CELEX: 51990PC0534(04)
Language: en
Date: 1990-11-29
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) AMENDING REGULATION ( EEC ) NO 1417/76 ON THE FINANCIAL PROVISIONS APPLYING TO THE EUROPEAN FOUNDATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS

No C 23/38                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                    31. 1. 91
                Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 1417/76 on the
                financial provisions applying to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
                                                         Working Conditions
                                                         COM(90) 534 final
                                       (Submitted by the Commission on 17 December 1990)
                                                            (91/C 23/05)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                              HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                                            Article 1
Economic Community, and in particular Article 209
thereof,                                                              Regulation (EEC) No 1417/76 is hereby amended as
                                                                      follows:
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1365/75
of 26 May 1975 on the creation of a European Foundation                 1. in Article 1(1), 'estimated' is deleted;
for the Improvement of Living and                      Working
Conditions (*), as last amended by Regulation (EEC)
No 000 ( 2 ), and in particular Article 16 thereof,                     2. Article 1 (2) is replaced by the following paragraphs 2
                                                                           and 3:
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                         '2. Expenditure may not be authorized for a period
                                                                           extending beyond the financial year.
Having regard         to   the   opinion   of   the   European             3. Administrative expenditure arising from:
Parliament,                                                                — contracts which have been               concluded,   in
                                                                                 accordance with local usage, or
Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors,                     — contractual provisions relating, in particular, to
                                                                                 the supply of equipment,
Whereas, pursuant to Article 130 of the Financial                          for periods extending beyond the financial year shall
Regulation of 21 December 1977 ( 3 ), as last amended by                   be charged to the statement of revenue and
Council        Regulation       (Euratom,      ECSC,      EEC)             expenditure for the financial year in which it is
No 610/90 ( 4 ), the financial provisions governing the                    effected.'
Foundation should approximate as closely as possible to
the provisions of the Financial Regulation applicable to the
general budget of the European Communities and must                     3. Article 2 is replaced by the following.
therefore be updated;
                                                                            'Article 2
Whereas the Treaty of 22 July 1975, amending certain                       The budget appropriations must be used in
financial provisions of the Treaties establishing the                      accordance with the principles of sound financial
European Communities and of the Treaty establishing a                      management, and in particular those of economy and
single Council and a single Commission of the European                     cost-effectiveness. Quantified objectives must be
Communities modified the procedure for giving a discharge                  identified and the progress of their realization
to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the                  monitored.';
budget, and substituted the Court of Auditors for the Audit
Board in all the texts referring to the Audit Board;
                                                                        4. Article 3 (1) is replaced by the following:
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1417/76 (5) should                     ' 1 . Subject to Article 22, all revenue and expenditure
be amended accordingly,                                                     shall be entered in full in the statement of revenue and
                                                                            expenditure and in the accounts without any
                                                                            adjustment against each other.';
0)  OJ No L 139, 30. 5. 1975, p. 1.
(2) See page 27 of this Official Journal.                               5. The first subparagraph of Article 3 (2) is replaced by
(3) OJ No L 356,31. 12. 1977, p. 1.                                         the following:
(4) O J N o L 7 0 , 16.3. 1990, p. 1.
(5) OJ No L 164, 24. 6. 1976, p. 16.                                        '2.Total revenue shall cover total expenditure.
 ---pagebreak--- 31. 1. 91                                Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 23/39
    However, certain revenues shall not be used for any                           —    appropriations carried over by decision
     other purpose, notably:                                                           under point 1 (b) which have been
                                                                                       neither committed nor paid,
     — revenue earmarked for a specific purpose, such as
          income from foundations, subsidies, gifts and                           —    appropriations        carried        over
          bequests,                                                                    automatically under point 1 (c) which
                                                                                       have not been paid;
     — revenue from third parties in respect of work
          carried out at their request.'                                    (b) appropriations of the financial year which are
                                                                                  not being carried over.
     The second        and   third  subparagraphs     become
     paragraph 3;
                                                                        5. A list of automatic carryovers shall be sent to the
                                                                            Commission for its information before 1 March.
 6. Article 6 is replaced by the following:                                 The Commission shall forward this list to the
     'Article 6                                                             European Parliament and the Council for their
                                                                            information.
     The following rules shall govern the utilization of
     appropriations:                                                    6. For the purpose of implementing the statement of
                                                                            revenue and expenditure, the use of appropriations
     1. (a)    The appropriations relating to staff may not                 carried over shall be shown separately, for each
               be carried over.                                             budget item, in the accounts for the current
         (b) The appropriations not committed at                            financial year.';
               31 December may be carried over to the next
               financial year only.
