue for year n – 2;

(iii) the commitment and payment appropriations for year n;

(iv) the commitment and payment appropriations for the preceding financial year;

(v) the expenditure committed and the expenditure paid in year n – 2, the latter also expressed as a percentage of the budget of year n;

(vi) appropriate remarks on each subdivision, as set out in Article 44(1);

(b) in each section, the revenue and expenditure in the same structure as in point (a);

(c) with regard to staff:

(i) for each section, an establishment plan setting the number of posts for each grade in each category and in each service and the number of permanent and temporary posts authorised within the limits of the appropriations;

(ii) an establishment plan for staff paid from the research and technological development appropriations for direct action and an establishment plan for staff paid from the same appropriations for indirect action; the establishment plans shall be classified by category and grade and shall distinguish between permanent and temporary posts, authorised within the limits of the appropriations;

(iii) as regards scientific and technical staff, the classification may be based on groups of grades, in accordance with the conditions laid down in each budget; the establishment plan shall specify the number of highly qualified scientific or technical personnel who are accorded special advantages under the specific provisions of the Staff Regulations;

(iv) an establishment plan setting the number of posts by grade and by category for each body referred to in Article 208 which receives a contribution charged to the budget. The establishment plans shall show, next to the number of posts authorised for the financial year, the number authorised for the preceding year;

(d) with regard to borrowing-and-lending operations:

(i) in the general statement of revenue, the budget lines corresponding to the relevant operations and intended to record any reimbursements received from recipients who initially defaulted, leading to activation of the performance guarantee. Those lines shall carry a token entry "pro memoria" and be accompanied by appropriate remarks;

(ii) in the Commission section:

— the budget lines containing the Union's performance guarantees in respect of the operations concerned. Those lines shall carry a token entry "pro memoria", provided that no effective charge which has to be covered by definitive resources has arisen,

— remarks giving the reference to the basic act and the volume of the operations envisaged, the duration and the financial guarantee given by the Union in respect of such operations,

(iii) in a document annexed to the Commission section, as an indication:

— ongoing capital operations and debt management,

— the capital operations and debt management for year n;

(e) with regard to financial instruments under Title VIII of Part One:

(i) a reference to the basic act;

(ii) budget lines corresponding to the relevant operations;

(iii) a general description of the financial instruments, including their duration and their impact on the budget;

(iv) the envisaged operations, including target volumes based on the leverage effect arising from the existing financial instruments;

(f) with regard to the funding to entities entrusted pursuant to point (vii) of Article 58(1)(c):

(i) a reference to the basic act of the relevant programme;

(ii) corresponding budget lines;

(iii) a general description of the tasks entrusted, including their duration and their impact on the budget;

(g) the total amount of CFSP expenditure entered in a chapter, entitled 'CFSP', with specific articles. Those articles shall cover CFSP expenditure and shall contain specific lines identifying at least the single major missions.

2. In addition to the documents referred to in paragraph 1, the European Parliament and the Council may attach any other relevant documents to the budget.

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the presentation of the budget, including a definition of actual expenditure in the last financial year for which the accounts have been closed, budget remarks and the establishment plans.

Article 50

Rules on the establishment plans for staff

1. The establishment plans described in point (c) of Article 49(1) shall constitute an absolute limit for each institution or body; no appointment may be made in excess of the limit set.

However, save in the case of grades AD 16, AD 15 and AD 14, each institution or body may modify its establishment plans by up to 10 % of posts authorised, subject to the following conditions:

(a) the volume of staff appropriations corresponding to a full financial year is not affected;

(b) the limit of the total number of posts authorised by each establishment plan is not exceeded; and

(c) the institution or body has taken part in a benchmarking exercise with other institutions and bodies of the Union as initiated by the Commission's staff screening exercise.

Three weeks before making the modifications referred to in the second subparagraph, the institution shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of its intention to do so. In the event that duly justified reasons are raised within this period by either the European Parliament or the Council, the institution shall refrain from making the modifications and the procedure referred to in Article 41 shall apply.

2. By way of derogation from the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, the effects of part-time work authorised by the appointing authority in accordance with the Staff Regulations may be offset by other appointments.







CHAPTER 3

Budgetary discipline

Article 51

Compliance with the multiannual financial framework

The budget shall comply with the multiannual financial framework.

Article 52

Compliance of Union acts with the budget

Where the implementation of a Union act exceeds the appropriations available in the budget, such an act may be implemented in financial terms only after the budget has been amended accordingly.







TITLE IV

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET







CHAPTER 1

General provisions

Article 53

Budget implementation in accordance with the principle of sound financial management

1. The Commission shall implement the revenue and expenditure of the budget in accordance with this Regulation, under its own responsibility and within the limits of the appropriations authorised.

2. The Member States shall cooperate with the Commission so that the appropriations are used in accordance with the principle of sound financial management.

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the implementation of the budget in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, and on information on transfers of personal data for audit purposes.

