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"B COUNCIL DECISION
of 27 March 2000
on the establishment of a financial regulation governing the budgetary aspects of the management by the Deputy
Secretary-General of the Council, of contracts concluded in his name, on behalf of certain Member States, relating to the
installation and the functioning of the communication infrastructure for the Schengen environment, ‘Sisnet’
(2000/265/EC)
(OJ L 85, 6.4.2000, p. 12)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Council Decision 2000/664/EC of 23 October 2000 L 278 24 31.10.20002000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 1
COUNCIL DECISION
of 27 March 2000
on the establishment of a financial regulation governing the budgetary
aspects of the management by the Deputy Secretary-General of the
Council, of contracts concluded in his name, on behalf of certain MemberStates, relating to the installation and the functioning of the communi-
cation infrastructure for the Schengen environment, ‘Sisnet’
(2000/265/EC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the first sentence of the second subparagraph of Article 2(1)
of the Protocol annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty
establishing the European Community, integrating the Schengen acquis into
the framework of the European Union (hereinafter ‘the Schengen Protocol’),
Whereas:
(1) The Deputy Secretary-General of the Council was authorised by
Decision 1999/870/EC (
1) to act, in the context of the integration of the
Schengen acquis within the European Union, as representative of
certain Member States for the purposes of concluding contractsrelating to the installation and the functioning of the communication
infrastructure for the Schengen environment (hereinafter ‘Sisnet’) and
to manage such contracts.
(2) The financial obligations arising under those contracts are not borne
by the general budget of the European Union; therefore, the provisionsof the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to thegeneral budget of the European Communities (
2) do not apply.
(3) It is therefore necessary to establish specific rules to define the
detailed procedures for establishing and implementing the budget
required to meet any expenses incurred in the course of concluding the
contracts, the obligations arising under those contracts once concluded,for recovering the contributions to be paid by the States concerned andfor the presentation and auditing of the accounts.
(4) It is also necessary to set out the rules applicable to the conclusion of
these contracts.
(5) This Decision is a development of the Schengen acquis within the
meaning of the Schengen Protocol,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
CHAPTER I
General principles
Article 1
For the purposes of this Financial Regulation, the ‘budget’ is the instrument
which sets out forecasts of, and authorises in advance, for each financial year,
the revenue and expenditure required to meet the obligations arising under the
contracts referred to in Decision 1999/870/EC.
Article 2
This Financial Regulation lays down detailed rules for the conclusion of
contracts relating to Sisnet and for the establishment and implementation of
the budget required in relation to such contracts.!B
(1) OJ L 337, 30.12.1999, p. 41.
(2) OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
2673/1999 (OJ L 326, 18.12.1999, p. 1).2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 2
Article 3
1. The budget shall be subdivided into titles covering the budget relating to
the preparatory steps leading to the conclusion of the contracts in question,including any costs incurred during the preparation of the call for tenders inrespect of Sisnet, the installation budget and the operating budget for the
Sisnet. If necessary, each title shall be subdivided into chapters and articles.
2. Appropriations opened under each title may not be assigned to other
expenditure titles.
Article 4
The budget appropriations shall be used in accordance with the principles of
sound financial management, and in particular those of economy and
cost-effectiveness.
Article 5
No revenue shall be collected and no expenditure effected unless credited to,
or charged against, an article in the budget.
Without prejudice to Article 17, no expenditure may be committed or
authorised in excess of the authorised appropriations.
Article 6
1. Subject to Article 17, all revenue and expenditure shall be entered in full
in the budget and in the accounts without any adjustment against each other.
Total revenue shall cover total expenditure.
2. The financial year shall run from 1 January to 31 December.3. Any budget contributions by the States referred to in Article 25 paid
before the beginning of the financial year which they concern shall be
credited to the budget for that financial year.
4. The expenditure of a financial year shall be entered in the accounts for
that year on the basis of expenditure for which the financial controller
received authorisation no later than 31 December and for which the
corresponding payments were made by the accounting officer before thefollowing 15 January.