         (c)   The appropriations in respect of payments             7. The following paragraph is added to Article 7:
               still outstanding at 31 December            for
               commitments properly entered into between                'Expenditure relating to rents or certain associated
               1 January and 31 December shall be carried               expenditure which is payable in advance in accordance
               over automatically to the next financial year            with provisions laid down by law or contracts may
               only.                                                    give rise to payments from 20 December onwards to
                                                                        be charged to the appropriations for the next financial
    2. For the appropriations mentioned in point 1 (b)                  year.';
         the Commission shall forward to the budgetary
         authority, not later than 15 February, the
         duly-substantiated     requests to carry        over
         appropriations which the Foundation has sent to it          8. (a) the first paragraph of Article 8 is numbered
         before 1 February.                                                  paragraph 1. The following subparagraph is
                                                                              added:
         The carryover of such appropriations may be
         proposed only for exceptional reasons to satisfy                     'An item of expenditure shall be considered as
         compelling needs which cannot be covered by                         having been approved in principle in the last
         appropriations for the following financial year. In                  statement duly adopted if it could have been
         principle, such carryovers shall be to cover needs                   charged to a specific budget heading under the
         remaining from the previous financial year for                      financial year concerned.';
         which, owing to delays which were not the fault of
         the authorizing officers, the appropriations could             (b) the second paragraph is numbered paragraph 2
         not be used in time.                                                 and the third, paragraph 3;
         The European Parliament shall consult the
                                                                        (c)  the following paragraph 4 is added:
         Council and shall act on these requests for
         carryovers.                                                         '4. If, for a given chapter, the authorization of
                                                                             two or more provisional twelfths granted in the
         In the absence of a decision by the budgetary
                                                                             circumstances provided for in paragraph 3 does
         authority within a period of six weeks, the
                                                                             not enable the expenditure necessary to avoid a
         requests for carryovers shall be deemed to be
                                                                             break in continuity of the Foundation's activity in
         approved.
                                                                             the area in question to be met, an overstepping of
    3. Unused revenue and appropriations still available                     the total provided for in paragraph 3 may,
         on 31 December, arising out of the donations                        exceptionally, be authorized in accordance with
         referred to in Article 3 (2), shall be carried over                 the same procedure, provided that the overall
         automatically.                                                      total of the appropriations opened in the
                                                                             statement of revenue and expenditure of the
    4. The following appropriations shall lapse at the end                   preceding year is not exceeded.';
         of the year:
         (a)   appropriations from the previous financial
              year:                                                  9. Article 9 is deleted;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 23/40                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                  31. 1. 91
10. Article 10 becomes Article 9 and is replaced by the                 recruitment of other staff within the limits laid down
     following:                                                         by the budgetary authority in the budgetary
                                                                        procedure.
     'Article 9
     The statement of revenue and expenditure shall be                  (*) OJ No L 214, 6. 8. 1976, p. 1.';
     drawn up in ecus. The value of the ecu and the
     arrangements for its conversion into national                  17. Article 17 becomes Article 16.
    currencies shall be as laid down in the Financial
     Regulation applicable to the general budget of the                 In the second subparagraph, 'receivable orders and
     European Communities.';                                            payment orders' is replaced by 'recovery orders and
                                                                        payment orders';
11. Article 11 becomes Article 10.
                                                                    18. Article 18 becomes Article 17.
    The first subparagraph of paragraph 2 is replaced by
    the following:                                                      'Audit Board' is replaced by 'Court of Auditors' in the
                                                                        second paragraph;
    'In the event of unavoidable, exceptional or
    unforeseen circumstances, the Administrative Board of
                                                                    19. the following Article 18 is inserted:
    the Foundation may send supplementary or amending
    estimates to the Commission. Such estimates shall be
                                                                        'Article 18
    presented and adopted in the same form and following
    the same procedure as the statement whose forecasts                 Where revenue and expenditure operations are
    they amend. They must be justified by reference to the              managed by means of integrated computer systems,
    statement.';                                                        the provisions of Sections II and III and of Title VI
                                                                        shall apply with due allowance for the possibilities
                                                                        and requirements deriving from computerized
12. Article 12 becomes Article 11;                                      management. To this end:
13. Article 13 becomes Article 12;                                      — the supporting documents may remain with the
                                                                            authorizing officer or the accounting officer for the
                                                                            purposes of checking,
14. Article 14 becomes         Article 13.   The    following
    paragraph is added:                                                 — signatures and approvals may           be added      in
                                                                            appropriate computerized form.
