2000/265/EC: Council Decision of 27 March 2000 on the establishment of a financial regulation governing the budgetary aspects of the management by the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council, of contracts concluded in his name, on behalf of certain Member States, relating to the installation and the functioning of the communication infrastructure for the Schengen environment, 'Sisnet'
Date: 2000-03-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Member States' contribution, Schengen Information System, contract, financial regulation, implementation of the budget, invitation to tender

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II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 27 March 2000

on the establishment of a financial regulation governing the budgetary aspects of the management
by the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council, of contracts concluded in his name, on behalf of
certain Member States, relating to the installation and the functioning of the communication

infrastructure for the Schengen environment,

‘Sisnet’

(2000/265/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the first sentence of the second subparagraph
of Article 2(1) of the Protocol annexed to the Treaty on Euro-
pean Union and to the Treaty establishing the European
integrating the Schengen acquis into the frame-
Community,
work of the European Union (hereinafter ‘the Schengen Proto-
col’),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

The Deputy Secretary-General of
the Council was
authorised by Decision 1999/870/EC (1) to act, in the
context of the integration of the Schengen acquis within
certain
the European Union,
Member States for the purposes of concluding contracts
relating to the installation and the functioning of the
communication infrastructure for the Schengen environ-
ment (hereinafter ‘Sisnet’) and to manage such contracts.

representative of

as

The financial obligations arising under those contracts
are not borne by the general budget of the European
Union; therefore, the provisions of the Financial Regula-
tion of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general
budget of the European Communities (2) do not apply.

It is therefore necessary to establish specific rules to
for establishing and
define the detailed procedures
implementing the budget required to meet any expenses
incurred in the course of concluding the contracts, the
obligations
once
concluded, for recovering the contributions to be paid
by the States concerned and for the presentation and
auditing of the accounts.

contracts

arising

under

those

(1) OJ L 337, 30.12.1999, p. 41.
(2) OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regula-

tion (EC) No 2673/1999 (OJ L 326, 18.12.1999, p. 1).

(4)

(5)

It is also necessary to set out the rules applicable to the
conclusion of these contracts.

This Decision is a development of the Schengen acquis
within the meaning of the Schengen Protocol,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

CHAPTER I

General principles

Article 1

For the purposes of this Financial Regulation, the ‘budget’ is the
instrument which sets out
forecasts of, and authorises in
advance, for each financial year, the revenue and expenditure
required to meet the obligations arising under the contracts
referred to in Decision 1999/870/EC.

Article 2

This Financial Regulation lays down detailed rules for the
conclusion of contracts relating to Sisnet and for the establish-
ment and implementation of the budget required in relation to
such contracts.

Article 3

1.
The budget shall be subdivided into titles covering the
budget relating to the preparatory steps leading to the conclu-
sion of the contracts in question, including any costs incurred
during the preparation of the call for tenders in respect of
Sisnet, the installation budget and the operating budget for the
Sisnet. If necessary, each title shall be subdivided into chapters
and articles.

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Appropriations opened under each title may not be

2.
assigned to other expenditure titles.

Article 4

The budget appropriations shall be used in accordance with the
principles of sound financial management, and in particular
those of economy and cost-effectiveness.

Article 5

committed at 31 December, when the appropriations provided
for the headings concerned in the budget for the following
financial year do not cover requirements.

The carry-over of such appropriations may be proposed only
for exceptional reasons.

In exercising his powers to implement the budget, the Deputy
Secretary-General shall, depending on management require-
ments, endeavour to use first the appropriations authorised for
financial year and not use the appropriations
the current
carried over until the former are exhausted.

No revenue shall be collected and no expenditure effected
unless credited to, or charged against, an article in the budget.

The SIS Working Group shall act on such requests for carrying-
over by 1 March at the latest.

Without prejudice to Article 17, no expenditure may be
committed or authorised in excess of the authorised appropria-
tions.

3.
Appropriations carried over from one financial year to
the following lapse if still uncommitted at the end of the
financial year to which they were carried over.

