2002R1605 — EN — 01.01.2007 — 001.002

This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents

Amended by:





Corrected by:









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COUNCIL REGULATION (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002

of 25 June 2002

on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities







CONTENTS PART 1 COMMON PROVISIONS … TITLE I SCOPE … TITLE II BUDGETARY PRINCIPLES … Chapter 1 Principles of unity and of budget accuracy … Chapter 2 Principle of annuality … Chapter 3 Principle of equilibrium … Chapter 4 Principle of unit of account … Chapter 5 Principle of universality … Chapter 6 Principle of specification … Chapter 7 Principle of sound financial management … Chapter 8 Principle of transparency … TITLE III ESTABLISHMENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE BUDGET … Chapter 1 Establishment of the budget … Chapter 2 Structure and presentation of the budget … TITLE IV IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET … Chapter 1 General provisions … Chapter 2 Methods of implementation … Chapter 3 Financial actors … Section 1 Principle of separation of duties … Section 2 Authorising officer … Section 3 Accounting officer … Section 4 Imprest administrator … Chapter 4 Liability of the financial actors … Section 1 General rules … Section 2 Rules applicable to authorising officers by delegation and subdelegation … Section 3 Rules applicable to accounting officers and imprest administrators … Chapter 5 Revenue operations … Section 1 Making available of own resources … Section 2 Estimate of amounts receivable … Section 3 Establishment of amounts receivable … Section 4 Authorisation of recovery … Section 5 Recovery … Chapter 6 Expenditure operations … Section 1 Commitment of expenditure … Section 2 Validation of expenditure … Section 3 Authorisation of expenditure … Section 4 Payment of expenditure … Section 5 Time limits for expenditure operations … Chapter 7 IT systems … Chapter 8 Internal auditor … TITLE V PROCUREMENT … Chapter 1 General provisions … Section 1 Scope and award principles … Section 2 Publication … Section 3 Procurement procedures … Section 4 Guarantees and control … Chapter 2 Provisions applicable to contracts awarded by the Community institutions on their own account … TITLE VI GRANTS … Chapter 1 Scope and form of grants … Chapter 2 Principles … Chapter 3 Award procedure … Chapter 4 Payment and control … Chapter 5 Implementation … TITLE VII PRESENTATION OF THE ACCOUNTS AND ACCOUNTING … Chapter 1 Presentation of the accounts … Chapter 2 Information on the implementation of the budget … Chapter 3 Accounting … Section 1 Common provisions … Section 2 General accounts … Section 3 Budgetary accounts … Chapter 4 Property inventories … TITLE VIII EXTERNAL AUDIT AND DISCHARGE … Chapter 1 External audit … Chapter 2 Discharge … PART TWO SPECIAL PROVISIONS … TITLE I EUROPEAN AGRICULTURAL GUARANTEE FUND … TITLE II STRUCTURAL FUNDS, COHESION FUND, EUROPEAN FISHERIES FUND, AND EUROPEAN AGRICULTURAL FUND FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT … TITLE III RESEARCH … TITLE IV EXTERNAL ACTIONS … Chapter 1 General provisions … Chapter 2 Implementation of actions … Chapter 3 Procurement … Chapter 4 Grants … Chapter 5 Auditing of accounts … TITLE V EUROPEAN OFFICES … TITLE VI ADMINISTRATIVE APPROPRIATIONS … TITLE VII EXPERTS … PART THREE TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS … TITLE I TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS … TITLE II FINAL PROVISIONS …







THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 279 thereof, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 183 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ( 1 ), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament ( 2 ), Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors ( 3 ), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee ( 4 ), Whereas: (1) Since times have changed considerably since the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities ( 5 ) was adopted, in particular as a result of a financial perspective forming a framework for the development of the budget, developments in the institutional structure and a series of enlargements, that Financial Regulation has been substantially amended several times. In order to take account, in particular, of the requirements of simplification in legislative and administrative matters and the tightening up of management of Community finances, the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 should be recast in the interests of clarity. (2) This Regulation should be confined to stating the broad principles and basic rules governing the whole budgetary sector covered by the Treaty, while the implementing provisions should be moved to a Regulation on rules for the implementation of this Regulation in order to produce a better hierarchy of rules and make the Financial Regulation easier to read. The Commission should therefore be authorised to adopt the implementing rules. (3) The establishment and implementation of the budget should respect the four fundamental principles of budgetary law (unity, universality, specification, annuality), and the principles of budget accuracy, equilibrium, unit of account, sound financial management and transparency. (4) This Regulation should reassert those principles and keep exceptions to a strict minimum subject to strict conditions. (5) As regards the principle of unity, this Regulation should specify that it also applies to operational expenditure on implementing the European Union Treaty provisions on the common foreign and security policy and on police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, where this is charged to the budget. The principle of unity and budget accuracy means that all Community revenue and expenditure, and that of the Union, when this is charged to the budget, are entered in the budget. (6) As regards the principle of universality, the practices of repayment of payments on account and reuse should be discontinued; in some cases they should be replaced by assigned revenue and ways of reconstituting decommitted appropriations. These amendments do not affect the special rules applicable to the Structural Funds. (7) As regards the principle of specification, the institutions need to have some degree of management flexibility for transfers of appropriations. This Regulation should allow integrated presentation of the allocation of financial and administrative resources by purpose. The procedures for transferring appropriations should also be harmonised for all the other institutions so that transfers of staff and operating appropriations are a matter for each institution. As regards transfers of appropriations concerning operational expenditure, the Commission may make transfers between chapters within one and the same title within a total limit of 10 % of the appropriations for the financial year which appear on the line from which the transfer is made. The budgetary authority should be allowed to constitute reserves in only two cases: where there is no basic act or where it is not certain that appropriations are adequate. (8) As regards the principle of annuality, the distinction between differentiated appropriations and non-differentiated appropriations should be retained. Decisions on carryovers of commitment and payment appropriations should be taken by each institution. The additional periods should be confined exclusively to the cases where they are absolutely necessary, namely EAGGF payments. (9) The principle of equilibrium constitutes a basic budgetary rule. In this connection, it should be emphasised that recourse to loans is not compatible with the system of Community own resources. However, the principle of equilibrium is not such as to hinder the borrowing and lending operations guaranteed by the general budget of the Union. (10) In accordance with Article 277, first paragraph, of the EC Treaty and Article 181, first paragraph, of the Euratom Treaty the unit of account in which the budget is drawn up, and which is also used for purposes of implementation and for presentation of the accounts, should be determined. (11) The principle of sound financial management should be defined by reference to the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, and compliance with those principles checked by means of performance indicators established per activity and measurable in such a way that results can be assessed. The institutions should carry out ex ante and ex post evaluation, in accordance with the guidelines determined by the Commission. (12) Finally, as regards the principle of transparency, information on implementation of the budget and the accounts should be improved. A strict deadline should also be set for the publication of the budget without prejudice to provisional publication by the Commission between the declaration of definitive adoption by the President of the European Parliament and publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. The possibility of a negative reserve is also to be retained. (13) As regards the establishment and presentation of the budget, the current provisions should be harmonised and simplified by eliminating the distinction, which has no practical impact, between supplementary budgets and amending budgets. (14) The Commission section of the budget should present appropriations and resources by purpose, i.e. activity-based budgeting, with a view to enhancing transparency in the management of the budget with reference to the objectives of sound financial management and in particular efficiency and effectiveness. (15) The institutions should enjoy a measure of flexibility in the management of statutory posts in relation to what is authorised in the budget, especially as the emphasis in management is now to be on results and not on means. This freedom will, however, continue to be restricted by the dual limit of budget appropriations for a financial year and the total number of posts allocated; in addition there will be no latitude as regards grade A 1, A 2 and A 3 posts. (16) As regards implementation of the budget, there should be clarification of the various possible methods of implementing the budget, either on a centralised basis by the Commission or on a shared basis with the Member States or on a decentralised basis with third countries receiving external aid or jointly with international organisations. It should be possible for centralised management either to be performed directly by Commission departments or indirectly by delegation to bodies governed by Community law or by national public law. The implementation methods should guarantee that the procedures for protecting Community funds are complied with, whatever the entity responsible for all or part of this implementation and must confirm that final responsibility for budgetary implementation lies with the Commission in accordance with Article 274 of the Treaty. (17) As the Commission is responsible for implementation of the budget, it may not delegate any tasks of public authority involving the use of discretionary powers. This Regulation should restate this principle and specify the scope of the tasks that may be delegated. It should also be stipulated that private-sector bodies, other than those which have a public-service mission and under specific conditions, should not be able to undertake any budgetary implementation measure but only provide specialist technical or administrative services or perform preparatory or ancillary tasks. (18) For the sake of compliance with the principles of transparency and sound financial management, the public-sector bodies or bodies with a public-service mission to which implementing tasks are delegated on behalf of the Commission should have transparent procurement procedures, effective internal controls, a system for presentation of the accounts which is separate from their other activities and an external audit. (19) In accordance with Article 279(c) of the Treaty, this Regulation defines the powers and responsibilities of authorising officers, the accounting officer and the internal auditor. Authorising officers are made fully responsible for all revenue and expenditure operations executed under their authority and must be held accountable for their actions, including, where necessary, through disciplinary proceedings. This empowerment should therefore be strengthened by the removal of centralised prior controls and in particular ending the advance approval of revenue and expenditure operations by the financial controller and the check by the accounting officer that payment constitutes valid discharge. The accounting officer continues to be responsible for the proper execution of payments, the collection of revenue and the recovery of receivables. He/She manages the treasury, keeps the accounts and is responsible for drawing up the institution's financial statements. The internal auditor performs his duties in accordance with international audit standards. His role is to verify the proper functioning of the management and control systems put in place by the authorising officers. The internal auditor is not an actor involved in the financial operations and does not have the role of exercising control over these operations ahead of the decisions by the authorising officers; the authorising officers should now assume full responsibility for these decisions. (20) The liability of authorising officers, accounting officers and imprest administrators is not different from that of other officials and staff and should be subject, under the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities, and the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities, to the application of the existing disciplinary and financial compensation measures. On the other hand, certain specific provisions identifying cases of misconduct of accounting officers and imprest administrators, given the special nature of their duties, should be retained; they will no longer have any special allowance or insurance. Furthermore, the liability of the authorising officer should be clarified. In cases not involving fraud, in order to provide the appointing authority with the necessary expertise, each institution will set up a specialised financial irregularities panel which will determine whether or not an irregularity has occurred which could make the official or other servant liable to disciplinary action or payment of compensation and, if it has detected problems with systems, to report to the authorising officer and the internal auditor. For cases of fraud, however, this Regulation should refer to the provisions in force on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests and on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union. (21) The concepts of budgetary and legal commitment of expenditure and the conditions for applying them should be defined. In order to restrict the volume of dormant commitments, the period during which individual legal commitments may be made on the basis of overall budget commitments should be limited. Moreover, a decommitment provision must be provided for individual commitments which have not given rise to any payment over a three-year period. (22) This Regulation should define the typology of payments which may be made by authorising officers. Such payments must be made principally as a function of the effectiveness of the action and the results which flow from it. The rather vague concepts of advance and payment on account should be removed; payments should be made in the form of pre-financing, interim payments and payments of the final balance, when the entire amount is not paid in one instalment. (23) This Regulation should stipulate that the operations of validation, authorisation and payment must be completed within a time limit which will be set in the implementing rules and that in the event of failure to respect this time limit creditors will be entitled to default interest to be charged to the budget. (24) As regards contracts awarded by the institutions of the Communities on their own account, provision should be made for the rules contained in the Directives of the European Parliament and of the Council coordinating the procedures for the award of public works, service and supply contracts to apply: the rules applicable to contracts awarded on behalf of third parties should also be consistent with the principles posited by those Directives. (25) In order to prevent irregularities and to combat fraud and corruption and promote sound and efficient management, candidates or tenderers who are guilty of such acts or have conflicting interests should be excluded from the award of contracts. (26) For the sake of transparency, candidates and tenderers should be informed in an appropriate manner about the award of contracts. (27) Finally, as part of the process of empowerment of authorising officers, prior checking by the current Advisory Committee on Procurement and Contracts should be dispensed with. (28) As regards grants, a framework for the award and monitoring of Community grants involving specific provisions for implementing the principles of transparency, equal treatment, co-financing, prohibition of retrospective awards and control should be put in place. (29) In order to avoid any cumulation, it should not be possible for grants to be awarded to finance twice the same action or for operating expenditure for the same year. (30) In a similar manner to the rules concerning the award of public contracts, grounds for excluding certain parties from the award of grants should be laid down in order to give the institutions appropriate means of combating fraud and corruption. (31) To ensure that the rights and obligations of the institution and of the beneficiary are clear and are observed, the grant award should be the subject of a written agreement. (32) As regards accounting and the presentation of accounts, it should be stipulated that the accounts comprise general accounts and budget accounts and it should be added that the general accounts are based on a system of accrual accounting whereas the budget accounts are intended to draw up the budget outturn account and the reports on implementation of the budget. (33) The principles on which the general accounts are based and the financial statements are presented should be defined by reference to internationally accepted accounting principles and the Directives of the European Parliament and of the Council on the annual accounts of certain types of companies, where they are relevant in the context of the public service. (34) The provisions on the supply of information concerning implementation of the budget should be adapted to extend this information to the use of appropriations carried over, made available again and reused and to the various Community-law bodies, to improve the arrangements for providing monthly figures and the report on implementation, which will be sent three times a year to the budgetary authority. (35) The accounting methods employed by the institutions should be harmonised and, in this field, the Commission's accounting officer should have the right of initiative. (36) It should be specified that the use of computerised financial management systems should in no way restrict the Court of Auditors' rights of access to supporting documents. (37) As regards external audit and discharge, although the Commission is fully responsible for implementation of the budget, the importance of management shared with the Member States involves their cooperation in the audit procedure by the Court of Auditors and the discharge by the budgetary authority. (38) In order to provide optimum conditions for the presentation of the accounts and the discharge procedure, the timetable leading up to discharge should be amended. (39) The Commission should submit to the European Parliament, at its request, any information required for the smooth application of the discharge procedure for the financial year in question, in accordance with Article 276 of the EC Treaty. (40) Special provisions should be laid down for certain Community policies; such provisions should comply with the basic principles of this Regulation. (41) It seems necessary to make provision for the possibility of advance commitments against EAGGF and administrative appropriations from 15 November preceding the financial year in question. (42) As regards the Structural Funds, the provision for repayment of payments on account and making appropriations available again contained in the Commission declaration annexed to Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds ( 6 ), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1447/2001 ( 7 ), should be retained. (43) As regards research, the presentation of the budget should be harmonised with the provisions concerning activity-based budgeting, whilst preserving the flexibility of management which the Joint Research Centre (JRC) currently enjoys. (44) As regards external action, decentralisation of management of external aid should be authorised provided that the Commission is given guarantees of sound financial management and the beneficiary State is accountable to the Commission for the funds paid to it. (45) Financing agreements or contracts signed with the beneficiary State or a national, Community or international public-sector body and natural or legal persons governed by private law must include the general procurement principles laid down in Title V of part one and Title IV of part two of this Regulation as regards external actions. (46) A special title should be included containing the general provisions for the management of European offices. (47) A separate title should also contain the special rules applicable to administrative appropriations. Provision should also be made to enable each of the two branches of the budgetary authority to issue an opinion in good time on building projects likely to have significant financial implications for the budget. (48) The change in the timetable for the consolidation of the institutions' accounts should be deferred until the financial year 2005 in order to allow the necessary time to put in place the essential internal procedures involved. (49) A suitable framework, tailored to the specific management needs, should be provided for the financial rules to apply to bodies set up by the Communities and having legal personality, which receive a subsidy from the general budget of the European Communities. At the same time, and without in any way impairing the organic autonomy required by these bodies for the performance of their tasks, the substance of the rules governing certain matters, and in particular discharge and accounting, needs to be harmonised. The Commission's internal auditor will exercise the same powers over these bodies as over Commission departments. The financial rules internal to these bodies will have to be adapted accordingly to be compatible with this Financial Regulation. The Commission should accordingly be empowered to draw up a model financial regulation, which Community bodies can depart from only with the Commission's agreement, Whereas: HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:







PART ONE

COMMON PROVISIONS







TITLE I

SCOPE

Article 1

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This Regulation lays down the rules for the establishment and implementation of the general budget of the European Communities, hereinafter ‘the budget’, and the presentation and auditing of the accounts.

