Decision No 574/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 May 2007 establishing the External Borders Fund for the period 2007 to 2013 as part of the General programme Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows
Date: 2007-05-23
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: EU Member State, EU programme, border control, cooperation policy, external border of the EU, fight against crime, financial management, fund (EU), migratory movement, public safety

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DECISION No 574/2007/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 23 May 2007

establishing the External Borders Fund for the period 2007 to 2013 as part of the General programme
‘Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows’

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu-
nity, and in particular Article 62(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

(5)

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the Opinion of
Regions (2),

the Committee of

the

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251
of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

(1) While each Member State contributes to a high and
uniform level of control on persons and surveillance of the
external borders of the Member States of the European
Union within the framework of common rules, some
Member States face a heavier burden than others.

(2)

(3)

The difference in the burden is explained by the differing
situations prevailing in Member States as regards the
geography of
the number of
their external borders,
authorised and operative border crossing points, the level
of migratory pressure, both legal and illegal, the risks and
threats encountered and finally the workload of
the
regarding the examination of visas
national
applications and the issuing of visas.

services

Burden-sharing between Member States and the European
Union in the management of external borders is one of the
five components of the common policy for the manage-
ment of
the external borders, as proposed by the
Commission in its Communication of 7 May 2002
‘Towards integrated management of the external borders
of the Member States of the European Union’ and endorsed
by the Council
in its ‘Plan for the management of the
external borders of the Member States of the European
Union’ of 14 June 2002.

(4) While Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004 of 26 Octo-
ber 2004 establishing a European Agency for the Manage-
ment of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of
the Member States of the European Union (4) constitutes an
important step towards the progressive development of the
the European common-inte-
operational dimension of
grated-border management system, the implementation of
effective and common standards for control and surveil-
the external borders calls for a Community
lance of

(1) OJ C 88, 11.4.2006, p. 15.
(2) OJ C 115, 16.5.2006, p. 47.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 14 December 2006 (not yet
published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 7 May
2007.

financial solidarity mechanism in order to support the
Member States who bear, for the benefit of the Community,
a lasting and heavy financial burden.

The common corpus of legislation, as defined, in particular,
the European
by Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of
Parliament and of
the Council of 15 March 2006
establishing a Community Code on the rules governing
the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders
Code) (5), provides for border checks to help combat illegal
immigration and trafficking in human beings and to
prevent any threat to the Member States' internal security
while, at the same time, providing for border checks to be
carried out in such a way as to fully respect human dignity.

(6)

(7)

The External Borders Fund (hereinafter referred to as ‘the
Fund’) should express solidarity through financial assistance
to those Member States that apply the Schengen provisions
on external borders.

Such financial assistance should be structured in such a way
as to form a bridge with past financial contributions from
the European Union to Member States which at the time of
entry into force of this Decision do not yet apply all
provisions of
the Schengen acquis, without, however,
constituting a mere continuation of the actions funded
previously from other sources covered by the general
budget of the European Union. In such cases, the Fund
should assist
full
participation as soon as possible, in accordance with the
Hague Programme of 4 and 5 November 2004.

those Member States preparing for

(8) Moreover,

the Fund should take into account specific
situations, such as the transit by land of third-country
nationals who must necessarily cross the territory of one or
more Member States in order to travel between two parts of
their own country which are not geographically contiguous,
not only in the own interests of
the Member State(s)
concerned but also of all Member States which have
abolished checks at their internal borders. In such cases, the
actions to be financed should be exhaustively defined and
the allocation of resources should be determined on the
basis of a factual assessment of the needs in relation to
those actions.

(9)

In order to ensure uniform and high-quality external border
control and flexible cross-border traffic, the Fund should
contribute to the development of a European common-
integrated-border management system which includes all
the measures relating to policy,
legislation, systematic
the burden, personnel,
cooperation, the distribution of

(4) OJ L 349, 25.11.2004, p. 1.

(5) OJ L 105, 13.4.2006, p. 1.

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equipment and technology taken at different levels by the
the Member States, acting in
competent authorities of
cooperation and, where necessary,
together with other
actors, utilising,
inter alia, the four-tier border security
model and integrated risk analysis of the European Union.

(10)

In accordance with Protocol No 5 to the 2003 Act of
Accession (1) on the transit of persons by land between the
region of Kaliningrad and other parts of
the Russian
the Fund should bear any additional cost
Federation,
incurred in implementing the specific provision of the
acquis covering such transit.

(11) As a complement to the operational cooperation developed
under the aegis of the European Agency for the Manage-
ment of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of
the Member States of the European Union established by
Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004 (hereinafter referred to as
‘the Agency’) and in addition to the allocation of funds to
the Member States, the Fund should also introduce the
possibility of a Community response to weaknesses at
strategic border points by co-financing specific actions to
address those weaknesses, on the basis of a specific amount
set aside each year for such actions.

(12) The Fund should include support for national measures and
cooperation between Member States in the area of visa
policy and other pre-frontier activities that take place prior
to external border controls. The efficient management of
activities organised by the consular services of the Member
States in third countries is in the interest of the common
visa policy as part of a multi-layered system aimed at
facilitating legitimate travel and tackling illegal immigration
into the European Union, and constitutes an integral part of
the European common-integrated-border management
system.

(13)

In the light of the scope and the purpose of the Fund, it
should not, in any event, support actions with respect to
areas and centres for holding persons in third countries.

(14) Objective criteria should be established to allocate the
available annual resources to the Member States. These
criteria should be broken down according to the type of
border, taking into account the flow and the levels of threat
at the external borders of the Member States.

(15) The application of these criteria should be reviewed in
including in
2010 to enable any new circumstances,
particular those resulting from changes in the external
borders themselves, to be taken into account.

(16)

In view of the mission of the Agency to assist Member
States in implementing the operational aspects of external
border management and in order to develop complemen-
tarity between its mission and the responsibilities of the
Member States for the control and surveillance of external
borders, the Agency should be consulted by the Commis-
sion on draft multiannual programmes submitted by the
Member States and on the strategic guidelines prepared by
the Commission.

(1) OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 946.

(17) Moreover, the Commission may request the Agency to
provide input into the assessment by the Commission of
the impact of the Fund on the development of policy and
legislation on external border control,
the synergies
between the Fund and the tasks of the Agency, as well as
the appropriateness of the criteria for allocating the funds
between the Member States in the light of the objectives
pursued by the European Union in this area.

(18) This Decision is designed to form part of a coherent
framework which also includes Decision No 573/2007/EC
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 May
2007 establishing the European Refugee Fund for the
period 2008 to 2013 as part of the General programme
‘Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows’ (2), Deci-
sion No 575/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 23 May 2007 establishing the European
Return Fund for the period 2008 to 2013 as part of the
General programme ‘Solidarity and Management of Migra-
tion Flows’ (3), and Council Decision 2007/.../EC of
...
establishing the European Fund for the Integration of Third-
country Nationals for the period 2007 to 2013 as part of
the General programme ‘Solidarity and Management of
Migration Flows’ (4), which aims to address the issue of
fairly sharing responsibilities between Member States as
concerns the financial burden arising from the introduction
of integrated management of the European Union's external
borders and from the implementation of common policies
on asylum and immigration, as developed in accordance
with Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty.

(19) Participation in this Fund by a Member State should not
coincide with its participation in a future temporary
instrument designed to help beneficiary Member States to
finance actions at new external borders of the European
Union for the implementation of the Schengen acquis and
external border control.

(20) The actions supported under this Fund should be in
synergy with the actions supported by the Community
instruments on external assistance and take place within the
framework of
the European Union's external relations
policy, in particular the strategy for the external dimensions
of the area of freedom, security and justice.

(21) The support provided by the Fund would be more efficient
and better targeted if co-financing of eligible actions were
based on strategic multiannual programming, drawn up by
each Member State in dialogue with the Commission.

(22) On the basis of

strategic guidelines adopted by the
Commission, each Member State should prepare a multi-
annual programming document taking into account its
specific situation and needs and setting out its development
strategy that should constitute the framework for preparing
the implementation of the actions to be listed in annual
programmes.

(2) See page 1 of this Official Journal.
(3) See page 45 of this Official Journal.
(4) Not yet Published in the Official Journal.

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(23)

In accordance with the implementation methods referred to
in Article 53(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom)
No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial
Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European
Communities (1) (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Financial
Regulation’), the conditions allowing the Commission to
exercise its responsibilities for
the
general budget of the European Union should be specified
and the obligations for the cooperation of the Member
States clarified. Applying those conditions would enable the
Commission to satisfy itself that Member States are using
the Fund in a lawful and correct manner and in accordance
with the principle of sound financial management within
the meaning of Articles 27 and 48(2) of the Financial
Regulation.

implementation of

(24) Member States

should adopt adequate measures

to
guarantee the proper functioning of the management and
control system and the quality of implementation. To this
end, it is necessary to establish the general principles and
necessary functions which all programmes should fulfil.

(25) Since the Fund may support national measures of a
Member State to implement provisions of the Schengen
acquis ranging from external border control to visa policy
at different levels and locations, more than one authority in
any given Member State might be involved. Therefore,
Member States should be allowed to designate several
certifying and audit authorities or delegated authorities as
long as there is a clear allocation of functions for each of
these authorities.

(26)

In accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and
proportionality, Member States should have the primary
responsibility for the implementation and control of the
interventions of the Fund.

(27) The obligations on the Member States as regards manage-
ment and control systems, the certification of expenditure,
and the prevention, detection and correction of irregula-
rities and infringements of Community law should be
specified in order to guarantee the efficient and correct
implementation of
their multiannual and annual pro-
grammes. In particular, as far as management and control
are concerned, it is necessary to establish the arrangements
by which Member States ensure that the relevant systems
are in place and function satisfactorily.

(28) Without prejudice to the Commission's powers as regards
financial control, cooperation between the Member States
and the Commission in this field should be encouraged.

(29) The effectiveness and impact of actions supported by the
Fund also depend on their evaluation and the dissemination
of their results. The responsibilities of the Member States
and the Commission in this regard, and arrangements to

ensure the reliability of evaluation and the quality of the
related information, should be formalised.