Article 6

1.
Subject to Article 17, all revenue and expenditure shall be
entered in full in the budget and in the accounts without any
adjustment against each other. Total revenue shall cover total
expenditure.

The financial year shall run from 1 January to 31

2.
December.

3.
Any budget contributions by the States referred to in
Article 25 paid before the beginning of the financial year which
they concern shall be credited to the budget for that financial
year.

4.
The expenditure of a financial year shall be entered in the
accounts for that year on the basis of expenditure for which
the financial controller received authorisation no later than 31
December and for which the corresponding payments were
made by the accounting officer before the following 15
January.

The allotted appropriations may be used solely to cover
5.
expenditure properly entered into and paid under the financial
year for which they were granted, save as otherwise provided
in Article 7, and to cover the debts relating to preceding
financial years for which no appropriation was carried forward.

Article 7

The following rules shall govern the utilisation of appro-

1.
priations:

(a) appropriations still uncommitted at the end of the financial
lapse;

year for which they were entered shall, as a rule,

(b) appropriations in respect of payments still outstanding at
31 December by virtue of commitments duly entered into
between 1 January and 31 December shall be carried over
automatically to the next financial year only.

Notwithstanding paragraph 1,

2.
the Deputy Secretary-
General of the Council may forward to the Schengen Informa-
tion System Working Group, hereafter referred to as the ‘SIS
Working Group’, before 31 January, duly substantiated requests
to carry over to the next financial year appropriations not

4.
A list of the appropriations to be carried forward auto-
matically pursuant to paragraph 1(b) shall be forwarded to the
SIS Working Group for information before 1 March.

For the purpose of implementing the budget, the utilisa-
5.
tion of appropriations carried forward shall be shown sepa-
rately, for each budget item, in the accounts for the current
financial year.

CHAPTER II

Establishment of the budget

Article 8

1.

The budget shall be drawn up in euro.

The Deputy Secretary-General shall forward the prelimi-
to the SIS Working Group before 30

2.
nary draft budget
September and attach an explanatory memorandum.

The SIS Working Group shall deliver its opinion on that

3.
preliminary draft.

4.
The Deputy Secretary-General shall establish the draft
budget and forward it by 31 October to the States referred to
in Article 25.

5.
The Member States referred to in Article 25, meeting
within the Council, shall adopt the budget before the end of
the year.

6.
The decision to adopt the budget, duly notified by the
Deputy Secretary-General to the States referred to in Article 25,
shall mark the point at which those States' contributions fall
due.

Article 9

If the budget has not been finally adopted at the begin-

1.
ning of the financial year:

(a) payments may be made for up to one twelfth, each month,
of the total appropriations authorised for each budget title
for the preceding financial year; and

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(b) the contributions of the States referred to in Article 25 may
be called up for up to one twelfth, each month, of the
contributions paid under the last duly adopted budget.

within the same title. The SIS Working Group shall give its
agreement under the same conditions as for adopting its
opinion on the budget.

2.
Each decision to use an expenditure and revenue twelfth,
up to a total of three twelfths of the amounts entered in the
last duly adopted budget, shall be taken by the Deputy Secre-
tary-General, who shall
forward it by letter to the States
referred to in Article 25.

3.
Above the limit of three twelfths of the amounts entered
in the last duly adopted budget, any decision to authorise
payments and call up contributions shall be taken by the
Member States referred to in Article 25, meeting within the
Council.

Any measures taken pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3
the

4.
shall be terminated immediately on final adoption of
budget.

Article 10

1.
Any draft supplementary or amending budgets shall be
submitted, examined and adopted in the same form and using
the same procedure as the budget whose estimates they are
amending.

An amending budget shall be submitted on an annual
2.
basis, in the month following the closure of the accounts as
laid down in Article 46(1), with the aim of entering the balance
of the budget outturn from the previous financial year as
revenue in the case of a positive balance or expenditure if the
balance is negative.

Article 14

The task of financial controller shall be carried out by the
Council's Financial Controller in accordance with the rules
applicable to the latter's duties.

Article 15

The receipt of revenue and the disbursement of expenditure
shall be carried out by an accounting officer from Directorate-
General A at the General Secretariat of the Council.