    'The statement of revenue and expenditure of          the
    Foundation and the list of posts shall be published    for          The conditions for implementing this Article shall be
    information purposes in the Official Journal of       the           determined by the implementing rules provided for in
    European Communities, at the same time as             the           Article 77.';
    budget of the Communities.';
                                                                   20. the first paragraph of Article 19 is replaced by the
15. Article 15 becomes Article 14.                                      following:
    The following phrase is deleted from point (c):                     'The financial controller of the Commission shall be
                                                                        responsible for checking the commitment and
    'such comments may be binding, in which case this                   payment of all expenditure and the establishment and
    fact shall be specifically mentioned.';                             recovery of all revenue of the Foundation, in
                                                                        accordance with the principles laid down in
                                                                        Article 2.'
16. Article 16 becomes Article 15 and is replaced by. the
    following:                                                          The fourth paragraph is deleted;
    'Article 15                                                    21. (a) the following paragraph is inserted after the
                                                                              second paragraph of Article 20:
    The establishment plan drawn up by the budgetary
                                                                              'He shall be responsible for preparing the
    authority shall constitute an absolute limit for the
                                                                              financial statements provided for in Articles 67
    Foundation; no appointment may be made in excess
                                                                              and 68.';
    of that limit.
                                                                        (b) the following paragraph is added:
    Instances of half-time work authorized by the Director
    in accordance with Article 29a of Council Regulation                      'The special rules applicable to the accounting
    (ECSC, EC, Euratom) No 1860/76 (*) laying down                            officer and to assistant accounting officers shall
    the conditions of employment of staff of the                              be laid down in the implementing rules provided
    Foundation may be compensated for by the                                  for in Article 77.';
 ---pagebreak--- 31. 1. 91                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 23/41
22. the following paragraph 5 is inserted in Article 21.             24. Article 23 is replaced by the following:
     '5.Appropriations may be transferred only to budget                  'Article 23
     headings for which the statement of revenue and
    expenditure has authorized appropriations or carried                  1. All measures which may give rise to a debt due to
     a token entry.'                                                     the Foundation must be preceded by a proposal from
                                                                         the authorizing officer. Such proposals shall be sent to
     The former paragraph 5 becomes paragraph 6;                         the financial controller for his approval and to the
                                                                         accounting officer for provisional registration. They
                                                                         shall mention, in particular, the type of revenue, the
                                                                         estimated amount thereof and the item to which it is
23. points (b) and (c) of Article 22 are replaced by the                 to be booked and also the name and description of the
    following:                                                           debtor. They shall be registered after approval by the
                                                                         financial controller. The latter's approval shall serve
                                                                         to establish that:
    '(b) the following sums may be reused under the
          heading to which the initial expenditure was
          charged:                                                       (a) the revenue is booked to the correct item;
          — revenue arising from the refund of amounts                   (b) the proposal is in order and conforms to the
               paid in error against appropriations entered                     relevant provisions, in particular of the statement
               in the statement of revenue and expenditure,                     of revenue and expenditure applying to the
                                                                                Foundation     and of all acts made in
          — proceeds from the supply of goods and                               implementation of those Regulations, and to the
               services to other institutions or bodies,                       principles of sound financial management
               including refunds by such institutions or                        referred to in Article 2.
               bodies of mission allowances paid on their
               behalf,
                                                                         The financial controller may withhold his approval.
          — insurance payments received,                                 The authorizing officer may, by a decision stating the
                                                                         full reasons therefor, and on his sole responsibility,
          — revenue from         payments    connected    with           overrule this refusal. The decision of the authorizing
               lettings,                                                 officer shall be final and binding; it shall be
                                                                         communicated for information to the financial
          — revenue from the sale of publications and                    controller. The Administrative Board of the
               films,                                                    Foundation shall inform the Court of Auditors of all
                                                                         such decisions within one month.