(30) Actions should be evaluated with a view to a mid-term
review and impact assessment, and the evaluation process
should be incorporated into project monitoring arrange-
ments.

(31) Bearing in mind the importance of visibility of Community
the Commission should provide guidance to
funding,
facilitate the proper acknowledgement of
the support
received by any authority, non-governmental organisation,
international organisation or other entity receiving a grant
under this Fund, taking into account the practice with
respect to other instruments under shared management,
such as the Structural Funds.

(32) This Decision establishes a financial envelope for the entire
duration of the programme, which constitutes the prime
reference for the budgetary authority during the annual
the
budgetary procedure, according to point 37 of
Interinstitutional agreement of 17 May 2006 between the
European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on
budgetary discipline and sound financial management (2).

(33) Since the objective of this Decision, namely to support the
establishment of a European common-integrated-border
management system, which covers, inter alia, the manage-
ment of activities organised by consular and other services
of the Member States in third countries as regards the flows
of third-country nationals into the territory of the Member
States, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States
and can therefore by reason of the scale and effects of the
the
action be better achieved at Community level,
Community may adopt measures in accordance with the
principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty.
In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set
out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what
is necessary to achieve this objective.

(34) The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
procedures
implementing powers
the exercise of
conferred on the Commission (3).

for

(35) Since the measure of this Decision relating to the adoption
of strategic guidelines is of general scope and are designed
to amend non-essential elements of this Decision, inter alia
by deleting some of those elements or by supplementing
this Decision by the addition of new non-essential
it should be adopted in accordance with the
elements,
regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for
in
Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC. On grounds of
the regulatory
efficiency,
procedure with scrutiny should be curtailed for
the
adoption of the strategic guidelines.

the normal

time-limits

for

(1) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation
(EC, Euratom) No 1995/2006 (OJ L 390, 30.12.2006, p. 1).

(2) OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision as amended by Decision 2006/

512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11).

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(36)

In order to ensure the timely implementation of the Fund,
certain provisions of this Decision should apply as from
1 January 2007.

(37) As regards Iceland and Norway, this Decision constitutes a
development of the Schengen acquis which falls within the
areas referred to in Article 1, Points A and B of Council
Decision 1999/437/EC of 17 May 1999 on certain
the Agreement
the application of
arrangements
concluded by the Council of the European Union and the
Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concern-
two States with the
ing the
those
implementation, application and development of
the
Schengen acquis (1).

association of

for

(38) An arrangement should be made to allow representatives of
Iceland and Norway to be associated with the work of
committees assisting the Commission in the exercise of its
implementing powers. Such an arrangement has been
contemplated in the Agreement in the form of Exchanges of
Letters between the Council of the European Union and the
Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concern-
ing committees which assist the European Commission in
the exercise of its executive powers (2), annexed to the
Agreement referred to in Recital 37.

(39) As regards Switzerland, this Decision constitutes a devel-
opment of provisions of the Schengen acquis within the
meaning of the Agreement signed by the European Union,
the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on
the Swiss Confederation with the
the association of
implementation, application and development of
the
Schengen acquis which falls within the area referred to in
Article 1(A) of Decision 1999/437/EC read in conjunction
with Article 4(1) of Council Decision 2004/860/EC (3) on
the signing, on behalf of the European Community, and on
the provisional application of certain provisions of the
Agreement.

(40) An arrangement should be made to allow representatives of
Switzerland to be associated with the work of committees
assisting the Commission in the exercise of its implement-
ing powers. Such an arrangement has been contemplated in
the Exchange of Letters between the Council of
the
European Union and Switzerland, annexed to the Agree-
ment referred to in Recital 39.

(41)

In order to determine the supplementary rules necessary for
the implementation of
this instrument, an agreement
should be concluded between the Community and Iceland,
Norway and Switzerland.

(42)

In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Protocol on the
position of Denmark, annexed to the Treaty on European
Union and the Treaty establishing the European Commu-
nity, Denmark does not take part in the adoption of this

Decision and is not bound by it or subject to its application.
Given that this Decision builds upon the Schengen acquis
under the provisions of Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty
establishing the European Community, Denmark shall, in
accordance with Article 5 of the said Protocol, decide
within a period of six months after the date of adoption of
this Decision whether it will implement it in its national
law.

(43) This Decision constitutes a development of the provisions
of the Schengen acquis in which the United Kingdom does
not take part, in accordance with Council Decision 2000/
365/EC of 29 May 2000 concerning the request of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to
the Schengen
take part
acquis (4) and the subsequent Council Decision 2004/926/
EC of 22 December 2004 on the putting into effect of parts
of the Schengen acquis by the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland (5). The United Kingdom is
therefore not taking part in its adoption and is not bound
by it or subject to its application.

the provisions of

in some of

(44) This Decision constitutes a development of the provisions
of the Schengen acquis in which Ireland does not take part,
in accordance with Council Decision 2002/192/EC of
28 February 2002 concerning Ireland's request to take part
in some of the provisions of the Schengen acquis (6). Ireland
is therefore not taking part in its adoption and is not bound
by it or subject to its application.

(45)

In accordance with the second indent of paragraph 2 of
Article 67 of the Treaty, Council Decision 2004/927/EC of
22 December 2004 providing for certain areas covered by
Title IV of Part Three of
the Treaty establishing the
European Community to be governed by the procedure laid
down in Article 251 of
rendered the
procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty applicable
in the areas covered by Articles 62(1), (2)(a) and (3) and 63
(2)(b) and (3)(b) of the Treaty,

that Treaty (7)

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

CHAPTER I

SUBJECT MATTER, OBJECTIVES AND ACTIONS

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

This Decision establishes for the period from 1 January 2007 to
31 December 2013 the External Borders Fund (hereinafter
referred to as ‘the Fund’), as part of a coherent framework which
also includes Decision No 573/2007/EC, Decision No 575/
2007/EC, and Decision 2007/.../EC, in order to contribute to the
strengthening of the area of freedom, security and justice and the
application of the principle of solidarity between the Member
States.

(1) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 31.
(2) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 53.
(3) OJ L 370, 17.12.2004, p. 78.

(4) OJ L 131, 1.6.2000, p. 43.
(5) OJ L 395, 31.12.2004, p. 70.
(6) OJ L 64, 7.3.2002, p. 20.
(7) OJ L 396, 31.12.2004, p. 45.

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to which the Fund
the objectives
This Decision defines
contributes, its implementation, the available financial resources
and the distribution criteria for the allocation of the available
financial resources.

It establishes the Fund's management rules, including financial
rules, as well as monitoring and control mechanisms, based on
the sharing of responsibilities between the Commission and the
Member States.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Decision:

1)

‘external borders’ means the Member States' land borders,
including river and lake borders, sea borders and their
airports, river ports, sea ports and lake ports to which the
provisions of Community law on the crossing of external
borders apply, whether these borders are temporary or not;

(c)

(d)

borders in conformity with the Schengen acquis and the
principles of respectful treatment and dignity;

uniform application by border guards of the provisions of
in
Community law on the crossing of external borders,
particular Regulation (EC) No 562/2006;

improvement of the management of activities organised by
the consular and other services of the Member States in
third countries as regards the flows of
third-country
nationals into the territory of the Member States and the
cooperation between Member States in this regard.

2. The Fund shall contribute to the financing of technical
assistance at
the
Commission.

the Member States or

the initiative of

Article 4

Specific objectives

2)

‘temporary external borders’ means:

1. As regards the objective laid down in Article 3(1)(a), the
Fund shall support the following specific objectives:

(a)

(b)

the common border between a Member State fully
implementing the Schengen acquis and a Member
State bound to apply the Schengen acquis in full, in
conformity with its Act of Accession, but for which
the relevant Council Decision authorising it to fully
apply that acquis has not entered into force;

the common border between two Member States
bound to apply the Schengen acquis in full,
in
conformity with their respective Acts of Accession,
but for which the relevant Council Decision authoris-
ing them to fully apply that acquis has not yet entered
into force;

‘border crossing point’ means any crossing point authorised
by the competent authorities for the crossing of external
borders as notified in accordance with Article 34(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 562/2006;

‘Agency’ means the European Agency for the Management
of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the
Member States of the European Union as established by
Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004.

3)

4)

Article 3

General Objectives of the Fund

1. The Fund shall contribute to achieving the following
objectives:

(a)

(b)

efficient organisation of control, covering both checks and
surveillance tasks relating to the external borders;

efficient management by the Member States of the flows of
persons at the external borders in order to ensure, on the
one hand, a high level of protection at the external borders
and, on the other, the smooth crossing of the external

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)

the

implementation of
recommendations, operational
standards and best practices resulting from the operational
cooperation between Member States in the field of border
control;

development and application of the measures necessary to
improve surveillance systems between border crossing
points;

introduction of measures or development of effective
systems enabling a methodical gathering of
relevant
information with respect to the evolving situation on the
ground close to, at and immediately beyond the external
borders;

ensuring adequate registration of the number of persons
crossing at all types of external borders (land, air, sea);

introduction or upgrading a system of collection of
statistical and administrative data with respect
to the
categories of travellers, the number and nature of checks
and surveillance measures at the different types of external
borders, based on registration and other sources for data
collection;

setting up an effective, structural, strategic and operational
coordination between all authorities operating at border
crossing points;

improvement of
the capacity and the qualifications of
border guards in executing their surveillance, advisory and
control tasks;

improvement of the information exchange at national level
between the authorities responsible for external border
management and between those authorities and other

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authorities responsible for migration, asylum and other
related matters;

(i)

promotion of quality management standards.