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For the purposes of this Regulation, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the Ombudsman and the European Data-Protection Supervisor shall be treated as Community institutions.

Article 2

Any provision concerning the implementation of the revenue and expenditure of the budget, contained in another legislative act, must comply with the budgetary principles set out in Title II.







TITLE II

BUDGETARY PRINCIPLES

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Article 3

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

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CHAPTER 1

Principles of unity and of budget accuracy

Article 4

1. The budget is the instrument which, for each financial year, forecasts and authorises all revenue and expenditure considered necessary for the European Community and the European Atomic Energy Community.

2. The revenue and expenditure of the Communities shall comprise:

(a) the revenue and expenditure of the European Community, including administrative expenditure occasioned for the institutions by the provisions of the Treaty on European Union relating to the common foreign and security policy and police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, and the ►C2 operational expenditure ◄ occasioned by implementation of those provisions where this is charged to the budget;

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

3. The budget shall record the guarantee for borrowing-and-lending operations entered into by the Communities and payments to the Guarantee Fund for external actions.

Article 5

1. Subject to Article 74, 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 not be entered in the budget if it is not for an item of expenditure considered necessary.

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4. Subject to Articles 5a, 18 and 74, interest yielded by the funds which are the property of the Communities shall be entered in the budget as miscellaneous revenue.

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Article 5a

1. Interest generated by pre-financing payments shall be assigned to the programme or the action concerned and deducted from the payment of the balance of the amounts due to the beneficiary.

The Regulation laying down the rules for implementing this Regulation, hereinafter ‘the implementing rules’, shall specify the cases in which the authorising officer responsible shall, by way of exception, recover annually such interest. That interest shall be entered in the budget as miscellaneous revenue.

2. Interest shall not be due to the Communities in the following cases:

(a) pre-financing which does not represent a significant amount, as determined in the implementing rules;

(b) pre-financing paid under a procurement contract within the meaning of Article 88;

(c) pre-financing paid to Member States;

(d) pre-financing paid under the pre-accession aid;

(e) advances paid to members of the institutions and to staff in accordance with the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities and the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities, hereinafter ‘the Staff Regulations’;

(f) pre-financing paid in the framework of joint management as referred to in point (c) of Article 53(1).

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CHAPTER 2

Principle of annuality

Article 6

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

Article 7

1. The budget shall contain differentiated appropriations, which shall 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 current financial year, subject to Articles 77(2) and 166(2).

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

4. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be without prejudice to the special provisions of Titles I, IV and VI of part two. They shall not prevent appropriations being committed globally nor budgetary commitments being made in annual instalments.

Article 8

1. The revenue of a financial year shall be entered in the accounts for the financial year on the basis of the amounts collected during the financial year. However, the own resources for the month of January of the next financial year may be paid in advance pursuant to the Council Regulation implementing the Decision on the system of the Communities' own resources.

2. The entries in respect of value added tax own resources, the additional GNP-based resource and any financial contributions may be adjusted in accordance with the Regulation referred to in paragraph 1.

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

4. Commitments shall be entered in the accounts on the basis of the legal commitments entered into up to 31 December, subject to the global commitments referred to in Article 77(2) and the financing agreements referred to in Article 166(2), which shall be entered in the accounts on the basis of the budget 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 at the latest.

6. By way of derogation from paragraphs 3, 4 and 5, the expenditure of the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) shall be entered in the accounts for a financial year in accordance with the rules laid down in Title I of part two.

Article 9

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

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

►C2 2. Differentiated commitment appropriations ◄ and non-differentiated appropriations not yet committed at the close of the financial year may be carried over in respect of:

(a) amounts corresponding to commitment appropriations for which most of the preparatory stages of the commitment procedure have been completed by 31 December. These amounts may then be committed up to 31 March of the following year;

(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.

3. ►M1 Payment appropriations ◄ may be carried over in respect of amounts needed to cover existing commitments or commitments linked to commitment appropriations carried over, when the appropriations provided for the relevant lines in the budget for the following financial year do not cover requirements. The institution concerned shall first use the appropriations authorised for the current financial year and shall not use the appropriations carried over until the former are exhausted.

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

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

6. Appropriations placed in reserve and appropriations for staff expenditure may not be carried over.

Article 10

Revenue not used and appropriations available at 31 December arising from the assigned revenue referred to in Article 18 shall be carried over automatically. The appropriations available corresponding to assigned revenue carried over must be used first.

Article 11

Without prejudice to ►M1 Articles 157 and 160a ◄ , where amounts are decommitted as a result of total or partial non-implementation of the actions for which they were earmarked, in any financial year after that in which the appropriations were entered in the budget, the appropriations concerned shall be cancelled.

Article 12

The appropriations entered in the budget may be committed with effect from 1 January, once the budget has been finally adopted, save as otherwise provided in Title I and Title VI of part two.

Article 13

1. If the budget has not been finally adopted at the beginning of the financial year, the first paragraph of Article 273 of the EC Treaty and the first paragraph of Article 178 of the Euratom Treaty shall apply to commitment and payment of expenditure which it has been possible to book to a specific line in the budget as part of implementation of the last budget duly adopted.

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

Payments may be made monthly per chapter to a maximum of one twelfth of the allotted appropriations in the chapter in question of the preceding financial year.

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

3. If the continuity of action by the Communities and management needs so require:

(a) the Council, acting by a qualified majority at the request of the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, may simultaneously authorise two or more provisional twelfths both for commitments and for payments over and above those automatically made available by the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2;

(b) for expenditure other than that necessarily resulting from the Treaties or acts adopted pursuant thereto, the third paragraph of Article 273 of the EC Treaty and the third paragraph of Article 178 of the Euratom Treaty shall apply.

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

4. If, for a given chapter, the authorisation of two or more provisional twelfths granted in the circumstances and under the procedures provided for in paragraph 3 is not sufficient to cover the expenditure necessary to avoid a break in continuity of the Communities' activity in the area covered by the chapter in question, authorisation may exceptionally be given to exceed the amount of the appropriations entered in the corresponding chapter of the budget of the preceding financial year. The budgetary authority shall act under the procedures provided for in paragraph 3. However, the available overall total of the appropriations in the budget of the preceding financial year may in no circumstances be exceeded.







CHAPTER 3

Principle of equilibrium

Article 14

1. Budget revenue and payment appropriations must be in balance.

2. Without prejudice to Article 46(1)(4), the European Community and the European Atomic Energy Community, as well as the bodies set up by the Communities as referred to in Article 185, may not raise loans.

Article 15

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 34. They shall be drawn up in accordance with the Council Regulation implementing the Decision on the system of the Communities' own resources.

3. After the presentation of the accounts for each financial year, any discrepancy with the estimates shall be entered in the budget for the following financial year through an amending budget devoted solely to that discrepancy. In such a case, the preliminary draft amending budget must be submitted by the Commission within 15 days following the submission of the provisional accounts.







CHAPTER 4

Principle of unit of account

Article 16

The budget shall be drawn up and implemented in euro and the accounts shall be presented in euro.