          — refunds of taxes — incorporated in the price
               of the products or services provided to the               2. The competent authorizing officer shall draw up,
               Foundation — effected by Member States                    in respect of every debt established, a recovery order
              pursuant to the provisions of the Protocol on              which shall be sent with supporting documents to the
              the Privileges and Immunities of the European              financial controller for his prior approval. Such
               Communities,                                              recovery orders shall, after they have received the
                                                                         approval of the financial controller, be registered by
          — revenue from the supply of goods and services                the accounting officer.
              against payment,
          — proceeds from the sale of vehicles, equipment                The purpose of the approval of the financial controller
               and installations and scientific and technical            shall be to establish that:
               apparatus, equipment and materials which
              are being replaced or scrapped.                            (a) the revenue is booked to the correct item;
                                                                         (b) the order is in order and conforms to the relevant
          Such sums must be reused before the end of the                       provisions;
          financial year following that in which the revenue
          was collected.                                                 (c)   the supporting documents are in order;
                                                                         (d) the debtor is correctly described;
          The chart of accounts shall include suspense
          accounts to record reuse operations in both
                                                                         (e)   the due date is indicated;
          revenue and expenditure;
                                                                         (f)   the principles of sound financial management
    (c)   adjustments may be made in respect of exchange                       referred to in Article 2 have been applied;
          differences occurring in budget operations. The
          final gain or loss shall be included in the balance            (g) the amount and currency of the sum to be
         for the year.';                                                       recovered are correct.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 23/42                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                  31. 1. 91
    If the financial controller's approval is withheld, the            expenditure, the estimated amount              involved,
    second subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall apply.';                  indicating the currency where possible, the budget
                                                                       item to which it is to be charged and also the name
                                                                       and description of the creditor; they shall be
25. Article 24 is replaced by the following:                           registered, after approval by the financial controller,
                                                                       in accordance with the implementing rules provided
     'Article 24
                                                                       for in Article 77.';
    l.The accounting officer shall assume responsibility
    for the recovery orders duly drawn up.                         29. (a) Article 29 (d) is replaced by the following:
    He shall exercise all due diligence to ensure that the                   '(d) the    principles    of    sound     financial
    resources due to the Foundation are recovered at the                           management referred to in Article 2 have
    due dates stipulated in the recovery orders, and that                          been applied.';
    the rights of the Foundation are safeguarded.
                                                                       (b) the second        paragraph    is replaced   by  the
    The accounting officer shall inform the authorizing                      following:
    officer and the financial controller of any revenue not                  'Approval may not be conditional.';
    recovered within the time limits laid down.
    2. If the authorizing officer waives the right to recover      30. in Article 30, the last sentence of the third paragraph
    an established debt, he must notify the financial                  is replaced by the following:
    controller.
                                                                       'The Administrative Board shall inform the Court of
    The purpose of the approval of the financial controller            Auditors of all such decisions within one month.';
    shall be to establish that the waiver is in order and
    conforms with the principles of sound financial
                                                                   31. (this amendment to Article 33 does not affect the
    management. The corresponding proposal shall be
                                                                       English text);
    registered by the accounting officer.
    If approval is withheld, the Administrative Board              32. (a)   (this amendment to Article 34 does not affect the
    may, by a decision stating the full reasons therefor,                    English text);
    and on its sole responsibility, overrule this refusal.
    This decision shall be final and binding; it shall be              (b) in Article 34, the third indent of the first
    communicated for information to the financial                            paragraph is replaced by the following:
    controller.
                                                                             '— the amount to be paid (in figures and
                                                                                   words), expressed in ecus or in national
    The Administrative Board shall inform the Court of
                                                                                   currency,';
    Auditors of all such decisions within one month.
    When the financial controller finds that a document            33. in Article 35, 'in Article 52' is replaced by 'in
    establishing a debt has not been drawn up, or that a               Article 53';
    sum due has not been recovered, he shall inform the
    Administrative Board.';
                                                                   34. (this amendment to Article 36 does not affect the
                                                                       English text);
26. In Article 26, 'of Article 12' is replaced by 'of
    Article 11';
                                                                   35. Article 37 is replaced by the following:
27. Article 27 (2) is replaced by the following:
                                                                       'Article 37
    '2. The procedure for implementing paragraph 1
                                                                       Without prejudice to Article 18, payment orders shall
    above shall be determined by the implementing rules
                                                                       be sent to the financial controller for prior approval.