2. As regards the objective laid down in Article 3(1)(b), the
Fund shall support the following specific objectives:

(a)

except with regard to temporary external borders,
the
development of new working methods, logistical measures
and state-of-the-art technology to strengthen systematic
controls of persons on entry and exit at border crossing
points;

(b)

promotion of the use of technology and specialised training
for the staff responsible for its effective exploitation;

(c)

(d)

promotion of the exchange of information concerning, and
improvement of training in respect of forged or false travel
documents, including the development and distribution of
common tools and practices for the detection of such
documents;

promotion of efficient, real-time consultation of data at
border crossing points through the use of large scale IT
systems, such as the Schengen Information System (SIS)
and the Visa Information System (VIS), and an effective
exchange of information between all border crossing points
along the external borders in real time;

(e)

ensuring the optimal implementation at operational and
technical level of the results of the risk analyses.

3. As regards the objective laid down in Article 3(1)(c) the Fund
shall support the following specific objectives:

gradual establishment in each Member State of uniform
education, training and qualifications of border guards,
particularly by implementing the common core curriculum
training as developed by the Agency and by
for
supplementing in a coherent way the activities of
the
Agency in this field;

support to and increase of the exchange and secondment of
border guards between Member States, complementary to
the guidelines and activities of the Agency in this area;

promotion of
the use of compatible state-of-the-art
technology along the external borders, whenever this is
indispensable for the correct, effective or uniform use of the
rules;

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

promotion of the use of the common Practical Handbook
for Border Guards;

building and upgrading of areas and centres for persons
whose entry is refused and for persons who are intercepted
after having crossed the border illegally or when approach-
ing the external borders with a view to illegally entering the
territory of the Member States;

upgrading of the security at the premises of border crossing
points to secure the safety of border guards and the
protection of equipment, surveillance systems and means of
transport.

4. As regards the objective laid down in Article 3(1)(d), the
Fund shall support the following specific objectives:

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

reinforcement of the operational capacity of the network of
the immigration liaison officers and promotion of a more
effective cooperation through the network between the
Member States' services;

introduction of measures aimed at assisting Member States
and carriers in carrying out the obligations imposed on
them by virtue of Council Directive 2004/82/EC of 29 April
to communicate
2004 on the obligation of carriers
passenger data (1) and of Article 26 of the Convention of
19 June 1990 implementing the Schengen Agreement of
14 June 1985 between the governments of the States of the
Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany
and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks
at their common borders (2)
(hereinafter referred to as
‘Schengen Convention’) in order to prevent illegal arrivals at
the external borders;

promotion of a more effective cooperation with carriers in
the airports of
including
uniform training of
staff on the travel
documents;

the countries of departure,

the carriers'

promotion of quality management, and good services and
facilities in terms of infrastructure in the visa application
process;

promotion of cooperation between Member States in
enhancing the capacity of consular services to examine visa
applications;

promotion of common investigative practices, uniform
administrative procedures and decisions on visas by the
consular services of a Member State located in different
third countries;

promotion of progress towards a systematic and regular
cooperation between the consular and other services of
different Member States, in particular in connection with

promotion of the capacity of authorities to apply the same
procedures and to take consistent, rapid and high quality
decisions on the crossing of external borders, including on
the issuance of visas;

(1) OJ L 261, 6.8.2004, p. 24.
(2) OJ L 239, 22.9.2000, p. 19. Convention as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006 of the European Parliament and of
the Council (OJ L 381, 28.12.2006, p. 4).

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6.6.2007

the VIS, including pooling of resources and means for visa
issuance, exchange of information, surveys and investiga-
tions concerning visa applications and the development of
common visa application centres;

(h)

promotion of national
initiatives aiming at common
investigative practices, uniform administrative procedures
and decisions on visas by the consular services of different
Member States;

(i)

development of common consular offices.

Article 5

Eligible actions in the Member States

1. The Fund shall support actions in the Member States relating
to the specific objectives defined in Article 4 and in particular to
the following:

(a)

(b)

(c)

border crossing infrastructures and related buildings, such
as border stations, helicopter landing places or lanes or
booths for the queuing of vehicles or persons at border
crossing points;

infrastructures, buildings and systems required for surveil-
lance between border crossing points and protection
against illegal crossing of the external borders;

operating equipment, such as sensors, video-surveillance,
document examination instruments, detection tools and
mobile or fixed terminals for consulting the SIS, the VIS,
the European Image Archiving System (FADO) and other
European and national systems;

(d) means of transport for the control of external borders, such
as vehicles, vessels, helicopters, and light aircrafts, specially
equipped with electronic equipment for the surveillance of
the border and the detection of persons in means of
transport;

(e)

equipment for real time exchange of information between
relevant authorities;

(f)

ICT systems;

(g)

programmes for the secondment and exchange of staff such
as border guards,
immigration officers and consular
officers;

(h)

training and education of staff of relevant authorities,
including language training;

(k)

studies and pilot projects designed to stimulate innovation,
facilitate exchanges of experience and good practice and
improve the quality of
the management of activities
organised by the consular and other services of the Member
States in third countries as regards the flows of third-
country nationals into the territory of the Member States
and the cooperation between Member States in this regard.

support actions with respect

2. The Fund shall not
to
temporary external borders when such actions amount to a
investment incompatible with the objective of the
structural
lifting of controls on persons at these borders,
in particular
actions referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1.

Article 6

Special Transit Scheme

from transit visas and additional costs

1. The Fund shall provide support to compensate for foregone
fees
incurred in
implementing the Facilitated Transit Document (FTD) and the
Facilitated Rail Transit Document (FRTD) scheme in accordance
with Council Regulation (EC) No 693/2003 (1) and Council
Regulation (EC) No 694/2003 (2).

For the purpose of paragraph 1, additional costs means costs
2.
which result directly from the
requirements of
implementing the operation of the special transit scheme and
which are not generated as a result of the issuing of transit or
other visas.

specific

The following types of additional cost shall be eligible for
financing:

(a)

investment in infrastructures;

(b)

training of staff implementing the special transit scheme;

(c)

additional operational costs,
specifically implementing the special transit scheme.

including salaries of staff

3. The foregone fees referred to in paragraph 1 shall be
calculated on the basis of the level of fees for transit visas
established in Annex 12 to the Common Consular Instructions
on visas, within the financial framework set out in Article 14(9).

Article 7

Community actions

1. At the Commission's initiative, up to 6 % of the Fund's
available resources may be used to finance transnational actions
or actions of interest to the Community as a whole (hereinafter
referred to as ‘Community actions’) concerning the following
objectives:

investments in the development, testing and instalment of
state-of-the-art technology;

(a)

(i)

(j)

studies and pilot projects implementing recommendations,
operational standards and best practices, resulting from the
operational cooperation between Member States in the field
of border control;

(1) OJ L 99, 17.4.2003, p. 8.
(2) OJ L 99, 17.4.2003, p. 15.

contributing to the enhancement of the activities organised
by the consular and other services of the Member States in
third-country
third countries as

the flow of

regards

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nationals into the territory of the Member States and the
cooperation between Member States
regard,
including the activities of air liaison officers and immigra-
tion liaison officers;

in this

with the activities, policies and priorities of the Community. This
consistency shall be indicated in particular in the multiannual
programme referred to in Article 21.

(b)

(c)

promoting the progressive inclusion of customs, veterinary
and phyto-sanitary controls in integrated border manage-
ment activities in line with policy evolution in this field;

providing of support services to Member States in duly
substantiated emergency situations requiring urgent action
at external borders.

2. To be eligible for funding, Community actions listed under
paragraph 1(a) and (b) shall in particular:

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

further Community cooperation in implementing Commu-
nity law and good practices;

support the setting-up of transnational cooperation net-
works and pilot projects based on transnational partner-
ships between consular services from two or more Member
States designed to stimulate innovation and facilitate the
exchange of experience and good practice;

support studies, dissemination and exchange of informa-
tion on best practices and all other aspects of the general
objective of contributing to enhancement of the activities
organised by the consular services of the Member States in
third countries and the cooperation between Member States
in this field,
including on the use of state-of-the-art
technology;

support projects and studies exploring the possibility of
new forms of Community cooperation and Community
law in this area, in particular common application centres;

support the development and application by Member States
of common statistical tools, methods and indicators for
measuring policy developments in the field of visa policy
and consular cooperation.

3. The annual work programme laying down the priorities for
Community actions shall be adopted in accordance with the
procedure referred to in Article 56(2).

CHAPTER II

PRINCIPLES OF ASSISTANCE

Article 8

Complementarity, consistency and compliance

1. The Fund shall provide assistance which complements
national, regional and local actions, integrating into them the
priorities of the Community.

2. The Commission and the Member States shall ensure that
assistance from the Fund and the Member States is consistent

3. Operations financed by the Fund shall comply with the
provisions of the Treaty and of acts adopted thereunder.

Article 9

Programming

1. The objectives of the Fund shall be pursued within the
framework of the multiannual programming period from 2007
to 2013, subject to a mid-term review in accordance with
Article 24. The multiannual programming system shall include
the priorities and a process for management, decision making,
auditing and certification.

2. The multiannual programmes approved by the Commission
shall be implemented by means of annual programmes.

Article 10

Subsidiary and proportional intervention

Implementation of multiannual and annual programmes
1.
referred to in Articles 21 and 23 shall be the responsibility of
Member States at the appropriate territorial level, in accordance
with the institutional system specific to each Member State. This
responsibility shall be exercised in accordance with this Decision.

2.
In relation to audit provisions, the means employed by the
Commission and the Member States shall vary according to the
size of the Community contribution. The same principle shall
apply to provisions on evaluation and to the reports on
multiannual and annual programmes.

Article 11

Implementation methods

1. The Community budget allocated to the Fund shall be
implemented in accordance with Article 53(1)(b) of the Financial
Regulation, with the exception of
the Community actions
referred to in Article 7 and the technical assistance referred to in
Article 17 of this Decision.

2. The Commission shall
implementing the general budget of the European Union by:

responsibility for

exercise

its

(a)

checking the existence and proper functioning of manage-
ment and control systems in the Member States in
accordance with the procedures described in Article 34;

(b) withholding or suspending payments, in full or in part, in
accordance with the procedures described in Articles 43
and 44, if the national management and control systems
fail, and applying any other financial correction required, in
accordance with the procedures described in Articles 47
and 48.

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3. Countries associated with the implementation, application
and development of the Schengen acquis shall participate in the
Fund in accordance with this Decision.

