OPINION 6. We have audited: (a) the accounts of the Office which comprise the financial statements (6) and the reports on the implementation of the budget (7) for the financial year ended 31 December 2016, and (b) the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts, as required by Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Reliability of the accounts Opinion on the reliability of the accounts 7. In our opinion, the accounts of the Office for the year ended 31 December 2016 present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Office at 31 December 2016, the results of its operations, its cash flows, and the changes in net assets for the year then ended, in accordance with its Financial Regulation and with accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer. These are based on internationally accepted accounting standards for the public sector. Legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts Revenue Opinion on the legality and regularity of revenue underlying the accounts 8. In our opinion, revenue underlying the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016 is legal and regular in all material respects. Payments Basis of qualified opinion 9. The Court made material findings in relation to two out of five significant procurement procedures from 2016 for which payments were incurred during the year, as set out in paragraphs 9.1 and 9.2. This demonstrates a lack of rigour in the Office’s procurement procedures: 9.1. Two of the three tenderers participating in one audited procurement procedure for the provision of travel services under a framework service contract amounting to 4 million euro for the period 2016 to 2020 were asked to provide additional information in relation to the same selection criteria. Although neither of them submitted the requested information (CVs of the persons to perform the task at EASO’s premises), only one of them was excluded from the procedure for this reason. The other one was awarded the contract on the basis that the relevant CVs would be provided following the award of the contract. The procurement procedure therefore did not comply with the principle of equal treatment and the contract was awarded to a tenderer who did not fulfil all selection criteria. The framework contract and associated 2016 payments, amounting to 920 561 euro, are therefore irregular. 9.2. In February 2016 the Office directly awarded a framework contract (FWC) for interim services to support it in its response to the migration crisis for a period of 12 months amounting to 3,6 million euro. The FWC was awarded to a single preselected economic operator without applying any of the procurement procedures laid down in the EU Financial Regulation (8). The award was therefore not in compliance with the relevant EU rules and associated 2016 payments, amounting to 592 273 euro, are irregular. 10. The amounts involved in relation to the matters described in paragraphs 9.1 to 9.2 represent 2,9 % of the Office’s total 2016 expenditure. Qualified opinion on the legality and regularity of payments underlying the accounts 11. In our opinion, except for the effects of the matters described in the Basis of qualified opinion paragraph 9, the payments underlying the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016 are legal and regular in all material respects. Responsibilities of management and those charged with governance 12. In accordance with Articles 310 to 325 of the TFEU and the Office’s Financial Regulation, management is responsible for the preparation and presentation of the accounts on the basis of internationally accepted accounting standards for the public sector and for the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them. This responsibility includes the design, implementation and maintenance of internal controls relevant to the preparation and presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. Management is also responsible for ensuring that the activities, financial transactions and information reflected in the financial statements are in compliance with the authorities which govern them. The Office’s management bears the ultimate responsibility for the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts. 13. In preparing the accounts, management is responsible for assessing the Office’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting. 14. Those charged with governance are responsible for overseeing the entity’s financial reporting process. Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the accounts and underlying transactions 15. Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the accounts of the Office are free from material misstatement and the transactions underlying them are legal and regular and to provide, on the basis of our audit, the European Parliament and the Council or other respective discharge authorities with a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit will always detect a material misstatement or non-compliance when it exists. These can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these accounts. 16. An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the accounts and the legality and the regularity of the transactions underlying them. The procedures selected depend on the auditor's judgment, including an assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the accounts and of material non-compliance of the underlying transactions with the requirements of the legal framework of the European Union, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, internal controls relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of the accounts and legality and regularity of underlying transactions, are considered in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of internal controls. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the accounts. 17. For revenue, we verify the subsidy received from the Commission and assess the Office’s procedures for collecting fees and other income, if any. 18. For expenditure, we examine payment transactions when expenditure has been incurred, recorded and accepted. This examination covers all categories of payments other than advances at the point they are made. Advance payments are examined when the recipient of funds provides justification for their proper use and the Office accepts the justification by clearing the advance payment, whether in the same year or later. 19. In preparing this report and Statement of Assurance, we considered the audit work of the independent external auditor performed on the Office’s accounts as stipulated in Article 208(4) of the EU Financial Regulation (9).