    provided for in Article 77. This procedure shall ensure
    that an exact account is kept of commitments and                   The purpose of this prior approval shall be to
    authorizations in terms of actual needs.';                         establish that:
                                                                       (a) the payment order was properly issued;
28. Article 28 is replaced by the following:
                                                                       (b) the payment order agrees with the commitment
    'Article 28                                                              of expenditure and that the amount thereof is
                                                                             correct, taking account of the principles and
    Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 18,                       requirments of sound financial management
    proposals for commitments, accompanied by                                referred to in Article 2;
    supporting documents, shall be transmitted to the
                                                                       (c)   the expenditure is charged to the correct item;
    financial controller and to the accounting officer; they
    shall show, in particular, the purpose of the                      (d) the appropriations are available;
 ---pagebreak--- 31. 1. 91                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 23/43
    (e)    the supporting documents are in order;                        Apart from contracts relating to the purchase of a
                                                                         building already constructed or to the leasing of a
    (f)    the payee is correctly named and described.';
                                                                         building, all such contracts shall be concluded after an
                                                                         invitation to tender has been issued either by the
36. (this amendment to Article 39 does not affect the                    automatic public tendering procedure or the
     English text);                                                      discretionary tendering procedure.
37. in Article 42, the second paragraph is replaced by the               However, contracts may be made by private treaty in
     following:                                                          the circumstances referred to in Article 47.
     'The procedure for opening, administering and using                 Contracts may be made against invoice or bill of costs
     such accounts shall be determined by the                            in cases provided for in Article 51.';
     implementing rules provided for in Article 77. These
     rules shall, in particular, indicate which items of
     expenditure must necessarily be paid either by cheque           41. Article 45 becomes Article 46.
     or by post office or bank transfer order, and shall
     require the joint signature an cheques and on post                  In paragraph 3, 'in Article 76' is replaced by 'in
     office or bank transfer orders of two duly authorized               Article 77';
     officials, one signature necessarily being that of the
     accounting officer, an assistant accounting officer, or
     an administrator of an imprest account.';
                                                                     42. Article 46 becomes Article 47.
38. (a)    in Article 43, the following paragraph is inserted
           after the first paragraph:                                    Point (a) of this Article is replaced by the following:
           'Only the accounting officer may replenish the                '(a) where the contract for the purchase or hiring of
           imprest accounts, save in exceptional cases                          goods, for the provision of services or for
           defined in the implementing rules of this                            building works involves an amount not exceeding
           Regulation.';                                                        the limit laid down in the implementing rules
                                                                                provided for in Article 126 of the Financial
     (b) in the third paragraph, 'in Article 76' is replaced                    Regulation applicable to the general budget of the
           by 'in Article 77';                                                  Communities, the Foundation being bound,
                                                                                however, as far as possible and by all appropriate
39. a new Section IV is inserted after Article 43, with the                     means, to enable suppliers who are likely to be
     following new Article 44:                                                  able to supply the goods and services in
                                                                                question.';
                                                                         in point b,      'in  Article 45'  is  replaced   by   'in
     'SECTION IV                                                         Article 46';
     MANAGEMENT OF POSTS
                                                                     43. Article 47 becomes Article 48;
     Article 44
   ' 1. The following shall be established:                          44. Article 48 becomes Article 49 and is replaced by the
                                                                         following:
     (a)   a file identifying the posts and containing a job
           description for each category A post;
                                                                          'Article 49
     (b) an organization chart showing the organization
           of the departments detailing the tasks of each
                                                                         Contracts involving amounts exceeding the amount
           administrative unit.
                                                                         laid down in the implementing rules provided for in
     2. If the note "to be abolished" is placed against a post           Article 126 of the Financial Regulation applicable to
     in the statement of revenue and expenditure, it may no              the general budget of the Communities shall be subject
     longer be filled when the next vacancy arises in the                to the authorization of the Administrative Board.';
     same career.';
40. Article 44 becomes Article 45:                                   45. Article 49 becomes Article 50.
     The first paragraph of that Article is replaced by the
                                                                         in the third paragraph, 'exceeding 100 000 units of
     following:                                                          account' is replaced by 'exceeding the limit laid down
     '1.Contracts for the purchase or hiring of buildings or             in the implementing rules provided for in Article 126
     goods for the provision of services or for building                 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general
     works shall be in writing.                                          budget of the Communities';
 ---pagebreak--- No C 23/44                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                  31. 1. 91
46. Article 50 becomes Articles 51 and is replaced by the               The revenue and expenditure account and the balance
     following:                                                         sheet shall be drawn up in ecus.';
     'Article 51
                                                                    53. Article 57 becomes Article 58 and is replaced by the
     Contracts may be made against invoice or bill of costs             following:
     where the estimated value of the good, services or
     works does not exceed the limits laid down by the                   'Article 58
     implementing rules provided for in Article 126 of the
     Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget              The chart of accounts shall make a clear distinction
     of the Communities.';                                              between budgetary accounts and cash accounts.