4. Arrangements shall be concluded to specify the supplemen-
tary rules necessary for such participation, including provisions
ensuring the protection of the Community's financial interests
and the power of audit of the Court of Auditors.

Article 12

Partnership

Each Member shall organise,

in accordance with current
1.
national rules and practices, a partnership with the authorities
and bodies which are involved in the implementation of the
multiannual programme or which, according to the Member
State concerned, are able to make a useful contribution to its
development.

Such authorities and bodies may include the competent regional,
local, urban and other public authorities, international organisa-
tions, in particular the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), and bodies representing civil society, such as
non-governmental organisations or social partners.

2.
Such partnership shall be conducted in full compliance with
the respective institutional, legal and financial jurisdiction of each
partner category.

CHAPTER III

FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK

Article 13

Global resources

1. The financial envelope for
this
Decision from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013 shall be
EUR 1 820 million.

the implementation of

2. The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the
budgetary authority within the limits of the Financial Frame-
work.

3. The Commission shall make indicative annual breakdowns
by Member States in accordance with the criteria established in
Article 14.

Article 14

Annual distribution of resources for eligible actions in the
Member States

1. The available annual
between the Member States as follows:

resources shall be broken down

(a)

30 % for external land borders;

(b) 35 % for external maritime borders;

(c)

20 % for airports;

(d) 15 % for consular offices.

2. The resources available under paragraph 1(a) shall be broken
down between Member States as follows:

(a)

70 % for the length of their external borders, which will be
calculated, on the basis of weighting factors for each
specific section, determined in accordance with Article 15
(3)(a); and

(b) 30 % for the workload at their external land borders, as

determined in accordance with paragraph 7(a).

3. The resources available under paragraph 1(b) shall be broken
down between Member States as follows:

(a)

70 % for the length of their external borders, which will be
calculated, on the basis of weighting factors for each
specific section determined in accordance with Article 15
(3)(b); and

(b) 30 % for the workload at their external maritime borders,

as determined in accordance with paragraph 7(a).

4. The resources available under paragraph 1(c) shall be broken
down between Member States according to the workload at their
airports, as determined in accordance with paragraph 7(b).

5. The resources available under paragraph 1(d) shall be broken
down between Member States as follows:

(a)

50 % for the number of consular offices of the Member
States in the countries listed in Annex I of Council
Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 2001 listing the
third countries whose nationals must be in possession of
visas when crossing the external borders and those whose
nationals are exempt from that requirement (1); and

(b) 50 % for the workload as regards the management of visa
policy at consular offices of Member States in the countries
listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001, as
determined in accordance with paragraph 7(c) of
this
Article.

For the purpose of the annual distribution of resources

6.
under paragraph 1 (a) and (b)

(a)

the line between the areas referred to in Article 1 of Council
Regulation (EC) No 866/2004 of 29 April 2004 on a
regime under Article 2 of Protocol No 10 of the Act of
Accession (2), but not the maritime border north of that
line, shall be taken into account even though it does not
constitute an external
land border for as long as the
provisions of Article 1 of Protocol 10 of the 2003 Act of
Accession remain applicable;

(b)

‘external maritime borders’ shall mean the outer limit of the
territorial sea of the Member States as defined according to

(1) OJ L 81, 21.3.2001, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 851/2005 (OJ L 141, 4.6.2005, p. 3).

(2) OJ L 161, 30.4.2004, p. 128. Corrected version in OJ L 206,
9.6.2004, p. 51. Regulation as last amended by Commission
Regulation (EC) No 1283/2005 (OJ L 203, 4.8.2005, p. 8).

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the Sea. However,

Articles 4 to 16 of the United Nations Convention on the
Law of
in cases where long range
operations on a regular basis are required in order to
prevent irregular migration/illegal entry, this shall be the
outer limit of high threat areas. This shall be determined by
taking into account the operational data over the past two
years as provided by the Member States in question. This
definition of ‘external maritime borders’ is used exclusively
for the purpose of this Decision and all operations shall
respect international law.

7. The workload shall be based on average figures over the
previous two years for the following factors:

(a)

at external land borders and external maritime borders:

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

the number of persons crossing the external border at
authorised border crossing points;

the number of third-country nationals refused entry at
the external border;

the number of third-country nationals apprehended
after having crossed the external border illegally,
including the number of persons apprehended at sea;

Before accepting these data as reference figures, the Commission
(Eurostat) shall evaluate the quality, comparability and complete-
ness of the statistical information in accordance with normal
operational procedures. At
the Commission
(Eurostat), Member States shall provide it with all the necessary
information to do so.

the request of

11. Where the reference figures are not available as statistics
produced by the Commission (Eurostat)
in accordance with
Community law, Member States shall provide provisional data to
the Commission by 1 November of each year for the estimate of
the amount to be allocated to them for the following year in
accordance with Article 23(2).

Before the Commission accepts these data as reference figures,
the Commission (Eurostat) may evaluate the quality, compar-
ability and completeness of
information in
accordance with normal operational procedures. At the request
of the Commission (Eurostat), Member States shall provide it
with all the necessary information to do so.

the statistical

12. The allocation of resources referred to in paragraph 1 shall
not include the resources allocated for the purpose of Articles 6
and 19. The resources allocated for the purpose of Article 6 shall
not exceed EUR 108 million for the period 2007 to 2013.

(b)

at airports:

Article 15

the number of persons crossing the external border at
authorised border crossing points;

Risk Analysis carried out by the Agency for the purpose of
the annual distribution of resources

(i)

(ii)

the number of third-country nationals refused entry at
the external border;

(c)

at consular offices:

the number of visa applications.

For 2007, the workload shall be based on the 2005 figures only.

8. The weighting as referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be
determined by the Agency in accordance with Article 15.

9. With respect to the length of the external land borders as
referred to in paragraph 2(a), the calculation of the annual
distribution of resources shall not take into account temporary
external borders. However,
the
temporary external borders between a Member State which
acceded to the European Union by 1 May 2004 and a Member
State which acceded after 1 May 2004.

take into account

it shall

10. The reference figures for the work-load referred to in
paragraph 7 shall be the latest statistics produced by the
Commission (Eurostat) on the basis of data provided by Member
States in accordance with Community law.

1.
For the determination of the weighting, as referred to in
Article 14(8), the Agency shall provide the Commission, by
1 April of each year, with a specific report describing the
difficulty in carrying out border surveillance and the situation at
the external borders of
the Member States, paying special
attention to the particular proximity of the Member States to
high risk areas of illegal immigration for the previous year taking
also into account the number of persons having entered those
Member States irregularly and the size of those Member States.

2. The report shall, in accordance with the Common Integrated
Risk Analysis Model referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EC)
No 2007/2004, analyse the threats that affected security at
external borders of the Member States in the previous year,
taking into account the political, economic and social develop-
ments
in
neighbouring third countries, and shall set out possible future
trends on migratory flows and unlawful activities at the external
borders.

in the third countries concerned,

in particular

This risk analysis shall be based primarily on the following
information gathered by the Agency, provided by Member States
or obtained from the Commission (Eurostat):

(a)

the number of third-country nationals refused entry at the
external border;

Where Member States have not supplied the Commission
they shall provide
(Eurostat) with the statistics concerned,
provisional data as soon as possible.

(b)

the number of third-country nationals apprehended when
crossing or attempting to cross the external border illegally;

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the number of facilitators intercepted who have intention-
ally assisted the unauthorised entry of
third-country
nationals;

This may be increased to 75 % for projects addressing specific
priorities identified in the strategic guidelines referred to in
Article 20.

(c)

(d)

the number of forged or false travel documents and the
number of
travel documents and visas issued on false
grounds which have been detected at border crossing points
in accordance with the Schengen Borders Code.

Where the reference figures have not been provided as statistics
produced by the Commission (Eurostat) but by Member States,
the Agency may request from those Member States the necessary
information to evaluate the quality, comparability and complete-
ness of the statistical information. The Agency may request the
help of the Commission (Eurostat) in such an evaluation.

3.
Finally the report shall, in accordance with paragraphs 1 and
2, identify the current levels of threat at the external borders of
each of the Member States and determine the following specific
weighting-factors for each section of the external border of that
particular Member State:

(a)

external land border:

(i)

factor 1 for normal threat

(ii)

factor 1,5 for medium threat

(iii)

factor 3 for high threat;

(b)

external maritime border:

(i)

factor 0 for minimum threat

(ii)

factor 1 for normal threat

(iii)

factor 3 for medium threat

(iv)

factor 8 for high threat.

Article 16

Financing structure

Financial contributions under the Fund shall take the form

1.
of grants.

2. Actions supported by the Fund shall be co-financed by
public or private sources, shall be of a non-profit nature and shall
not be eligible for funding from other sources covered by the
general budget of the European Union.

3.
Fund appropriations shall be complementary to public or
equivalent expenditure allocated by Member States to the
measures covered by this Decision.

4. The Community contribution to supported projects, as
regards actions implemented in the Member States under
Article 4 shall not exceed 50 % of the total cost of a specific
action.

The Community contribution shall be increased to 75 % in the
Member States covered by the Cohesion Fund.

5. Within the framework of the implementation of national
programming as set out in Chapter IV, Member States shall select
projects for financing on the basis of the following minimum
criteria:

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

the situation and requirements in the Member State
concerned;

the cost-effectiveness of the expenditure, inter alia in view
of the number of persons concerned by the project;

the experience, expertise, reliability and financial contribu-
tion of the organisation applying for funding and any
partner organisation;

the extent to which the project complements other actions
funded by the general budget of the European Union or as
part of national programmes.

6. As a general rule, Community financial aid for actions
supported by the Fund shall be granted for a period of no more
than three years, subject to periodic progress reports.