Article 16

1.
For the collection of any amount owing pursuant to
Article 25, or of any debt due to the States concerned by a
installation and func-
third party relating to the conclusion,
tioning of Sisnet, the issue of a recovery order by the author-
ising officer
shall be
forwarded to the accounting officer, who shall submit them to
the financial controller for approval.

shall be required. Recovery orders

2.

The purpose of this approval shall be to establish that:

(a) the revenue has been booked to the correct budget item;

(b) the recovery order is in order and conforms to the relevant

provisions;

Article 11

(c) the supporting documents are in order;

The budget may be released to the public.

CHAPTER III

Implementation of the budget and accountancy

Article 12

The budget shall be implemented in accordance with the prin-
ciple that the authorising officer and the accounting officer are
different
authorising officer,
accounting officer and financial controller shall be mutually
incompatible.

individuals. The duties of

(d) the debtor, or the competent authority of the debtor State,

are correctly described;

(e) the due date is indicated;

(f) the principles of sound financial management referred to in

Article 4 have been applied;

(g) the amount and currency of the sum to be recovered are

correct.

The accounting officer shall assume responsibility for the

3.
recovery orders duly drawn up.

Article 17

Notwithstanding Articles 5 and 6:

Article 13

1.
The task of authorising officer for revenue and expendi-
ture shall be carried out by a Director-General at the General
Secretariat of the Council. The authorising officer shall imple-
ment the budget on behalf of the Deputy Secretary-General and
within the limits of the appropriations allotted he may delegate
his powers to a Director.

2.
The authorising officer may decide on transfers between
articles within each chapter. With the agreement of the SIS
Working Group, he may decide on transfers between chapters

1. the following deductions may be made from all bills,
then be passed for

invoices or statements, which shall
payment of the net amount:

(a) fines imposed on a party to a contract on an accepted

tender;

(b) adjustment of amounts paid in error, which may be
achieved by means of deduction beforehand when
another validation of the same type is being effected
under the title, chapter, article and financial year in
respect of which the excess payment was made.

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Discounts, refunds and rebates on invoices and bills shall
not be recorded as separate revenue;

2. the following sums may be reused under the heading to

which the initial expenditure was charged:

(d) the name and address of the creditor;

(e) the purpose of the expenditure;

(f) the method of payment;

— revenue arising from refund of amounts paid in error

(g) the numbers and dates of

the relevant approvals of

against appropriations entered in the budget.

commitment.

Sums must be reused before the end of the financial year
following that in which the revenue was collected.

Article 18

1.
Any measure likely to involve expenditure against the
budget must first be the subject of a proposal for a commit-
ment of expenditure from the authorising officer
to the
accounting officer, showing the purpose, the amount involved,
the budget item to which the expenditure is to be charged and
the creditor. The proposal shall be submitted by the accounting
officer to the financial controller for approval.

2.

The purpose of this approval shall be to establish that:

(a) the proposal

for commitment has been presented in

accordance with paragraph 1;

(b) the expenditure has been charged to the correct budget

item;

(c) the appropriations are available in the budget;

(d) the principles of sound financial management referred to in

Article 4 have been applied;

(e) the expenditure is in order and conforms to the relevant

provisions.

Article 19

The purpose of validation of expenditure by the author-

1.
ising officer shall be:

(a) to verify the creditor's claim;

(b) to determine or verify the existence and the amount of the

sum due;

(c) to verify the conditions under which the payment falls due;

(d) to verify that purchases or services rendered are as ordered.

The authorising officer may have the verifications carried

2.
out under his responsibility.

Article 20

1.
The authorising officer shall authorise the accounting
officer, by the issue of a payment order (‘authorisation’), to pay
an item of expenditure which has been validated.

2.

The authorisation shall state:

(a) the financial year against which the payment shall be

charged;

(b) the budget title, chapter and article;

The payment order shall be dated and signed by the

3.
authorising officer.

4.
The accounting officer shall submit the payment order,
together with the original supporting documents, to the finan-
cial controller for approval.