                                                                        It shall comprise two parts:
47. Article 51 becomes Article 52 and is replaced by the                (a)    accounts of budgetary expenditure and revenue,
     following:                                                                which show the detailed implementation of the
                                                                               statement of revenue and expenditure;
     'Article 52                                                        (b) the balance sheet accounts, which disclose the
                                                                               assets of the Foundation. These accounts shall
    When concluding contracts referred to in this                              show the expected effect of the Foundation's legal
     Regulation, the Foundation shall comply with the                          obligations.
     relevant measures laid down by the Council in
     implementation of the Treaty.';                                    The accounts shall make it possible to draw up a
                                                                        balance of assets and a monthly statement of revenue
                                                                        and expenditure by chapter and article.
48. Article 52 becomes Article 53.
                                                                        These statements shall be forwarded to the financial
    In the first paragraph, 'under Article 76' is replaced by           controller, the authorizing officer and the Court of
    'under Article 77';                                                 Auditors.';
49. Article 53 becomes Article 54.                                  54. Article 58 becomes Article 59;
    In the first paragraph, 'under Article 76' is replaced by
                                                                   55. Article 59 becomes Article 60 and is replaced by the
    'under Article 77';
                                                                        following:
                                                                        'Article 60
50. Article 54 becomes Article 55.
                                                                        The detailed conditions for the establishment and
    The first paragraph is replaced by the following:                   operation of the chart of accounts for transactions
                                                                        relating both to assets and to the implementation of
    'A statement or record shall be drawn up by the                     the budget shall be determined by the implementing
    authorizing officer and authenticated by the financial              rules provided for in Article 77.';
    controller whenever any property in the inventory is
    sold, given away free of charge, scrapped, hired out,
    or missing on account of loss, theft or any other              56. Article 60 becomes Article 6 1 ;
    reason.';
                                                                   57. Article 61 becomes Article 62.
51. Article 55 becomes Article 56.
                                                                        (a)   'Receivable orders' is replaced by 'recovery
    In the first paragraph, 'in Article 52' is replaced by 'in                orders'. (A further amendment does not affect the
    Article 53';                                                              English text.);
                                                                        (b) The following paragraph is added:
52. Article 56 becomes Article 57 and is replaced by the                      'The same shall apply if they neglect to issue
    following:                                                                payment orders or are, without justification, late
                                                                              in issuing them, thereby rendering the
    'Article 57                                                               Foundation liable to civil action by third
                                                                              parties.';
    The accounts shall be kept in ecus by the method of
    double entry, on the basis of the calender year. They
    shall show all revenue and expenditure for the                 58. Article 62 becomes Article 63.
    financial year; they shall be authenticated by
    supporting documents. They may in addition be kept                  (a) In the third subparagraph of paragraph 1,
    in the currency of the country where the Foundation                       'receivable orders' is replaced by 'recovery
    has its seat.                                                             orders'.
 ---pagebreak--- 31. 1. 91                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 23/45
     (b) Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:                            — revenue collected during the financial year and
                                                                                  revenue carried over pursuant to Article 6 {3),
          '3. The accounting officer, assistant accounting
          officers and administrators of advance funds shall                  — amounts still to be collected at the end of the
          insure themselves against the risks arising under                       financial year,
          this Article.
                                                                              — the cancellation of established entitlements.
          The Foundation shall cover the insurance costs
          relating thereto.                                                   A statement shall be annexed, where appropriate,
                                                                              to this table, showing the balances and gross
          A special allowance is granted to the accounting                    amounts of the transactions referred to in
          officer,    assistant accounting officers        and                Article 22;
          administrators of advance funds. The sums
          corresponding to this allowance shall be credited              2. a table showing changes in appropriations for the
          each month to an account opened by the                              financial year, indicating:
          Foundation on behalf of each of the above
          officials in order to establish a guarantee fund for               — the initial appropriations,
          the purpose of covering any cash shortage or                       — any amendments to appropriations made by
          which the person concerned might be liable, in so                       means of transfers,
          far as such shortages have not been covered by
          refunds from insurance companies.                                  — any amendments made by means                   of
                                                                                  supplementary or amending statements,
          The credit balance in these guarantee accounts
          shall be paid over to the persons concerned when                   — the final appropriations for the financial year,
          they terminate their appointment as accounting
          officer,    assistant    acccounting     officer  or               — appropriations carried over under Article 6;
          administrator of imprest accounts.';
                                                                         3. a table of expenditure showing the use of the
                                                                             appropriations allocated for the financial year,
59. Article 63 becomes Article 64 and is replaced by the                     indicating:
    following:
                                                                             — the commitments entered into and chargeable
    'Article 64                                                                   to the financial year,
                                                                             — the payments made and chargeable to the
    Authorizing officers, accounting officers, assistant
                                                                                  financial year,
    accounting officers and administrators of imprest
    accounts may be liable to payment of compensation                        — the amounts still to be paid at the close of the
    and to disciplinary action in accordance with the                             financial year,
    provisions of Regulation (ECSC, EEC, Euratom)
    No 1860/76';                                                             — the appropriations carried over automatically
