Commission Regulation (EC) No 1687/2001 of 21 August 2001 amending Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EC) No 3418/93 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of certain provisions of the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977
Date: 2001-08-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EAEC, ECSC, European Community, financial control, financial regulation, management audit

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1687/2001

of 21 August 2001

amending Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EC) No 3418/93 laying down detailed rules for the imple-
mentation of certain provisions of the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Financial Regulation of 21 December
1977 applicable to the general budget of
the European
Communities (1), as last amended by Council Regulation (EC)
No 762/2001 (2), and in particular Article 139 thereof,

After consulting the European Parliament and the Council,

(8)

(9)

Having regard to the opinions of the Court of Justice, the Court
the
of Auditors,
Committee of the Regions and the Ombudsman,

and Social Committee,

the Economic

A new provision on the validation of payments by the
accounting officer should be introduced in view of the
development of integrated computer systems.

The procedure for setting up imprest accounts and
appointing imprest administrators needs to be adapted
to match the requirements and urgency that warrant
recourse to the procedure. In this area the authorising
officer should be given the initiating role and the
accounting officer the decision-making role.

Whereas:

(10)

The principles governing the performance of internal
auditing need to be set out.

Commission Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EC) No 3418/
93 of 9 December 1993 laying down detailed rules for
the implementation of certain provisions of the Financial
Regulation of 21 December 1977 (3), as last amended by
Decision 2000/716/EC (4), must be amended as a result
of the amendments made to the Financial Regulation.

(11)

Following amendment of Article 36 of the Financial
Regulation to give a stronger guarantee that
legal
commitments correspond to accounting commitments, a
number of provisions in Title VII need to be adjusted.

Provisions on the evaluation of projects, programmes
and operations must be introduced to comply with the
principles of sound financial management.

(12) A provision on the establishment of a third party ledger
should be introduced to increase the security of
payments by transfer.

All references to the ecu were replaced by references to
the euro at the rate of one euro to one ecu from 1
in accordance with Council Regulation
January 1999,
(EC) No 1103/97 of 17 June 1997 on certain provisions
relating to the introduction of the euro (5), as amended
by Regulation (EC) No 2595/2000 (6). All references to
the ecu in Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EC) No 3418/93
should be read as references to the euro.

(13)

(14)

The rate of the euro against each of the currencies which
the institutions use for the implementation of the budget
should be determined by the Commission on the basis
of the reference exchange rates published by the Euro-
pean Central Bank.

A new reference rate of interest, i.e. the rate applied by
the European Central Bank to its refinancing operations,
must be set now that the European Monetary Coopera-
tion Fund (EMCF) no longer exists.

The notion of confusion of interests needs to be defined.

The transparency of subcontracted operations must be
guaranteed.

The provisions relating to contracts must be grouped
together and rationalised to bring them into line with
the Plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement
(WTO) and the Council directives.

In the interests of simplification and harmonisation of
the award of contracts and of
the procedures for
empowerment of authorising officers,
the threshold
above which the ACPC's responsibility comes into play
should be raised for the Commission, given the volume
of its contracts, and to a lesser extent for the other
institutions. It is proposed that the referral threshold for
the Commission's ACPC be raised in two stages, with an
intermediate evaluation, so that the impact of the rise
can be gauged.

(15)

The accounts must record changes in value by writing
down the value of assets where appropriate and record
the depreciation of assets by constituting corresponding
provisions.
In accordance with the principle of
prudence, the accounting officer must also enter provi-
sions for liabilities and charges.

(16)

The Commission no longer receives advances in respect
of the activities it conducts on behalf of third parties in
the field of research and technological development and
has dissolved the ACPC-JRC.

(1) OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 111, 20.4.2001, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 315, 16.12.1993, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 290, 17.11.2000, p. 52.
(5) OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 300, 29.11.2000, p. 1.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

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(17)

The Commission decision of 21 August 2001 updating
the fixed amounts provided for in this Regulation must
be incorporated with effect from 1 January 2001,

Title I is renumbered Title Ia. In Title Ia, the word ‘ecu’ is

3.
replaced by the word ‘euro’.