Article 17

Technical assistance at the initiative of the Commission

1. At the initiative of and/or on behalf of the Commission,
subject to a ceiling of EUR 500 000 of
the Fund's annual
allocation,
Fund may finance preparatory measures,
monitoring, administrative and technical support measures, as
well as evaluation, audit and inspection measures necessary for
implementing this Decision.

the

2. Those measures shall include:

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

studies, evaluations, expert reports and statistics, including
those of a general nature concerning the operation of the
Fund;

information measures for the Member States, the final
beneficiaries and the general public, including awareness-
raising campaigns and a common database of projects
financed under the Fund;

the installation, operation and interconnection of compu-
inspection
terised systems for management, monitoring,
and evaluation;

the design of a common framework for evaluation and
monitoring as well as a systems of indicators, taking into
account, where appropriate, national indicators;

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(e)

(f)

improvements in evaluation methods and the exchange of
information on practices in this field;

information and training measures for
the authorities
designated by Member States in accordance with Article 27,
complementary to the efforts of the Member States to
provide guidance to their authorities in accordance with
Article 33(2).

Article 18

Technical assistance at the initiative of Member States

the initiative of a Member State for each annual
1. At
programme,
the Fund may finance preparatory measures,
management, monitoring, evaluation, information and control
measures, as well as measures for the reinforcement of the
administrative capacity for the implementation of the Fund.

2. The amount set aside for technical assistance under each
annual programme may not exceed:

(a)

(b)

for the period 2007 to 2010, 7 % of the total annual
amount of co-financing allocated to that Member State plus
EUR 30 000; and

for the period 2011 to 2013, 4 % of the total annual
amount of co-financing allocated to that Member State plus
EUR 30 000.

Article 19

Specific actions

1. The Commission shall establish each year a list of specific
actions to be implemented by the Member States, where
appropriate, in cooperation with the Agency, which contribute
to the development of the European common-integrated-border
management system by addressing weaknesses at strategic
border points identified in the risk analysis referred to in
Article 15.

CHAPTER IV

PROGRAMMING

Article 20

Adoption of strategic guidelines

1. The Commission shall adopt strategic guidelines setting out
taking into
a framework for the intervention of
account progress in the development and implementation of
Community legislation in the area of external borders and visa
policy as well as the indicative distribution of the financial
resources of
the multiannual
programme.

the period of

the Fund for

the Fund,

2.
For the general objectives referred to in Article 3(1)(a), (b)
and (c), those guidelines shall, in particular, give effect to the
priorities of the Community with a view to the further gradual
establishment of
the European common-integrated-border
management system for external borders and the strengthening
of controls at and surveillance of the external borders of the
Union.

3.
For the general objective referred to in Article 3(1)(d), those
guidelines shall, in particular, give effect to the priorities of the
Community with a view to the further development of the
common visa policy as part of a multi-layered system aimed at
facilitating legitimate travel and tackling illegal
immigration
through the enhancement of handling practices at local consular
missions.

4. The Commission shall adopt the strategic guidelines relating
to the multiannual programming period by 31 July 2007.

5. The strategic guidelines shall be adopted in accordance with
the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 56
(3). The strategic guidelines, once adopted, shall be annexed this
Decision.

Article 21

Preparation and approval of national multiannual
programmes

2. The annual work programme referred to in Article 7(3),
shall set out a framework for the financing of these actions,
including objectives and evaluation criteria.

1.
the
Each Member State shall propose, on the basis of
strategic guidelines referred to in Article 20, a draft multiannual
programme which shall consist of the following elements:

3. The list of selected actions shall be adopted according to the
procedure referred to in Article 56(2).

4.
Financial assistance from the Fund for specific actions shall
be limited to a period of six months and shall not exceed 80 % of
the cost of each action.

5. The available annual resources for these actions shall not
exceed EUR 10 million. The resources remaining available after
the selection referred to in paragraph 3 may be used to finance
actions as defined in Article 7.

(a)

(b)

a description of the current situation in that Member State
as regards the infrastructure, equipment, means of trans-
port, ICT systems and arrangements for the training and
education of staff at the service of the border authorities
and of the consular authorities;

an analysis of requirements in the Member State in question
as regards infrastructure, equipment, means of transport,
ICT systems and arrangements
the training and
education of staff at the service of the border authorities
and and of the consular authorities and an indication of the
operational objectives designed to meet those requirements
during the period covered by the multiannual programme;

for

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the presentation of an appropriate strategy to achieve those
objectives and the priorities attached to their attainment,
and a description of the actions envisaged to implement
those priorities;

5. The Commission shall approve each multiannual pro-
gramme within three months of
in
its formal submission,
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 56(2).

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

an indication of whether that strategy is compatible with
other regional, national and Community instruments;

information on the priorities and their specific targets.
Those targets shall be quantified using a limited number of
indicators, taking into account the proportionality prin-
ciple. The indicators must make it possible to measure the
progress in relation to the baseline situation and the
effectiveness of the targets implementing the priorities;

a description of the approach chosen for the implementa-
tion of the partnership principle laid down in Article 12;

a draft financing plan which sets out, for each priority and
each annual programme, the Fund's proposed financial
contribution and the overall amount of public or private
co-financing;

(h)

the provisions laid down to ensure that the multiannual
programme is made public.

2. Member States
their draft multiannual
submit
programme to the Commission no later than four months after
the Commission has provided the strategic guidelines.

shall

In order to approve the draft multiannual programme, the

3.
Commission shall examine:

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

the draft multiannual programme's consistency with the
objectives of the Fund and the strategic guidelines referred
to in Article 20;

the relevance of
the actions envisaged in the draft
multiannual programme in the light of the strategy which
is proposed;

the compliance of the management and control arrange-
ments set up by the Member State for the implementation
of the Fund's interventions with the provisions of this
Decision;

the draft multiannual programme's
compliance with
Community law and, in particular, with Community law
aiming at ensuring the free movement of persons in
conjunction with the directly related accompanying
measures with respect to external border controls, asylum
and immigration.

Article 22

Revision of multiannual programmes

1. At the initiative of the Member State in question or the
Commission, the multiannual programme shall be re-examined
and, if necessary, revised for the rest of the programming period
in order to take greater or different account of Community
priorities. Multiannual programmes may be re-examined in the
light of evaluations and/or following implementation difficulties.

2. The Commission shall adopt a decision approving the
revision of the multiannual programme as soon as possible after
the formal submission of a request to that effect by the Member
State concerned. The revision of the multiannual programme
shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure referred to
in Article 56(2).

Article 23

Annual programmes

1. The multiannual programmes approved by the Commission
shall be implemented by means of annual programmes.

2. The Commission shall provide the Member States, by 1 July
of each year, with an estimate of the amounts to be allocated to
them for the following year from the total appropriations
allocated under the annual budgetary procedure, calculated as
provided for by Article 14.

3. Member States shall submit
to the Commission, by 1
November of each year, a draft annual programme for the
following year, established in accordance with the multiannual
programme and consisting of the following elements:

(a)

(b)

(c)

the general rules for selection of projects to be financed
under the annual programme;

a description of the actions to be supported under the
annual programme;

the proposed financial breakdown of the Fund's contribu-
tion between the programme's various actions and an
indication of
the amount requested to cover technical
assistance under Article 18 for the purpose of implement-
ing the annual programme.

4. When examining the draft annual programme of a Member
State, the Commission shall take account of the final amount of
the appropriations allocated to the Fund under the budgetary
procedure.

4. Where the Commission considers that a draft multiannual
programme is inconsistent with the strategic guidelines and/or
does not comply with the provisions of this Decision setting out
management and control systems or with Community law, it
shall invite the Member State concerned to provide all necessary
additional information and, where appropriate, to revise the draft
multiannual programme accordingly.

Within one month of the formal submission of the draft annual
inform the Member State
programme, the Commission shall
concerned whether it can be approved.
the draft annual
programme is inconsistent with the multiannual programme, the
Commission shall
invite that Member State to provide all
necessary information and, where appropriate, to revise the draft
annual programme accordingly.

If

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The Commission shall adopt the financing decision approving
the annual programme by 1 March of the year in question. The
decision shall indicate the amount allocated to the Member State
concerned and the period for which the expenditure is eligible.

5. To take into account duly substantiated emergency situa-
tions which were not foreseen at the time of the approval of the
annual programme and which require urgent action, a Member
State may revise up to 10 % of the financial breakdown of the
contribution from the Fund between the various actions listed in
the annual programme or allocate up to 10 % of the breakdown
to other actions in accordance with this Decision. The Member
State concerned shall
inform the Commission of the revised
annual programme.

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

adequate resources for each body to carry out the functions
which have been allocated to it throughout the period of
implementation of actions co-financed by the Fund;

procedures for ensuring the correctness and regularity of
the expenditure declared under the annual programmes;

reliable accounting, monitoring and financial reporting
systems in computerised form;

a system of reporting and monitoring where the respon-
sible body entrusts the performance of tasks to another
body;

Article 24

(g) manuals of procedures in relation to the functions to be

performed;

Mid-term review of the multiannual programme

1. The Commission shall review the strategic guidelines and,
where necessary, adopt, by 31 March 2010, revised strategic
guidelines for the period 2011 to 2013.

2.
If such revised strategic guidelines are adopted, each Member
State shall re-examine its multiannual programme and, where
appropriate, revise it.

3. The rules laid down in Article 21 on the preparation and
shall apply
approval of national multiannual programmes
mutatis mutandis to the preparation and approval of
these
revised multiannual programmes.

revised strategic guidelines

4. The
shall be adopted in
accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred
to in Article 56(3).

CHAPTER V

MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL SYSTEMS

Article 25

Implementation

The Commission shall be responsible for implementing this
Decision and shall adopt such implementing rules as may be
necessary.

Article 26

General principles of management and control systems

(h)

arrangements for auditing the functioning of the system;

(i)

(j)

systems and procedures to ensure an adequate audit trail;

procedures for reporting and monitoring irregularities and
for the recovery of amounts unduly paid.