5. The allotted appropriations may be used solely to cover expenditure
properly entered into and paid under the financial year for which they weregranted, save as otherwise provided in Article 7, and to cover the debtsrelating to preceding financial years for which no appropriation was carried
forward.
Article 7
1. The following rules shall govern the utilisation of appropriations:
(a) appropriations still uncommitted at the end of the financial year for which
they were entered shall, as a rule, lapse;
(b) appropriations in respect of payments still outstanding at 31 December by
virtue of commitments duly entered into between 1 January and 15
December shall be carried over automatically to the next financial year
only.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the Deputy Secretary-General of theCouncil may forward to the Schengen Information System Working Group,hereafter referred to as the ‘SIS Working Group’, before 31 January, duly
substantiated requests to carry over to the next financial year appropriatons
not committed at 15 December when the appropriations provided for theheadings concerned in the budget for the following financial year do not coverrequirements.
The carry-over of such appropriations may be proposed only for exceptional
reasons.
In exercising his powers to implement the budget, the Deputy Secretary-
General shall, depending on management requirements, endeavour to use first
the appropriations authorised for the current financial year and not use theappropriations carried over until the former are exhausted.!B
!M1
!B2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 3
The SIS Working Group shall act on such requests for carrying-over by 1
March at the latest.
3. Appropriations carried over from one financial year to the following
lapse if still uncommitted at the end of the financial year to which they were
carried over.
4. A list of the appropriations to be carried forward automatically pursuant
to paragraph 1(b) shall be forwarded to the SIS Working Group forinformation before 1 March.
5. For the purpose of implementing the budget, the utilisation of appropri-
ations carried forward shall be shown separately, for each budget item, in theaccounts for the current financial year.
CHAPTER II
Establishment of the budget
Article 8
1. The budget shall be drawn up in euro.
2. The Deputy Secretary-General shall forward the preliminary draft budget
to the SIS Working Group before 30 September and attach an explanatory
memorandum.
3. The SIS Working Group shall deliver its opinion on that preliminary
draft.
4. The Deputy Secretary-General shall establish the draft budget and
forward it by 31 October to the States referred to in Article 25.
5. The Member States referred to in Article 25, meeting within the Council,
shall adopt the budget before the end of the year.
6. The decision to adopt the budget, duly notified by the Deputy
Secretary-General to the States referred to in Article 25, shall mark the point
at which those States’ contributions fall due.
Article 9
1. If the budget has not been finally adopted at the beginning of the
financial year:
(a) payments may be made for up to one twelfth, each month, of the total
appropriations authorised for each budget title for the preceding financialyear; and
(b) the contributions of the States referred to in Article 25 may be called up
for up to one twelfth, each month, of the contributions paid under the lastduly adopted budget.
2. Each decision to use an expenditure and revenue twelfth, up to a total of
three twelfths of the amounts entered in the last duly adopted budget, shall be
taken by the Deputy Secretary-General, who shall forward it by letter to theStates referred to in Article 25.
3. Above the limit of three twelfths of the amounts entered in the last duly
adopted budget, any decision to authorise payments and call up contributions
shall be taken by the Member States referred to in Article 25, meeting withinthe Council.
4. Any measures taken pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be terminated
immediately on final adoption of the budget.
Article 10
1. Any draft supplementary or amending budgets shall be submitted,
examined and adopted in the same form and using the same procedure as the
budget whose estimates they are amending.!B2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 4
2. An amending budget shall be submitted on an annual basis, in the month
following the closure of the accounts as laid down in Article 46(1), with theaim of entering the balance of the budget outturn from the previous financialyear as revenue in the case of a positive balance or expenditure if the balance
is negative.
Article 11
The budget may be released to the public.
CHAPTER III
Implementation of the budget and accountancy
Article 12
The budget shall be implemented in accordance with the principle that the
authorising officer and the accounting officer are different individuals. The
duties of authorising officer, accounting officer and financial controller shall
be mutually incompatible.