4.

The following Article is inserted:

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

‘Article 1a

Article 1

1.

The first recital

is replaced by the following:

‘Whereas certain provisions of Articles 11, 22, 23, 24, 25,
28, 29, 36, 37, 38, 41, 45, 46, 49, 53, 54, 56, 58, 59, 60,
63, 64a, 65, 66, 70, 70a, 75, 94, 97 and 123 of the
Financial Regulation explicitly provide that detailed rules
will be drawn up for their implementation;’.

2.

The following title is inserted:

‘TITLE I

EVALUATION OF EXPENDITURE

(Article 2 of the Financial Regulation)

Article 1

1.
Proposals for all new programmes and actions occa-
sioning expenditure from the general budget of the Euro-
pean Communities shall be the subject of an ex ante evalu-
ation, which shall

identify:

(a) the need to be met in the short or long term;

(b) the objectives to be realised;

(c) the results expected and the indicators needed to

measure them;

1.
The Commission shall determine the rate of the euro
against each of the currencies which the institutions have
to use for the implementation of the budget on the basis of
the reference exchange rates established by the European
Central Bank and published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

2.
Conversions between the euro and national curren-
cies shall be made at the daily euro rate published in the
Official Journal of the European Communities. However, for
the accounting purposes provided for in Articles 69 to 72
of the Financial Regulation, pursuant to Article 11(4) of
the Financial Regulation, conversion between the euro and
national currencies shall be made at the monthly euro rates
calculated on the basis of the rate on the penultimate
working day of the month preceding that for which the
rates are established.

3.
The Commission shall use any source of information
it considers reliable when determining the rate of the euro
against currencies for which the daily rate is not published
in the Official Journal of the European Communities.’

In Articles 2, 3, 4, 5 and Article 136(8) ‘Article 1’

5.
is
replaced by ‘Article 1a’. A further linguistic change is made
which does not affect the English language version. In Articles
2, 3, 4, 5, 94, 136 and 145 ‘ecu’

is replaced by ‘euro’.

In Article 3, ‘Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2776/88’

6.
is replaced by ‘Commission Regulation (EC) No 296/96’.

(d) the added value of Community involvement;

7.

The heading of Title II is replaced by the following:

(e) the risks,

including fraud,
and the alternative options available;

linked with the proposals

(f) the lessons learned from similar experiences in the

past;

(g) the volume of appropriations, human resources and
other administrative expenditure to be allocated with
due regard to the cost-effectiveness principle;

(h) the monitoring system to be set up.

2.
All programmes or actions shall then be the subject
of an ex post evaluation in terms of the human and finan-
cial resources allocated and the results obtained in order to
verify that they were in keeping with the objectives set.

3.
The results obtained in carrying out a multiannual
programme shall be periodically evaluated in accordance
with a timetable which will allow the findings of this
evaluation to be taken into account for any decision on the
continuation, modification
the
programme.

suspension

or

of

Actions financed on an annual basis shall have their results
evaluated at least every six years.’

‘TITLE II

DELEGATIONS AND SUBCONTRACTING

(Article 22 of the Financial Regulation)’

8.

The following Articles 9a and 9b are inserted:

‘Article 9a

Before embarking on any act implementing the budget,
delegators and delegatees shall declare to their hierarchical
superior, in writing, any confusion or conflict of interests
which might impair their ability to perform their duties
impartially and objectively. This confusion or conflict of
interests may arise
through family or
in particular
ties, political or national affinity, economic
emotional
interest or any other pertinent connection with the benefi-
ciary. The hierarchical superior of the delegator or dele-
gatee shall confirm in writing whether or not a confusion
or conflict of interests exists. If it does, the act may not be
carried out by this delegator or delegatee.

