Article 68 Powers and duties of the accounting officer
1. Each institution shall appoint an accounting officer who shall be responsible in each institution for the following: (a) properly implementing payments, collecting revenue and recovering amounts established as being receivable; (b) preparing and presenting the accounts in accordance with Title IX of Part One; (c) keeping the accounts in accordance with Title IX of Part One; (d) laying down the accounting procedures and the chart of accounts, in accordance with Title IX of Part One; (e) laying down and validating the accounting systems and where appropriate validating systems laid down by the authorising officer to supply or justify accounting information; in this respect, the accounting officer shall be empowered to verify at any time compliance with validation criteria; (f) treasury management. The responsibilities of the accounting officer of the EEAS shall concern only the EEAS section of the budget as implemented by the EEAS. The accounting officer of the Commission shall remain responsible for the entire Commission section of the budget, including accounting operations relating to appropriations subdelegated to Heads of Union Delegations. The accounting officer of the Commission shall, subject to Article 213, also act as the accounting officer of the EEAS in respect of the implementation of the EEAS section of the budget. 2. The accounting officer of the Commission shall be responsible for laying down the accounting rules and the harmonised charts of accounts in accordance with Title IX of Part One. 3. The accounting officers shall obtain from authorising officers all the information necessary for the production of accounts which give a true and fair view of the institutions' financial situation and of budgetary implementation. The authorising officers shall guarantee the reliability of that information. 4. Before the adoption of the accounts by the institution, or body referred to in Article 208, the accounting officer shall sign them off, thereby certifying that he or she has reasonable assurance that the accounts present a true and fair view of the financial situation of the institution or body referred to in Article 208. For that purpose, the accounting officer shall verify that the accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting rules, referred to in Article 143, and the accounting procedures, referred to in point (d) of paragraph 1 of this Article, and that all revenue and expenditure is entered in the accounts. The authorising officers by delegation shall forward any information that the accounting officer needs in order to fulfil his or her duties. The authorising officers shall remain fully responsible for the proper use of the funds they manage, the legality and regularity of the expenditure under their control and the completeness and accuracy of the information forwarded to the accounting officer. 5. The accounting officer shall be empowered to check the information received as well as to carry out any further checks he or she deems necessary in order to sign off the accounts. The accounting officer shall make reservations, if necessary, explaining exactly the nature and scope of such reservations. 6. Except as otherwise provided for in this Regulation, only the accounting officer shall be empowered to manage cash and cash equivalents. The accounting officer shall be responsible for their safekeeping. 7. Within the implementation of a programme or an action, fiduciary accounts may be opened in the name of the Commission and on its behalf in order to allow their management by an entity entrusted pursuant to points (ii), (iii), (v) or (vi) of Article 58(1)(c). Such accounts shall be opened under the responsibility of the authorising officer in charge of the implementation of the programme or action in agreement with the accounting officer of the Commission. Such accounts shall be managed under the responsibility of the authorising officer. 8. The accounting officer of the Commission shall lay down rules for the opening, management and closure of fiduciary accounts and their use. 9. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the powers and duties of the accounting officer, including his or her appointment and termination of duties, his or her opinion on accounting and inventory systems, treasury and bank account management, signatures on accounts, management of account balances, transfer and conversion operations, methods of payment, legal entity files and the keeping of supporting documents.
Article 69 Powers which may be delegated by the accounting officer
1. The accounting officer may, in the performance of his or her duties, delegate certain tasks to subordinate staff. The instrument of delegation shall set out those tasks. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on persons empowered to administer accounts in a local unit.
Article 70 Imprest accounts
1. Imprest accounts may be set up for the collection of revenue other than own resources and for the payment of small sums as defined in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation. However, in the field of crisis management aid and humanitarian aid operations within the meaning of Article 128, imprest accounts may be used without any limitation on the amount, while respecting the level of appropriations decided by the European Parliament and the Council on the corresponding budget line for the current financial year. 2. Imprest accounts shall be endowed by the institution's accounting officer and shall be placed under the responsibility of imprest administrators designated by the institution's accounting officer. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the conditions for imprest accounts, including maximum amounts to be paid by imprest administrators and rules also for external actions, including rules regarding the choice of imprest administrators, the endowment of imprest accounts, checks by authorising and accounting officers and the respect of procurement procedures. Furthermore, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the creation of imprest accounts and imprest administrators in Union Delegations.
Article 71 Withdrawal of delegation and suspension of duties given to financial actors
1. Authorising officers responsible may at any time have their delegation or subdelegation withdrawn temporarily or definitively by the authority which appointed them. 2. The accounting officer or imprest administrators, or both, may at any time be suspended temporarily or definitively from their duties by the authority which appointed them. 3. This Article shall be without prejudice to any disciplinary action taken in respect of the financial actors referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.
Article 72 Liability of the authorising officer for illegal activity, fraud or corruption
1. This Chapter is without prejudice to any liability under criminal law which the financial actors referred to in Article 71 may incur as provided for in applicable national law and in the provisions in force concerning the protection of the Union's financial interests and the fight against corruption involving Union officials or officials of Member States. 2. Without prejudice to Articles 73, 74 and 75 of this Regulation, each authorising officer responsible, accounting officer or imprest administrator shall be liable to disciplinary action and payment of compensation as laid down in the Staff Regulations. In the event of illegal activity, fraud or corruption which may harm the interests of the Union, the matter shall be submitted to the authorities and bodies designated by the applicable legislation, in particular to OLAF. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the liability of the authorising officers, the accounting officers and the imprest administrators in the event of illegal activity, fraud or corruption.
Article 73 Rules applicable to authorising officers
1. The authorising officer responsible shall be liable for payment of compensation as laid down in the Staff Regulations. 2. The obligation to pay compensation shall apply in particular if the authorising officer responsible, whether intentionally or through gross negligence on his or her part: (a) determines entitlements to be recovered or issues recovery orders, commits expenditure or signs a payment order without complying with this Regulation or the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation; (b) omits to draw up a document establishing an amount receivable, neglects to issue a recovery order or is late in issuing it or is late in issuing a payment order, thereby rendering the institution liable to civil action by third parties. 3. An authorising officer by delegation or subdelegation who considers that a decision, which is his or her responsibility to take, is irregular or contrary to the principle of sound financial management shall inform the delegating authority in writing. If the delegating authority then gives a reasoned instruction in writing to the authorising officer by delegation or subdelegation to take that decision, that authorising officer shall not be held liable. 4. In the event of subdelegation within his or her service, the authorising officer by delegation shall continue to be responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal management and control systems put in place and for the choice of the authorising officer by subdelegation. 5. In the event of subdelegation to the Heads of Union Delegations, the authorising officer by delegation shall be responsible for the definition of the internal management and control systems put in place, as well as their efficiency and effectiveness. The Heads of Union Delegations shall be responsible for the adequate setting up and functioning of those systems, in accordance with the instructions of the authorising officer by delegation, and for the management of the funds and the operations they carry out within the Union Delegation under their responsibility. Before taking up their duties, they shall complete specific training courses on the tasks and responsibilities of authorising officers and the implementation of the budget. Heads of Union Delegations shall report on their responsibilities pursuant to the first subparagraph of this paragraph in accordance with Article 67(3). Each year, Heads of Union Delegations shall provide to the Commission's authorising officer by delegation assurance on the internal management and control systems put in place in their Delegation, as well as on the management of operations subdelegated to them, and the results thereof, in order to allow the authorising officer to make the statement of assurance provided for in Article 66(9). 6. Each institution shall set up a specialised financial irregularities panel or participate in a joint panel established by several institutions. The panels shall function independently and determine whether a financial irregularity has occurred and what the consequences, if any, should be. On the basis of the opinion of this panel, the institution shall decide whether to initiate proceedings for disciplinary action or payment of compensation. If the panel detects systemic problems, it shall send a report with recommendations to the authorising officer and to the authorising officer by delegation, unless the latter is the person involved, as well as to the internal auditor. 7. Where Heads of Union Delegations act as authorising officers by subdelegation in accordance with Article 56(2), the specialised financial irregularities panel set up by the Commission pursuant to paragraph 6 of this Article shall be competent for cases referred to in Article 56(2). If the panel detects systemic problems, it shall send a report with recommendations to the authorising officer, the High Representative and the Commission's authorising officer by delegation, unless the latter is the person involved, as well as to the internal auditor. On the basis of the opinion of the panel, the Commission may request the High Representative to initiate, in the High Representative's capacity as appointing authority, proceedings for disciplinary action or payment of compensation against authorising officers by subdelegation if irregularities concern the competences of the Commission subdelegated to them. In such a case, the High Representative shall take appropriate action in accordance with the Staff Regulations in order to enforce decisions on disciplinary action or the payment of compensation, as recommended by the Commission. The Member States shall fully support the Union in the enforcement of any liability, under Article 22 of the Staff Regulations, of temporary staff to whom point (e) of Article 2 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities applies. 8. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules applicable to authorising officers by delegation, including confirmation of instructions and the role of the Financial Irregularities Panel.