5.

The purpose of this approval shall be to establish that:

(a) the payment order was properly issued;

(b) the payment order agrees with the commitment of expen-
diture and the amount thereof is correct, taking account of
the principles of sound financial management referred to in
Article 4;

(c) the expenditure is charged to the correct

item in the

budget;

(d) the appropriations are available in the budget title or article

concerned;

(e) the supporting documents are in order, and

(f) the creditor is correctly named and described.

Any expenditure must be covered beforehand by contri-
6.
butions from the States referred to in Article 25 or, failing
those, by a bank loan. The costs of a pre-financing loan in the
event of non-payment of contributions shall be divided among
the States in default, pro rata to their unpaid contributions and
taking into account the length of arrears.

Article 21

Payments shall be effected through the bank account opened in
accordance with Article 17 of Council Decision 1999/
323/EC (1) in the name of the Secretary-General of the Council.
Bank transfer orders executed pursuant to this Financial Regu-
lation shall require the joint signature of two officials nomi-
nated by the Deputy Secretary-General, of whom one shall be
the accounting officer.

Article 22

Should the financial controller refuse to give the approval laid
down in Articles 16, 18 or 20 and the authorising officer
the matter shall be referred to the
maintain his proposal,
Deputy Secretary-General. Except in cases where the availability
of appropriations is in doubt, the Deputy Secretary-General
may,
in a duly reasoned decision, overrule the refusal and
confirm the recovery order, expenditure commitment or
payment order. The Deputy Secretary-General shall within one
month inform the Court of Auditors of any such decision. The
decision shall be enforceable as from the date approval was
refused.

(c) the amount to be paid, in figures and in words, and the

currency of payment;

(1) OJ L 123, 13.5.1999, p. 51.

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Article 23

The liability to disciplinary action of the authorising officer,
financial controller, and accounting officer in the event of
failure to comply with the provisions of this Financial Regula-
tion shall be as laid down in the Staff Regulations of Officials
of the European Communities.

Article 24

The accounts shall be kept by the double-entry method on the
basis of the calendar year. They shall show all revenue and
expenditure for the financial year.

CHAPTER IV

States' contributions

Article 25

Budget revenue shall consist of financial contributions
1.
from the
following Member States: Belgium, Denmark,
Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Nether-
lands, Austria, Portugal, Finland and Sweden, as well as Iceland
and Norway.

These States' financial contributions shall be laid down in

2.
the budget and expressed in euro.

Article 26

The States referred to in Article 25 shall supply their financial
contributions to the Deputy Secretary-General in accordance
with the following formula.

The scale of contributions to be paid by the Member States
referred to in Article 25, on the one hand, and by Iceland and
Norway, on the other hand, shall be calculated annually on the
basis of the share of each Member State concerned and of
Iceland and Norway in the total gross domestic product (GDP)
for the preceding year of all the States referred to in Article 25.
The scale of contributions by the Member States concerned
shall be calculated annually, taking into account the contribu-
tions of Iceland and Norway, on the basis of the ratio of the
VAT resources paid by each of those Member States to the
total VAT resources of the European Communities, as estab-
lished in the last amendment of the budget of the Union during
the preceding financial year.

Article 27

The Deputy Secretary-General shall forward requests for
1.
contributions to each State referred to in Article 25 by letter
through the national administrations whose details have been
notified to him.

The letter concerned shall contain the following informa-

2.
tion:

(a) the decision to adopt the budget or, in the event of Article
9 being invoked, the decision to call up contributions by
provisional twelfths;

(b) the amount to be paid by each State, calculated in euro in
accordance with the scale referred to in Article 26;

(c) the details necessary for paying the contribution.

Contributions
3.
referred to in Article 21.

shall be paid into the bank account

4.

The contributions shall be payable in euro.

Article 28

1.
The States referred to in Article 25 shall be required to
pay 25 % of their contribution by 15 February, 1 April, 1 July
and 1 October at the latest.

2.
Should a State have defaulted on its financial obligations,
the existing Community rules on interest chargeable in the
event of late payment of contributions to the budget of the
Union shall apply by analogy, without prejudice to any costs
which must be borne by such State pursuant to the provisions
of Article 20(6).