                                                                                  under Article 6,
60. Article 64 becomes Article 65;                                           — appropriations lapsing.
                                                                             A statement shall be annexed to this table, where
61. Article 65 becomes Article 66;                                           appropriate, showing the balances and gross
                                                                             amounts of the transactions referred to in
                                                                             Article 22;
62. Article 66 becomes Article 61 and is replaced by the
    following:                                                           4. a table showing the use of appropriations carried
                                                                             over from the preceding financial             year,
    'Article 67                                                              indicating:
    The revenue and expenditure account shall include the                    — the amount of appropriations carried over,
    following tables subdivided in accordance with the
    nomenclature of the Foundation's statement of                            — the payments made from appropriations which
    revenue and expenditure:                                                      have been carried over,
                                                                             — the unused appropriations lapsing';
    1. a table of revenue comprising:
        — estimated revenue for the financial year,
                                                                    63. Article 61 becomes Article 68 and is replaced by the
        — amendments to the revenue estimates as a                       following:
            result of supplementary            or    amending
             statements,                                                 'Article 68
        -^ entitlements established in the course of the
                                                                         1. The Administrative Board shall also draw up a
            financial year,
                                                                         balance sheet of the assets and liabilities of the
        — entitlements still to be collected from the                   Foundation at 31 December of the preceding financial
            preceding financial year,                                   year.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 23/46                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                   31. 1. 91
    A statement of accounts showing cash movements and                 (c)   The seventh paragraph        is replaced   by the
    balances at the same date shall be attached thereto.                     following:
                                                                             'The grant of aid to beneficiairies outside the
    The balance sheet shall include, on the assets side, the
                                                                             Foundation shall be subject to the acceptance in
    amount of revenue to be collected and, on the
                                                                             writing by the recipients of an audit being carried
    liabilities side, the amount of expenditure chargeable
                                                                             out by the Court of Auditors on the utilization of
    to the financial year, which have not yet been entered
                                                                             the amounts granted.';
    in the accounts.
    2. These documents shall be submitted to the financial         68. Article 72 becomes Article 73 and is replaced by the
    controller.';                                                      following:
                                                                       'Article 73
64. Article 68 becomes Article 69 and is replaced by the               The report of the Court of Auditors established in
    following:                                                         accordance with Article 206 a of the Treaty shall be
                                                                       governed by the following provisions:
     'Article 69
                                                                       1. the Court of Auditors shall transmit to the
     1. The Administrative Board shall, by 31 March at the                 Foundation and the Commission, by 15 July at the
    latest, send the revenue and expenditure account, the                  latest, any comments on the accounts and the
    analysis of financial management and the balance                       balance sheet which are, in its opinion, of such a
    sheet of the Foundation for the preceding financial                    nature that they should appear in the annual
    year to the Commission, the Council, the European                      reports.     These     comments      must     remain
    Parliament and the Court of Auditors.                                  confidential. The Foundation shall address its
                                                                           reply to the Court of Auditors and simultaneously
    2. The Foundation shall, not later than 1 March,                       to the Commission;
    transmit to the Commssion, after submitting it to the
    financial controller, the information required for                 2. the Court of Auditors shall attach to its report an
    drawing up the revenue and expenditure account and                     assessment of the soundness of financial
    the balance sheet.';                                                   management;