Article 74 Rules applicable to accounting officers
1. An accounting officer shall be liable to disciplinary action and payment of compensation, as laid down in, and in accordance with, the procedures in the Staff Regulations. An accounting officer may, in particular, become liable as a result of any of the following forms of misconduct on his or her part: (a) losing or damaging funds, assets or documents in his or her keeping; (b) wrongly altering bank accounts or postal giro accounts; (c) recovering or paying amounts which are not in conformity with the corresponding recovery or payment orders; (d) failing to collect revenue due. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the liability of accounting officers in the event of other forms of misconduct.
Article 75 Rules applicable to imprest administrators
1. An imprest administrator officer shall be liable to disciplinary action and payment of compensation, as laid down in, and in accordance with, the procedures in the Staff Regulations. An imprest administrator may in particular become liable as a result of any of the following forms of misconduct on his or her part: (a) losing or damaging funds, assets or documents in his or her keeping; (b) not providing proper supporting documents for the payments he or she has made; (c) making payments to persons other than those entitled to such payments; (d) failing to collect revenue due. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the liability of imprest administrators in the event of other forms of misconduct.
Article 76 Own resources
1. An estimate of revenue constituted by own resources, as referred to in Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom, shall be entered in the budget in euro. It shall be made available in accordance with Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules applicable to own resources.
Article 77 Estimate of amounts receivable
1. When the authorising officer responsible has sufficient and reliable information in respect of any measure or situation which may give rise to an amount owing to the Union, the authorising officer responsible shall make an estimate of the amount receivable. 2. The estimate of the amount receivable shall be adjusted by the authorising officer responsible as soon as he or she is aware of an event modifying the measure or the situation which gave rise to the estimate being made. When establishing the recovery order on a measure or situation that had previously given rise to an estimate of amounts receivable, that estimate shall be adjusted accordingly by the authorising officer responsible. If the recovery order is drawn up for the same amount as the original estimate of amounts receivable, that estimate shall be reduced to zero. 3. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, no estimate of the amount receivable shall be made before Member States make available to the Commission the amounts of own resources defined in Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom which are paid at fixed intervals by the Member States. The authorising officer responsible shall issue a recovery order in respect of those amounts. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the estimate of amounts receivable.
Article 78 Establishment of amounts receivable
1. The establishment of an amount receivable is the act by which the authorising officer responsible: (a) verifies that the debt exists; (b) determines or verifies the reality and the amount of the debt; (c) verifies the conditions according to which the debt is due. 2. The own resources made available to the Commission and any amount receivable that is identified as being certain, of a fixed amount and due shall be established by a recovery order to the accounting officer followed by a debit note sent to the debtor, both drawn up by the authorising officer responsible. 3. Amounts wrongly paid shall be recovered. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the establishment of amounts receivable, including procedures and supporting documents, and of default interest.
Article 79 Authorisation of recovery
1. The authorisation of recovery is the act by which the authorising officer responsible instructs the accounting officer, by issuing a recovery order, to recover an amount receivable which that authorising officer responsible has established. 2. The institution may formally establish an amount as being receivable from persons other than Member States by means of a decision which shall be enforceable within the meaning of Article 299 TFEU. If the efficient and timely protection of the Union's financial interests so requires, the Commission may also, in exceptional circumstances, adopt such an enforceable decision for the benefit of other institutions at their request with respect to claims arising in relation to staff to whom the Staff Regulations apply. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the establishment of the recovery order.
Article 80 Rules on recovery
1. The accounting officer shall act on recovery orders for amounts receivable duly established by the authorising officer responsible. The accounting officer shall exercise due diligence to ensure that the Union receives its revenue and shall ensure that the Union's rights are safeguarded. The accounting officer shall recover amounts by offsetting them against equivalent claims that the Union has on any debtor who in turn has a claim on the Union. Such claims shall be certain, of a fixed amount and due. 2. Where the authorising officer by delegation plans to waive or partially waive recovery of an established amount receivable, he or she shall ensure that the waiver is in order and is in accordance with the principles of sound financial management and proportionality. The waiver decision shall be substantiated. The authorising officer may delegate the waiver decision. The authorising officer by delegation may cancel an established amount receivable in full or in part. The partial cancellation of an established amount receivable does not imply a waiver of an established Union entitlement. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the manner of recovery, including recovery by offsetting, the recovery procedure failing voluntary payment, additional time for payment, recovery of fines and other penalties, waiver of recovery and cancellation of an established amount receivable. 3. The Member States shall in the first instance be responsible for carrying out controls and audits and for recovering amounts unduly spent, as provided for in the sector-specific rules. To the extent that Member States detect and correct irregularities on their own account, they shall be exempt from financial corrections by the Commission concerning those irregularities. 4. The Commission shall make financial corrections on Member States in order to exclude from Union financing expenditure incurred in breach of applicable law. The Commission shall base its financial corrections on the identification of amounts unduly spent, and the financial implications for the budget. Where such amounts cannot be identified precisely, the Commission may apply extrapolated or flat-rate corrections in accordance with the sector-specific rules. The Commission shall, when deciding on the amount of a financial correction, take account of the nature and gravity of the breach of applicable law and the financial implications for the budget, including the case of deficiencies in management and control systems. The criteria for establishing financial corrections and the procedure to be applied may be laid down in the sector-specific rules. 5. The methodology for applying extrapolated or flat-rate corrections shall be laid down in accordance with the sector-specific rules with a view to enabling the Commission to protect the financial interests of the Union.
Article 81 Limitation period
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of specific regulations and the application of Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom, entitlements of the Union in respect of third parties and entitlements of third parties in respect of the Union shall be subject to a limitation period of five years. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the limitation period.
Article 82 National treatment for Union entitlements
In the event of insolvency proceedings, Union entitlements shall be given the same preferential treatment as entitlements of the same nature due to public bodies in the Member States where the recovery proceedings are being conducted.
Article 83 Fines, penalties and accrued interest imposed by the Commission
1. Amounts received by way of fines, penalties and sanctions, and any accrued interest or other income generated by them shall not be recorded as budgetary revenue as long as the decisions imposing them may be overruled by the Court of Justice of the European Union. 2. The amounts referred to in paragraph 1 shall be recorded as budgetary revenue as soon as possible and at the latest in the year following the exhaustion of all legal remedies. Amounts that are to be returned to the entity that paid them, following a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, shall not be recorded as budgetary revenue. 3. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to decisions on clearance of accounts or financial corrections. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the amounts received by way of fines, penalties and accrued interest.
Article 84 Financing decisions
1. Every item of expenditure shall be committed, validated, authorised and paid. 2. Except in the case of appropriations which can be implemented without a basic act in accordance with point (e) of the first subparagraph of Article 54(2), the commitment of expenditure shall be preceded by a financing decision adopted by the institution or the authorities to which powers have been delegated by the institution. 3. The financing decision referred to in paragraph 2 shall specify the objective pursued, the expected results, the method of implementation and its total amount. It shall also contain a description of the actions to be financed and an indication of the amount allocated to each action, and an indicative implementation timetable. In the case of indirect management, the financing decision shall also specify the entity or person entrusted pursuant to point (c) of Article 58(1), the criteria used to select the entity or person and the tasks entrusted to that entity or person. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on financing decisions.
Article 85 Types of commitments
1. A budgetary commitment is the operation by which the appropriation necessary to cover subsequent payments to honour legal commitments is reserved. A legal commitment is the act whereby the authorising officer enters into or establishes an obligation which results in a charge. Budgetary commitments and legal commitments shall be adopted by the same authorising officer, except in duly justified cases as provided for in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the types of commitment, adoption of global commitments, single signature, and administrative expenditure covered by provisional commitments. 3. Budgetary commitments shall fall into one of the following categories: (a) individual: the budgetary commitment is individual when the beneficiary and the amount of the expenditure are known; (b) global: the budgetary commitment is global when at least one of the elements necessary to identify the individual commitment is still not known; (c) provisional: the budgetary commitment is provisional when it is intended to cover the expenditure referred to in Article 170 or routine administrative expenditure and either the amount or the final payees are not definitively known. 4. Budgetary commitments for actions extending over more than one financial year may be broken down over several years into annual instalments only where the basic act so provides or where they relate to administrative expenditure.