Article 54

Basic act and exceptions

1. A basic act shall first be adopted before the appropriations entered in the budget for any action by the Union may be used.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 the following may be implemented without a basic act provided the actions which they are intended to finance fall within the competences of the Union:

(a) appropriations for pilot projects of an experimental nature designed to test the feasibility of an action and its usefulness. The relevant commitment appropriations may be entered in the budget for not more than two consecutive financial years.

The total amount of appropriations for the pilot projects shall not exceed EUR 40 000 000 in any financial year;

(b) appropriations for preparatory actions in the field of application of the TFEU and the Euratom Treaty, designed to prepare proposals with a view to the adoption of future actions. The preparatory actions shall follow a coherent approach and may take various forms. The relevant commitment appropriations may be entered in the budget for not more than three consecutive financial years. The procedure for the adoption of the relevant basic act shall be concluded before the end of the third financial year. In the course of that procedure, the commitment of appropriations shall correspond to the particular features of the preparatory action with regard to the activities envisaged, the aims pursued and the recipients. Consequently, the means implemented shall not correspond in volume to those envisaged for financing the definitive action itself.

The total amount of appropriations for new preparatory actions referred to under this point shall not exceed EUR 50 000 000 in any financial year, and the total amount of appropriations actually committed for preparatory actions shall not exceed EUR 100 000 000 ;

(c) appropriations for preparatory measures in the field of Title V of the TEU. Such measures shall be limited to a short period of time and shall be designed to establish the conditions for Union action in fulfilment of the objectives of the CFSP and for the adoption of the necessary legal instruments.

For the purpose of Union crisis management operations, preparatory measures shall be designed, inter alia, to assess the operational requirements, to provide for a rapid initial deployment of resources, or to establish the conditions on the ground for the launching of the operation.

Preparatory measures shall be agreed by the Council, on a proposal by the High Representative.

In order to ensure the rapid implementation of preparatory measures, the High Representative shall inform the European Parliament and the Commission as early as possible of the Council's intention to launch a preparatory measure and, in particular, of the estimated resources required for this purpose. The Commission shall take all the measures necessary to ensure a rapid disbursement of the funds.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules for the financing of preparatory measures in the field of the CFSP;

(d) appropriations for one-off actions, or even actions for an indefinite duration, carried out by the Commission by virtue of tasks resulting from its prerogatives at institutional level pursuant to the TFEU and the Euratom Treaty, other than its right of legislative initiative referred to in point (b), and under specific powers directly conferred on it by those Treaties, a list of which is to be given in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation;

(e) appropriations for the operation of each institution under its administrative autonomy.

When the draft budget is presented, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the actions referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph which shall also contain an assessment of results and the follow-up envisaged.

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the basic act and the exceptions enumerated in paragraph 2 of this Article.

Article 55

Implementation of the budget by institutions other than the Commission

The Commission shall confer on the other institutions the requisite powers for the implementation of the sections of the budget relating to them.

Detailed arrangements may be agreed between the EEAS and the Commission in order to facilitate the implementation of Union Delegations' administrative appropriations. Such arrangements shall not contain any derogation from this Regulation or the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation.

Article 56

Delegation of budget implementation powers

1. The Commission and each of the other institutions may, within their departments, delegate their powers of budget implementation in accordance with the conditions laid down in this Regulation and by their internal rules and within the limits which they lay down in the instrument of delegation. Those so empowered shall act within the limits of the powers expressly conferred upon them.

2. However, the Commission may delegate its powers of budget implementation concerning the operational appropriations of its own section to the Heads of Union Delegations. It shall, at the same time, inform the High Representative thereof. When Heads of Union Delegations act as subdelegated authorising officers of the Commission, they shall apply the Commission rules for the implementation of the budget and shall be subject to the same duties, obligations and accountability as any other subdelegated authorising officer of the Commission.

The Commission may withdraw the delegation in accordance with its own rules.

For the purposes of the first subparagraph, the High Representative shall take the measures necessary to facilitate cooperation between Union Delegations and Commission departments.

Article 57

Conflict of interests

1. Financial actors and other persons involved in budget implementation and management, including acts preparatory thereto, audit or control shall not take any action which may bring their own interests into conflict with those of the Union.

Where such a risk exists, the person in question shall refrain from such action and shall refer the matter to the authorising officer by delegation who shall confirm in writing whether a conflict of interests exists. The person in question shall also inform his or her hierarchical superior. Where a conflict of interests is found to exist, the person in question shall cease all activities in the matter. The authorising officer by delegation shall personally take any further appropriate action.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, a conflict of interests exists where the impartial and objective exercise of the functions of a financial actor or other person, as referred to in paragraph 1, is compromised for reasons involving family, emotional life, political or national affinity, economic interest or any other shared interest with a recipient.

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 setting out what is likely to constitute a conflict of interests together with the procedure to be followed in such cases.