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Delegators or delegatees who fail to declare the existence of
a confusion or conflict of interests shall be liable to disci-
plinary action and payment of compensation in accordance
with Articles 73 to 77 of the Financial Regulation. They
shall be similarly liable if they carry out an act imple-
menting the budget when their hierarchical superior has
confirmed the existence of a confusion or conflict of inter-
ests.

11.

Article 19 is deleted.

In Article 24, ‘Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89’

12.
is replaced by ‘Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000’.

13.

Article 27 is deleted.

14.

In Article 30, ‘Article 215’ is replaced by ‘Article 288’.

Article 9b

15.

Article 31 is replaced by the following:

In order to guarantee the transparency of subcontracted
operations, management costs and expenses
shall be
broken down separately and the interest and other revenue
from the funds held by the co-contractor on behalf of the
Commission shall be identified.

The contracts concluded shall contain appropriate provi-
sions concerning matters such as the treatment of interest
and other
the keeping of accounts and the
recovery of unduly paid amounts.

revenue,

Rules on the management of
funds made available to
subcontractors, especially as regards payments to the bene-
ficiaries of Community programmes or actions, and rules
incompatibilities, confusion of
of conduct as
interest and confidentiality shall be laid down in the
contracts which the institutions conclude with subcontrac-
tors.’

regards

9.

Article 10 is amended as follows:

(a) in paragraph 1, a correction is made which does not affect

the English language version;

‘Article 31

The monthly amount of the special allowance referred to
in Article 75(4) of the Financial Regulation shall be:

(a) EUR 139 for the accounting officer;

(b) EUR 94 for assistant accounting officers;

(c) EUR 47 for imprest administrators, where the amount
of the imprest is at least EUR 3 800 and where the
period of the imprest is at least 30 consecutive days.

This allowance shall be denominated in euro and the
appropriate amount shall be credited in euro to the guar-
antee account provided for in Article 32.’

The third sentence of the first paragraph of Article 32 is

16.
replaced by the following:

shall be credited periodically with the
‘This account
monthly allowance referred to in Article 31 and with
annual interest corresponding to the annual average of the
monthly rates applied by the European Central Bank to its
main refinancing operations in euro.’

17.

The heading of Title V is replaced by the following:

(b) in paragraph 2(f), ‘payment orders and recovery orders’ is

replaced by:

‘TITLE V

‘payment orders, estimates of amounts receivable and
recovery orders. This shall also apply to the replacement of
original supporting documents by electronic document
management systems.’;

(c) the following paragraph is added:

are managed

integrated
‘3. When operations
computer systems in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2,
the verifications carried out by the accounting officer to
validate payment operations may be replaced or supple-
mented by regular verifications of these systems which may
be carried out on the spot if necessary.’

by

10.

The following second paragraph is added to Article 14:

RULES APPLICABLE TO THE FINANCIAL CONTROLLER,
THE ASSISTANT FINANCIAL CONTROLLERS AND THE
INTERNAL AUDITOR

(Articles 24 and 24a of the Financial Regulation)’

18.

The following Articles 43a and 43b are inserted:

‘Article 43a

international standards.

The internal audit function shall be performed in accord-
ance with the relevant
Internal
audit activities shall focus on the effectiveness and effi-
ciency of management and control systems. The audit
reports shall be sent to the services audited and to the
bodies designated by each institution to ensure that its
services follow up the recommendations.

‘Imprest administrators shall be appointed on the grounds
of their particular qualifications as evidenced by diplomas
or by equivalent professional experience or appropriate
prior training, having due regard to the size of the imprests
they are required to administer.’

Article 43b

The internal auditor shall be chosen from nationals of the
Member States on the grounds of their particular qualifica-
tions.’