Article 86 Rules applicable to commitments
1. In respect of any measure which may give rise to expenditure chargeable to the budget, the authorising officer responsible shall make a budgetary commitment before entering into a legal commitment with third parties or transferring funds to a trust fund on the basis of Article 187. 2. The obligation to make a budgetary commitment before entering into a legal commitment as provided for in paragraph 1, shall not be applicable to legal commitments concluded following a declaration of a crisis situation in the framework of a business continuity plan, in accordance with the procedures adopted by the Commission or by any other institution under its administrative autonomy. 3. In the case of humanitarian aid operations, civil protection operations and crisis management aid, the obligation set out in paragraph 1 shall not apply if efficient delivery of the Union's intervention requiresthat the Union enter into a legal commitment with third parties immediately and prior booking of the individual budgetary commitment is not possible. The booking of the budgetary commitment shall be done without delay after entering into a legal commitment with third parties. 4. Subject to the special provisions of Title IV of Part Two, global budgetary commitments shall cover the total cost of the corresponding individual legal commitments concluded up to 31 December of year n + 1. Subject to Articles 85(4) and 203(2), individual legal commitments relating to individual or provisional budgetary commitments shall be concluded by 31 December of year n. At the end of the periods referred to in the first and second subparagraphs, the unused balance of such budgetary commitments shall be decommitted by the authorising officer responsible. The amount of each individual legal commitment adopted following a global budgetary commitment shall, prior to signature, be registered by the authorising officer responsible in the budgetary accounts and booked to the global budgetary commitment. 5. The budgetary and legal commitments entered into for actions extending over more than one financial year shall, except in the case of staff expenditure, have a final date for implementation set, in accordance with the principle of sound financial management. Any parts of such commitments which have not been executed six months after that date shall be decommitted in accordance with Article 15. The amount of a budgetary commitment corresponding to a legal commitment for which no payment within the meaning of Article 90 has been made within two years of the signing of the legal commitment shall be decommitted, except where that amount relates to a case under litigation before judicial courts or arbitral bodies or where there are special provisions laid down in sector-specific rules. 6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on budgetary and legal commitments including registration of individual commitments.
Article 87 Checks applicable to commitments
1. When adopting a budgetary commitment, the authorising officer responsible shall ensure that: (a) the expenditure has been charged to the correct item in the budget; (b) the appropriations are available; (c) the expenditure is in compliance with the Treaties, the budget, this Regulation, the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation and all acts adopted pursuant to the Treaties and any other regulation; (d) the principle of sound financial management is respected. The appropriateness of pre-financing payments, their amount and the overall payment schedule shall be commensurate with the planned duration, the progress in implementation and the financial risks that such prefinancing entails. 2. When registering a legal commitment by physical or electronic signature, the authorising officer shall ensure that: (a) the commitment is covered by the corresponding budgetary commitment; (b) the expenditure is regular and in compliance with the Treaties, the budget, this Regulation, the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation and with all acts adopted pursuant to the Treaties and any other regulation; (c) the principle of sound financial management is respected. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the checks applicable to commitments.
Article 88 Validation of expenditure
1. The validation of expenditure is the act whereby the authorising officer responsible: (a) verifies the existence of the creditor's entitlement; (b) determines or verifies the reality and the amount of the claim; (c) verifies the conditions according to which payment is due. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the establishment of detailed rules on validation of expenditure, including passing for payment of staff expenditure and for interim and balance payments of procurement contracts and grants, certified correct for pre-financing payments, and "passed for payment" and "certified correct" forms.
Article 89 Authorisation of expenditure
1. The authorisation of expenditure is the act by which the authorising officer responsible, having verified that the appropriations are available, instructs the accounting officer, by issuing a payment order, to pay an amount of expenditure which the authorising officer responsible has validated. Where periodic payments are made with regard to services rendered, including rental services, or goods delivered, and subject to the authorising officer's risk analysis, the authorising officer may order the application of a direct debit system. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the authorisation of expenditure, including the establishment of mandatory details for payment orders, and on checks by the authorising officer of payment orders.
Article 90 Types of payments
1. Payment shall be made on production of proof that the relevant action is in accordance with the provisions of the basic act or the contract and shall cover one or more of the following operations: (a) payment of the entire amount due; (b) payment of the amount due in any of the following ways: (i) pre-financing, which may be divided into a number of payments after the signature of the delegation agreement, the contract or grant agreement or after notification of the grant decision; (ii) one or more interim payments as a counterpart of a partial execution of the action; (iii) payment of the balance of the amounts due where the action is completely executed. 2. A distinction shall be made in budgetary accounting between the different types of payment referred to in paragraph 1 at the time each payment is made. 3. The accounting rules referred to in Article 152 shall include the rules for clearing the pre-financing in the accounts and for the acknowledgment of the eligibility of costs. 4. Pre-financing payments shall be cleared regularly by the authorising officer responsible, according to the economic nature and the timing of the underlying project. Where the authorising officer responsible deems it inefficient to request a financial statement from beneficiaries and contractors, he or she shall, for grants or contracts above EUR 5 000 000, obtain information from them on cumulative spending at least once a year. For the purposes of the second subparagraph, appropriate provisions shall be included in the contracts, grant decisions and agreements as well as in the delegation agreements This paragraph is without prejudice to the specific rules laid down in Title IV of Part Two. 5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the types of payments and supporting documents.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL In the framework of the negotiations on the Financial Regulation, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed to revise the Financial Regulation in order to take into account the outcome of the negotiations on the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020. Therefore, the adoption of the new Financial Regulation was accompanied by the following joint statement of the European Parliament, Council and the Commission: " The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission agree that the Financial Regulation would be revised in order to include amendments made necessary by the outcome of the negotiations on the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020, including on the following issues: - the carry-over rules for the Emergency Aid Reserve and for projects financed under the Connecting Europe Facility; - the carry-over of unused appropriations and of the budgetary balance, as well as the related proposal to enter these in a reserve for payments and commitments; - the possible inclusion of the European Development Fund in the Union budget; - the treatment of funds resulting from the agreements on the fight against the illegal traffic in tobacco products." On 27 June 2013, a political agreement was reached between Parliament, the Council Presidency and the Commission on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 (MFF) package and on the draft Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council establishing the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The proposal modifies Article 13 of the Financial Regulation in order to include the carry-over rules for the Emergency Aid Reserve and for projects financed under the Connecting Europe Facility. New flexibilities for unused commitment and payment appropriations have been introduced in the draft Council Regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (MFF Regulation). They will be implemented by means of the technical adjustments of the MFF as provided for in the draft MFF Regulation and mobilised in the framework of the budgetary procedure pursuant to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Therefore, no further modifications of the FR are required for those flexibilities. Concerning the European Development Fund (EDF) and as noted by the European Council of 8 February 2013, the Commission intends to propose the budgetisation of the EDF as of 2021. No further agreement was reached in the context of the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 concerning the treatment of funds resulting from the agreements on the fight against the illegal traffic in tobacco products. Therefore, the Commission will continue implementing the agreements and propose, as it has done in its proposal for the Hercule III programme, appropriate financial means necessary to fight cigarette smuggling and counterfeiting by the EU, in addition to efforts undertaken by the Member States.
Revised version (Article 90 Types of payments):
1. Payment shall be made on production of proof that the relevant action is in accordance with the provisions of the basic act or the contract and shall cover one or more of the following operations: (a) payment of the entire amount due; (b) payment of the amount due in any of the following ways: (i) pre-financing, which may be divided into a number of payments after the signature of the delegation agreement, the contract or grant agreement or after notification of the grant decision; (ii) one or more interim payments as a counterpart of a partial execution of the action; (iii) payment of the balance of the amounts due where the action is completely executed. (b) payment of the amount due in any of the following ways: (i) pre-financing, which may be divided into a number of payments after the signature of the delegation agreement, the contract or grant agreement or after notification of the grant decision; (ii) one or more interim payments as a counterpart of a partial execution of the action; (iii) payment of the balance of the amounts due where the action is completely executed. 2. A distinction shall be made in budgetary accounting between the different types of payment referred to in paragraph 1 at the time each payment is made. 3. The accounting rules referred to in Article 152 shall include the rules for clearing the pre-financing in the accounts and for the acknowledgment of the eligibility of costs. 4. Pre-financing payments shall be cleared regularly by the authorising officer responsible, according to the economic nature and the timing of the underlying project. Where the authorising officer responsible deems it inefficient to request a financial statement from beneficiaries and contractors, he or she shall, for grants or contracts above EUR 5 000 000 , obtain information from them on cumulative spending at least once a year. For the purposes of the second subparagraph, appropriate provisions shall be included in the contracts, grant decisions and agreements as well as in the delegation agreements This paragraph is without prejudice to the specific rules laid down in Title IV of Part Two. 5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the types of payments and supporting documents.
Article 91 Payment limited to funds available
Payment of expenditure shall be made by the accounting officer within the limits of the funds available.