▼M1

However, for the cash-flow purposes referred to in Article 61, the accounting officer and, in the case of imprest accounts, the imprest administrators, and, for the needs of the administrative management of the Commission's External Service, the authorising officer responsible shall be authorised to carry out operations in national currencies as laid down in the implementing rules.

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CHAPTER 5

Principle of universality

Article 17

Total revenue shall cover total payment appropriations, subject to Article 18. All revenue and expenditure shall be entered in full without any adjustment against each other, subject to Article 20.

Article 18

1. ►M1 Without prejudice to Article 160(1a) and Article 161(2), the following items of revenue shall be used to finance specific items of expenditure: ◄

(a) financial contributions from Member States to certain research programmes pursuant to the Council Regulation implementing the Decision on the system of the Communities' own resources;

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(aa) financial contributions from Member States and other donor countries, including in both cases their public and parastatal agencies, or from international organisations to certain external aid projects or programmes financed by the Community and managed by the Commission on their behalf, pursuant to the relevant basic act;

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(b) interest on deposits and the fines provided for in the Regulation on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure;

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

(d) contributions to Community activities from third countries or various bodies;

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

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

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(f) revenue arising from the repayment of amounts wrongly paid;

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

(h) insurance payments received;

(i) revenue from payments connected with lettings;

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

2. The basic act applicable may also assign the revenue for which it provides to specific items of expenditure.

3. The budget shall carry lines to accommodate the categories of assigned revenue referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 and wherever possible shall indicate the amount.

Article 19

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

2. ►M1 Acceptance of donations of a value of EUR 50 000 or more which involve a financial charge, including follow-up costs, exceeding 10 % of the value of the donation made, shall be subject to the authorisation of the European Parliament and of the Council, both of which shall act on the matter within two months of the date of receipt of the request from the Commission. ◄ If no objection has been made within that period, the Commission shall take a final decision in respect of acceptance.

Article 20

1. The implementing rules may specify the cases where certain revenue may be deducted from invoices or requests for payment, which shall then be passed for payment of the net amount.

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

3. 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.







CHAPTER 6

Principle of specification

Article 21

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

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Article 22

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 the transfers referred to in paragraph 1, the institutions shall inform the budgetary authority of their intentions. In the event of duly substantiated reasons being raised within this period by either branch of the budgetary authority, the procedure laid down in Article 24 shall apply.

3. Any institution other than the Commission may propose to the budgetary authority, within its own section of the budget, transfers from one title to another exceeding the limit of 10 % of the appropriations for the financial year on the line from which the transfer is to be made. Those transfers shall be subject to the procedure laid down in Article 24.

4. Any institution other than the Commission may, within its own section of the budget, make transfers within articles without informing the budgetary authority beforehand.

▼B

Article 23

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

(a) transfer appropriations within articles and transfers between articles within each chapter;

▼M1

(b) as regards expenditure on staff and administration, 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;

▼B

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

▼M1

(d) transfer appropriations, as soon as the basic act is adopted pursuant to the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty, from the ‘provisions’ title referred to in Article 43 for the cases where no basic act existed for the action concerned when the budget was established.

▼M1

Three weeks before making the transfers referred to in points (b) and (c) of the first subparagraph, the Commission shall inform the budgetary authority of its decision. In the event of duly substantiated reasons being raised within that three-week period by either branch of the budgetary authority, the procedure laid down in Article 24 shall apply.

▼M1

However, during the last two months of the financial year, the Commission may autonomously transfer appropriations concerning expenditure on staff, external staff and other agents from one title to another within the total limit of 5 % of the appropriations of the financial year. The Commission shall inform the budgetary authority within two weeks after its decision on those transfers.

The Commission shall inform the budgetary authority within two weeks after its decision on transfers referred to in point (d) of the first subparagraph.

▼B

2. The Commission may propose to the budgetary authority, within its own section of the budget, transfers other than those referred to in ►M1 paragraph 1 ◄ .

Article 24

1. The budgetary authority shall take decisions on transfers of appropriations as provided for in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, save as otherwise provided in Title I of part two.

2. In the case of proposals for transfers of appropriations relating to expenditure necessarily resulting from the Treaties or from acts adopted in accordance therewith, the Council shall, after consulting the European Parliament, act by a qualified majority within six weeks, except in urgent cases. The European Parliament shall deliver its opinion within such time as will permit the Council to take note of it and to act within the stipulated time limit. Where the Council does not act within this time limit, the proposals for transfers shall be deemed to be approved.

3. In the case of proposals for transfers relating to expenditure other than that necessarily resulting from the Treaties or from acts adopted in accordance therewith, the European Parliament shall, after consulting the Council, act within six weeks, except in urgent cases. The Council shall deliver its opinion, by a qualified majority, within such time as will permit the European Parliament to take note of it and to act within the stipulated time limit. Where no decision is taken within this time limit, the proposals for transfers shall be deemed to be approved.

4. Proposals for transfers relating both to expenditure necessarily resulting from the Treaties or from acts adopted in accordance therewith and to other expenditure shall be deemed to be approved if neither the European Parliament nor the Council has decided otherwise within six weeks of the date on which the two institutions received the proposals. If, in the case of such proposals for transfers, the European Parliament and the Council reduce the proposed transfer by different amounts, whichever is the smaller of the amounts accepted by one of the two institutions shall be deemed to be approved. Where one of the institutions rejects the principle of the transfer, the transfer shall not be made.

Article 25

1. Appropriations may be transferred only to budget lines for which the budget has authorised appropriations or carries a token entry (p.m.).

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

Article 26

▼M1

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

▼B

2. ►M1 Decisions on transfers to allow the utilisation of the reserve for emergency aid shall be taken by the budgetary authority on a proposal from the Commission. A separate proposal must be submitted for each individual operation ◄ .

The procedure provided for in Article 24(2) and (3) shall apply. If the Commission proposal is not agreed to by both arms of the budgetary authority and there is a failure to arrive at a common position on the utilisation of these reserves, the European Parliament and the Council shall refrain from acting on the Commission's proposal for a transfer.

▼M1

3. In duly substantiated exceptional cases of international humanitarian disasters and crises, occurring after 15 December of the budgetary year, the Commission may transfer unused budgetary appropriations for the current budgetary year still available in the budget titles falling under heading 4 of the multiannual financial framework to the budget titles concerning the crisis management aid and humanitarian aid operations. The Commission shall inform the two branches of the budgetary authority immediately after making such transfers.

▼B







CHAPTER 7

Principle of sound financial management

Article 27

1. Budget 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 for 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 is concerned with the best relationship between resources employed and results achieved.

The principle of effectiveness is concerned with attaining the specific objectives set and achieving the intended results.

3. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed objectives shall be set for all sectors of activity covered by the budget. Achievement of those objectives shall be monitored by performance indicators for each activity and information shall be provided by the spending authorities to the budgetary authority. Such information, as referred to in Article 33(2)(d), shall be provided annually and at the latest in the documents accompanying the preliminary draft budget.

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

Article 28

▼M1

1. Any proposal or initiative submitted to the legislative authority by the Commission or by a Member State in conformity with the relevant provisions of the EC Treaty or the Treaty on European Union (TEU), which may have an impact on the budget, including changes in the number of posts, must be accompanied by a financial statement and the evaluation provided for in Article 27(4) of this Regulation.

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, must be accompanied by a financial statement prepared by the institution proposing the amendment.

▼B

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 statements. This information shall include progress made and the stage reached by the legislative authority in its consideration of proposals presented. The appropriations required shall, where appropriate, be revised in the light of the progress of deliberations on the basic act.

▼M1

3. In order to prevent the risk of fraud and irregularities, the financial statement referred to in paragraph 1 shall record any information regarding existing and planned fraud prevention and protection measures.

▼M1

Article 28a

1. The budget shall be implemented in compliance with effective and efficient internal control as appropriate in each management mode, and in accordance with the relevant sector-specific regulations.