CHAPTER V

Conclusion of contracts

Article 29

Contracts for the purchase or hiring of goods or for the

1.
provision of services shall be in writing.

2.
All such contracts for which the estimated value equals or
exceeds the thresholds set out in Council Directive 93/36/EEC
of 14 June 1993 coordinating procedures for the award of
public supply contracts (1) or Council Directive 92/50/EEC of
18 June 1992 relating to the coordination of procedures for
the award of public service contracts (2) shall be concluded after
an invitation to tender has been issued in accordance with the
provisions of those Directives, including any further amend-
ments which may be agreed to them (hereinafter the ‘Council
Directives on public procurement procedures’).

3.
Contracts for which the estimated value of the contract in
question does not exceed the thresholds set out in the Council
Directives on public procurement procedures may be made by
private treaty. In such cases, the Member States referred to in
Article 25 shall none the less be bound, as far as possible and
by all appropriate means, to enable suppliers who are likely to
be able to supply the goods and services in question to
compete.

4.
Invitations to tender shall, as a general rule, be published
by the General Secretariat of the Council on behalf of the
Member States referred to in Article 25 in all the Member
States.

5.
The tendering procedures and selection and award criteria
shall be determined and governed by the provisions of the
Council Directives on public procurement procedures, as
supplemented by the provisions of this Financial Regulation.

(1) OJ L 199, 9.8.1993, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive
(OJ L

the European Parliament and of

the Council

97/52/EC of
328, 28.11.1997, p. 1).

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Every invitation to tender shall be prepared by the
6.
General Secretariat of the Council on behalf of the Member
States referred to in Article 25 and shall,

in particular:

(a) specify the procedure for submitting tenders and stipulate
how they are to be presented, including, in particular, any
requirement as to the use of a standard reply form;

(b) make reference to the general conditions applicable to the
contract concerned (supplies or services), where appro-
priate, and to any document containing conditions specifi-
cally applicable to the particular contract concerned;

(c) include a clause stating that the submission of a tender

implies acceptance of the relevant conditions;

(d) specify the terms under which an inspection may be made,
where appropriate, to be set out in detail in the case of
on-the-spot inspections;

Article 31

No discrimination shall be practised between nationals of
Member States and of Iceland and Norway on grounds of
nationality in respect of contracts entered into by the Deputy
Secretary-General on behalf of the Member States referred to in
Article 25.

Article 32

Where there are general conditions applicable to the proposed
contract, they shall be attached to the invitation to tender. Any
document containing conditions specifically applicable to the
particular contract concerned shall also be attached.

Article 33

Tenderers may submit tenders:

(e) specify the period during which a tender will remain valid

and may not be varied in any respect;

(a) by post:

(f) specify the penalties for failure to comply with the provi-

sions of the contract;

(g) specify the details which must be contained in the invoices

(or in the relevant supporting documents);

(h) prohibit any contact between the Deputy Secretary-General
and his staff, representatives of the Governments of the
Member States referred to in Article 25, representatives of
the Governments of Iceland and Norway and tenderers on
matters related to that invitation to tender save, by way of
special exception, under the following conditions:

in which case the invitation to tender must specify that the
relevant date shall be that on which the tender is posted, as
evidenced by the postmark. Tenders submitted by post
must be registered; or

(b) by hand-delivery to the Council General Secretariat direct
including private

the tenderer,

or by any agent of
messenger services:

in which case the invitation to tender must state the date
by which tenders must be submitted and specify the
department within the Council General Secretariat to which
they must be delivered against a signed and dated receipt.

before the closing date for the submission of tenders:

The date must be the same in both cases.