Article 92 Time limits
1. Payments shall be made within: (a) 90 calendar days for delegation agreements, contracts, grant agreements and decisions involving technical services or actions which are particularly complex to evaluate and for which payment depends on the approval of a report or a certificate; (b) 60 calendar days for all other delegation agreements, contracts, grant agreements and decisions for which payment depends on the approval of a report or a certificate; (c) 30 calendar days for all other delegation agreements, contracts, grant agreements and decisions. 2. The authorising officer responsible may suspend the time limit for payment where: (a) the amount of the payment request is not due; or (b) the appropriate supporting documents have not been produced. If information comes to the notice of the authorising officer responsible which puts in doubt the eligibility of expenditure in a payment request, he or she may suspend the time limit for payment for the purpose of verifying, including by means of on-the-spot checks, that the expenditure is indeed eligible. 3. The creditors concerned shall be informed in writing of the reasons for that suspension. 4. Where the suspension exceeds two months, the creditor may request a decision by the authorising officer responsible on whether the suspension is to be continued. 5. Except in the case of Member States, on expiry of the time limits laid down in paragraph 1, the creditor shall be entitled to interest. 6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on time limits for payment and on the specification of the circumstances in which creditors in receipt of a late payment are entitled to receive default interest charged to the line from which the principal was paid.
Article 93 Electronic management of operations
1. Where revenue and expenditure operations are managed by means of computer systems, documents may be signed by a computerised or electronic procedure. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the electronic management of operations.
Article 94 Transmission of documents
Subject to the prior agreement of the institutions and Member States concerned, any transmission of documents between them may be done by electronic means.
Article 95 e-Government
1. Under shared management, all official exchanges of information between the Member States and the Commission shall be carried out by means indicated in the sector-specific rules. Those rules shall provide for interoperability of data gathered or received, and transmitted in the management of the budget. 2. The institutions and the executive agencies, as well as the bodies referred to in Article 208, shall establish and apply uniform standards for the electronic exchange of information with third parties participating in procurement and grant procedures. In particular, they shall, to the greatest possible extent, design and implement solutions for the submission, storage and processing of data submitted in grant and procurement procedures, and to this end, shall put in place a single "electronic data interchange area" for applicants, candidates and tenderers. 3. The Commission shall report regularly to the European Parliament and the Council on progress in the implementation of e-Government.
Article 96 Good administration
1. The authorising officer responsible shall make known without delay the need to supply evidence and/or documentation, their form and prerequisite content, as well as, where appropriate, the indicative timetable for completion of award procedures. 2. Where, due to an obvious clerical error on the part of the applicant or tenderer, the applicant or tenderer omits to submit evidence or to make statements, the evaluation committee or, where appropriate, the authorising officer responsible shall, except in duly justified cases, ask the applicant or tenderer to provide the missing information or clarify supporting documents. Such information or clarifications shall not substantially change the proposal or alter the terms of the tender.
Article 97 Indication of means of redress
Where a procedural act of an authorising officer adversely affects the rights of an applicant or tenderer, beneficiary or contractor, it shall contain an indication of the available means of administrative and/or judicial redress for challenging this act. In particular, the nature of the redress, the body or bodies before which it can be brought, as well as time limits for their exercise shall be indicated.
Article 98 Appointment of the internal auditor
1. Each institution shall establish an internal auditing function which shall be performed in compliance with the relevant international standards. The internal auditor appointed by the institution shall be accountable to the latter for verifying the proper operation of budgetary implementation systems and procedures. The internal auditor may be neither authorising officer nor accounting officer. 2. For the purposes of the internal auditing of the EEAS, Heads of Union Delegations, acting as authorising officers by subdelegation in accordance with Article 56(2), shall be subject to the verifying powers of the internal auditor of the Commission for the financial management subdelegated to them. The internal auditor of the Commission shall also act as the internal auditor of the EEAS in respect of the implementation of the EEAS section of the budget, subject to Article 213. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the appointment of the internal auditor.
Article 99 Powers and duties of the internal auditor
1. The internal auditor shall advise his or her institution on dealing with risks, by issuing independent opinions on the quality of management and control systems and by issuing recommendations for improving the conditions of implementation of operations and promoting sound financial management. The internal auditor shall be responsible, in particular, for: (a) assessing the suitability and effectiveness of internal management systems and the performance of departments in implementing policies, programmes and actions by reference to the risks associated with them; (b) assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal control and audit systems applicable to each budgetary implementation operation. 2. The internal auditor shall perform his or her duties in relation to all the institution's activities and departments. He or she shall enjoy full and unlimited access to all information required to perform his or her duties, if necessary on the spot access, including in the Member States and in third countries. The internal auditor shall take note of the annual report of the authorising officers and any other pieces of information identified. 3. The internal auditor shall report to the institution on his or her findings and recommendations. The institution shall ensure that action is taken with regard to recommendations resulting from audits. The internal auditor shall also submit to the institution an annual internal audit report indicating the number and type of internal audits carried out, the recommendations made and the action taken with regard to those recommendations. 4. The institution shall make available the contact details of the internal auditor to any natural or legal person involved in expenditure operations, for the purposes of confidentially contacting the internal auditor. 5. Each year the institution shall forward a report to the European Parliament and the Council containing a summary of the number and type of internal audits carried out, the recommendations made and the action taken on those recommendations. 6. The reports and findings of the internal auditor, as well as the report of the institution, shall be accessible to the public only after validation by the internal auditor of the action taken for their implementation. 7. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the powers and duties of the internal auditor.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 99 Powers and duties of the internal auditor):
1. The internal auditor shall advise his or her institution on dealing with risks, by issuing independent opinions on the quality of management and control systems and by issuing recommendations for improving the conditions of implementation of operations and promoting sound financial management. The internal auditor shall be responsible, in particular, for: (a) assessing the suitability and effectiveness of internal management systems and the performance of departments in implementing policies, programmes and actions by reference to the risks associated with them; (b) assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal control and audit systems applicable to each budgetary implementation operation. 2. The internal auditor shall perform his or her duties in relation to all the institution's activities and departments. He or she shall enjoy full and unlimited access to all information required to perform his or her duties, if necessary on the spot access, including in the Member States and in third countries. The internal auditor shall take note of the annual report of the authorising officers and any other pieces of information identified. 3. The internal auditor shall report to the institution on his or her findings and recommendations. The institution shall ensure that action is taken with regard to recommendations resulting from audits. The internal auditor shall also submit to the institution an annual internal audit report indicating the number and type of internal audits carried out, the recommendations made and the action taken with regard to those recommendations. 3a. Each year, the Commission shall, in the context of the discharge procedure and in accordance with Article 319 TFEU, forward on request its annual internal audit report within the meaning of paragraph 3 of this Article with due regard to confidentiality requirements. 4. The institution shall make available the contact details of the internal auditor to any natural or legal person involved in expenditure operations, for the purposes of confidentially contacting the internal auditor. 5. Each year the institution shall forward a report to the European Parliament and the Council containing a summary of the number and type of internal audits carried out, the recommendations made and the action taken on those recommendations. 6. The reports and findings of the internal auditor, as well as the report of the institution, shall be accessible to the public only after validation by the internal auditor of the action taken for their implementation. 7. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the powers and duties of the internal auditor.