2. For the purposes of the implementation of the budget, internal control is defined as a process applicable at all levels of the 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 and detection of fraud and irregularities;

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

▼B







CHAPTER 8

Principle of transparency

Article 29

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

▼M1

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

The budget shall be published within three months following the date on which the budget is declared finally 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.

▼B

Article 30

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

2. Information on the operations of the Guarantee Fund for external actions shall appear in the financial statements.

▼M1

3. The Commission shall make available, in an appropriate manner, information on the beneficiaries of funds deriving from the budget held by it when the budget is implemented on a centralised basis and directly by its departments, and information on the beneficiaries of funds as provided by the entities to which budget implementation tasks are delegated under other modes of management.

This information shall be made available with due observance of the requirements of confidentiality, in particular the protection of personal data as laid down in 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 ( 8 ) and Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data ( 9 ), and of the requirements of security, taking into account the specificities of each management mode referred to in Article 53 and where applicable in conformity with the relevant sector-specific rules.

▼B







TITLE III

ESTABLISHMENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE BUDGET







CHAPTER 1

Establishment of the budget

Article 31

The European Parliament, the Council, the Court of Justice of the European Communities, the Court of Auditors, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the Ombudsman and the European Data-Protection Supervisor shall draw up an estimate of their revenue and expenditure, which they shall send to the Commission before 1 July each year.

These estimates shall also be sent by these institutions to the budgetary authority for information by no later than 1 July each year. The Commission shall draw up its own estimates, which it shall also send to the budgetary authority by the same date.

In preparing its own estimates the Commission shall use the information referred to in Article 32.

Article 32

Each body referred to in Article 185 shall, in accordance with the instrument establishing it, send to the Commission by 1 April each year an estimate of its revenue and expenditure, including the establishment plan, and its work programme.

The Commission shall forward these documents to the budgetary authority for information, except in the case provided for in point (3)(d) of Article 46(1).

Article 33

1. The Commission shall place a preliminary draft budget before the Council by 1 September each year at the latest. It shall at the same time transmit the preliminary draft budget to the European Parliament.

The preliminary draft budget shall contain a summary general statement of the expenditure and revenue of the Communities and consolidate the estimates referred to in Article 31.

2. The Commission shall attach to the preliminary draft budget:

(a) an analysis of financial management in the previous year and the commitments outstanding;

(b) where appropriate, an opinion on the estimates of the other institutions which may contain different estimates, accompanied by the reasons therefor;

(c) any working paper it considers useful in connection with the establishment plans of the institutions and the grants which the Commission awards to the bodies referred to in Article 185 and to the European Schools;

▼M1

(d) the activity statements containing the following: — 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, — full justification and cost-benefit approach for proposed changes in the level of appropriations, — clear rationale for intervention at the EU level in keeping, inter alia, with the principle of subsidiarity, — information on the implementation rates of the previous year's activity and implementation rates for the current year. Evaluation results shall be consulted and referred to as evidence of the likely merits of proposed budget changes;

▼M1

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

▼B

Article 34

1. The Commission may, on its own initiative or if requested by the other institutions, each in respect of its own section, present to the Council a letter of amendment to the preliminary draft budget on the basis of new information which was not available at the time the preliminary draft was established.

2. However, save as otherwise agreed by the institutions or in exceptional circumstances, the Commission shall put such letter of amendment to the Council at least 30 days before the first reading of the draft budget by the European Parliament. The Council must put the letter of amendment to the European Parliament at least 15 days before the said first reading.

Article 35

1. The Council shall establish the draft budget in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 272(3) of the EC Treaty and Article 177(3) of the Euratom Treaty.

2. The Council shall place the draft budget before the European Parliament by 5 October of the year preceding that of implementation of the budget at the latest. The Council shall attach to that draft budget an explanatory memorandum defining its reasons for departing from the preliminary draft budget.

Article 36

1. The President of the European Parliament shall declare the budget finally adopted in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 272(7) of the EC Treaty and Article 177(7) of the Euratom Treaty.

2. Once the budget has been declared finally adopted, each Member State shall, from 1 January of the following financial year or from the date of the declaration of final adoption of the budget if that is after 1 January, be bound to make over to the Community the payments due as specified in the Council Regulation implementing the Decision on the system of the Communities' own resources.

Article 37

1. If there are unavoidable, exceptional or unforeseen circumstances, the Commission may present preliminary draft amending budgets.

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

▼M1

Before presenting a preliminary draft amending budget, the Commission and institutions other than the Commission shall examine the scope for reallocation of the relevant appropriations, taking into account any expected under-implementation of appropriations.

▼B

2. The Commission shall, save in exceptional circumstances, submit any preliminary draft amending budget to the Council by 1 September each year at the latest. It may attach an opinion to the requests for amending budgets from the other institutions.

3. The budgetary authority shall discuss them with due account for their urgency.

Article 38

1. Where the Council receives a preliminary draft amending budget, it shall draw up a draft amending budget in accordance with Articles 35 and 37.

2. Except for the timetable, Articles 35 and 36 shall apply to amending budgets. They must be substantiated by reference to the budget whose estimates they are amending.

Article 39

The Commission and the budgetary authority may agree to bring forward certain dates for the transmission of the estimates, and for the adoption and transmission of the preliminary draft and draft budgets. This arrangement may not, however, have the effect of shortening or prolonging the periods allowed for consideration of these texts under Article 272 of the EC Treaty and Article 177 of the Euratom Treaty.







CHAPTER 2

Structure and presentation of the budget

Article 40

The budget shall consist of:

▼M1

(a) a general statement of revenue and expenditure;

▼B

(b) separate sections subdivided into statements of revenue and expenditure for each institution.

Article 41

1. Commission revenue and the revenue and expenditure of the other institutions shall be classified by the budgetary authority 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 budgetary authority and classified according to purpose.

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

Each title may include ►C2 operational appropriations ◄ and administrative appropriations.

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

Article 42

The budget may not contain negative revenue.

The own resources paid under the Council Decision on the system of the Communities' own resources shall be net amounts and shall be shown as such in the summary statement of revenue in the budget.

Article 43

1. Each section of the budget may include a ‘provisions’ title. Appropriations shall be entered in this title in the following two circumstances:

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

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

▼M1

The appropriations in this title may be used only after transfer in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 23(1)(d), where the adoption of the basic act is subject to the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty, and that of Article 24, for all other cases.

▼B

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 budgetary authority shall take a decision on these transfers as provided in Article 24.

Article 44

The Commission section of the budget may include a ‘negative reserve’ limited to a maximum amount of EUR 200 million. This reserve, which shall be ►C2 entered in a separate title ◄ , may comprise both commitment appropriations and payment appropriations.

This reserve must be drawn upon before the end of the financial year by means of transfer in accordance with the procedure laid down in ►M1 Articles 23 and 25 ◄ .

▼M1

Article 45

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

2. The reserve referred to in paragraph 1 shall be drawn upon before the end of the financial year by means of transfer in accordance with the procedure laid down in Articles 24 and 26.