Article 13
1. The task of authorising officer for revenue and expenditure shall be
carried out by a Director-General at the General Secretariat of the Council.
The authorising officer shall implement the budget on behalf of the Deputy
Secretary-General and within the limits of the appropriations allotted he maydelegate his powers to a Director.
2. The authorising officer may decide on transfers between articles within
each chapter. With the agreement of the SIS Working Group, he may decideon transfers between chapters within the same title. The SIS Working Groupshall give its agreement under the same conditions as for adopting its opinion
on the budget.
Article 14
The task of financial controller shall be carried out by the Council’s Financial
Controller in accordance with the rules applicable to the latter’s duties.
Article 15
The receipt of revenue and the disbursement of expenditure shall be carried
out by an accounting officer from Directorate-General A at the General
Secretariat of the Council.
Article 16
1. For the collection of any amount owing pursuant to Article 25, or of any
debt due to the States concerned by a third party relating to the conclusion,installation and functioning of Sisnet, the issue of a recovery order by the
authorising officer shall be required. Recovery orders shall be forwarded to
the accounting officer, who shall submit them to the financial controller forapproval.
2. The purpose of this approval shall be to establish that:
(a) the revenue has been booked to the correct budget item;(b) the recovery order is in order and conforms to the relevant provisions;
(c) the supporting documents are in order;
(d) the debtor, or the competent authority of the debtor State, are correctly
described;
(e) the due date is indicated;(f) the principles of sound financial management referred to in Article 4
have been applied;
(g) the amount and currency of the sum to be recovered are correct.!B2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 5
3. The accounting officer shall assume responsibility for the recovery orders
duly drawn up.
Article 17
Notwithstanding Articles 5 and 6:
1. the following deductions may be made from all bills, invoices or
statements, which shall then be passed for payment of the net amount:
(a) fines imposed on a party to a contract on an accepted tender;(b) adjustment of amounts paid in error, which may be achieved by
means of deduction beforehand when another validation of the sametype is being effected under the title, chapter, article and financial
year in respect of which the excess payment was made.
Discounts, refunds and rebates on invoices and bills shall not be recorded
as separate revenue;
2. the following sums may be reused under the heading to which the initial
expenditure was charged:
— revenue arising from refund of amounts paid in error against
appropriations entered in the budget.
Sums must be reused before the end of the financial year following that in
which the revenue was collected.
Article 18
1. Any measure likely to involve expenditure against the budget must first
be the subject of a proposal for a commitment of expenditure from the
authorising officer to the accounting officer, showing the purpose, the amount
involved, the budget item to which the expenditure is to be charged and thecreditor. The proposal shall be submitted by the accounting officer to thefinancial controller for approval.
2. The purpose of this approval shall be to establish that:(a) the proposal for commitment has been presented in accordance with
paragraph 1;
(b) the expenditure has been charged to the correct budget item;(c) the appropriations are available in the budget;(d) the principles of sound financial management referred to in Article 4
have been applied;
(e) the expenditure is in order and conforms to the relevant provisions.
Article 19
1. The purpose of validation of expenditure by the authorising officer shall
be:
(a) to verify the creditor’s claim;(b) to determine or verify the existence and the amount of the sum due;(c) to verify the conditions under which the payment falls due;(d) to verify that purchases or services rendered are as ordered.2. The authorising officer may have the verifications carried out under his
responsibility.
Article 20
1. The authorising officer shall authorise the accounting officer, by the issue
of a payment order (‘authorisation’), to pay an item of expenditure which hasbeen validated.
2. The authorisation shall state:(a) the financial year against which the payment shall be charged;(b) the budget title, chapter and article;!B2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 6
(c) the amount to be paid, in figures and in words, and the currency of
payment;
(d) the name and address of the creditor;(e) the purpose of the expenditure;(f) the method of payment;
(g) the numbers and dates of the relevant approvals of commitment.