Article 27

Designation of authorities

1.
For the implementation of its multiannual programme and
annual programmes the Member State shall designate the
following:

(a)

(b)

(c)

a responsible authority: a functional body of the Member
State, national public authority or body designated by the
Member State or a body which is governed by the private
law of the Member State and which has a public service
mission, which shall be responsible for the management of
the multiannual programme and annual programmes
supported by the Fund and shall handle all communication
with the Commission;

a certifying authority: a national public authority or body,
or individual acting as such a body or authority, designated
by the Member State to certify declarations of expenditure
before they are sent to the Commission;

it

is

functionally independent of

an audit authority: a national public authority or body,
the
provided that
responsible authority and the certifying authority, desig-
nated by the Member State and responsible for verifying the
effective functioning of
the management and control
system;

The management and control systems of multiannual pro-
grammes set up by Member States shall provide for:

(d) where appropriate, a delegated authority.

(a)

the definition of the functions of the bodies concerned in
management and control and the allocation of functions
within each body;

2. The Member State shall
lay down rules governing its
relations with the authorities referred to in paragraph 1 and their
relations with the Commission.

(b)

respect for the principle of separation of functions between
and within such bodies;

3.
Subject to Article 26(b), some or all of the authorities
referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may be located within
the same body.

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4. The rules for implementing Articles 28 to 32 shall be
adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 56(2).

Article 28

Responsible authority

1. The responsible authority shall meet the following mini-
mum conditions. It shall:

(a)

(b)

have legal personality, except where it is a functional body
of the Member State;

have the infrastructure required for easy communication
with a wide range of users and with the responsible bodies
in the other Member States and the Commission;

(c) work in an administrative context allowing it to carry out
its tasks correctly and avoiding any conflict of interest;

(d)

(e)

(f)

be in a position to apply Community fund management
rules;

have financial and management capacities proportionate to
the volume of Community funds which it will be called
upon to manage;

have at its disposal personnel with appropriate professional
qualifications for administrative work in an international
environment.

2. The Member State shall provide the responsible authority
with adequate funding so that it can continue to carry out its
tasks properly throughout the period 2007 to 2013.

3. The Commission may assist
the Member States in the
training of staff, in particular as regards the correct application of
Chapters V to IX.

Article 29

Tasks of the responsible authority

1. The responsible authority shall be responsible for managing
and implementing the multiannual programme in accordance
with the principle of sound financial management.

It shall in particular:

(a)

consult partners in accordance with Article 12;

(e)

(f)

receive payments made by the Commission, and make
payments to the final beneficiaries;

ensure consistency and complementarity between co-
financing under the Fund and from other relevant national
and Community financial instruments;

(g) monitor the delivery of

the co-financed products and
services and check that the expenditure declared for actions
has actually been incurred and complies with Community
and national rules;

(h)

(i)

(j)

(k)

(l)

ensure that there is a system for recording and storing in
computerised form accounting records of each action under
the annual programmes and that the data on implementa-
tion necessary for
financial management, monitoring,
control and evaluation are collected;

ensure that final beneficiaries and other bodies involved in
the implementation of actions cofinanced by the Fund
maintain either a separate accounting system or an
adequate accounting code for all transactions relating to
the action without prejudice to national accounting rules;

ensure that the evaluations of the Fund referred to in
Article 51 are carried out within the time limits laid down
in Article 52(2) and meet the quality standards agreed
between the Commission and the Member State;

set up procedures to ensure that all documents regarding
expenditure and audits required to ensure an adequate audit
trail are held in accordance with the requirements referred
to in Article 45;

ensure that the audit authority receives, for the purposes of
carrying out
the audits defined in Article 32(1), all
necessary information on the management procedures
applied and the projects co-financed by the Fund;

(m) ensure that the certifying authority receives all necessary
information on the procedures and verifications carried out
in relation to expenditure for the purpose of certification;

(n)

draw up and submit to the Commission progress and final
reports on the implementation of the annual programmes,
declarations of expenditure certified by the certifying
authority and requests for payment or, where appropriate,
statements of reimbursement;

(b)

(c)

(d)

submit to the Commission proposals for multiannual and
annual programmes to which Articles 21 and 23 refer;

(o)

carry out information and advisory activities and dissem-
inate results of supported actions;

organise and advertise calls for tenders and proposals if
appropriate;

(p)

cooperate with the Commission and the responsible
authorities in the other Member States;

organise the selection of projects for co-financing under the
Fund in accordance with the criteria set out in Article 16(5);

(q)

verify the implementation by the final beneficiaries of the
guidelines referred to in Article 35(6).

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for
2. The responsible authority's management activities
projects implemented in the Member States may be financed
under
the technical assistance arrangements referred to in
Article 18.

Article 30

provided that the prerogatives of this authority as described in
Article 27 are respected.

Article 32

Audit Authority

Delegation of tasks by the responsible authority

1. The audit authority shall:

1. Where all or some of the responsible authority's tasks are
delegated to a delegated authority, the responsible authority shall
define the scope of the tasks delegated, and set out detailed
procedures for the implementation of the delegated tasks, which
shall comply with the conditions laid down in Article 28.

2. These procedures shall
include supplying the responsible
authority with regular information on the effective performance
of the delegated tasks and a description of the means employed.

Article 31

Certifying Authority

1. The certifying authority shall:

(a)

certify that:

(i)

(ii)

the declaration of expenditure is accurate, results from
reliable accounting systems and is based on verifiable
supporting documents;

the expenditure declared complies with applicable
Community and national rules and has been incurred
in respect of actions selected in accordance with the
criteria applicable to the programme and complying
with Community and national rules;

(b)

(c)

ensure for the purposes of certification that it has received
adequate information from the responsible authority on the
procedures and verifications carried out
in relation to
expenditure included in declarations of expenditure;

take account for the purposes of certification of the results
of all audits carried out by or under the responsibility of the
audit authority;

(d) maintain accounting records in computerised form of

expenditure declared to the Commission;

(e)

(f)

verify the recovery of any Community financing found to
have been unduly paid as a result of irregularities detected,
together with interest where appropriate;

keep an account of amounts recoverable and amounts
recovered under the general budget of the European Union,
where possible by deducting them from the next
declaration of expenditure.

(a)

(b)

(c)

ensure that audits are carried out to verify the effective
functioning of the management and control system;

ensure that audits are carried out on actions on the basis of
an appropriate sample to verify expenditure declared; the
sample shall represent at least 10 % of the total eligible
expenditure for each annual programme;

to the Commission within six months of

present
the
approval of the multiannual programme an audit strategy
covering the bodies which will perform the audits referred
the main
to under points (a) and (b), ensuring that
beneficiaries of cofinancing by the Fund are audited and
that audits are spread evenly throughout the programming
period.

2. Where the designated audit authority under this Decision is
also the designated audit authority under Decision No 573/
2007/EC, Decision No 575/2007/EC and Decision 2007/.../EC,
or where common systems apply to two or more of these Funds,
a single combined audit strategy may be submitted under
paragraph 1(c).

For each annual programme, the audit authority shall draft a

3.
report which shall comprise:

(a)

(b)

(c)

an annual audit report setting out the findings of the audits
carried out in accordance with the audit strategy in respect
of the annual programme and reporting any shortcomings
found in the systems for the management and control of
the programme;

an opinion, on the basis of the controls and audits that have
been carried out under the responsibility of
the audit
authority, as to whether the functioning of the management
and control system provides reasonable assurance that
declarations of expenditure presented to the Commission
are correct and that the underlying transactions are legal
and regular;

for
a declaration assessing the validity of
payment or statement of
the final
balance and the legality and regularity of the expenditure
concerned.

reimbursement of

the request

4. The audit authority shall ensure that the audit work takes
account of internationally accepted audit standards.

2. The certifying authority's activities relating to projects
implemented in the Member States may be financed under the
technical assistance arrangements referred to in Article 18,

5. The audit relating to projects implemented in the Member
States may be financed under the technical assistance arrange-

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ments referred to in Article 18 provided that the prerogatives of
the audit authority as described in Article 27 are respected.

this
3. The Commission shall
provision in the context of the preparation of the report for
the period 2007 to 2010 referred to in Article 52(3).

review the application of

CHAPTER VI

RESPONSIBILITIES AND CONTROLS

Article 33

Responsibilities of the Member States

1. Member States shall be responsible for ensuring sound
financial management of multiannual and annual programmes
and the legality and regularity of underlying transactions.

2. Member States shall ensure that responsible authorities and
any delegated authority, certifying authorities, audit authorities
and any other bodies concerned receive adequate guidance on
setting up the management and control systems referred to in
Articles 26 to 32 to ensure that Community financing is used
efficiently and correctly.

3. Member States shall prevent, detect and correct irregula-
rities. They shall notify these to the Commission, and keep the
Commission informed of the progress in the administrative and
legal proceedings.

When amounts unduly paid to a final beneficiary cannot be
recovered, the Member State concerned shall be responsible for
reimbursing the amounts lost to the general budget of
the
European Union when it is established that the loss has been
incurred as a result of its fault or negligence.

4. Member States shall be primarily responsible for
the
financial control of actions and shall ensure that management
and control systems and audits are implemented in such a way as
to guarantee that Community funds are used properly and
effectively. They shall provide the Commission with a description
of these systems.

5. The detailed rules for implementing paragraphs 1 to 4 shall
be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 56(2).

Article 34

Management and control systems

1. Before the Commission approves the multiannual pro-
gramme,
in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 56(2) the Member States shall ensure that management
and control systems have been set up in accordance with
Articles 26 to 32. They shall be responsible for ensuring that the
systems
the programming
period.

function effectively throughout

Article 35

Responsibilities of the Commission

1. The Commission shall satisfy itself in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 34 that the Member States have
set up management and control systems that comply with
Articles 26 to 32, and on the basis of the annual audit reports
and its own audits, that the systems function effectively during
the programming period.

2. Without prejudice to audits carried out by Member States,
Commission officials or authorised Commission representatives
may carry out on-the-spot checks
to verify the effective
functioning of the management and control systems, which
may include audits of actions included in the annual pro-
three working days' notice.
grammes, with a minimum of
Officials or authorised representatives of
the Member State
concerned may take part in such audits.

3. The Commission may require a Member State to carry out
on-the-spot checks to verify the correct
the
systems or
the correctness of one or more transactions.
Commission officials or authorised Commission representatives
may take part in such checks.

functioning of

4. The Commission shall,
in cooperation with the Member
States, ensure that appropriate information, publicity and follow-
up are provided for actions supported by the Fund.