(i) at the instance of tenderers:

additional information solely for the purpose of clari-
fying the nature of the invitation to tender may be
communicated to all tenderers;

(ii) at the instance of the Deputy Secretary-General:

if the Member States referred to in Article 25, or
Iceland and Norway, or the General Secretariat of the
Council notice an error, a lack of precision, an omis-
sion or any other type of clerical defect in the text of
the invitation to tender, the General Secretariat may, in
a manner identical with that applicable in respect of
the original invitation to tender, inform the persons
concerned accordingly;

(iii) after the tenders have been opened and at the instance
of the Member States referred to in Article 25, Iceland
or Norway, or the General Secretariat of the Council, if
some clarification is required in connection with a
tender, or if obvious clerical errors contained in the
tender must be corrected, the General Secretariat may
contact the tenderer.

Article 30

In order to maintain secrecy and to avoid any difficulties, the
invitation to tender must include a provision as follows:

‘Tenders must be submitted in a sealed envelope itself
enclosed within a second sealed envelope. The inner
envelope shall bear, in addition to the name of the depart-
ment to which it is addressed, as indicated in the invitation
to tender, the words “Call for tenders — Not to be opened
by the Registry”. If self-adhesive envelopes are used they
must be sealed with adhesive tape and the sender must sign
across this tape.’

Article 34

Every tender must be opened.

shall be opened together by a committee
The tenders
appointed for this purpose by the Deputy Secretary-General. It
shall be composed of three high level officials from different
directorates of the Council General Secretariat. The financial
controller must be informed of the opening of the tenders. The
financial controller or his representative shall be present as an
observer.

The committee shall draw up a report of the opening of the
tender, to be signed by all

its members.

In every case where contact has been made under the condi-
tions provided for in Article 29(6)(h), a ‘Note for the file’ shall
be drawn up and such contact shall be mentioned in the report
to be submitted subsequently to the Advisory Committee
referred to in Article 36.

Each page of each tender shall be initialled by at least one
member of the committee. The committee shall make a written
record of the tenders received,
in particular, all the
documents which have been received from each tenderer in
connection with the tender.

listing,

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Article 35

Every tender shall be assessed by the Member States referred to
in Article 25, together with Iceland and Norway. A report,
approved unanimously by these States, shall be presented by
the competent official within the Council General Secretariat
designated by the authorising officer or by an alternate, also
designated by the
to the Advisory
authorising officer,
Committee referred to in Article 36.

This report shall

include in particular:

(a) a statement of the reasons for the elimination of any of the

tenders;

(b) a technical and financial assessment of each tender,

including a comparative table of unit prices;

(c) the grounds for the choice of tenderer recommended.

Article 36

Contracts to be concluded by the Deputy Secretary-General on
behalf of the Member States referred to in Article 25 and by
the appropriate representatives of Iceland and Norway after an
invitation to tender has been issued shall first be submitted for
the opinion of an Advisory Committee on procurements and
contracts.

Article 37

The Advisory Committee referred to in Article 36 shall include
one representative from each Member State referred to in
together with one representative from each of
Article 25,
Norway and Iceland. The Member States referred to in Article
25, together with Iceland and Norway, shall ensure that the
representatives selected have adequate expertise in informatics
and/or financial matters and/or legal matters. Representatives
must not have participated in the assessment of the files to be
submitted to the Advisory Committee. A representative of the
financial controller shall be present as observer.

The Advisory Committee shall, by simple majority, elect a
Chairman and a deputy Chairman from among its representa-
tives.

The Advisory Committee shall deliver an opinion as to whether
the procedure leading to the selection of tenderer is in order
in general, on the proposed terms of the contract.
and,

Any other problem concerning the matter forming the subject
of this chapter may be referred to the said Advisory Committee
for an opinion.

The Advisory Committee shall endeavour to adopt its opinions
by consensus. If such consensus is not possible, the Advisory
Committee shall adopt its opinions by a simple majority of its
representatives. A quorum of 11 shall be required for the
the
proceedings to be valid.
Chairman shall have the casting vote.

In the event of a tied vote,

The General Secretariat of the Council shall provide secretarial
assistance to the Advisory Committee as necessary.

Article 38

The Advisory Committee shall draw up its own rules of proce-
dure, by analogy with the rules of procedure of the Advisory

Committee on Procurements and Contracts of the Council of
the European Union.