3. The payment order shall be dated and signed by the authorising officer.4. The accounting officer shall submit the payment order, together with the
original supporting documents, to the financial controller for approval.
5. The purpose of this approval shall be to establish that:
(a) the payment order was properly issued;(b) the payment order agrees with the commitment of expenditure and the
amount thereof is correct, taking account of the principles of sound
financial management referred to in Article 4;
(c) the expenditure is charged to the correct item in the budget;(d) the appropriations are available in the budget title or article concerned;(e) the supporting documents are in order, and(f) the creditor is correctly named and described.
6. Any expenditure must be covered beforehand by contributions from the
States referred to in Article 25 or, failing those, by a bank loan. The costs of apre-financing loan in the event of non-payment of contributions shall bedivided among the States in default, pro rata to their unpaid contributions and
taking into account the length of arrears.
Article 21
"M1 Payments shall be effected through a bank account specifically opened
for that purpose in the name of the General Secretariat of the Council. 3
Bank transfer orders executed pursuant to this Financial Regulation shall
require the joint signature of two officials nominated by the Deputy
Secretary-General, of whom one shall be the accounting officer.
Article 22
Should the financial controller refuse to give the approval laid down in
Articles 16, 18 or 20 and the authorising officer maintain his proposal, the
matter shall be referred to the Deputy Secretary-General. Except in cases
where the availability of appropriations is in doubt, the Deputy Secretary-General may, in a duly reasoned decision, overrule the refusal and confirm the
recovery order, expenditure commitment or payment order. The Deputy
Secretary-General shall within one month inform the Court of Auditors of anysuch decision. The decision shall be enforceable as from the date approval wasrefused.
Article 23
The liability to disciplinary action of the authorising officer, financial
controller, and accounting officer in the event of failure to comply with the
provisions of this Financial Regulation shall be as laid down in the Staff
Regulations of Officials of the European Communities.
Article 24
The accounts shall be kept by the double-entry method on the basis of the
calendar year. They shall show all revenue and expenditure for the financialyear.!B2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 7
CHAPTER IV
States’ contributions
Article 25
1. Budget revenue shall consist of financial contributions from the
following Member States: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain,France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland and
Sweden, as well as Iceland and Norway.
2. These States’ financial contributions shall be laid down in the budget and
expressed in euro.
Article 26
The States referred to in Article 25 shall supply their financial contributions
to the Deputy Secretary-General in accordance with the following formula.
The scale of contributions to be paid by the Member States referred to in
Article 25, on the one hand, and by Iceland and Norway, on the other hand,shall be calculated annually on the basis of the share of each Member State
concerned and of Iceland and Norway in the total gross domestic product
(GDP) for the preceding year of all the States referred to in Article 25. Thescale of contributions by the Member States concerned shall be calculatedannually, taking into account the contributions of Iceland and Norway, on the
basis of the ratio of the V AT resources paid by each of those Member States to
the total V AT resources of the European Communities, as established in thelast amendment of the budget of the Union during the preceding financial
year.
Article 27
1. The Deputy Secretary-General shall forward requests for contributions to
each State referred to in Article 25 by letter through the national
administrations whose details have been notified to him.
2. The letter concerned shall contain the following information:(a) the decision to adopt the budget or, in the event of Article 9 being
invoked, the decision to call up contributions by provisional twelfths;
(b) the amount to be paid by each State, calculated in euro in accordance with
the scale referred to in Article 26;
(c) the details necessary for paying the contribution.
3. Contributions shall be paid into the bank account referred to in Article
21.
4. The contributions shall be payable in euro.
Article 28
1. The States referred to in Article 25 shall be required to pay 25 % of their
contribution by 15 February, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October at the latest.
2. Should a State have defaulted on its financial obligations, the existing
Community rules on interest chargeable in the event of late payment of
contributions to the budget of the Union shall apply by analogy, without
prejudice to any costs which must be borne by such State pursuant to theprovisions of Article 20(6).