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In the first paragraph of Article 44, the first sentence is

19.
replaced by the following:

In the final paragraph of Article 54,

24.
translators’ are inserted after ‘interpreters’.

the words ‘or

‘In accordance with Article 28(1) of the Financial Regula-
tion, the competent authorising officer shall draw up an
estimate of amounts receivable for any measure or situa-
tion which may give rise to or modify a debt due to the
Communities.’

25.

26.

20.
In Article 45(2),
sum due by the date indicated’

is deleted.

‘by requesting the debtor to pay the

In Article 46, a correction is made which does not affect

21.
the English language version.

In Article 49, a correction is made which does not affect

22.
the English language version.

23.

Articles 52 and 53 are replaced by the following:

‘Article 52

Decisions of principle taken by the institution and entailing
an obligation vis-à-vis third parties to incur expenditure
shall constitute commitments of expenditure.

Article 53

If an item of expenditure requires a decision of principle by
the institution, the draft of that decision cannot be adopted
by the institution unless it has first received the agreement
of the financial controller. The financial controller shall
give his agreement only if the draft satisfies the require-
ments of sound financial management. The authorising
officer shall submit a commitment proposal in respect of
the decision of principle to the financial controller together
with the draft decision itself.

When the institution has approved the draft decision, the
corresponding global commitment proposal together with
the corresponding draft legal commitment, as appropriate,
shall be submitted to the financial controller for approval.

Where the institution does not approve the draft decision
or
the
reduces the amount of expenditure proposed,
commitment proposal shall be amended or cancelled or,
where applicable, replaced by an appropriate commitment
proposal, which shall be submitted to the financial
controller for approval.

The authorising officer shall conclude the individual legal
commitments within the time limits laid down in Article
36(2) of the Financial Regulation. Before being signed by
the authorising officer, each individual budget commitment
shall be submitted to the financial controller for approval
in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 37 of
the Financial Regulation, recorded in the accounts by the
authorising officer and booked to the global budget
commitment.

On expiry of the time limit for implementation of the
global commitment, the authorising officer shall, without
delay and, at the latest, within three months, decommit the
difference between the amount of the commitment referred
to in the second paragraph and the sum of the of the
amounts recorded in the central accounts in accordance
with the fourth paragraph.’

In Article 81 ‘ECU 400’

is replaced by ‘EUR 420’.

The following new Article 81a is inserted:

‘Article 81a

1.
The accounting officer may make payments by bank
credit transfer or post office giro only if the payment
beneficiary's bank account details have previously been
entered in a ledger managed centrally by each institution.

Entry in the ledger of the beneficiary's bank account details
or modification of those details shall be carried out on the
basis of a document issued on paper or in electronic form
by the beneficiary's bank or, in the case of payments to
officials and other servants, by the beneficiary.

2. With a view to payment by bank credit transfer or
post office giro, authorising officers may enter into a
commitment vis-a-vis a third party on behalf of their insti-
tution only if that third party has provided the documenta-
tion required for its entry in the ledger.

Authorising officers shall ensure that the bank account
details communicated by the beneficiary remain valid
during the period corresponding to the institution's
commitment vis-a-vis the beneficiary. Where appropriate,
the authorising officer shall update the bank account
details in accordance with the second subparagraph of
paragraph 1.’

The second paragraph of Article 82 is replaced by the

27.
following:

‘Decisions to set up imprest accounts or to amend or
substantially alter the conditions governing their operation
shall be taken by the accounting officer on a duly reasoned
proposal from the authorising officer after obtaining the
financial controller's approval.’

The first paragraph of Article 83 is replaced by the

28.
following:

‘Decisions to appoint imprest administrators shall be taken
by the accounting officer on a duly reasoned proposal
from the authorising officer.’

29.
In the first indent of Article 94(1) the words ‘European
Monetary Cooperation Fund to its operations in ecu’ are
replaced by ‘European Central Bank to its main refinancing
operations in euro’.

30.

The heading of Title XV is replaced by the following:

‘TITLE XV

PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES

(Articles 56 and 58 of the Financial Regulation)’

31.