Article 100 Independence of the internal auditor
1. Special rules applicable to the internal auditor shall be laid down by the institution and shall be such as to guarantee that the internal auditor is totally independent in the performance of his or her duties, and to establish the internal auditor's responsibility. If the internal auditor is a member of staff, he or she shall exercise exclusive audit functions in full independence and assume responsibility as laid down in the Staff Regulations and set out in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the independence and the liability of the internal auditor, including the right for the internal auditor to bring an action before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Article 101 Definition of public contracts
1. Public contracts are contracts for pecuniary interest concluded in writing between one or more economic operators and one or more contracting authorities within the meaning of Articles 117 and 190, in order to obtain, against payment of a price paid in whole or in part from the budget, the supply of movable or immovable assets, the execution of works or the provision of services. Such contracts comprise: (a) building contracts; (b) supply contracts; (c) works contracts; (d) service contracts. 2. Framework contracts are contracts concluded between one or more economic operators and one or more contracting authorities, the purpose of which is to establish the terms governing contracts to be awarded during a given period, in particular with regard to price and, where appropriate, the quantity envisaged. They shall be governed by the provisions of this Title concerning the award procedure, including advertising. 3. Except for Articles 106 to 109, this Title shall not apply to grants, or to contracts for technical assistance concluded with the EIB or the European Investment Fund. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the definition and scope of procurement contracts, including framework contracts and specific contracts.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 101 Definitions for the purposes of this Title):
1. For the purposes of this Title: (a) ‘procurement’ means the acquisition by means of a contract of works, supplies or services and the acquisition or rental of land, existing buildings or other immovable property, by one or more contracting authorities from economic operators chosen by those contracting authorities; (b) ‘public contract’ means a contract for pecuniary interest concluded in writing between one or more economic operators and one or more contracting authorities within the meaning of Articles 117 and 190, in order to obtain, against payment of a price paid in whole or in part from the budget, the supply of movable or immovable assets, the execution of works or the provision of services. Public contracts comprise: (i) building contracts; (ii) supply contracts; (iii) works contracts; (iv) service contracts; (b) ‘public contract’ means a contract for pecuniary interest concluded in writing between one or more economic operators and one or more contracting authorities within the meaning of Articles 117 and 190, in order to obtain, against payment of a price paid in whole or in part from the budget, the supply of movable or immovable assets, the execution of works or the provision of services. Public contracts comprise: (i) building contracts; (ii) supply contracts; (iii) works contracts; (iv) service contracts; (c) ‘concession contract’ means a contract for pecuniary interest concluded in writing between one or more economic operators and one or more contracting authorities within the meaning of Articles 117 and 190, in order to entrust the execution of works or the provision and management of services to an economic operator (the ‘concession’). The remuneration shall consist either solely in the right to exploit the works or services or in that right together with payment. The award of a concession contract shall involve the transfer to the concessionaire of an operating risk in exploiting those works or services encompassing demand risk or supply risk, or both. The concessionaire shall be deemed to assume an operating risk where, under normal operating conditions, there is no guarantee of recouping the investments made or the costs incurred in operating the works or the services at stake; (d) ‘contract’ means a public contract or a concession contract; (e) ‘framework contract’ means a public contract concluded between one or more economic operators and one or more contracting authorities, the purpose of which is to establish the terms governing specific contracts under it to be awarded during a given period, in particular with regard to price and, where appropriate, the quantity envisaged; (f) ‘dynamic purchasing system’ means a completely electronic process for making commonly used purchases; (g) ‘economic operator’ means any natural or legal person, including a public entity, or a group of such persons, which offers to supply products, execute works or provide services or immovable property; (h) ‘procurement document’ means any document produced or referred to by the contracting authority to describe or determine elements of the procurement procedure, including: (i) the publicity measures set out in Article 103; (ii) the invitation to tender; (iii) the tender specifications, which shall include the technical specifications and the relevant criteria, or the descriptive documents in case of a competitive dialogue; (iv) the draft contract; (h) ‘procurement document’ means any document produced or referred to by the contracting authority to describe or determine elements of the procurement procedure, including: (i) the publicity measures set out in Article 103; (ii) the invitation to tender; (iii) the tender specifications, which shall include the technical specifications and the relevant criteria, or the descriptive documents in case of a competitive dialogue; (iv) the draft contract; (i) ‘final administrative decision’ means a decision of an administrative authority having final and binding effect in accordance with the law of the country in which the economic operator is established or in which the contracting authority is located, or in accordance with the applicable Union law; (j) ‘central purchasing body’ means a contracting authority providing centralised purchasing activities and, where applicable, ancillary purchasing activities; (k) ‘tenderer’ means an economic operator that has submitted a tender; (l) ‘candidate’ means an economic operator that has sought an invitation or has been invited to take part in a restricted procedure, a competitive procedure with negotiation, a competitive dialogue, an innovation partnership, a design contest or a negotiated procedure; (m) ‘vendor’ means an economic operator registered in a list of vendors to be invited to submit requests to participate or submit tenders; (n) ‘subcontractor’ means an economic operator that is proposed by a candidate or tenderer or contractor to perform part of a contract. The subcontractor has no direct legal commitment to the contracting authority. 2. A mixed contract covering two or more types of procurement (works, supplies or services) or concessions (works or services) or both, shall be awarded in accordance with the provisions applicable to the type of procurement that characterises the main subject matter of the contract in question. 3. Except for Articles 105a to 108, this Title shall not apply to grants, or to contracts for technical assistance as defined in accordance with Article 125(8) concluded with the EIB or the European Investment Fund. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the further definition and scope of public and concession contracts, on applicable nomenclature by reference to the ‘Common Procurement Vocabulary’, on mixed contracts, on economic operators, as well as on framework contracts and specific contracts based thereon, covering the maximum duration of framework contracts and the award of and methods for implementing specific contracts based on framework contracts concluded with a single economic operator or with several economic operators, respectively.
Article 102 Principles applicable to public contracts
1. All public contracts financed in whole or in part by the budget shall respect the principles of transparency, proportionality, equal treatment and non-discrimination. 2. All public procurement contracts shall be put out to tender on the broadest possible basis, except when use is made of the negotiated procedure referred to in point (d) of Article 104(1). Contracting authorities shall not use framework contracts improperly or in such a way that their purpose or effect is to prevent, restrict or distort competition.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 102 Principles applicable to public contracts):
1. All public contracts financed in whole or in part by the budget shall respect the principles of transparency, proportionality, equal treatment and non-discrimination. 2. All contracts shall be put out to competition on the broadest possible basis, except when use is made of the procedure referred to in point (d) of Article 104(1). The estimated value of a contract may not be determined with a view to circumventing the applicable rules, nor may a contract be split up for that purpose. The contracting authority shall divide a contract into lots, whenever appropriate, with due regard to broad competition. 3. Contracting authorities shall not use framework contracts improperly or in such a way that their purpose or effect is to prevent, restrict or distort competition.
Article 103 Publication of public contracts
1. All contracts exceeding the thresholds provided for in Article 118 or Article 190 shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union by the contracting authorities. Contract notices shall be published in advance except in the cases referred to in Article 104(2), and for the service contracts covered by Annex II B to Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts ( 17 ) . Publication of certain information after the contract has been awarded may be dispensed with where it would hinder application of the law, would be contrary to the public interest, would harm the legitimate business interests of public or private undertakings or would distort fair competition between them. 2. Contracts with a value below the thresholds provided for in Article 118 or Article 190 and the service contracts referred to in Annex II B to Directive 2004/18/EC shall be advertised by appropriate means. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the requirements for the advertising of contracts and publication of notices.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 103 Publicity measures):
1. For procedures with a value equal to or greater than the thresholds referred to in Article 118(1) or Article 190, the contracting authority shall publish in the Official Journal of the European Union : (a) a contract notice to launch a procedure, except in the case of the procedure referred to in point (d) of Article 104(1); (b) a contract award notice on the results of the procedure. 2. Procedures with a value below the thresholds referred to in Article 118(1) or Article 190 shall be advertised by appropriate means. 3. Publication of certain information on a contract award may be withheld where its release would impede law enforcement, or otherwise be contrary to the public interest, would harm the legitimate commercial interests of economic operators or might prejudice fair competition between them. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the requirements for the advertising of procedures by reference to their value in comparison to the thresholds referred to in Article 118(1), on advertising which the contracting authority may undertake with full respect for the principle of non-discrimination, and on the content and publication of notices.
Article 104 Procurement procedures
1. Procurement procedures shall take one of the following forms: (a) the open procedure; (b) the restricted procedure; (c) contests; (d) the negotiated procedure; (e) the competitive dialogue. Where a public contract or a framework contract is of interest to two or more institutions, executive agencies or bodies referred to in Article 208 and 209, and whenever there is a possibility for realising efficiency gains, the contracting authorities concerned shall seek to carry out the procurement procedure on an interinstitutional basis. Where a public contract or framework contract is necessary for the implementation of a joint action between an institution and one or more contracting authorities from Member States, the procurement procedure may be carried out jointly by the institution and the contracting authorities, in certain situations, which are to be specified in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation. Joint procurement may be conducted with EFTA states, and Union candidate countries, if this possibility has been specifically provided for in a bilateral or multilateral treaty. 2. For contracts where the value exceeds the thresholds provided for in Articles 118 or 190, use of the negotiated procedure shall be authorised only in cases provided for in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the types of procurement procedure, joint procurement, low value contracts and payment against invoices.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 104 Procurement procedures):
1. Procurement procedures for awarding concession contracts or public contracts, including framework contracts shall take one of the following forms: (a) open procedure; (b) restricted procedure, including through a dynamic purchasing system; (c) design contest; (d) negotiated procedure, including without prior publication; (e) competitive dialogue; (f) competitive procedure with negotiation; (g) innovation partnership; (h) procedures involving a call for expression of interest. 2. In open procedures any interested economic operator may submit a tender. 3. In restricted procedures, competitive dialogues, competitive procedures with negotiation and innovation partnerships, any economic operator may submit a request to participate by providing the information that is requested by the contracting authority. The contracting authority shall invite all candidates, that satisfy the selection criteria and that are not in any of the situations set out in Articles 106 and 107, to submit a tender. Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, the contracting authority may limit the number of candidates to be invited to participate in the procedure on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory selection criteria, which shall be indicated in the contract notice or the call for expression of interest. The number of candidates invited shall be sufficient to ensure genuine competition. 4. In all procedures involving negotiation, the contracting authority shall negotiate with tenderers the initial and any subsequent tenders or parts thereof, except their final tenders, in order to improve their content. The minimum requirements and the criteria specified in the procurement documents shall not be subject to negotiation. A contracting authority may award a contract on the basis of the initial tender without negotiation where it has indicated in the procurement documents that it reserves the possibility to do so. 5. The contracting authority may use: (a) the open or restricted procedure for any purchase; (b) the procedures involving a call for expression of interest for contracts with a value below the thresholds referred to in Article 118(1), to preselect candidates to be invited to submit tenders in response to future restricted invitations to tender, or to collect a list of vendors to be invited to submit requests to participate or submit tenders; (c) the design contest to acquire a plan or design selected by a jury after being put out to competition; (d) the innovation partnership to develop an innovative product, service or innovative works and for the subsequent purchase of the resulting supply, services or works; (e) the competitive procedure with negotiation or the competitive dialogue for concession contracts, for the service contracts referred to in Annex XIV to Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 17 ), in cases where only irregular or unacceptable tenders were submitted in response to an open or restricted procedure after the initial procedure has been completed, and for cases where this is justified by the specific circumstances linked, inter alia, to the nature or the complexity of the subject matter of the contract or to the specific type of contract, as further detailed in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation; (f) the negotiated procedure for contracts with a value below the thresholds referred to in Article 118(1) or the negotiated procedure without prior publication, only for specific types of purchases falling outside the scope of Directive 2014/24/EU and under clearly defined exceptional circumstances as set out in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation. 6. The dynamic purchasing system shall be open throughout its duration to any economic operator who satisfies the selection criteria. The contracting authority shall follow the rules of the restricted procedure for procurement through a dynamic purchasing system. 7. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the types of, and additional detailed arrangements for, procurement procedures for the award of contracts referred to in paragraph 1 with reference to their value in comparison to the thresholds referred to in Article 118(1), on the minimum number of candidates to be invited for each type of procedure, on the further conditions for using the different procedures, on a dynamic purchasing system and on irregular and unacceptable tenders.