Article 39

The Advisory Committee shall be required to give its opinion,
in a purely advisory capacity, on:

(a) all proposed contracts for supplies or services, including
studies, for which the estimated value equals or exceeds the
thresholds in the Council Directives on public procurement
procedures;

(b) any proposed agreement supplementary to any contract as
referred to in point
(a) whenever there are significant
changes, particularly when the effect of such supplemen-
tary agreement would be to alter the amount involved in
the original contract;

(c) any proposed supplementary agreement the effect of which
would be to raise the total amount involved in a contract
already concluded above the thresholds referred to in point
(a);

(d) questions arising at the time of conclusion or in the course
of performance of contracts (e.g. cancellation of orders,
requests for remission of penalties for delay, departures
from the specifications and general conditions of contract),
should the matter be sufficiently serious to justify a request
for an opinion;

(e) at the request of one of the Member States referred to in
Article 25 or of Iceland or Norway, or of a member of the
Advisory Committee, or of the Deputy Secretary-General,
proposed contracts involving an amount below the thresh-
olds referred to in point (a), where they consider that such
contracts involve questions of principle or are of a special
nature.

Article 40

The files submitted to the Advisory Committee for an opinion
pursuant to Article 39(b) to (e), shall also be accompanied by a
report approved unanimously by the Member States referred to
in Article 25, as well as Iceland and Norway.

Article 41

The opinions of the Advisory Committee shall be signed by its
chairman. In order to avoid delays in the process as a result of
the intervention of the Advisory Committee, the Member States
referred to in Article 25, as well as Iceland and Norway, may, if
they deem it necessary, impose a reasonable deadline by which
an opinion must be furnished. Opinions shall be communi-
cated to the Deputy Secretary-General and to the Member
States referred to in Article 25, as well as to Iceland and
Norway. Following due consideration of
the
Member States referred to in Article 25, as well as Iceland and
Norway, shall take a final decision on the case by unanimity.
Once that decision has been taken, the contract or contracts
which form the subject of each case shall be concluded by the
Deputy Secretary-General on behalf of
the Member States
referred to in Article 25 and by the appropriate representatives
of Iceland and Norway.

that opinion,

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Article 42

contract or guarantee, except in cases of non-performance or
late performance as referred to in Article 43(6).

All the tenderers shall be informed by the General Secretariat
of the Council of the decision taken with regard to their
tenders.

Article 43

Contracts may be made against an invoice or bill of costs
1.
where the expected value of the goods or services does not
exceed EUR 2 000.

By way of guarantee of the performance of contracts,
2.
suppliers, contractors or providers of services may be required
by a warranty clause to make a preliminary deposit. Such
deposit must cover not only the entire period of the guarantee
but also a period long enough to allow the guarantee to be
invoked. The deposit must, in principle, consist of a payment
in euro made to a bank account specifically opened for that
purpose in the name of the General Secretariat of the Council.
Such deposit may only be lodged with a first-class credit insti-
tution in a sight- or short-term deposit account denominated in
euro.

The amount of the deposit shall be fixed according to the

3.
usual trade terms and conditions.

4.
The provision of such security shall be obligatory where
the value of the contract concerned equals or exceeds the
thresholds set out in the Council Directives on public procure-
ment procedures.

5.
This security may be replaced by a joint and several
personal guarantee given by a third party approved by the
accounting officer. The guarantee shall,
in principle, be
denominated in euro and must comply with the same rules as
the guarantee referred to in paragraph 2.

6. Where a contract has not been performed or completion
has been late, the Deputy Secretary-General shall ensure that
the Member States referred to in Article 25, as well as Iceland
and Norway, are adequately compensated in respect of all
damages, interests and costs by the deduction of the amount
from the deposit, whether this has been lodged directly by the
supplier or contractor or by a third party.

Article 44

The usual supporting documents accompanying the first order
to pay drawn up pursuant to a contract requiring the provision
of a deposit shall be supplemented by a copy, certified true by
the accounting officer, of the receipt issued when the deposit
was paid, or by a copy, certified true by the accounting officer,
of a declaration from the establishment or
third party
providing the guarantee.