                                                                       3. the Court shall take all necessary steps to ensure
                                                                           that the replies of the Foundation to its comments
65. Article 69 becomes Article 70.
                                                                           are published immediately following those
                                                                           comments;
    'Audit Board' is replaced by 'Court of Auditors';
                                                                       4. the Court of Auditors shall transmit to the
                                                                           authorities responsible for giving discharge, to the
66. Article 70 becomes Article 71.                                         Foundation and to the Commission, by
                                                                           30 November at the latest, its annual report
    'Audit Board' is replaced by 'Court of Auditors';                      accompanied by the replies and it shall ensure
                                                                           publication thereof in the Official Journal of the
                                                                           European Communities;
67. Article 71 becomes Article 72.
    'Audit Board' is replaced by 'Court of Auditors'.              69. Article 73 is deleted;
    (a)    The second     paragraph   is replaced    by   the      70. Article 74 is replaced by the following:
          following:
                                                                       'Article 74
          'In particular, the Foundation shall place at the
          disposal of the Court of Auditors all documents              1. The European Parliament, upon a recommendation
          concerning the conclusion of contracts and all               from the Council acting by a qualified majority, shall,
          accounts of cash or materials, all accounting                before 30 April of the following year, give a discharge
          records or supporting documents, and also                    to the Administrative Board in respect of the
           administrative documents pertaining thereto, all            implementation of the statement of revenue and
          documents relating to revenue and expenditure,               expenditure. If that date cannot be met, the
          all inventories and all departmental organization            Parliament or the Council shall inform the
          charts which the Court of Auditors may consider              Administrative Board of the reasons for the
          necessary for auditing the revenue and                       postponement.
          expenditure account on the basis of records or on
                                                                       If the European Parliament postpones the decision
          the spot, and all documents and data created or
                                                                       giving discharge, the Administrative Board shall make
          stored on a magnetic medium.'
                                                                       every effort to take measures, as soon as possible, to
                                                                       facilitate removal of the obstacles to that decision.
    (b) The fourth paragraph is replaced by the
          following: 'The information supplied under (b)               2. The discharge decision shall cover the accounts of
          may be requested only by the Court of                        all revenue and expenditure of the Foundation, the
          Auditors.'                                                   resulting balance and the assets and liabilities of the
 ---pagebreak--- 31. 1. 91                              Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 23/47
     Foundation shown in the balance sheet. It shall              72. the following Article 76 is inserted:
     include an assessment of the responsibility of the
     Administrative Board's budgetary management over                  'Article 76
     the past financial year.
                                                                       Until the entry into force of the implementing rules
     3. The financial controller shall take account of the            provided for in Article 126 of the Financial Regulation
     comments in the decisions giving discharge.                      applicable to the general budget of the Communities,
                                                                      the limit values to be specified for the purposes of
                                                                      Articles 47, 49 50 and 51 shall be as follows:
     4. The Administrative Board shall take all appropriate
     steps to act on the comments appearing in the decision
     giving discharge.                                                — Article 47 (a): the limit below which contracts
                                                                           may be made by private treaty shall be
                                                                           ECU 10 000,
     5. At the request of the European Parliament, the
     Council or the Commission, the Foundation shall                  — Article 49: the limit above which the authorization
     report on the measures taken in the light of these                    of the Adminsitrative Board shall be required shall
    comments, and, in particular, on the instructions                      be ECU 35 000,
    given to those of its departments which are responsible
    for the implementation of the budget. Such reports
    shall also be transmitted to the Court of Auditors.               — third subparagraph of Article 50: the threshold for
                                                                           compulsory security shall be ECU 250 000,
    The Foundation must also give an account, in an                   — Article 51: the limits below which contracts may
    Annex to the revenue and expenditure account for the                   be made against invoice or bill of costs shall be
    next financial year, of the measures taken in the light                ECU 750 and ECU 2 000 respectively for
    of the comments appearing in the decisions giving                      expenditure away from the Foundation.';
    discharge.
    6. Supporting documents pertaining to the accounts           73. Article 76 becomes Article 77;
    and the preparation of the revenue and expenditure
    account and the balance sheet shall be kept for a
    period of five years following the date of the decision
                                                                 74. Article 77 becomes Article 78.
    giving discharge in respect of the implementation of
    the statement of revenue and expenditure.
    However, the documents relating to transactions not
                                                                                           Article 2
    finally closed shall be kept for longer than the said
    period until the end of the year following the year in
    which such transactions are finally closed';                 This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
                                                                 following its publication in the Official Journal of the
                                                                 European Communities.
71. in Article 75, 'Audit Board' is replaced by 'Court of
    Auditors' and 'of Articles . . . 14 and 21' by 'of           This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
    Articles . . . 13 and 21';                                   applicable in all Member States.