The text of Article 97 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 97

1.
The Council directives on public works, supply and
service contracts shall be applicable to the award of
contracts by the institutions whenever
the amounts
involved are equal to or greater than the amounts provided
for in those directives.

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The provisions of these directives govern in particular:

(a) contract award procedures;

(b) common advertising rules;

Contracts shall be concluded by private treaty or by
3.
negotiated procedure where the contracting authorities
consult the tenderers of their choice and negotiate the
terms of the contract with one or more of them.

(c) common rules on technical specifications;

Article 97e

(d) common rules on participation;

(e) qualitative selection criteria;

(f) contract award criteria.

2.
This shall also apply to contracts awarded by the
Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Plur-
ilateral Agreement on Government Procurement concluded
within the World Trade Organisation. The rules of proce-
dure which the Commission is to follow in applying this
agreement are those contained in the Council directives
coordinating the procedures for the award of public works,
supply and service contracts.’

32.

The following Articles 97a to 97f are inserted:

‘Article 97a

For contracts to which the directives do not apply, the
deadline for the submission of
tenders shall be fixed
the contract and shall be
according to the nature of
dependent on the length of time necessary for the prepara-
tion of the reply to the invitation to tender.

For open or restricted procedures, it may not be less than
21 calendar days. In cases of emergency making it impos-
sible to comply with this time limit, the deadline for the
submission of tenders may be reduced to 10 calendar days,
in the case of a restricted procedure, provided it allows
genuine competition between tenderers.

Article 97f

The following provisions shall apply to all contracts.’

33.

Article 98 is replaced by the following:

“works contracts”,

The terms
“supply contracts” and
“service contracts” shall be construed in accordance with
the definitions laid down in the directives referred to in
Article 97.

‘Article 98

The contract notices shall be drawn up in accordance with
the models annexed to the Council directives on public
contracts referred to in Article 97.’

Article 97b

34.

The following Articles 98a and 98b are inserted:

Where the contracts are financed from appropriations
entered in their own section of the budget of the European
Communities,
the institutions shall be regarded as the
“contracting authorities” within the meaning of the direct-
ives referred to in Article 97, save when the institutions act
for a beneficiary non-member country or a body it has
designated.

Article 97c

For contracts other than those referred to in Articles 97 to
97b, Articles 97d and 97e shall apply.

Article 97d

1.
Contracts shall be awarded by invitation to tender, by
open or restricted procedure, or by private treaty or by
negotiated procedure.

2.
Contracts by invitation to tender are contracts
concluded between the contracting parties following a
competitive tendering procedure.

An open tendering procedure is one where any bidder may
submit a tender; a restricted procedure is one where only
bidders selected by the institution on the strength of their
particular qualifications may submit tenders.

‘Article 98a

The purpose of

1.
comprehensive, clear and precise terms.

the contract must be stated in

In all procurement procedures the following selection

2.
criteria shall apply:

(a) admissibility of the bidder for the contract in question

after verification of the cases of exclusion;

(b) criteria

for

assessing

and
economic standing and technical and professional
competence.

the bidders'

financial

In all procurement procedures the following award

3.
criteria shall apply:

(a) either to the lowest among comparable bids submitted
that are in order and satisfy the conditions laid down;

(b) or to the bid offering the best value for money having
in particular, to the price proposed, running
regard,
costs, technical merit and characteristics, methodology,
time required for performance or delivery, and after-
sales service. The documentation for the invitation to
tender must specify any weighting of award criteria and
the method used to determine value for money.

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Criteria for selection and awarding of contracts must
4.
be set out in the contract notice, the specifications or the
call for tenders.

Article 98b

The invitation to tender shall clearly state whether a

1.
firm, non-revisable price must be quoted.

lay down the conditions
it shall
If this is not the case,
and/or formulas for revision of prices during the lifetime of
the contract.