Article 105 Content of tender documents
Tender documents shall give a full, clear and precise description of the subject of the contract and specify the exclusion, selection and award criteria applicable to the contract. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the content of tender documents, including the possibility of, and the conditions for, revision of the price and the technical specifications.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 105 Preparation of a procurement procedure):
1. Before launching a procurement procedure, the contracting authority may conduct a preliminary market consultation with a view to preparing the procedure. 2. In the procurement documents, the contracting authority shall identify the subject matter of the procurement by providing a description of its needs and the characteristics required of the works, supplies or services to be bought, and shall specify the applicable exclusion, selection and award criteria. The contracting authority shall also indicate which elements define the minimum requirements to be met by all tenders. Minimum requirements shall include compliance with applicable environmental, social and labour law obligations established by Union law, national legislation, collective agreements or the applicable international social and environmental conventions listed in Annex X to Directive 2014/24/EU. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the content of procurement documents, in particular on the draft contracts, on the characteristics of environmental, social or other labels, norms and standards, and on the preliminary market consultation.
Article 106 Exclusion criteria applicable for participation in procurement procedures
1. Candidates or tenderers shall be excluded from participation in procurement procedures if: (a) they are bankrupt or being wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into an arrangement with creditors, have suspended business activities, are the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations; (b) they or persons having powers of representation, decision making or control over them have been convicted of an offence concerning their professional conduct by a judgment of a competent authority of a Member State which has the force of res judicata ; (c) they have been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authority can justify including by decisions of the EIB and international organisations; (d) they are not in compliance with their obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those of the country of the contracting authority or those of the country where the contract is to be performed; (e) they or persons having powers of representation, decision making or control over them have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation, money laundering or any other illegal activity, where such illegal activity is detrimental to the Union's financial interests; (f) they are subject to an administrative penalty referred to in Article 109(1). Points (a) to (d) of the first subparagraph shall not apply in the case of the purchase of supplies on particularly advantageous terms from a supplier which is definitively winding up its business activities or from the receivers or liquidators of a bankruptcy, through an arrangement with creditors, or through a similar procedure under national law. Points (b) and (e) of the first subparagraph shall not apply where the candidates or tenderers can demonstrate that adequate measures have been adopted against the persons having powers of representation, decision making or control over them, who are subject to a judgement as referred to in points (b) or (e) of the first subparagraph. 2. In the case of a negotiated procedure where, for technical or artistic reasons, or for reasons connected with the protection of exclusive rights, the contract can be awarded only to a particular economic operator, the institution may decide not to exclude the economic operator concerned on the grounds referred to in points (a), (c) and (d) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, if it is indispensable to do so in order to ensure the continuity of service of the institution. In such cases, the institution shall duly justify its decision. 3. Candidates or tenderers shall certify that they are not in one of the situations listed in paragraph 1. However, the contracting authority may refrain from requiring such certification for very low value contracts. For the purpose of the correct application of paragraph 1, the candidate or tenderer, whenever requested by the contracting authority, shall: (a) where the candidate or tenderer is a legal person, provide information on the ownership or on the management, control and power of representation of the legal person and certify that they are not in one of the situations referred to in paragraph 1; (b) where subcontracting is envisaged, certify that the subcontractor is not in one of the situations referred to in paragraph 1. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on: (a) the exclusion criteria applicable for participation in calls for tenders, including rules on illegal activities giving rise to exclusion; (b) what evidence may be satisfactory to show that an exclusion situation does not exist; (c) the duration of an exclusion. Such exclusion shall not exceed 10 years.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account.
Article 107 Exclusion criteria applicable to awards
1. A contract shall not be awarded to candidates or tenderers who, during the procurement procedure for that contract: (a) are subject to a conflict of interests; (b) are guilty of misrepresentingthe information required by the contracting authority as a condition of participation in the procurement procedure or fail to supply that information; (c) find themselves in one of the situations of exclusion, referred to in Article 106(1), for the procurement procedure. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the exclusion criteria applicable during the procurement procedure, and the establishment of what evidence may be considered satisfactory to show that an exclusion situation does not exist. Furthermore, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the duration of an exclusion.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 107 Rejection from a given procurement procedure):
1. The contracting authority shall not award a contract for a given procurement procedure to an economic operator who: (a) is in an exclusion situation established in accordance with Article 106; (b) has misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the procedure or has failed to supply that information; (c) was previously involved in the preparation of procurement documents where this entails a distortion of competition that cannot be remedied otherwise. 2. Before taking a decision to reject an economic operator from a given procurement procedure, the contracting authority shall give the economic operator the opportunity to submit its observations, unless the rejection has been justified in accordance with point (a) of paragraph 1 by an exclusion decision taken with regard to the economic operator, following an examination of its observations. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the measures to avoid distortion of competition and on the declaration and evidence that an economic operator is not in one of the situations listed in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article 108 Central exclusion database
1. The central exclusion database set up and operated by the Commission, shall contain details of candidates and tenderers which are in one of the situations referred to in Article 106, point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 109(1) and point (a) of Article 109(2). That database shall be common to the institutions, executive agencies and the bodies referred to in Article 208. The European Parliament and the Council shall be annually informed of the number of new cases and of the total number of cases entered into the database. 2. The authorities of the Member States and third countries as well as the bodies, other than those referred to in paragraph 1, participating in the implementation of the budget in accordance with Articles 58 and 61, shall communicate to the authorising officer responsible information on candidates and tenderers that are in one of the situations referred to in point (e) of the first subparagraph of Article 106(1), where the conduct of the operator concerned was detrimental to the Union's financial interests. That authorising officer shall receive this information and request the accounting officer to enter it into the database. The authorities and bodies referred to in the first subparagraph shall have access to the information contained in the database and may take it into account, as appropriate and on their own responsibility, when awarding contracts associated with the implementation of the budget. 3. The ECB, the EIB and the European Investment Fund shall have access to the information contained in the database for the purpose of protecting their own funds and may take it into account, as appropriate and on their own responsibility, when awarding contracts in accordance with their procurement rules. They shall communicate to the Commission information on candidates and tenderers that are in one of the situations referred to in point (e) of the first subparagraph of Article 106(1), where the conduct of the operators concerned was detrimental to the Union's financial interests. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the central exclusion database, including the definition of standardised procedures and technical specifications for the operation of the database. 5. Access may be granted to authorities of third countries only when the rules laid down in Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 are fulfilled and after an evaluation on a case-by-case basis.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account.
Article 109 Administrative and financial penalties
1. The contracting authority may impose administrative and/or financial penalties on the following: (a) contractors, candidates or tenderers in the cases referred to in point (b) of Article 107(1); (b) contractors who have been declared to be in serious breach of their obligations under contracts covered by the budget. In all cases, however, the contracting authority shall first give the person concerned an opportunity to present his or her observations. 2. The penalties referred to in paragraph 1 shall be proportionate to the importance of the contract and the seriousness of the misconduct, and may consist of: (a) the exclusion of the candidate or tenderer or contractor concerned from the contracts and grants financed by the budget, for a maximum period of ten years; and/or (b) the payment of financial penalties by the candidate or tenderer or contractor up to the value of that contract. 3. In order to reinforce the protection of the Union's financial interests, institutions may decide, in compliance with the principle of proportionality, to publish their decisions imposing administrative or financial penalties referred to in paragraph 1 after the procedure set out in paragraph 1 has been fully complied with. The decision to publish a decision imposing administrative or financial penalties referred to in the first subparagraph shall take into account, in particular, the seriousness of the misconduct, including its impact on the Union's financial interests and image, the time which has elapsed since the misconduct took place, the duration and recurrence of the misconduct, the intention or degree of negligence of the entity concerned and the measures taken by the entity concerned to remedy the situation. The decision on the publication shall be included in the decision imposing administrative or financial penalties and shall expressly provide for publication of the decision imposing penalties, or of a summary thereof, on the internet site of the institution. In order to ensure a deterrent effect, the summary published shall include the name of the person responsible for the misconduct, a short description of that misconduct, the programme concerned and the duration of the exclusion and/or the amount of the financial penalties. The decision shall be published after the legal remedies against the decision have been exhausted or after the expiry of the deadlines for redress and the publication shall remain on the internet site until the end of the exclusion period or until 6 months after the payment of the financial penalties where these penalties constitute the sole measure decided. Where natural persons are concerned, the decision to publish shall be taken with due consideration of the right to privacy and with due observance of the rights provided for in Regulation (EC) No 45/2001. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on different administrative and financial penalties for tenderers or candidates who have made false declarations, have made substantial errors, have committed irregularities or fraud or have been found in serious breach of their contractual obligations.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account.