CHAPTER V
Conclusion of contracts
Article 29
1. Contracts for the purchase or hiring of goods or for the provision of
services shall be in writing.!B2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 8
2. All such contracts for which the estimated value equals or exceeds the
thresholds set out in Council Directive 93/36/EEC of 14 June 1993coordinating procedures for the award of public supply contracts (
1)o r
Council Directive 92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992 relating to the coordination of
procedures for the award of public service contracts (2) shall be concluded
after an invitation to tender has been issued in accordance with the provisionsof those Directives, including any further amendments which may be agreedto them (hereinafter the ‘Council Directives on public procurement
procedures’).
3. Contracts for which the estimated value of the contract in question does
not exceed the thresholds set out in the Council Directives on public
procurement procedures may be made by private treaty. In such cases, the
Member States referred to in Article 25 shall none the less be bound, as far aspossible and by all appropriate means, to enable suppliers who are likely to beable to supply the goods and services in question to compete.
4. Invitations to tender shall, as a general rule, be published by the General
Secretariat of the Council on behalf of the Member States referred to inArticle 25 in all the Member States.
5. The tendering procedures and selection and award criteria shall be
determined and governed by the provisions of the Council Directives onpublic procurement procedures, as supplemented by the provisions of thisFinancial Regulation.
6. Every invitation to tender shall be prepared by the General Secretariat of
the Council on behalf of the Member States referred to in Article 25 and shall,in particular:
(a) specify the procedure for submitting tenders and stipulate how they are to
be presented, including, in particular, any requirement as to the use of astandard reply form;
(b) make reference to the general conditions applicable to the contract
concerned (supplies or services), where appropriate, and to any document
containing conditions specifically applicable to the particular contractconcerned;
(c) include a clause stating that the submission of a tender implies
acceptance of the relevant conditions;
(d) specify the terms under which an inspection may be made, where
appropriate, to be set out in detail in the case of on-the-spot inspections;
(e) specify the period during which a tender will remain valid and may not be
varied in any respect;
(f) specify the penalties for failure to comply with the provisions of the
contract;
(g) specify the details which must be contained in the invoices (or in the
relevant supporting documents);
(h) prohibit any contact between the Deputy Secretary-General and his staff,
representatives of the Governments of the Member States referred to inArticle 25, representatives of the Governments of Iceland and Norwayand tenderers on matters related to that invitation to tender save, by way
of special exception, under the following conditions:
before the closing date for the submission of tenders:(i) at the instance of tenderers:
additional information solely for the purpose of clarifying the nature
of the invitation to tender may be communicated to all tenderers;
(ii) at the instance of the Deputy Secretary-General:
if the Member States referred to in Article 25, or Iceland and
Norway, or the General Secretariat of the Council notice an error, a
lack of precision, an omission or any other type of clerical defect inthe text of the invitation to tender, the General Secretariat may, in a
manner identical with that applicable in respect of the original
invitation to tender, inform the persons concerned accordingly;!B
(1) OJ L 199, 9.8.1993, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 97/52/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 328, 28.11.1997, p. 1).2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 9
(iii) after the tenders have been opened and at the instance of the Member
States referred to in Article 25, Iceland or Norway, or the GeneralSecretariat of the Council, if some clarification is required inconnection with a tender, or if obvious clerical errors contained in
the tender must be corrected, the General Secretariat may contact the
tenderer.
Article 30
In every case where contact has been made under the conditions provided for
in Article 29(6)(h), a ‘Note for the file’ shall be drawn up and such contactshall be mentioned in the report to be submitted subsequently to the Advisory
Committee referred to in Article 36.
Article 31
No discrimination shall be practised between nationals of Member States and
of Iceland and Norway on grounds of nationality in respect of contractsentered into by the Deputy Secretary-General on behalf of the Member Statesreferred to in Article 25.