CHAPTER 2

Methods of implementation

Article 58

Methods of implementation of the budget

1. The Commission shall implement the budget in the following ways:

(a) directly ('direct management'), by its departments, including its staff in the Union Delegations under the authority of their respective Head of Delegation, in accordance with Article 56(2), or through executive agencies as referred to in Article 62;

(b) under shared management with Member States ('shared management'); or

(c) indirectly ('indirect management'), where this is provided for in the basic act or in the cases referred to in points (a) to (d) of the first subparagraph of Article 54(2), by entrusting budget implementation tasks to:

(i) third countries or the bodies they have designated;

(ii) international organisations and their agencies;

(iii) the EIB and the European Investment Fund;

(iv) bodies referred to in Articles 208 and 209;

(v) public law bodies;

(vi) bodies governed by private law with a public service mission to the extent that they provide adequate financial guarantees;

(vii) bodies governed by the private law of a Member State that are entrusted with the implementation of a public-private partnership and that provide adequate financial guarantees;

(viii) persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions in the CFSP pursuant to Title V of the TEU, and identified in the relevant basic act.

2. The Commission remains responsible for the implementation of the budget in accordance with Article 317 TFEU and shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of the operations carried out by the entities and persons entrusted pursuant to point (c) of paragraph 1 of this Article. Where the entrusted entity or person is identified in a basic act, the financial statement provided for in Article 31 shall include a full justification for the choice of that particular entity or person.

3. The entities and persons entrusted pursuant to point (c) of paragraph 1 of this Article shall fully cooperate in the protection of the Union's financial interests. Delegation agreements shall provide for the right of the Court of Auditors and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to comprehensively exert their competences under the TFEU in the audit of funds.

The Commission shall entrust budget implementation tasks to entities and persons under point (c) of paragraph 1 of this Article provided that transparent, non-discriminatory, efficient and effective review procedures concerning the actual implementation of such tasks are in place.

4. All delegation agreements shall be made available to the European Parliament and the Council at their request.

5. Entities and persons entrusted pursuant to point (c) of paragraph 1 of this Article shall ensure, in accordance with Article 35(2), appropriate annual ex post publication of information on recipients. The Commission shall be notified of the measures taken in this regard.

6. Entities and persons entrusted pursuant to point (c) of paragraph 1 shall not have the status of authorising officer by delegation.

7. The Commission shall not entrust executive powers to third parties, where such powers involve a large measure of discretion implying political choices.

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8. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the methods of implementation of the budget, including direct management, the exercise of powers delegated to executive agencies, and specific provisions for indirect management with international organisations, with bodies referred to in Articles 208 and 209, with public law bodies or bodies governed by private law with a public service mission, with bodies governed by the private law of a Member State and entrusted with the implementation of a public-private partnership and with persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions in the CFSP. The Commission shall also be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning criteria for assimilating non-profit organisations to international organisations.

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Article 59

Shared management with Member States

1. Where the Commission implements the budget under shared management, implementation tasks shall be delegated to Member States. The Commission and the Member States shall respect the principles of sound financial management, transparency and non-discrimination and shall ensure the visibility of Union action when they manage Union funds. To this end, the Commission and the Member States shall fulfil their respective control and audit obligations and assume the resulting responsibilities laid down in this Regulation. Complementary provisions shall be laid down in sector-specific rules.

2. When executing tasks relating to the implementation of the budget, Member States shall take all the necessary measures, including legislative, regulatory and administrative measures, to protect the Union's financial interests, namely by:

(a) ensuring that actions financed from the budget are implemented correctly and effectively and in accordance with the applicable sector-specific rules and, for that purpose, designating in accordance with paragraph 3, and supervising bodies responsible for the management and control of Union funds;

(b) preventing, detecting and correcting irregularities and fraud.

In order to protect the Union's financial interests, Member States shall, respecting the principle of proportionality, and in compliance with this Article, and the relevant sector-specific rules, carry out ex ante and ex post controls including, where appropriate, on-the-spot checks on representative and/or risk-based samples of transactions. They shall also recover funds unduly paid and bring legal proceedings where necessary in this regard.

Member States shall impose effective, dissuasive and proportionate penalties on recipients where provided for in sector-specific rules and in specific provisions in national legislation.

As part of its risk assessment and in accordance with sector-specific rules, the Commission shall monitor the management and control systems established in the Member States. The Commission shall, in its audit work, respect the principle of proportionality and shall take into account the level of assessed risk in accordance with the sector-specific rules.

3. In accordance with the criteria and procedures laid down in sector-specific rules, Member States shall, at the appropriate level, designate bodies to be responsible for the management and control of Union funds. Such bodies may also carry out tasks not related to the management of Union funds and may entrust certain of their tasks to other bodies.

When deciding on the designation of bodies, Member States may base their decision on whether the management and control systems are essentially the same as those already in place for the previous period and whether they have functioned effectively.

If audit and control results show that the designated bodies no longer comply with the criteria set out in the sector-specific rules, Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that deficiencies in the implementation of the tasks of these bodies are remedied, including by ending the designation in accordance with the sector-specific rules.

The sector-specific rules shall define the role of the Commission in the process set out in this paragraph.

4. Bodies designated pursuant to paragraph 3 shall:

(a) set up and ensure the functioning of an effective and efficient internal control system;

(b) use an accounting syste