36.

Article 101 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 101

Specifications shall be drawn up for each contract and
attached to the invitation to tender. The general terms and
conditions applicable to contracts shall also be attached.’

37.

Article 102 is deleted.

38.
In the second indent of the first paragraph of Article
103, the words ‘private messenger services’ are replaced by
‘messenger services’.

2.
If prices can be revised during the lifetime of the
contract, the institution shall take particular account of:

39.

Article 104 is replaced by the following:

(a) the type of goods/services and the economic situation

in which they are to be supplied;

(b) the type of contract and its duration;

(c) the institution's financial

interests.’

35.

Article 99 is amended as follows:

(a) the opening words of the first paragraph are replaced by

the following:

‘In addition, every invitation to tender shall:’;

(b) point (h) is amended as follows:

(i) the opening words are replaced by the following:

‘prohibit any contact between the institution and
tenderers during a procurement procedure save in the
following exceptional circumstances:’;

(ii) in the first point, the two indents are replaced by the

following:

‘— at the instance of tenderers:

informa-
the institutions may provide additional
tion solely for the purpose of clarifying the nature
of the contract; such information shall be commu-
nicated simultaneously to all tenderers who have
requested the specifications,

— at the instance of the institution:

if the institution's departments notice an error, a
lack of precision, an omission or any other clerical
defect in the text of the contract notice, the invita-
tion to tender or the specifications,
they may
inform those
concerned simultaneously under
exactly the same conditions as for the invitation to
tender;’

(iii) the second point is replaced by the following:

‘after the opening of tenders:

if some clarification is required in connection with a
tender or if obvious clerical errors in the tender need
to be corrected,
the
tenderer provided that the terms of the tender are not
modified as a result.’

the institution may contact

‘Article 104

All tenders that satisfy the requirements of Article

1.
103 shall be opened.

Tenders shall be opened by an opening committee

2.
appointed for this purpose.

The committee shall have at least three members, repre-
senting at least two different departments, a department
being one of the highest tier administrative units created
within the institution.

The financial controller shall be informed of the opening of
tenders. The financial controller or his representative may
be present as an observer if he considers it necessary.

3.

The members of the opening committee shall:

(a) either initial each page of each tender, or

(b) initial the cover page and the pages containing the
financial details of each tender, the integrity of the
initial tender being guaranteed by the placing of seals
or any other equivalent technique by a department that
is independent of the department handling the tender,
and

(c) sign a written record of the opening of the tenders
received, listing those tenders which satisfy the require-
ments and those which do not, and stating the grounds
on which tenders rejected do not satisfy the require-
ments.

4.
All tenders declared to satisfy the requirements shall
be evaluated by an evaluation committee appointed for this
purpose which also carries out a classification among the
tenders.

The committee shall have at least three members, repre-
senting at least two different departments. The committee
may be composed of the same members as the committee
opening the tenders.

Tenders which do not satisfy the essential requirements set
out in the supporting documentation for invitations to
tender or the specific requirements of the contract notice,
the invitation to tender and/or the specifications shall be
eliminated. However, the evaluation committee may ask
candidates or tenderers to supply additional material or to
clarify within a deadline it fixes the supporting documents
submitted, where it is a question of documentation for the
purpose of determining whether candidates or tenderers
satisfy the selection criteria.

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A written record of the evaluation and classification of
tenders declared to satisfy the requirements shall be drawn
up and signed by all the members of the committee. It
shall be kept for future reference.’

40.

The heading of Title XVI is replaced by the following:

‘TITLE XVI

DETERMINATION OF THE VARIOUS THRESHOLDS IN
RESPECT OF CONTRACTS’

41.

Article 106 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 106

The limit below which contracts may be made by private
treaty under point (a) of Article 59 of the Financial Regula-
tion shall be EUR 13 800.’

42.

