Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2667/2000 as regards the budgetary and financial rules applicable to the European Agency for Reconstruction and access to the Agency's documents
Date: 2002-07-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU office or agency, access to information, administrative transparency, appointment of staff, approximation of laws, financial regulation, general budget (EU)

31.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 331 E/57

Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2667/2000 as regards the
budgetary and financial rules applicable to the European Agency for Reconstruction and access
to the Agency's documents

(2002/C 331 E/07)

COM(2002) 406 final — 2002/0168(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 17 July 2002)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and
the Court of Auditors.’

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 308 thereof,

2. Article 5(1) point (f) is replaced by the following:

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

‘(f) preparation of the draft statement of estimates of the
Agency's revenue and expenditure, and execution of its
budget;’

Whereas:

3. Article 7 is replaced by the following:

(1) The provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 2667/2000
of 5 December 2000 on the European Agency for Recon-
struction (1), amended by Regulation (EC) No 2415/2001 (2),
should be harmonised with Council Regulation (EC,
. . . on the Financial Regulation
Euratom) No . . . of
applicable
the European
Communities, and in particular Article 185 thereof.

general budget of

to the

(2) The general principles and limits governing right of access
to documents provided for in Article 255 of the Treaty
have been laid down by Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May
2001 regarding public access to European Parliament,
Council and Commission documents (3).

(3) When Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 was adopted, the
three institutions agreed in a joint declaration that
the
agencies and similar bodies should implement rules in
line with that Regulation.

(4) Appropriate provisions should therefore be included in
Regulation (EC) No 2667/2000 to make Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001 applicable to the European Agency for
Reconstruction.

(5) Regulation (EC) No 2667/2000 should therefore be

amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 2667/2000 is amended as follows:

1. Paragraph 14 of Article 4 is replaced by the following:

‘The Governing Board shall adopt the annual report on the
Agency's activities and transmit it by 15 June at the latest to

(1) OJ L 306, 7.12.2000, p. 7.
(2) OJ L 327, 12.12.2000, p. 3.
(3) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.

‘Article 7

1.
Each year, by 15 February at the latest, the Governing
Board, on the basis of a draft drawn up by the Director,
shall produce a statement of estimates of revenue and
expenditure for the Agency for the following financial
year. This statement of estimates, which shall
include a
draft establishment plan,
shall be transmitted by the
Governing Board to the Commission.

The statement of estimates shall be transmitted by the
Commission to the European Parliament and the Council
(hereinafter
“budgetary authority”)
together with the preliminary draft general budget of the
European Communities.

referred to as

the

The Commission shall examine the statement of
2.
the priorities it has agreed
estimates,
for Community
guidelines
and the overall
assistance to the reconstruction of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

taking account of
financial

It shall establish on this basis, within the proposed limits of
the overall amount to be made available for Community
assistance to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
the indicative
annual contribution for the budget of the Agency to be
the
included in the preliminary draft general budget of
European Communities.

The budgetary authority shall determine the appro-

3.
priations available for the subsidy to the Agency.

The budgetary authority shall adopt the establishment

4.
plan for the Agency.

The

the
5.
Governing
Commission's opinion,
the
Agency at the beginning of each financial year, adjusting
it to the various contributions granted to the Agency and to
funds from other sources.

Board,
shall adopt

the budget of

receiving

after

C 331 E/58

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

31.12.2002

In the interests of budgetary transparency, funds from
6.
sources other than the Community budget shall be shown
separately in the Agency's revenue.
In the expenditure,
administrative and staff costs shall be clearly separate
from operating costs for the programmes referred to in
the first indent of Article 2(3).’

4. Article 8 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 8

The Director

1.
Agency.

shall

implement

the budget of

the

The Commission's internal auditor shall exercise the
the Agency as over Commission

2.
same powers over
departments.

accounts

to the Commission's

3.
By 1 March at the latest following each financial year,
the Agency's accounting officer shall communicate the
provisional
accounting
together with a report on the budgetary and
officer
year. The
that
financial management
Commission's accounting officer
the
provisional accounts of the institutions and decentralised
bodies within the meaning of Article 128 of Regulation
(EC, Euratom) No . . . (*) (hereinafter “the general Financial
Regulation”).

financial
shall

consolidate

for

By 31 March at the latest following each financial
4.
transmit
the Commission's accounting officer shall
year,
to the Court of
the Agency's provisional
Auditors,
together with a report on the budgetary and
financial management for that financial year. The report
on the budgetary and financial management
the
financial year shall also be transmitted to the European
Parliament and the Council.

accounts

for

5.
On receipt of the Court of Auditors' observations on
the Agency's provisional accounts, pursuant to Article 129
of the general Financial Regulation, the Director shall draw
up the Agency's final accounts under his own responsibility
and transmit them to the Governing Board for an opinion.

The Director shall, by 1 July at the latest following
6.
transmit these final accounts to the
each financial year,
European Parliament, the Council, the Court of Auditors
and the Commission, together with the Governing Board's
opinion.

7.

The final accounts shall be published.

The Agency's Director

8.
send the Court of
Auditors a reply to its observations by 30 September at

shall

the latest. He shall also send this reply to the Governing
Board.

9.
The European Parliament, on a recommendation from
the Council acting by a qualified majority, shall, before 30
April of year N + 2, give a discharge to the Director of the
Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for
year N.
___________
(*) OJ L . . .’

5. Article 9 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 9

The financial
rules applicable to the Agency shall be
adopted by the Governing Board after the Commission
has been consulted. They may not depart
from the
framework Financial Regulation adopted by the Commission
under Article 185 of the Financial Regulation applicable to
the general budget of the European Communities unless
specifically required for the Agency's operation and with
the Commission's prior consent.’

6. A new Article 13 is inserted:

‘Article 13a

Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament
and of the Council (*) shall apply to documents held by the
Agency.

The Governing Board shall adopt
the arrangements for
implementing Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 within six
months of entry into force of this Regulation.

Decisions taken by the Agency under Article 8 of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1049/2001 may be appealed by means of
a complaint to the Ombudsman or an action before the
the European Communities, under
Court of
Articles 195 and 230 of the EC Treaty respectively.
___________
(*) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.’

Justice of

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 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.