Article 32
Where there are general conditions applicable to the proposed contract, they
shall be attached to the invitation to tender. Any document containing
conditions specifically applicable to the particular contract concerned shallalso be attached.
Article 33
Tenderers may submit tenders:
(a) by post:
in which case the invitation to tender must specify that the relevant date
shall be that on which the tender is posted, as evidenced by the postmark.Tenders submitted by post must be registered; or
(b) by hand-delivery to the Council General Secretariat direct or by any agent
of the tenderer, including private messenger services:
in which case the invitation to tender must state the date by which tenders
must be submitted and specify the department within the Council General
Secretariat to which they must be delivered against a signed and dated
receipt.
The date must be the same in both cases.In order to maintain secrecy and to avoid any difficulties, the invitation to
tender must include a provision as follows:
‘Tenders must be submitted in a sealed envelope itself enclosed within a
second sealed envelope. The inner envelope shall bear, in addition to the
name of the department to which it is addressed, as indicated in the
invitation to tender, the words ‘Call for tenders — Not to be opened bythe Registry’. If self-adhesive envelopes are used they must be sealedwith adhesive tape and the sender must sign across this tape.’
Article 34
Every tender must be opened.
The tenders shall be opened together by a committee appointed for this
purpose by the Deputy Secretary-General. It shall be composed of three high
level officials from different directorates of the Council General Secretariat.
The financial controller must be informed of the opening of the tenders. Thefinancial controller or his representative shall be present as an observer.
The committee shall draw up a report of the opening of the tender, to be
signed by all its members.
Each page of each tender shall be initialled by at least one member of the
committee. The committee shall make a written record of the tenders
received, listing, in particular, all the documents which have been received
from each tenderer in connection with the tender.!B2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 10
Article 35
Every tender shall be assessed by the Member States referred to in Article 25,
together with Iceland and Norway. A report, approved unanimously by these
States, shall be presented by the competent official within the CouncilGeneral Secretariat designated by the authorising officer or by an alternate,
also designated by the authorising officer, to the Advisory Committee referred
to in Article 36.
This report shall include in particular:(a) a statement of the reasons for the elimination of any of the tenders;(b) a technical and financial assessment of each tender, including a
comparative table of unit prices;
(c) the grounds for the choice of tenderer recommended.
Article 36
Contracts to be concluded by the Deputy Secretary-General on behalf of the
Member States referred to in Article 25 and by the appropriate representatives
of Iceland and Norway after an invitation to tender has been issued shall first
be submitted for the opinion of an Advisory Committee on procurements andcontracts.
Article 37
The Advisory Committee referred to in Article 36 shall include one
representative from each Member State referred to in Article 25, togetherwith one representative from each of Norway and Iceland. The Member Statesreferred to in Article 25, together with Iceland and Norway, shall ensure that
the representatives selected have adequate expertise in informatics and/or
financial matters and/or legal matters. Representatives must not haveparticipated in the assessment of the files to be submitted to the AdvisoryCommittee. A representative of the financial controller shall be present as
observer.
The Advisory Committee shall, by simple majority, elect a Chairman and a
deputy Chairman from among its representatives.
The Advisory Committee shall deliver an opinion as to whether the procedure
leading to the selection of tenderer is in order and, in general, on the proposed
terms of the contract.
Any other problem concerning the matter forming the subject of this chapter
may be referred to the said Advisory Committee for an opinion.
The Advisory Committee shall endeavour to adopt its opinions by consensus.
If such consensus is not possible, the Advisory Committee shall adopt its
opinions by a simple majority of its representatives. A quorum of 11 shall berequired for the proceedings to be valid. In the event of a tied vote, theChairman shall have the casting vote.
The General Secretariat of the Council shall provide secretarial assistance to
the Advisory Committee as necessary.
Article 38
The Advisory Committee shall draw up its own rules of procedure, by analogy
with the rules of procedure of the Advisory Committee on Procurements and
Contracts of the Council of the European Union.