Article 107 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 107

1.
The limit above which the powers of the Advisory
Committee on Procurement and Contracts provided for in
Article 63 of the Financial Regulation take effect shall be:

Article 109

The limits below which contracts may be made against an
invoice or a bill of costs under Article 60 of the Financial
Regulation shall be:

(a) EUR 1 050 for expenditure at the places of work of

the institution;

(b) EUR 2 700 for expenditure away from the places of

work of the institution.

Article 110

In accordance with Article 97 of the Financial Regulation,
with regard to the award of contracts relating to research
and technological development appropriations, the limit
below which contracts may be made by private treaty
(Article 59(a) of
shall be
EUR 103 500 for scientific and technical equipment and
for works contracts.

the Financial Regulation)

The limit above which the powers of the ACPC take effect
shall be fixed in accordance with Article 107 of this Regu-
lation. For scientific and technical contracts and for works
contracts the threshold above which the authorising officer
shall submit the information sheet referred to in the second
subparagraph of Article 107(1) shall be EUR 103 500.’

44.

The heading of Title XVII is replaced by the following:

(a) EUR 500 000 for the Commission;

(b) EUR 100 000 for the other institutions.

‘TITLE XVII

or

for

the

Commission

In the case of contracts worth between EUR 50 000 and
EUR 500 000
between
EUR 50 000 and EUR 100 000 for the other institutions,
the authorising officer shall send the ACPC an information
sheet to enable it to decide whether or not an opinion
should be given on the contract. The ACPC shall inform
the authorising officer of its decision within five working
days of receiving the request. In the meantime the author-
ising officer may not enter into any commitments on
behalf of the institution.

An authorising officer may also request

2.
the
ACPC deliver an opinion a contract which he has
submitted.

that

3.
Information sheets and requests for opinions by
authorising officers shall be examined by a permanent
department under the authority of the chair of the ACPC.
This department
to the
ACPC, in the light of volume, risks involved and unusual
nature, as to which items should be examined in detail by
the ACPC.’

shall make recommendations

Articles 108, 109 and 110 are replaced by the

43.
following:

‘Article 108

The threshold for compulsory security provided for in
Article 64a of
Financial Regulation shall be
EUR 345 000.

the

FUNCTIONING OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON
PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTS (ACPC)

(Articles 63 and 97 of the Financial Regulation)’

In Article 111,

‘in accordance with the provisions of
45.
Articles 60, 61 and 97 of the Financial Regulation’
in the
opening words is replaced by ‘in accordance with the provi-
sions of Articles 63, 64 and 97 of the Financial Regulation’.

46.

In Article 115, ‘Article 126’ is replaced by ‘Article 97’.

47.

Section II of Title XVII is deleted.

48.

The heading of Title XVIII is replaced by the following:

‘TITLE XVIII

GUARANTEES AND PRELIMINARY DEPOSIT BY WAY OF
GUARANTEE OF PERFORMANCE OF CONTRACTS

(Article 64A of the Financial Regulation)’

In Article 125, ‘of Article 62’ is replaced by ‘of Article

49.
64a’.

50.

Title XIX is deleted.

51.

In Article 130,

‘ECU 400’

is replaced by ‘EUR 420’.

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52.

The following title is inserted:

‘TITLE XXA

RULES FOR WRITING DOWN THE VALUE OF ASSETS
AND CONSTITUTING PROVISIONS

(Article 70a of the Financial Regulation)

Article 131a

The Commission's accounting officer shall lay down the
accounting rules applicable to depreciation and inventories
after consulting the accounting officers of the other institu-
tions,
in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 21 of this Regulation.

Article 131b

1.
The value of fixed assets, other than financial fixed
assets, at the closure of accounts (balance sheet value) shall
be determined in accordance with a depreciation plan.

The depreciation plan shall apply the straight-line
2.
method of depreciation for each full year since the year
when the asset came into service.