Article 110 Award criteria for contracts
1. Contracts shall be awarded on the basis of award criteria applicable to the content of the tender after the capability of economic operators not excluded under Articles 106, 107 and point (a) of Article 109(2) has been checked in accordance with the selection criteria contained in the documents relating to the call for tenders. 2. Contracts shall be awarded by the automatic award procedure or by the best-value-for-money procedure. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the specification of the selection criteria and the award criteria. Furthermore, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the documents that give proof of economic and financial capacity and the evidence of technical and professional capacity and detailed rules on electronic auctions and abnormally low tenders.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 110 Award of contracts):
1. Contracts shall be awarded on the basis of award criteria provided that the contracting authority has verified the following conditions: (a) the tender complies with the minimum requirements specified in the procurement documents; (b) the candidate or tenderer is not excluded under Article 106 or rejected under Article 107, and (c) the candidate or tenderer meets the selection criteria specified in the procurement documents and is not subject to conflicting interests which may negatively affect the performance of the contract. 2. The contracting authority shall apply the selection criteria to evaluate the capacity of the candidate or tenderer. Selection criteria may only relate to the legal and regulatory capacity to pursue the professional activity, the economic and financial capacity, and the technical and professional capacity. 3. The contracting authority shall apply the award criteria to evaluate the tender. 4. The contracting authority shall base the award of contracts on the most economically advantageous tender, which shall consist in one of three award methods: lowest price, lowest cost or best price-quality ratio. For the lowest cost method, the contracting authority shall use a cost-effectiveness approach including life-cycle costing. For the best price-quality ratio, the contracting authority shall take into account the price or cost and other quality criteria linked to the subject matter of the contract. 5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning details on the selection criteria, the award criteria, including quality criteria, and the most economically advantageous tender as well as the methods used to assess the life cycle costs of the purchase. The Commission shall also be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the documents that give evidence of legal capacity, economic and financial capacity and evidence of technical and professional capacity and detailed rules on electronic auctions and abnormally low tenders.
Article 111 Submission of tenders
1. The arrangements for submitting tenders shall be such as to ensure that there is genuine competition and that the contents of tenders remain confidential until they are all opened simultaneously. 2. The Commission shall ensure by appropriate means and in application of Article 95 that tenderers may enter the contents of the tenders and any supporting evidence in an electronic format ("e-procurement"). The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and the Council on the progress of the implementation of this provision by 28 October 2014 and regularly afterwards. 3. If deemed appropriate and proportionate, the contracting authority may require tenderers to lodge a security in advance as a guarantee that the bids made will not be withdrawn. 4. With the exception of low value contracts, referred to in Article 104(3), applications and tenders shall be opened by an opening board appointed for this purpose. Any tender or application declared by the board not to satisfy the conditions laid down shall be rejected. 5. All requests to participate or tenders declared by the opening board as satisfying the conditions laid down shall be evaluated, on the basis of the criteria provided in the documents relating to the call for tenders, in order to propose to the contracting authority the award of the contract or to proceed with an electronic auction. 6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the submission of tenders and the establishment of the time limits for receipt of tenders and requests to participate, the time allowed for access to invitation to tender documents and the time limits in urgent cases. Furthermore, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the different methods of communication and detailed rules on the possibility of a tender guarantee, the opening of tenders, the requests to participate and the Committee for the evaluation of tenders and requests to participate.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 111 Submission, electronic communication and evaluation):
1. The arrangements for submitting tenders shall be such as to ensure that there is genuine competition and that the contents of tenders remain confidential until they are all opened simultaneously. 2. The Commission shall ensure by appropriate means and in application of Article 95 that tenderers may enter the contents of the tenders and any supporting evidence in an electronic format (‘e-procurement’), except in duly justified cases specified in the delegated acts adopted in accordance with Article 210. Any electronic communication system used to support communications and information exchanges shall be non-discriminatory, generally available and interoperable with information and communication technology (ICT) products in general use and shall not restrict economic operators' access to the procurement procedure. The Commission shall report regularly to the European Parliament and to the Council on the progress of the implementation of this paragraph. 3. If deemed appropriate and proportionate, the contracting authority may require tenderers to submit a guarantee in advance to make sure that the tenders submitted are not withdrawn. The required guarantee shall be proportionate to the estimated value of the contract and shall be set at an appropriate level in order to prevent discrimination against diverse economic operators. 4. The contracting authority shall open all requests to participate and tenders. However, it shall reject: (a) requests to participate and tenders which do not comply with the time limit for receipt, without opening them; (b) tenders received already open, without examining their content. 5. The contracting authority shall evaluate all requests to participate or tenders not rejected during the opening phase laid down in paragraph 4 on the basis of the criteria specified in the procurement documents with a view to awarding the contract or to proceeding with an electronic auction. 6. Requests to participate and tenders which do not comply with all the minimum requirements set out in the procurement documents shall be rejected. Except in duly justified cases, the evaluation committee or the contracting authority shall ask candidates or tenderers to provide additional material or missing documents, to clarify the documents supporting exclusion and selection criteria or to explain an abnormally low tender, within the time limit it specifies. 7. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the time limits for receipt of tenders and requests to participate, access to procurement documents, the time limits to provide additional information, the time limits in urgent cases, as well as on the means of communication for the submission of tenders and electronic catalogues, detailed rules on the technical and legal requirements for electronic exchange systems and on the exception from the use of electronic submission of tenders in duly justified cases. Furthermore, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the possibility of requesting a tender guarantee and the conditions for call in and release of the guarantee, the opening and evaluation of tenders and requests to participate and the establishment and composition of opening and evaluation committees.
Article 112 Principles of equal treatment and transparency
1. While the procurement procedure is under way, all contacts between the contracting authority and candidates or tenderers shall satisfy conditions ensuring transparency and equal treatment. They shall not lead to amendment of the conditions of the contract or the terms of the original tender. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the principles of equal treatment and transparency. Furthermore, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the contact that is allowed between contracting authorities and tenderers during the contract award procedure, the minimum requirements of the written record of an evaluation and the minimum details of the decision taken by the contracting authority.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 112 Contacts during the procurement procedure):
1. While the procurement procedure is under way, all contacts between the contracting authority and candidates or tenderers shall satisfy conditions ensuring transparency, equal treatment and good administration, as set out in Article 96. After the time limit for receipt of tenders has expired, the contracting authority shall contact the tenderer in order to correct obvious clerical errors or to require confirmation of a specific or technical element, except in duly justified cases. The aforementioned contacts as well as any other contacts shall not lead to changes to the procurement documents or to substantial changes to the terms of the submitted tender, except where a procurement procedure set out in Article 104(1) specifically allows for those possibilities. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on contacts that are allowed and contacts which are required between the contracting authority and candidates or tenderers during the procurement procedure.
Article 113 The award decision
1. The authorising officer shall decide to whom the contract is to be awarded, in compliance with the selection and award criteria laid down in advance in the documents relating to the call for tenders and the procurement rules. 2. The contracting authority shall notify all candidates or tenderers whose applications or tenders are rejected of the grounds on which the decision was taken, as well as the duration of the standstill period referred to in Article 118(2). The contracting authority shall notify all tenderers who meet the exclusion and selection criteria, and who make a request in writing, of the characteristics and relative advantages of the successful tender and the name of the tenderer to whom the contract is awarded. However, certain details need not be disclosed where disclosure would hinder application of the law, would be contrary to the public interest or would harm the legitimate business interests of public or private undertakings or could distort fair competition between those undertakings. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the award decision and the signature and implementation of the contract.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 113 Award decision and information to candidates or tenderers):
1. The authorising officer responsible shall decide to whom the contract is to be awarded, in compliance with the selection and award criteria specified in the procurement documents. 2. The contracting authority shall notify all candidates or tenderers, whose requests to participate or tenders are rejected, of the grounds on which the decision was taken, as well as the duration of the standstill period referred to in Article 118(2). For the award of specific contracts under a framework contract with reopening of competition, the contracting authority shall inform the tenderers of the result of the evaluation. 3. The contracting authority shall inform each tenderer who is not in an exclusion situation, whose tender is compliant with the procurement documents and who makes a request in writing, of any of the following: (a) the name of the tenderer, or tenderers in the case of a framework contract, to whom the contract is awarded and, except in the case of a specific contract under a framework contract with reopening of competition, the characteristics and relative advantages of the successful tender, the price paid or contract value, whichever is appropriate; (b) the progress of negotiation and dialogue with tenderers. However, the contracting authority may decide to withhold certain information where its release would impede law enforcement, would be contrary to the public interest or would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of economic operators or might distort fair competition between them. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the requirements for, and content of, the evaluation report and the award decision, and on information to candidates and tenderers.
