Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1026/1999 of 10 May 1999 determining the powers and obligations of agents authorised by the Commission to carry out controls and inspections of the Communities' own resources
Date: 1999-05-10
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU control, European Community, own resources, professional ethics, servant (EU)

20. 5. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 126/1

I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC, EURATOM) No 1026/1999

of 10 May 1999

determining the powers and obligations of agents authorised by the Commission
to carry out controls and inspections of the Communities’ own resources

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 209 thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 183
thereof,

Having regard to Council Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom,
of 31 October 1994 on the system of the Communities’
own resources (1), and in particular Article 8(2) thereof,

Having regard to the Commission proposal (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia-
ment (3),

Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors (4),

(1) Whereas Council Regulation EEC, Euratom,
ECSC (5) No 165/74 determined the powers and
obligations of officials authorised by the Commis-
sion in connection with carrying out the inspec-
tions necessary for establishing and making avail-
able the own resources, other than those accruing
from VAT, with which the Commission is asso-
ciated;

(2) Whereas, pursuant to Article 18(1) of Regulation
(EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89 of 29 May 1989
implementing Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom on
the system of the Communities own resources (6),
Member States conduct the checks and enquiries
concerning the establishment and making available
of the own resources referred to in Article 2(1)(a)
and (b) of Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom; whereas
pusuant
to Article 18(2) of Regulation (EEC,
Euratom) No 1552/89 the Member States are
in
required to conduct additional

inspections

(1) OJ L 293, 12.11.1994, p. 9.
(2) OJ C 95, 24.3.1997, p. 33 and OJ C 4, 8.1.1998, p. 5.
(3) OJ C 304, 6.10.1997, p. 36.
(4) OJ C 175, 9.6.1997, p. 1.
(5) OJ L 20, 24.1.1974, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 155, 7.6.1989, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by
Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 1355/96 (OJ L 175,
13.7.1996, p. 3).

response to a reasoned request from the Commis-
sion and to associate the Commission with all the
inspections they carry out; whereas, pursuant to
Article 18(3) of Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No
1552/89,
the Commission may itself carry out
inspection measures on the spot, with agents of the
Member State concerned participating in such
measures;

(3) Whereas Article 11(2) of Council Regulation (EEC,
Euratom) No 1553/89 of 29 May 1989 on the
definitive uniform arrangements for the collection
of own resources accruing from VAT (7) extended
the application of Regulation (EEC, Euratom,
ECSC) No 165/74 to controls on the own resources
accruing from VAT;

(4) Whereas Article 19 of Regulation (EEC, Euratom)
No 1552/89 lays down that
the Commission,
together with the Member State concerned, shall
carry out inspections relating to the own resource
based on GNP;

(5) Whereas, for the sake of clarity, Regulation (EEC,
Euratom, ECSC) No 165/74 and Article 11(2) of
Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1553/89 should be
repealed, and provisions
should be laid down
covering the powers and obligations of authorised
agents applicable to all own resources, taking into
account the specific nature of the own resource
accruing from VAT and that based on GNP;

(6) Whereas the conditions under which authorised
agents carry out their tasks should be defined, and
in particular the rules should be laid down which
all the Community’s officials and servants and also
national experts on secondment, must observe with
regard to professional confidentiality and the
protection of personal data;

(7) OJ L 155, 7.6.1989, p. 9.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

20. 5. 1999

(7) Whereas

it must be established that detached
national experts act under the responsibility of the
Commission under
the same conditions as its
agents and that the Member State concerned may
raise a duly substantiated objection to the presence,
at an inspection or control, of a detached national
expert,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The Commission shall:

(a) be associated with the inspection measures carried out
by Member States in respect of own resources, as
referred to in the second indent of Article 18(2) of
Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89,

(b) carry out on-the-spot inspections of own resources, as
referred to in Article 18(3) of Regulation (EC,
Euratom) No 1552/89,

(c) carry out the controls on own resources accruing from
VAT, as referred to in Article 11 of Regulation (EEC,
Euratom) No 1553/89,

(d) carry out inspections of GNP-based own resources
under Article 19 of Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No
1552/89

in the person of those of its officials or servants whom it
has specifically appointed for this purpose, hereinafter
referred to as ‘authorised agents'.

Persons placed at the disposal of the Commission by the
Member States as national experts on secondment may be
present at such checks and inspections.

With the explicit and prior agreement of the Member
State concerned, the Commission may seek the assistance
of officials from other Member States as observers. The
Commission shall ensure that the aforementioned offi-
cials give every guarantee as regards technical compet-
independence and observance of professional
ence,
secrecy.

inspections referred to in Article 1(b), the terms of refer-
ence shall be accompanied by a document indicating the
aim and purpose of the inspection.