Article 45

Deposits shall be repaid, or the guarantees referred to in Article
43 given in place thereof released, by the Deputy Secretary-
in accordance with the provisions of the applicable
General

CHAPTER VI

Presenting and auditing the accounts

Article 46

1.
The Deputy Secretary-General shall, within two months
from the end of the budget implementation period, draw up a
revenue and expenditure account and a balance sheet and
transmit them to the SIS Working Group.

2.
The revenue and expenditure account shall cover all
revenue and expenditure transactions relating to the preceding
financial year. It shall be submitted in the same form and
following the same subdivisions as the budget.

3.

The following shall be attached to the account:

(a) a statement showing the situation of each of the States
referred to in Article 25 as regards payment of its financial
contribution, and

(b) an appropriation transfer statement.

The balance sheet shall show the budget assets and liabili-

4.
ties as at 31 December of the preceding financial year.

Article 47

The Court of Auditors shall be asked to audit

1.
accounts.

the

2.
The Deputy Secretary-General shall forward the revenue
and expenditure account and the balance sheet to the Court of
Auditors within 15 days following the period laid down in
Article 46(1).

3.
The purpose of the audit by the Court of Auditors shall
be to establish that all revenue has been received and all
expenditure incurred in a lawful and regular manner in accord-
ance with the contracts to be managed, the budget and this
Financial Regulation.

4.
The Deputy Secretary-General shall provide the Court of
Auditors with every facility it may consider necessary in order
to carry out its task.

Article 48

The revenue and expenditure account, balance sheet and report
by the Court of Auditors, accompanied where appropriate by
the Deputy Secretary-General's comments, shall be submitted
by 1 July to the States referred to in Article 25. The Member
States referred to in Article 25, meeting within the Council,
shall give a discharge to the Deputy Secretary-General
in
respect of the budget's implementation.

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CHAPTER VII

Final provisions

Article 49

the Schengen acquis
the provisions of
The introduction of
concerning the Schengen information system for a State other
than those referred to in Article 25 (hereinafter referred to as
‘other State’) shall entail:

(a) readjustment of the share of contributions of the States
referred to in Article 25 as laid down in Article 26;
(b) adjustment of the contributions of the States referred to in
Article 25 in order to establish the contribution payable by
the other State to the operation of Sisnet for the whole of
the current financial year;

(c) adjustment of the contributions of the States referred to in
Article 25 in order to establish the proportion of earlier
Sisnet installation costs to be borne by the other State. This
percentage shall be calculated on the basis of the ratio of
the VAT resources paid by the other State to the total VAT
resources of
the European Communities for the earlier
financial years in which the necessary Sisnet installation
costs have been incurred. The percentage contribution shall
be the subject of a ‘credit note’ to the States referred to in
Article 25 for an amount pro rata to their share as calcu-
lated in accordance with Article 26. The other States may
choose to allocate the amount concerned towards their
share of the budget or request reimbursement.

Article 50

This Financial Regulation shall apply to the adoption of
1.
the budget with respect
to the revenue and expenditure
required to meet the obligations arising out of any action taken

pursuant to Article 1 of Decision 1999/870/EC, for the finan-
cial year in which this Regulation enters into force.

By derogation from Article 8, for the purposes of the
2.
the Deputy Secretary-
budget referred to in paragraph 1,
forward the preliminary draft
General of the Council shall
budget to the SIS Working Group as soon as possible after the
adoption of this Financial Regulation. Following the delivery of
the opinion of the SIS Working Group and the establishment
of the draft budget, the Member States referred to in Article 25,
meeting within the Council, shall adopt the budget without
delay.

3.
By derogation from Article 28, for the purposes of the
budget referred to in paragraph 1, the States referred to in
Article 25 shall be required to pay their contribution in accord-
ance with a schedule to be determined by the Member States
referred to in Article 25 at the time of adoption of this budget.

Article 51

This Decision shall take effect from the date of its adop-

1.
tion.

It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European

2.
Communities.

Done at Brussels, 27 March 2000.

For the Council

The President

F. GOMES