5. The Commission shall,
in cooperation with the Member
States, ensure that actions are consistent with, and complemen-
instruments and
tary to, other relevant Community policies,
initiatives.

6. The Commission shall lay down guidelines to ensure the
visibility of the funding granted under this Decision.

Article 36

Cooperation with the audit authorities of the Member
States

1. The Commission shall cooperate with the audit authorities
to coordinate their respective audit plans and methods and shall
immediately exchange the results of audits carried out of
management and control systems in order to make the best
possible use of control resources and to avoid unjustified
duplication of work.

The Commission shall provide its comments on the audit
strategy presented under Article 32 within not more than three
months of its receipt.

2. Member States shall submit to the Commission, together
with their draft multiannual programme, a description of the
organisation and procedures of
the responsible authorities,
delegated authorities and certifying authorities, and the internal
audit systems operating in those authorities and bodies, the audit
authority, and any other bodies carrying out audits under its
responsibility.

In determining its own audit strategy, the Commission shall
2.
identify those annual programmes which it considers satisfactory
on the basis of its existing knowledge of the management and
control systems.

For those programmes, the Commission may conclude that it
can rely principally on the audit evidence provided by the

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Member States and that it will carry out its own on the spot
checks only if there is evidence to suggest shortcomings in the
systems.

subparagraph of Article 23(4), Commission commitments and
Commission payments shall be denominated and carried out in
euros.

CHAPTER VII

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Article 37

Eligibility — declarations of expenditure

1. All declarations of expenditure shall include the amount of
expenditure incurred by final beneficiaries in implementing the
actions and the corresponding contribution from public or
private funds.

2.
Expenditure shall correspond to the payments effected by
the final beneficiaries. It shall be justified by receipted invoices or
accounting documents of equivalent evidential value.

3.
Expenditure may be considered eligible for support from the
Fund only if it is actually paid no earlier than 1 January of the
year referred to in the financing decision approving the annual
programme referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 23
(4). The co-financed actions must not have been completed
before the starting date for eligibility.

By way of exception, the period for which expenditure is eligible
shall be fixed at three years for the expenditure implementing the
actions supported under the 2007 annual programmes.

4. The rules governing eligibility of expenditure within the
framework of implemented actions co-financed by the Fund in
the Member States under Article 4 shall be adopted in
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 56(2).

3. Member States which have not adopted the euro as their
currency on the date of the request for payment shall convert
into euros the amounts of expenditure incurred in national
currency. This amount shall be converted into euros using the
monthly accounting exchange rate of the Commission for the
month during which the expenditure was entered in the accounts
of the responsible authority of the programme concerned. This
rate shall be published electronically by the Commission each
month.

4. When the euro becomes the currency of a Member State, the
conversion procedure set out in paragraph 3 shall continue to
apply to all expenditure recorded in the accounts by the
certifying authority before the date of entry into force of the
fixed conversion rate between the national currency and the
euro.

Article 40

Commitments

Community budgetary commitments shall be made annually on
the basis of the Commission financing decision approving the
annual programme referred to in the third subparagraph of
Article 23(4).

Article 41

Payments — Prefinancing

Article 38

Payments by the Commission of the contribution from the
1.
Fund shall be made in accordance with the budget commitments.

Completeness of payment to final beneficiaries

Member States shall satisfy themselves that
the responsible
authority ensures that the final beneficiaries receive the total
amount of the contribution from public funds as quickly as
possible. No amounts shall be deducted or withheld, nor shall
any further specific charge or other charge with equivalent effect
be levied that would reduce these amounts for
the final
beneficiaries, provided that the final beneficiaries meet all the
requirements regarding the eligibility of actions and expenses.

2.
Payments shall take the form of pre-financing and payment
of the balance. They shall be made to the responsible authority
designated by the Member State.

3. A first pre-financing payment representing 50 % of the
amount allocated in the financing decision approving the annual
programme shall be made to the Member State within sixty days
following the adoption of that decision.

Article 39

Use of the euro

in the draft multiannual and annual
1. Amounts set out
programmes of the Member States referred to in Articles 21 and
23 respectively, certified declarations of expenditure, requests for
payments referred to in Article 29(1)(n), expenditure mentioned
in the progress report on the implementation of the annual
programme referred to in Article 41(4) and the final report on
the implementation of the annual programme referred to in
Article 53 shall be denominated in euros.

2. Commission financing decisions approving the annual
referred to in the third
programmes of Member States

4. A second pre-financing payment shall be made no more
than three months after the Commission has approved, within
two months of the formal submission of a request for payment
by a Member State, a progress report on the implementation of
the annual programme and a certified declaration of expenditure
drawn up in accordance with Article 31(1)(a), and Article 37
accounting for at
the initial
payment.

the amount of

least 60 % of

The amount of the second pre-financing payment made by the
Commission shall not exceed 50 % of the total amount allocated
by the financing decision approving the annual programme and,
in any event, where a Member State has committed nationally an
amount less than the amount indicated in the financing decision
approving the annual programme, the balance of the amount of

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Community funds actually committed by the Member State for
selected projects under the annual programme minus the first
pre-financing payment.

5. Any interest generated by pre-financing payments shall be
posted to the annual programme concerned, being regarded as a
resource for the Member State as national public contribution
and shall be declared to the Commission at the time of the
declaration of expenditure relating to the final report on the
implementation of the annual programme concerned.

6. The amounts paid as pre-financing shall be cleared from the
accounts when the annual programme is closed.

Article 42

Payment of balance

1. The Commission shall pay the balance provided it has
received the following documents no later than nine months
after the eligibility deadline for expenditure laid down in the
financing decision approving the annual programme:

5. Without prejudice to Article 43, the Commission shall,
within six months of receiving the documents referred to in
paragraph 1 of this Article, inform the Member State of the
amount of expenditure recognised by the Commission as
chargeable to the Fund, and of any financial corrections deriving
from the difference between declared expenditure and the
expenditure recognised. The Member State shall have three
months to present its comments.

receiving the Member State's
6. Within three months of
comments, the Commission shall decide on the amount of
expenditure recognised as chargeable to the Fund, and recover
the balance arising from the difference between final recognised
expenditure and the sums already paid to that Member State.

7.
Subject to available funding, the Commission shall pay the
balance within no more than sixty days from the date on which it
accepts the documents referred to in paragraph 1. The balance of
the budgetary commitment shall be decommitted within six
months following the payment.

Article 43

Withholding of payments

a certified declaration of expenditure, duly drawn up in
accordance with Article 31(1)(a) and Article 37, and a
request
the balance or statement of
reimbursement;

for payment of

1. The payment shall be withheld by the authorising officer by
delegation within the meaning of the Financial Regulation for a
maximum period of six months if:

(a)

(b)

(c)

the final report on the implementation of
programme as set out in Article 53;

the annual

the annual audit report, opinion and declaration provided
for in Article 32(3).

(a)

(b)

The payment of the balance shall be subject to the acceptance of
the final report on the implementation of the annual programme
and of the declaration assessing the validity of the request for
payment of the balance.

If the responsible authority fails to provide the documents
2.
required in paragraph 1 by the due date and in an acceptable
format, the Commission shall decommit any part of the budget
commitment of the corresponding annual programme that has
not been used for payment of the pre-financing.

3. The automatic cancellation procedure defined in paragraph 2
shall be suspended, for the amount of the projects concerned,
where legal proceedings or administrative appeals having
suspensive effects are under way at Member State level when
the documents defined in paragraph 1 are submitted. The
Member State shall, in the final report submitted, give detailed
information on such projects, and send reports on progress
made with regard to these projects every six months. Within
three months of the conclusion of the legal proceedings or
administrative appeal procedure, the Member State shall present
the documents
the projects
concerned.

required in paragraph 1 for

4. The nine-month period referred to in paragraph 1 shall
cease to run if the Commission adopts a decision suspending
payments of the co-financing for the relevant annual programme
in accordance with Article 44. The period shall start to run again
from the date when the Commission decision referred to in
Article 44(3) has been notified to the Member State.

in a report of a national or Community audit body there is
evidence
significant deficiency in the
functioning of the management and control systems;

to suggest

a

to carry out additional verifications
that officer has
following information coming to his notice which alerted
him that
certified declaration of
in a
expenditure is linked to a serious irregularity which has
not been corrected.

expenditure

2. The Member State and the responsible authority shall be
informed immediately of the reasons for the payment being
withheld. The payment shall be withheld until the necessary
measures are taken by the Member State.

Article 44

Suspension of payments

1. All or part of the pre-financing and payments of the balance
may be suspended by the Commission when:

(a)

(b)

there is a serious deficiency in the management and control
system of the programme which affects the reliability of the
procedure for certification of payments and for which
corrective measures have not been taken; or

expenditure in a certified declaration of expenditure is
linked to a serious irregularity which has not been
corrected; or

(c)

a Member State has not complied with its obligations under
Articles 33 and 34.

2. The Commission may decide to suspend pre-financing and
payments of the balance after having given the Member State the
its observations within a period of
opportunity to present
three months.

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3. The Commission shall end suspension of pre-financing and
payments of the balance when it considers that the Member State
has taken the necessary measures to enable the suspension to be
lifted.

If the necessary measures are not taken by the Member State,
4.
the Commission may adopt a decision to cancel all or part of the
net amount or cancel the Community contribution to the annual
programme in accordance with Article 48.

Article 45

Conservation of documents

Without prejudice to the rules governing State aid under
Article 87 of the Treaty, the responsible authority shall ensure
that all the supporting documents regarding expenditure and
audits on the programmes concerned are kept available for the
Commission and the Court of Auditors for a period of five years
following the closure of the programmes in accordance with
Article 42(1).