3. When the current value of non-depreciable fixed
assets is lower than their book value, an exceptional depre-
ciation shall be applied if the loss in value is judged to be
irreversible.

Article 131c

1.
A reduction in the value of an asset or an increase in
liabilities due in the more or less long term must lead to
the establishment of provisions.

2.
The establishment of these provisions must result
from causes whose effects are not necessarily irreversible.’

In Article 132,

53.
replaced by ‘EUR 8 100’ and ‘EUR 391 100’ respectively.

‘ECU 7 700’ and ‘ECU 372 900’ are

54.

Article 133 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 133

The accounts shall distinguish between general accounts
and budget accounts, and these two accounts shall be
coordinated with one another. The chart of accounts shall
be drawn up so as to permit the keeping of these two sets
of accounts.’

In Article 135, paragraphs 1 to 4 are replaced by the

55.
following:

The general accounts shall make it possible to ascer-

‘1.
tain the institution's assets and liabilities.

The list of accounts to be used for the general
2.
accounts shall be drawn up on the basis of a decimal
classification system.

— class 1: fixed capital account,

— class 2: fixed asset accounts,

— class 3: stock accounts,

— class 4: accounts with third parties,

— class 5: financial accounts,

— class 6: expenditure accounts,

— class 7:

income accounts,

— class 8: special accounts.

Each class

shall be divided into groups

4.
and
subgroups, depending on the requirements of the institu-
tion, to allow operations to be entered in accordance with
the accounting principles referred to in Article 136(10).’

56.

Article 136 is amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

The accounts shall be kept by means of a computer

‘2.
program.’;

(b) in the second subparagraph of paragraph 4,

‘fixed asset
accounts — as provided for in Article 130’ is replaced by
‘fixed asset accounts — as provided for in Article 135(3)’;

(c) paragraph 7 is deleted;

(d) paragraphs 8 to 10 are replaced by the following:

The financial (bank and post office giro) accounts

‘8.
shall be kept in national currencies and in euro.

expressed in national

Amounts
shall be
converted into euro at rates to be determined in accordance
with Article 1a. The balances in euro of accounts held in
national currencies shall be revalued each month.

currencies

The accounts of the Joint Research Centre shall be

9.
consolidated in the Commission's general accounts.

10.
The financial statements must comply with the rules
and be accurate and comprehensive and present a true and
fair view of assets, the financial situation and the outturn of
the financial year. They shall be drawn up on the basis of
generally accepted accounting principles. The practical
arrangements for applying these principles, which will be
updated periodically, shall be laid down in accordance with
the provisions of Article 21.’;

(e) the following paragraphs 11 and 12 are added:

‘11.
The accounting officer shall enter provisions for
liabilities and charges to cover past or ongoing events of a
specified nature whose outcome is uncertain.

12.
The provisions for liabilities and charges provided
for in paragraph 11, for reductions in the value of assets
provided for in Article 131c and for depreciations provided
for in Article 131b shall be entered in the non-budget
expenditure and income account and shown separately in
the annex to the balance sheet.’

The list of accounts shall consist of the following

3.
classes:

57.

Article 139 is deleted.

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58.
123’

59.

60.

In the heading of Title XXIV,

‘Articles 121, 122 and

is replaced by ‘Articles 121 and 123’.

In Article 143,

‘Article 60’ is replaced by ‘Article 63’.

The heading of Title XXV is replaced by the following:

‘TITLE XXV

TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS’

61.

The following Article 144a is inserted:

‘Article 144a
For a transitional period, the limit referred to in Article
107 above which the powers of the ACPC take effect shall
be reduced, for the Commission, to EUR 300 000 from

the entry into force of this amending regulation until such
time as the Commission approves an evaluation report
relating to the first six months of
its application and
showing that the threshold of EUR 500 000 is appropriate
in view of the quality requirements for the control of
Community management.’

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day
following 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, 21 August 2001.

For the Commission

Michaele SCHREYER

Member of the Commission