Article 3

1.

The authorised agents shall:

(a) conduct themselves during the on-the-spot controls
and inspections in a manner compatible with the
rules and usages prescribed for officials of the Member
State concerned;

(b) be bound by professional secrecy, under the condi-

tions laid down in Article 5;

(c) be entitled, if necessary, to have contact, with debtors
solely in the context of the inspections referred to in
Article 1(a) and (b) and only through the competent
authorities of the Member States in which the on-the-
spot inspections take place.

2.

The preparation and management of:

(a) the inspections

referred to under Article 1(a) as
regards organisation of the work and, more generally,
relations with the departments involved in the meas-
ures, by the department designated by the Member
State pursuant to Article 4(1);

(b) the on-the-spot inspections referred to under Article
1(b) shall be carried out by the authorised agents; as
regards organisation of the work and relations with
the departments and, where appropriate, the debtors
involved in the inspection, these agents shall, prior to
any on-the-spot inspections, establish the necessary
contacts with the officials designated by the Member
State concerned in accordance with Article 4(2);

(c) the controls and inspections referred to respectively
under Article 1(1)(c) and (d) shall be carried out by the
authorised agents, who shall establish, as regards
organisation of the work, the necessary contacts with
the competent administrations in the Member States.

Article 4

Article 2

1. Member States and the Commission shall regularly
maintain the contacts required to carry out the controls
and inspections referred to in Article 1.

2.
Each on-the-spot control or inspection shall be
preceded, in good time, by contacts between the Member
State concerned and the Commission in order to lay
down detailed procedures.

3.
For each visit, the authorised agents must be given
written terms of reference by the Commission stating
their identity and official capacity. For the on-the-spot

1.
The Member States shall ensure that the depart-
ments or agencies responsible for establishing, collecting
and making available their own resources, and the author-
ities which they have instructed to carry out the controls
and inspections thereon, afford the authorised agents
every assistance necessary for carrying out their duties.

As regards the on-the-spot inspections referred to
2.
under Article 1(b),
the Member State concerned shall
inform the Commission, in good time, of the identity and
capacity of the officials whom it has appointed to take
part in these inspections and to afford the authorised
agents every assistance necessary for carrying out their
duties.

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Article 5

1.
Information communicated or obtained under this
Regulation, in whatever form, shall be subject to profes-
sional secrecy and receive the protection granted to
similar information under the national law of the Member
State in which it was gathered and under the corres-
ponding provisions applicable to the Community institu-
tions.

than those within the

This information may not be communicated to persons
other
the
Community or the Member States whose duty it is to
know, neither may it be used for purposes other than
those laid down in Regulations (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/
89 and (EEC, Euratom) No 1553/89 without the prior
consent of the Member State in which it was gathered.

institutions

of

This Article shall apply to all officials and servants

2.
of the Community and also to national experts.

3.
The Commission shall ensure that authorised agents
and other persons acting under its authority comply with
Community and national provisions concerning the
protection of personal data, in particular those laid down
by 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 (1).

Article 6

1.
The results of the on-the-spot controls and inspec-
tions carried out shall be brought to the attention of the
Member State concerned through the appropriate chan-
nels within a period of three months, and the Member
State shall
its observations within the three
months following receipt of the communication.

submit

However, for duly substantiated reasons, the Commission
may request the Member State concerned to submit its
observations on specific points within a period of one
month following receipt of the results of the control or
inspection. The Member State may decline to respond by
means of a communication setting out the reasons which
prevent it from responding to the Commission’s request.

these results and observations,

Following the procedure provided for in paragraph
2.
together with the
1,
summary report prepared in connection with controls on
own resources accruing from VAT, shall be brought to the
attention of the other Member States within the Advisory
Committee on Own Resources. However, the results of
inspections of GNP-based own resources shall be brought
to the attention of the other Member States within the
GNP Committee provided for in Article 6 of Council
Directive 89/130/EEC, Euratom, of 13 February 1989 on
the harmonisation of the compilation of gross national
product at market prices (2).

Article 7

Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 165/74 is

1.
hereby repealed.

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed
as references to this Regulation.

Article 11(2) of Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No

2.
1553/89 is hereby repealed.

Article 8

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of
the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States.

Done at Brussels, 10 May 1999.

For the Council

The President

H. EICHEL

(1) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.

(2) OJ L 49, 21.2.1989, p. 26.