▼B

Article 46

1. The budget shall show:

(1) ►M1 in the general statement of revenue and expenditure: ◄ (a) the estimated revenue of the Communities for the financial year in question; (b) the estimated revenue for the preceding financial year and the revenue for year n - 2; (c) the commitment and payment appropriations for the financial year in question; (d) the commitment and payment appropriations for the preceding financial year; (e) the expenditure committed and the expenditure paid in year n - 2, ▼M1 ————— ▼M1 (g) appropriate remarks on each subdivision, as set out in Article 41(1);

(2) in the section for each institution, the revenue and expenditure shall be shown in the same structure as in point (1);

▼B

(3) as regards staff: (a) for each section of the budget, an establishment plan setting the number of posts for each grade in each category and in each service and the number of permanent and temporary posts authorised within the limits of the budget appropriations; (b) 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 budget appropriations; ▼M1 (c) 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 must specify the number of highly qualified technical or scientific personnel who are accorded special advantages under the specific provisions of the Staff Regulations; ▼B (d) an establishment plan setting the number of posts by grade and by category for each body referred to in Article 185 which receives a grant charged to the budget. The establishment plans shall show next to the number of posts authorised for the financial year the number authorised for the preceding year;

(4) as regards borrowing-and-lending operations: (a) in the general statement of revenue, the budget lines corresponding to the relevant operations and intended to record any reimbursements received from beneficiaries who initially defaulted, leading to activation of the performance guarantee. These lines shall carry a token entry (p.m.) and be accompanied by appropriate remarks; (b) in the Commission section: (i) the budget lines containing the Communities' performance guarantees in respect of the operations in question. These lines shall carry a token entry (p.m.), so long as no effective charge which has to be covered by definitive resources has arisen; (ii) remarks giving the reference to the basic act and the volume of the operations envisaged, the duration and the financial guarantee given by the Communities in respect of these operations; (c) in a document annexed to the Commission section, as an indication: (i) ongoing capital operations and debt management; (ii) the capital operations and debt management for the financial year in question;

▼M1

(5) the budget lines under revenue and expenditure necessary for implementing the Guarantee Fund for external actions.

▼B

2. In addition to the documents referred to in paragraph 1 the budgetary authority may attach any other relevant documents to the budget.

Article 47

1. The establishment plan described in point 3 of Article 46(1) shall constitute an absolute limit for each institution or body; no appointment may be made in excess of the limit set.

However, save in the case of ►M1 grades AD 16, AD 15 and AD 14 ◄ , each institution or body may modify establishment plans by up to 10 % of posts authorised, subject to two conditions:

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

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

Three weeks before making the modifications referred to in the second subparagraph, the institutions shall inform the budgetary authority of their intentions. In the event of duly justified reasons being raised within this period by either branch of the budgetary authority, the institutions shall refrain from making the modifications and the normal procedure 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.







TITLE IV

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET







CHAPTER 1

General provisions

Article 48

1. The Commission shall implement the revenue and expenditure of the budget in accordance with this Regulation, on 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.

▼M1

Article 49

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

A basic act is a legal act which provides a legal basis for the action and for the implementation of the corresponding expenditure entered in the budget.

2. In application of the EC Treaty and the Euratom Treaty, a basic act is an act adopted by the legislative authority and may take the form of a regulation, a directive, a decision within the meaning of Article 249 of the EC Treaty or a decision sui generis.

3. In application of Title V of the Treaty on European Union (concerning Common Foreign and Security Policy — CFSP), a basic act may take one of the forms specified in Articles 13(2) and (3), 14, 18(5), 23(1) and (2) and 24 of the Treaty on European Union.

4. In application of Title VI of the Treaty on European Union (concerning Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters), a basic act may take one of the forms referred to in Article 34(2) of the Treaty on European Union.

5. Recommendations and opinions do not constitute basic acts within the meaning of this Article, nor do resolutions, conclusions, declarations or other acts which have no legal effects.

6. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 to 4, the following may be implemented without a basic act provided the actions which they are intended to finance fall within the powers of the Communities or the European Union:

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

(b) appropriations for preparatory actions in the fields of application of the EC Treaty and the Euratom Treaty and of Title VI of the TEU, designed to prepare proposals with a view to the adoption of future actions. The preparatory actions are to follow a coherent approach and may take various forms. The relevant commitment appropriations may be entered in the budget for not more than three successive financial years. The legislative procedure must be concluded before the end of the third financial year. In the course of the legislative procedure, the commitment of appropriations must correspond to the particular features of the preparatory action as regards the activities envisaged, the aims pursued and the persons benefited. Consequently, the means implemented cannot correspond in volume to those envisaged for financing the definitive action itself. When the preliminary draft budget is presented, the Commission shall submit a report to the budgetary authority on the actions referred to in points (a) and (b) which shall also contain an assessment of results and the follow-up envisaged;

(c) appropriations for preparatory measures in the field of Title V of the Treaty on European Union (concerning CFSP). These measures shall be limited to a short period of time and shall be designed to establish the conditions for European Union action in fulfilment of the objectives of the CFSP and for the adoption of the necessary legal instruments. For the purpose of EU crisis management operations, preparatory measures are designed inter alia to assess the operational requirements, to provide for a rapid initial deployment of resources, or to establish the conditions on the ground for the launching of the operation. Preparatory measures shall be agreed by the Council, in full association with the Commission. To this end, the Presidency, assisted by the Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative for the CFSP, shall inform 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. In conformity with the provisions of this Regulation, the Commission shall take all the necessary measures to ensure a rapid disbursement of the funds;

(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 EC Treaty 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 given in the implementing rules;

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

▼B

Article 50

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

▼M1

Each institution shall exercise these powers in accordance with this Regulation and within the limits of the appropriations authorised.

▼B

Article 51

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

▼M1

Article 52

1. All financial actors and any other person involved in budget implementation, management, audit or control shall be prohibited from taking any action which may bring their own interests into conflict with those of the Communities. Should such a case arise, the person in question must refrain from such actions and refer the matter to the competent authority.

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

▼B







CHAPTER 2

Methods of implementation

▼M1

Article 53

The Commission shall implement the budget in accordance with the provisions set out in Articles 53a to 53d in any of the following ways:

(a) on a centralised basis;

(b) by shared or decentralised management;

(c) by joint management with international organisations.

▼M1

Article 53a

Where the Commission implements the budget on a centralised basis, implementation tasks shall be performed either directly by its departments or indirectly, in accordance with Articles 54 to 57.

Article 53b

1. Where the Commission implements the budget by shared management, implementation tasks shall be delegated to Member States. That method shall apply in particular to the actions referred to in Titles I and II of Part Two.

2. Without prejudice to complementary provisions included in relevant sector-specific regulations, and in order to ensure in shared management that the funds are used in accordance with the applicable rules and principles, the Member States shall take all the legislative, regulatory and administrative or other measures necessary for protecting the Communities' financial interests. To this effect they shall in particular:

(a) satisfy themselves that actions financed from the budget are actually carried out and to ensure that they are implemented correctly;

(b) prevent and deal with irregularities and fraud;

(c) recover funds wrongly paid or incorrectly used or funds lost as a result of irregularities or errors;

(d) ensure, by means of relevant sector-specific regulations and in conformity with Article 30(3), adequate annual ex post publication of beneficiaries of funds deriving from the budget.

To that effect, the Member States shall conduct checks and shall put in place an effective and efficient internal control system, according to the provisions laid down in Article 28a. They shall bring legal proceedings as necessary and appropriate.

3. Member States shall produce an annual summary at the appropriate national level of the available audits and declarations.

4. In order to ensure that the funds are used in accordance with the applicable rules, the Commission shall apply clearance-of-accounts procedures or financial correction mechanisms which enable it to assume final responsibility for the implementation of the budget.

Article 53c

1. Where the Commission implements the budget by decentralised management, implementation tasks shall be delegated to third countries in accordance with Article 56 and Title IV of Part Two, without prejudice to delegation of residual tasks to bodies referred to in Article 54(2).

2. In order to ensure that the funds are used in accordance with the applicable rules, the Commission shall apply clearance-of-accounts procedures or financial correction mechanisms which enable it to assume final responsibility for the implementation of the budget.

3. Third countries to which implementation tasks are delegated shall ensure, in conformity with Article 30(3), adequate annual ex post publication of beneficiaries of funds deriving from the budget.

Article 53d

1. Where the Commission implements the budget by joint management, certain implementation tasks shall be delegated to international organisations, in accordance with the implementing rules, in the following cases:

(a) wherever the Commission and the international organisation are bound by a long-term framework agreement laying down the administrative and financial arrangements for their cooperation;

(b) wherever the Commission and the international organisation elaborate a joint project or programme;

(c) where the funds of several donors are pooled and are not earmarked for specific items or categories of expenditure, that is to say, in the case of multi-donor actions.