Article 47

Audit of accounts and financial corrections by the
Commission

1. Without prejudice to the powers of the Court of Auditors or
the checks carried out by the Member States in accordance with
national laws, regulations and administrative provisions, Com-
mission officials or authorised Commission representatives may
carry out on-the-spot checks, including sample checks, on the
actions financed by the Fund and on management and control
systems with a minimum of three working days' notice. The
Commission shall give notice to the Member State concerned
with a view to obtaining all the assistance necessary. Officials or
authorised representatives of the Member State concerned may
take part in such checks.

The Commission may require the Member State concerned to
carry out an on-the-spot check to verify the accuracy of one or
more transactions. Commission officials or authorised Commis-
sion representatives may take part in such checks.

This period shall be interrupted either in the case of
proceedings or at
the duly substantiated request of
Commission.

legal
the

If, after completing the necessary verifications, the Commis-
2.
sion concludes that a Member State is not complying with its
obligations under Article 33, it shall suspend the pre-financing
or payment of the balance in accordance with Article 44.

The documents shall be kept either in the form of the originals
or in versions certified to be in conformity with the originals on
commonly accepted data carriers.

CHAPTER VIII

FINANCIAL CORRECTIONS

Article 46

Financial corrections by Member States

shall,

in the first

1. Member States
the
responsibility for investigating irregularities, acting upon evi-
dence of any major change affecting the nature or the conditions
for the implementation or control of programmes and making
the required financial corrections.

instance, bear

2. Member States shall make the financial corrections required
in connection with the individual or systemic irregularities
detected in actions or annual programmes.

Corrections made by Member States shall consist in cancelling,
and if applicable, recovering all or part of the Community
contribution. Where the amount is not repaid in the time
allowed by the relevant Member State, default interest shall be
due at the rate provided for in Article 49(2). Member States shall
take into account the nature and gravity of the irregularities and
the financial loss to the Fund.

3.
In the event of systemic irregularities the relevant Member
State shall extend its enquiries to cover all operations liable to be
affected.

include in the final report on the
4. Member States shall
implementation of
the annual programme referred to in
Article 53 a list of cancellation procedures initiated for the
annual programme concerned.

Article 48

Criteria for the corrections

1. The Commission may make financial corrections by
cancelling all or part of the Community contribution to an
annual programme where, after carrying out
the necessary
examination, it concludes that:

(a)

(b)

(c)

there is a serious deficiency in the management and control
system of
the programme which has put at risk the
Community contribution already paid to the programme;

contained in a

expenditure
certified declaration of
expenditure is irregular and has not been corrected by the
Member State prior to the opening of
the correction
procedure under this paragraph;

a Member State has not complied with its obligations under
Article 33 prior to the opening of the correction procedure
under this paragraph.

The Commission shall decide after having taken into account any
comments made by the Member State.

2. The Commission shall base its financial corrections on
individual cases of irregularity identified, taking account of the
systemic nature of the irregularity to determine whether a flat-
rate or extrapolated correction should be applied. Where the
irregularity relates to a declaration of expenditure for which a
reasonable assurance had previously been given by the audit
authority in accordance with Article 32(3)(b), there will be a
presumption of a systemic problem giving rise to the application
of a flat-rate or extrapolated correction, unless the Member State
can provide proof within three months to rebut this presump-
tion.

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3. The Commission shall, when deciding the amount of a
correction, take account of the importance of the irregularity and
the extent and financial implications of the deficiencies found in
the annual programme concerned.

4. Where the Commission bases its position on the facts
established by auditors other than those of its own services, it
shall draw its own conclusions
financial
consequences, after examining the measures taken by the
the reports of
Member State concerned under Article 34,
notified irregularities and any replies from the Member State.

regarding the

pursued under other relevant Community policies, instruments
and initiatives.

4. As a part of the report for the period 2007 to 2010 referred
to in Article 52(3)(c), the Commission shall assess the impact of
the Fund on the development of the policy and legislation on
external border control, assess the synergies between the Fund
and the tasks of the Agency as well as the appropriateness of the
criteria established to allocate the funds between the Member
States in light of the objectives pursued by the European Union
in this area.

Article 49

Repayment

Article 52

Reporting obligations

1. Any repayment due to be made to the general budget of the
European Union shall be effected before the due date indicated in
the order for recovery drawn up in accordance with Article 72 of
the Financial Regulation. This due date shall be the last day of the
second month following the issuing of the order.

2. Any delay in effecting repayment shall give rise to interest on
account of late payment, starting on the due date and ending on
the date of actual payment. The rate of such interest shall be the
rate applied by the European Central Bank to its principal
refinancing operations, as published in the C series of the Official
Journal of the European Union, in force on the first calendar day
of the month in which the due date falls, increased by three and a
half percentage points.

Article 50

Obligations of Member States

1.
In each Member State the responsible authority shall take
the necessary measures to ensure project monitoring and
evaluation.

To that end, the agreements and contracts it concludes with the
organisations responsible for the implementation of the actions
shall include clauses laying down an obligation to submit regular
and detailed reports on the progress of implementation and
completion of the assigned objectives, which shall be the basis
for,
reports on the
the progress and final
implementation of the annual programme.

respectively,

2. The Member States shall submit to the Commission:

(a)

by 30 June 2010, an evaluation report on the implementa-
tion of actions co-financed by the Fund;

A financial correction by the Commission shall not prejudice the
Member State's obligation to pursue recoveries under Article 46.

(b)

CHAPTER IX

MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REPORTS

Article 51

Monitoring and evaluation

1. The Commission shall carry out regular monitoring of the
Fund in cooperation with the Member States.

2. The Fund shall be evaluated by the Commission in
partnership with the Member States to assess the relevance,
effectiveness and impact of actions in the light of the objectives
referred to in Article 3 in the context of the preparation for the
reports set out in Article 52(3).

by 30 June 2012 for the period 2007 to 2010 and by
30 June 2015 for the period 2011 to 2013 respectively, an
evaluation report on the results and impact of actions co-
financed by the Fund.

3. The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament,
the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and
the Committee of the Regions:

(a)

(b)

by 30 June 2010, a report to review Articles 14 and 15,
together with proposals
if deemed
necessary;

for amendments

by 31 December 2010, an intermediate report on the
results achieved and on qualitative and quantitative aspects
of implementation of the Fund, together with a proposal on
the Fund's future development;

3. The Commission shall also consider the complementarity
between the actions implemented under the Fund and those

(c)

by 31 December 2012 for the period 2007 to 2010 and
the period 2011 to 2013
31 December 2015 for
respectively, an ex-post evaluation report.

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Article 53

Final report on the implementation of the annual
programme

the annual
1. The final report on the implementation of
programme shall include the following information in order to
obtain a clear view of the implementation of the programme:

(a)

(b)

the financial and operational implementation of the annual
programme;

the progress made in implementing the multiannual
programme and its priorities in relation to its specific,
verifiable targets, with a quantification, wherever and
whenever they lend themselves to quantification, of the
indicators;

(c)

the steps taken by the responsible authority to ensure the
quality and effectiveness of implementation, in particular:

(i) monitoring and evaluation measures, including data

collection arrangements;

(ii)

a summary of any significant problems encountered
in implementing the operational programme and any
measures taken;

(iii)

the use made of technical assistance;

(d)

the measures taken to provide information on and make
public the annual and multiannual programmes.

2. The report shall be judged acceptable where it contains all
the information listed in paragraph 1. The Commission shall
reach a decision on the content of the report submitted by the
responsible authority within two months of having received all
the information referred to in paragraph 1, which shall be
acknowledged to the Member States. If the Commission does not
respond within the time limit laid down, the report shall be
deemed to be accepted.

3. The Commission shall communicate to the Agency the
approved final reports on the implementation of the annual
programme.

CHAPTER X

TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Article 54

Preparation of the multiannual programme

1. By way of derogation from Article 20, Member States shall:

(b)

the
by 30 September 2007, submit a description of
management and control systems referred to in Article 34
(2).

2. By 1 July 2007, the Commission shall provide Member
States with:

(a)

(b)

an estimate of the amounts allocated to them for the
financial year 2007;

estimates of the amounts to be allocated to them for the
financial years 2008 to 2013, on the basis of an
extrapolation of the calculation for the estimate for the
financial year 2007, bearing in mind the proposed annual
appropriations for the years 2007 to 2013 as set out in the
Financial Framework.

Article 55

The preparation of the 2007 and 2008 annual programmes

1. By way of derogation from Article 23, the following time
table shall apply for implementation in the financial year 2007
and 2008:

(a)

(b)

(c)

by 1 July 2007, the Commission shall provide Member
States with an estimate of the amounts allocated to them
for the financial year 2007;

by 1 December 2007, Member States shall present the draft
annual programme for 2007 to the Commission;

by 1 March 2008, Member States shall present the draft
annual programme for 2008 to the Commission.

2. As concerns the 2007 annual programme, expenditure
actually disbursed between 1 January 2007 and the date on
which the financing decision approving the annual programme
of the Member State concerned is adopted may qualify for
support from the Fund.

3. To allow for the adoption in 2008 of financing decisions
approving the annual programme for 2007, the Commission
shall make the Community budgetary commitment for 2007 on
the basis of the estimate of the amount to be allocated to the
Member States, calculated as provided by Articles 14 and 15.

CHAPTER XI

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 56

Committee

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the
common
Committee ‘Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows’,
established by this Decision.

(a)

as soon as possible after 7 June 2007 but no later than
22 June 2007, designate the national responsible authority
referred to in Article 27(1)(a), as well as, where appropriate,
the delegated authority;

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7
of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

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3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1) to
(4) and 5(b) and Article 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply,
having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The time-limits laid down in Article 5a(3)(c), (4)(b) and (4)(e) of
Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at six weeks.

Article 57

Review

This Decision shall apply from 7 June 2007, with the exception
of Articles 14, 15, 20, 21, 23, 27, Article 33(2), Article 33(5),
Article 34, Article 37(4) and Article 56 which shall apply from
1 January 2007.

Article 59

Addressees

The European Parliament and the Council shall review this
Decision on the basis of a proposal from the Commission by
30 June 2013.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States in accordance
with the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Article 58

Done at Brussels, 23 May 2007.

Entry into force and application

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

H.-G. PÖTTERING

The President

G. GLOSER