Article 39
The Advisory Committee shall be required to give its opinion, in a purely
advisory capacity, on:
(a) all proposed contracts for supplies or services, including studies, for
which the estimated value equals or exceeds the thresholds in the CouncilDirectives on public procurement procedures;
(b) any proposed agreement supplementary to any contract as referred to in
point (a) whenever there are significant changes, particularly when the
effect of such supplementary agreement would be to alter the amountinvolved in the original contract;!B2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 11
(c) any proposed supplementary agreement the effect of which would be to
raise the total amount involved in a contract already concluded above thethresholds referred to in point (a);
(d) questions arising at the time of conclusion or in the course of
performance of contracts (e.g. cancellation of orders, requests for
remission of penalties for delay, departures from the specifications andgeneral conditions of contract), should the matter be sufficiently serious
to justify a request for an opinion;
(e) at the request of one of the Member States referred to in Article 25 or of
Iceland or Norway, or of a member of the Advisory Committee, or of theDeputy Secretary-General, proposed contracts involving an amount
below the thresholds referred to in point (a), where they consider that
such contracts involve questions of principle or are of a special nature.
Article 40
The files submitted to the Advisory Committee for an opinion pursuant to
Article 39(b) to (e), shall also be accompanied by a report approvedunanimously by the Member States referred to in Article 25, as well as
Iceland and Norway.
Article 41
The opinions of the Advisory Committee shall be signed by its chairman. In
order to avoid delays in the process as a result of the intervention of the
Advisory Committee, the Member States referred to in Article 25, as well asIceland and Norway, may, if they deem it necessary, impose a reasonable
deadline by which an opinion must be furnished. Opinions shall be
communicated to the Deputy Secretary-General and to the Member Statesreferred to in Article 25, as well as to Iceland and Norway. Following dueconsideration of that opinion, the Member States referred to in Article 25, as
well as Iceland and Norway, shall take a final decision on the case by
unanimity. Once that decision has been taken, the contract or contracts whichform the subject of each case shall be concluded by the DeputySecretary-General on behalf of the Member States referred to in Article 25
and by the appropriate representatives of Iceland and Norway.
Article 42
All the tenderers shall be informed by the General Secretariat of the Council
of the decision taken with regard to their tenders.
Article 43
1. Contracts may be made against an invoice or bill of costs where the
expected value of the goods or services does not exceed EUR 2 000.
2. By way of guarantee of the performance of contracts, suppliers,
contractors or providers of services may be required by a warranty clause
to make a preliminary deposit. Such deposit must cover not only the entireperiod of the guarantee but also a period long enough to allow the guaranteeto be invoked. The deposit must, in principle, consist of a payment in euro
made to a bank account specifically opened for that purpose in the name of
the General Secretariat of the Council. Such deposit may only be lodged witha first-class credit institution in a sight- or short-term deposit accountdenominated in euro.
3. The amount of the deposit shall be fixed according to the usual trade
terms and conditions.
4. The provision of such security shall be obligatory where the value of the
contract concerned equals or exceeds the thresholds set out in the Council
Directives on public procurement procedures.
5. This security may be replaced by a joint and several personal guarantee
given by a third party approved by the accounting officer. The guarantee shall,
in principle, be denominated in euro and must comply with the same rules asthe guarantee referred to in paragraph 2.!B2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 12
6. Where a contract has not been performed or completion has been late, the
Deputy Secretary-General shall ensure that the Member States referred to inArticle 25, as well as Iceland and Norway, are adequately compensated inrespect of all damages, interests and costs by the deduction of the amount
from the deposit, whether this has been lodged directly by the supplier or
contractor or by a third party.
Article 44
The usual supporting documents accompanying the first order to pay drawn
up pursuant to a contract requiring the provision of a deposit shall besupplemented by a copy, certified true by the accounting officer, of the receiptissued when the deposit was paid, or by a copy, certified true by the
accounting officer, of a declaration from the establishment or third party
providing the guarantee.