These organisations shall, in their accounting, audit, internal control and procurement procedures, apply standards which offer guarantees equivalent to internationally accepted standards.

2. Individual agreements concluded with international organisations for the award of financing shall contain detailed provisions for the implementation of the tasks entrusted to such international organisations.

3. International organisations to which implementation tasks are delegated shall ensure, in conformity with Article 30(3), adequate annual ex post publication of beneficiaries of funds deriving from the budget.

▼B

Article 54

▼M1

1. The Commission may not delegate to third parties the executive powers it enjoys under the Treaties where they involve a large measure of discretion implying political choices. The implementing tasks delegated must be clearly defined and fully supervised as to the use made of them.

The delegation of budget-implementation tasks shall comply with the principle of sound financial management which requires effective and efficient internal control and shall ensure compliance with the principle of non-discrimination, and the visibility of Community action. No implementing tasks delegated in this way may give rise to conflicts of interests.

▼B

2. ►M1 Within the limits laid down in paragraph 1, the Commission may, when implementing the budget by indirect centralised management or by decentralised management under Articles 53a or 53c, delegate tasks of public authority and in particular budget implementation tasks to: ◄

(a) agencies governed by Community law, referred to in Article 55, hereinafter: ‘executive agencies’;

▼M1

(b) bodies set up by the Communities as referred to in Article 185 and other specialised Community bodies, such as the European Investment Bank or the European Investment Fund, provided that to do so is compatible with the tasks of each body as defined in the basic act;

(c) national or international public-sector bodies or bodies governed by private law with a public-service mission providing adequate financial guarantees and complying with the conditions provided for in the implementing rules;

▼M1

(d) persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions pursuant to Title V of the Treaty on European Union, and identified in the relevant basic act within the meaning of Article 49 of this Regulation.

▼B

3. Where the bodies referred to in paragraph 2 perform implementation tasks, they shall conduct regular checks to ensure that the actions to be financed from the budget have been implemented correctly.

▼M1

Such bodies or persons shall take appropriate measures to prevent irregularities and fraud and if necessary bring legal proceedings to recover funds wrongly paid or incorrectly used.

Article 55

1. The executive agencies shall be legal persons under Community law created by Commission Decision to which powers may be delegated to implement all or part of a Community programme or project on behalf of the Commission and under its responsibility in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 of 19 December 2002 laying down the statute for executive agencies to be entrusted with certain tasks in the management of Community programmes ( 10 ).

2. Implementation of the corresponding operational appropriations shall be carried out by the director of the agency.

Article 56

1. Where the Commission implements the budget by indirect centralised management, it shall first obtain evidence of the existence and proper operation within the entities to which it entrusts implementation of the following:

(a) transparent procurement and grant-award procedures which are non-discriminatory and exclude any conflict of interest and which are in accordance with the provisions of Titles V and VI respectively;

(b) an effective and efficient internal control system for the management of operations, which includes effective segregation of the duties of authorising officer and accounting officer or of the equivalent functions;

(c) an accounting system that enables the correct use of Community funds to be verified and the use of funds to be reflected in Community accounts;

(d) an independent external audit;

(e) public access to information at the level provided for in Community Regulations;

(f) adequate annual ex post publication of beneficiaries of funds deriving from the budget in conformity with Article 30(3).

The Commission may accept that the audit, accounting and procurement systems of the entities referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 are equivalent to its own, with due account for internationally accepted standards.

2. In the case of decentralised management, the criteria laid down in paragraph 1 with the exception of the criterion provided in point (e), shall apply, in full or in part, depending on the degree of decentralisation, agreed between the Commission and the third country, national or international public-sector bodies concerned.

Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(a) and Article 169a, the Commission may decide:

— in the case of pooling of funds, and

— under the conditions provided in the basic act,

to use the procurement or grant procedures of the beneficiary partner country or as agreed among donors.

Before taking such a decision, the Commission shall first obtain evidence on a case-by-case basis that such procedures satisfy the principles of transparency, equal treatment and non-discrimination, prevent any conflict of interest, offer guarantees equivalent to internationally accepted standards and ensure compliance with the provisions of sound financial management which requires effective and efficient internal control.

The third country, national or international public-sector bodies concerned shall undertake to fulfil the following obligations:

(a) to comply, subject to the first subparagraph of this paragraph, with the criteria laid down in paragraph 1;

(b) to ensure that the audit referred to in point (d) of paragraph 1 is exercised by a national institution for independent external auditing;

(c) to conduct regular checks to ensure that the actions to be financed from the budget have been implemented correctly;

(d) to take appropriate measures to prevent irregularities and fraud and, if necessary, to bring legal proceedings to recover funds wrongly paid.

3. The Commission shall ensure supervision, evaluation and control of the implementation of the tasks entrusted. It shall take the equivalence of control systems into account when it carries out controls using its own control systems.

▼B

Article 57

▼M1

1. The Commission may not entrust measures of implementation of funds deriving from the budget, including payment and recovery, to external private-sector entities or bodies, except in the case referred to in Article 54(2)(c) or in specific cases where the payments involved are to be made to beneficiaries determined by the Commission, are subject to conditions and amounts fixed by the Commission and do not involve the exercise of discretion by the entity or body making the payments.

▼B

2. The tasks which may be entrusted by contract to external private-sector entities or bodies other than those which have a public-service mission are technical expertise tasks and administrative, preparatory or ancillary tasks involving neither the exercise of public authority nor the use of discretionary powers of judgment.







CHAPTER 3

Financial actors







Section 1

Principle of segregation of duties

Article 58

The duties of authorising officer and accounting officer shall be segregated and mutually incompatible.







Section 2

Authorising officer

Article 59

1. The institution shall perform the duties of authorising officer.

▼M1

1a. For the purposes of this Title, the term ‘staff’ refers to persons covered by the Staff Regulations.

▼M1

2. Each institution shall lay down in its internal administrative rules the staff of an appropriate level to whom it delegates in compliance with the conditions in its rules of procedure the duties of the authorising officer, the scope of the powers delegated and the possibility for the persons to whom these powers are delegated to subdelegate them.

3. The powers of authorising officer shall be delegated or subdelegated only to staff.

▼B

4. Authorising officers by delegation or subdelegation may act only within the limits set by the instrument of delegation or subdelegation. The responsible authorising officer by delegation or subdelegation may be assisted in his/her task by one or more members of staff entrusted, under his/her responsibility, to carry out certain operations necessary for implementation of the budget and presentation of the accounts.

Article 60

1. The authorising officer shall be responsible in each institution for implementing revenue and expenditure in accordance with the principles of sound financial management and for ensuring that the requirements of legality and regularity are complied with.

2. To implement expenditure, the authorising officer by delegation and by subdelegation shall make budgetary commitments and legal commitments, shall validate expenditure and authorise payments and shall undertake the preliminaries for the implementation of appropriations.

3. Implementation of revenue shall comprise drawing up estimates of amounts receivable, establishing entitlements to be recovered and issuing recovery orders. It shall involve waiving established entitlements where appropriate.

4. The authorising officer by delegation shall put in place, in compliance with the minimum standards adopted by each institution and having due regard to the risks associated with the management environment and the nature of the actions financed, the organisational structure and the internal management and control procedures suited to the performance of his/her duties, including where appropriate ex post verifications. Before an operation is authorised, the operational and financial aspects shall be verified by members of staff other than the one who initiated the operation. The initiation and the ex ante and ex post verification of an operation shall be separate functions.

5. All staff responsible for controlling the management of financial operations must have the necessary professional skills. They shall respect a specific code of professional standards established by each institution.

6. Any member of staff involved in the financial management and control of transactions who considers that a decision he/she is required by his/her superior to apply or to agree to is irregular or contrary to the principles of sound financial management or the professional rules he/she is required to observe shall inform the authorising officer by delegation in writing and, if the latter fails to take action, the panel referred to in Article 66(4). In the event of any illegal activity, fraud or corruption which may harm the interests of the Community, he/she shall inform the authorities and bodies designated by the applicable legislation.

▼M1

7. The authorising officer by delegation shall report to his institution on the performance of his duties in the form of an annual activity report together with financial and management information confirming that the information contained in the report presents a true and fair view except as otherwise specified in any reservations related to defined areas of revenue and expenditure.

That report shall indicate the results of the operations by reference to the objectives set, the risks associated with these operations, the use made of the resources provided and the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal control system. The internal auditor shall take note of the annual report and any other pieces of information identified. No later than 15 June each year, the Commission shall send to the budgetary authority a summary of the annual reports for the previous year.

▼B







Section 3

Accounting officer

Article 61

1. Each institution shall appoint an accounting officer who shall be responsible in each institution for:

(a) proper implementation of payments, collection of revenue and recovery of amounts established as being receivable;

(b) preparing and presenting the accounts in accordance with Title VII;

(c) keeping the accounts in accordance with Title VII;

(d) laying down, in accordance with Title VII, the accounting rules and methods and the chart of accounts;

(e) laying down and validating the accounting systems and where appropriate validating systems laid down by the authorising officer to supply or justify accounting information; ►M1 the accounting officer shall be empowered to verify the respect of validation criteria; ◄

(f) treasury management.

2. The accounting officer shall obtain from authorising officers, who shall guarantee its reliability, all the information necessary for the production of accounts which give a true image of the Communities' assets and of budgetary implementation.

▼M1

2a. Before the adoption of the accounts by the institution, the accounting officer shall sign them off, thereby certifying that he has a reasonable assurance that the accounts present a true and fair view of the financial situation of the institution.

For that purpose, the accounting officer shall satisfy himself that the accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting rules, methods and accounting systems established under his responsibility as laid down in this Regulation for the accounts of his institution, and that all revenue and expenditure is entered in the accounts.

The authorising officers by delegation shall forward all information that the accounting officer needs in order to fulfil his duties.

The authorising officers shall remain fully responsible for the proper use of the funds they manage as well as the legality and regularity of the expenditure under their control.

2b. The accounting officer shall be empowered to check the information received as well as to carry out any further checks he deems necessary in order to sign off the accounts.

The accounting officer shall make reservations, if necessary, explaining exactly the nature and scope of such reservations.

2c. The accounting officers of the other institutions and agencies shall sign off their annual accounts and send them to the Commission's accounting officer.

▼M1

3. Save as otherwise provided in this Regulation, only the accounting officer is empowered to manage cash and cash equivalents. He shall be responsible for their safekeeping.

▼B

Article 62

▼M1

The accounting officer may, in the performance of his duties, delegate certain tasks to subordinate staff.

▼B

The instrument of delegation shall lay down the tasks entrusted to the delegatees.







Section 4

Imprest administrator

▼M1

Article 63

1. Imprest accounts may be set up for the collection of revenue other than own resources and for the payment of small sums as defined in the implementing rules.

However, in the field of crisis management aid and humanitarian aid operations within the meaning of Article 110, imprest accounts may be used without any limitation on the amount while respecting the level of appropriations decided by the budgetary authority on the corresponding budget line for the current financial year.

2. Imprest accounts shall be endowed by the institution's accounting officer and shall be placed under the responsibility of imprest administrators designated by the institution's accounting officer.

▼B







CHAPTER 4

Liability of the financial actors







Section 1

General rules

Article 64

1. Without prejudice to any disciplinary action, authorising officers by delegation and subdelegation may at any time have their delegation or subdelegation withdrawn temporarily or definitively by the authority which appointed them.

2. Without prejudice to any disciplinary action, the accounting officer may at any time be suspended temporarily or definitively from his/her duties by the authority which appointed him/her.

3. Without prejudice to any disciplinary action, imprest administrators may at any time be suspended temporarily or definitively from their duties by the authority which appointed them.

Article 65

▼M1

1. The provisions of this Chapter are without prejudice to any liability under criminal law which the financial actors referred to in Article 64 may incur as provided in the applicable national law and in the provisions in force on the protection of the Communities' financial interests and on the fight against corruption involving officials of the Communities or officials of Member States.

▼B

2. Each authorising officer, accounting officer or imprest administrator shall be liable to disciplinary action and payment of compensation as laid down in the Staff Regulations, without prejudice to Articles 66, 67 and 68. In the event of illegal activity, fraud or corruption which may harm the interests of the Community, the matter will be submitted to the authorities and bodies designated by the applicable legislation.







Section 2

Rules applicable to authorising officers by delegation and subdelegation

Article 66

▼M1

1. The authorising officer shall be liable for payment of compensation as laid down in the Staff Regulations.

▼M1

1a. The obligation to pay compensation shall apply in particular if:

(a) the authorising officer, whether intentionally or through gross negligence on his part, determines entitlements to be recovered or issues recovery orders, commits expenditure or signs a payment order without complying with this Regulation and the implementing rules;

(b) the authorising officer, whether intentionally or through gross negligence on his part, omits to draw up a document establishing an amount receivable, neglects to issue a recovery order or is late in issuing it or is late in issuing a payment order, thereby rendering the institution liable to civil action by third parties.

▼B

2. An authorising officer by delegation or subdelegation who considers that a decision which it is his/her responsibility to take is irregular or contrary to the principles of sound financial management shall inform the delegating authority in writing. If the delegating authority then gives a reasoned instruction in writing to the authorising officer by delegation or subdelegation to take the decision in question, the authorising officer may not be held liable.

▼M1

3. In the event of subdelegation within his services, the authorising officer by delegation continues to be responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal management and control systems put in place and for the choice of the authorising officer by subdelegation.

4. Each institution shall set up a specialised financial irregularities panel or participate in a joint panel established by several institutions. The panels shall function independently and determine whether a financial irregularity has occurred and what the consequences, if any, should be.

▼B

On the basis of the opinion of this panel, the institution shall decide whether to initiate proceedings entailing liability to disciplinary action or to payment of compensation. If the panel detects systemic problems, it shall send a report with recommendations to the authorising officer and to the authorising officer by delegation, provided the latter is not the person involved, as well as to the internal auditor.







Section 3

Rules applicable to accounting officers and imprest administrators

Article 67

An accounting officer shall be liable to disciplinary action and payment of compensation, as laid down and in accordance with the procedures in the Staff Regulations. He/She may in particular render himself liable by any of the following forms of misconduct:

(a) he/she loses or damages monies, assets and documents in his/her keeping;

(b) he/she wrongly alters bank accounts or postal giro accounts;

(c) he/she recovers or pays amounts which are not in conformity with the corresponding recovery or payment orders;

(d) he/she fails to collect revenue due.

Article 68

An imprest officer shall be liable to disciplinary action and payment of compensation, as laid down and in accordance with the procedures in the Staff Regulations. He/She may in particular render himself liable by any of the following forms of misconduct:

(a) he/she loses or damages monies, assets and documents in his/her keeping;

(b) he/she cannot provide proper supporting documents for the payments he/she has made;

(c) he/she makes payments to persons other than those entitled;

(d) he/she fails to collect revenue due.







CHAPTER 5

Revenue operations







Section 1

Making available of own resources

Article 69

An estimate of revenue constituted by own resources, as referred to in the Council Decision on the system of the Communities' own resources, shall be entered in the budget in euro. It shall be made available in accordance with the Council Regulation implementing that Decision.







Section 2

Estimate of amounts receivable

Article 70

1. An estimate of the amount receivable shall first be made by the authorising officer responsible in respect of any measure or situation which may give rise to or modify an amount owing to the Communities.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, no estimate of the amount receivable shall be made before Member States make available to the Commission the amounts of own resources defined in the Council Decision on the system of the Communities' own resources which are paid at fixed intervals by the Member States. The authorising officer responsible shall issue a recovery order in respect of these amounts.







Section 3

Establishment of amounts rece