Article 45
Deposits shall be repaid, or the guarantees referred to in Article 43 given in
place thereof released, by the Deputy Secretary-General in accordance withthe provisions of the applicable contract or guarantee, except in cases ofnon-performance or late performance as referred to in Article 43(6).
CHAPTER VI
Presenting and auditing the accounts
Article 46
1. The Deputy Secretary-General shall, within two months from the end of
the budget implementation period, draw up a revenue and expenditure account
and a balance sheet and transmit them to the SIS Working Group.
2. The revenue and expenditure account shall cover all revenue and
expenditure transactions relating to the preceding financial year. It shall be
submitted in the same form and following the same subdivisions as thebudget.
3. The following shall be attached to the account:(a) a statement showing the situation of each of the States referred to in
Article 25 as regards payment of its financial contribution, and
(b) an appropriation transfer statement.
4. The balance sheet shall show the budget assets and liabilities as at 31
December of the preceding financial year.
Article 47
1. The Court of Auditors shall be asked to audit the accounts.
2. The Deputy Secretary-General shall forward the revenue and expenditure
account and the balance sheet to the Court of Auditors within 15 days
following the period laid down in Article 46(1).
3. The purpose of the audit by the Court of Auditors shall be to establish
that all revenue has been received and all expenditure incurred in a lawful and
regular manner in accordance with the contracts to be managed, the budgetand this Financial Regulation.
4. The Deputy Secretary-General shall provide the Court of Auditors with
every facility it may consider necessary in order to carry out its task.
Article 48
The revenue and expenditure account, balance sheet and report by the Court
of Auditors, accompanied where appropriate by the Deputy Secretary-General’s comments, shall be submitted by 1 July to the States referred to in
Article 25. The Member States referred to in Article 25, meeting within the
Council, shall give a discharge to the Deputy Secretary-General in respect ofthe budget’ s implementation.!B2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 13
CHAPTER VII
Final provisions
Article 49
The introduction of the provisions of the Schengen acquis concerning the
Schengen information system for a State other than those referred to inArticle 25 (hereinafter referred to as ‘other State’) shall entail:
(a) readjustment of the share of contributions of the States referred to in
Article 25 as laid down in Article 26;
(b) adjustment of the contributions of the States referred to in Article 25 in
order to establish the contribution payable by the other State to the
operation of Sisnet for the whole of the current financial year;
(c) adjustment of the contributions of the States referred to in Article 25 in
order to establish the proportion of earlier Sisnet installation costs to be
borne by the other State. This percentage shall be calculated on the basisof the ratio of the V AT resources paid by the other State to the total V ATresources of the European Communities for the earlier financial years in
which the necessary Sisnet installation costs have been incurred. The
percentage contribution shall be the subject of a ‘credit note’ to the Statesreferred to in Article 25 for an amount pro rata to their share as calculatedin accordance with Article 26. The other States may choose to allocate
the amount concerned towards their share of the budget or request
reimbursement.
Article 50
1. This Financial Regulation shall apply to the adoption of the budget with
respect to the revenue and expenditure required to meet the obligations arisingout of any action taken pursuant to Article 1 of Decision 1999/870/EC, for the
financial year in which this Regulation enters into force.
2. By derogation from Article 8, for the purposes of the budget referred to in
paragraph 1, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council shall forward the
preliminary draft budget to the SIS Working Group as soon as possible afterthe adoption of this Financial Regulation. Following the delivery of theopinion of the SIS Working Group and the establishment of the draft budget,
the Member States referred to in Article 25, meeting within the Council, shall
adopt the budget without delay.
3. By derogation from Article 28, for the purposes of the budget referred to
in paragraph 1, the States referred to in Article 25 shall be required to paytheir contribution in accordance with a schedule to be determined by the
Member States referred to in Article 25 at the time of adoption of this budget.
Article 51
1. This Decision shall take effect from the date of its adoption.
2. It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European
Communities .!B2000D0265 — EN — 23.10.2000 — 001.001 — 14