Article 114 Cancellation of the procurement procedure
The contracting authority may, before the contract is signed, either abandon the procurement or cancel the award procedure without the candidates or tenderers being entitled to claim any compensation. The decision shall be justified and be brought to the attention of the candidates or tenderers. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the cancellation of the procurement procedure.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 114 Cancellation of the procurement procedure):
The contracting authority may, before the contract is signed, cancel the procurement procedure without the candidates or tenderers being entitled to claim any compensation. The decision shall be justified and brought to the attention of the candidates or tenderers as soon as possible.
Article 115 Guarantees
Other than in the case of low value contracts, the contracting authority may, if it deems it appropriate and proportionate on a case-by-case basis and subject to a risk-analysis, require contractors to lodge a guarantee in order to: (a) ensure full performance of the contract, or (b) limit the financial risks connected with payment of pre-financing. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules, including criteria for risk analysis, on the guarantees that are required from contractors.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 115 Guarantees):
1. In cases other than low value contracts, the contracting authority may, if it deems it appropriate and proportionate on a case-by-case basis and subject to a risk-analysis, require contractors to submit a guarantee in order to do any of the following: (a) limit the financial risks connected with payment of pre-financing; (b) ensure compliance with substantial contractual obligations in the case of works, supplies or complex services; (c) ensure full performance of the contract during the contract liability period. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the types of guarantees that may be required from contractors, including criteria for risk analysis, and on the maximum amount of each type of guarantee as a percentage of the total value of the contract.
Article 116 Errors, irregularities and fraud in the procedure
1. Where the award procedure proves to have been subject to substantial errors, irregularities or fraud, the contracting authority shall suspend the procedure and may take whatever measures are necessary, including the cancellation of the procedure. Where, after the award of the contract, the award procedure or the performance of the contract prove to have been subject to substantial errors, irregularities or fraud, the contracting authority may, depending on the stage reached in the procedure, refrain from concluding the contract, suspend its performance or, where appropriate, terminate it. Where those errors, irregularities or fraud are attributable to the contractor, the contracting authority may, in addition, refuse to make payments, recover amounts already paid or terminate all the contracts concluded with that contractor, in proportion to the seriousness of the errors, irregularities or fraud. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the suspension of a contract in the event of errors, irregularities and fraud.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 116 Substantial errors, irregularities or fraud):
1. For the purposes of this Article, a ‘substantial error’ means any infringement of a provision of a contract resulting from an act or an omission, which causes or might cause a loss to the budget. 2. Where the procedure proves to have been subject to substantial errors, irregularities or fraud, the contracting authority shall suspend it and may take any necessary measures, including the cancellation of the procedure. 3. Where, after the signature of the contract, the procedure or the performance of the contract proves to have been subject to substantial errors, irregularities or fraud, the contracting authority may suspend performance of the contract or, where appropriate, terminate it. Performance of contracts may also be suspended in order to verify whether presumed substantial errors, irregularities or fraud have occurred. Where substantial errors, irregularities or fraud are attributable to the contractor, the contracting authority may, in addition, refuse to make payments or recover amounts unduly paid, to an extent proportionate to the seriousness of the substantial errors, irregularities or fraud. 4. OLAF shall exercise the power conferred on the Commission by Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 ( 27 ) to carry out on-the-spot inspections and checks in the Member States and, in accordance with the cooperation and mutual assistance agreements in force, in third countries and on the premises of international organisations. 5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the suspension of the performance of a contract in the event of substantial errors, irregularities or fraud.
Article 117 The contracting authority
1. The institutions shall be deemed to be contracting authorities in the case of contracts awarded on their own account. They shall delegate, in accordance with Article 65, the necessary powers for the exercise of the function of contracting authority. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the delegation of the function of contracting authority, including the identification of the appropriate levels for the calculation of thresholds.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 117 The contracting authority):
1. The institutions within the meaning of Article 2, executive agencies and bodies within the meaning of Articles 208 and 209 shall be deemed to be contracting authorities in the case of contracts awarded on their own account, except where they purchase from a central purchasing body. Departments of those institutions shall not be deemed to be contracting authorities where they conclude administrative arrangements amongst themselves. Those institutions shall delegate, in accordance with Article 65, the necessary powers for the exercise of the function of contracting authority. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the delegation of the function of contracting authority and on central purchasing bodies.
Article 118 Thresholds applicable
1. Subject to Title IV of Part Two, Directive 2004/18/EC lays down the thresholds which determine: (a) the publication arrangements referred to in Article 103; (b) the choice of procedures referred to in Article 104(1); (c) the corresponding time limits. 2. Subject to exceptions and conditions to be specified in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation, the contracting authority shall not, in the case of contracts covered by Directive 2004/18/EC, sign the contract or framework contract with the successful tenderer until a standstill period has elapsed. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the thresholds applicable, separate contracts and contracts with lots, estimating the value of certain contracts, and the standstill period before the signature of the contract.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 118 Thresholds applicable and standstill period):
1. To award public and concession contracts, the contracting authority shall respect the thresholds laid down in points (a) and (b) of Article 4 of Directive 2014/24/EU when selecting a procedure set out in Article 104(1) of this Regulation. Those thresholds shall determine the publicity measures set out in Article 103(1) and (2) of this Regulation. 2. Subject to exceptions and conditions to be specified in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation, in the case of contracts the value of which exceeds the thresholds referred to in paragraph 1, the contracting authority shall not sign the contract or framework contract with the successful tenderer until a standstill period has elapsed. 3. The standstill period shall have a duration of 10 days when using electronic means of communication and 15 days when using other means. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on separate contracts and contracts with lots, estimating the value of public and concession contracts and the standstill period before the signature of the contract.
Article 119 Rules on participation in tendering procedures
1. Participation in tendering procedures shall be open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons coming within the scope of the Treaties and to all natural and legal persons in a third country which has a special agreement with the Union in the field of public procurement under the conditions laid down in that agreement. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the evidence to be provided in relation to access to contracts. 2. OLAF shall exercise the power conferred on the Commission by Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities' financial interests against fraud and other irregularities ( 18 ) to carry out on-the-spot inspections and checks in the Member States and, in accordance with the cooperation and mutual assistance agreements in force, in third countries and on the premises of international organisations.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 119 Rules on access to procurement):
Participation in procurement procedures shall be open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons within the scope of the Treaties and to all natural and legal persons established in a third country which has a special agreement with the Union in the field of public procurement under the conditions laid down in that agreement. It shall also be open to international organisations. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the evidence to be provided in relation to access to procurement.
Article 120 Procurement rules of the World Trade Organisation
Where the Multilateral Agreement on Government Procurement concluded within the World Trade Organisation applies, the contracts shall also be open to nationals of the States which have ratified that agreement, under the conditions laid down therein.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 120 Procurement rules of the World Trade Organisation):
Where the plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement concluded within the World Trade Organisation applies, the procurement procedure shall also be open to economic operators established in the states which have ratified that agreement, under the conditions laid down therein.
Article 121 Scope of grants
1. Grants are direct financial contributions, by way of donation, from the budget in order to finance any of the following: (a) an action intended to help achieve a Union policy objective; (b) the functioning of a body which pursues an aim of general Union interest or has an objective forming part of, and supporting, a Union policy (‧operating grants‧). Grants shall be covered either by a written agreement or by a Commission decision notified to the successful applicant of a grant. The Commission may establish secure electronic systems for exchanges with the beneficiaries. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the detailed specification of the scope of grants, and concerning rules determining whether grant agreements or grant decisions are to be used. Furthermore, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning details of the electronic exchange system, including the conditions under which documents submitted by means of such systems, including grant agreements, are to be deemed originals and to have been signed, and the use of framework partnerships. 2. The following do not constitute grants within the meaning of this Title: (a) expenditure on the members and staff of the institutions and contributions to the European schools; (b) public contracts as referred to in Article 101, aid paid as macro-financial assistance, and budget support; (c) financial instruments, as well as shareholdings or equity participation in international financial institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) or specialised Union bodies such as the European Investment Fund; (d) contributions paid by the Union as subscriptions to bodies of which it is a member; (e) expenditure implemented under shared management and indirect management within the meaning of Articles 58, 59 and 60, unless specified otherwise in the financial rules applicable to the budget of the entities or persons entrusted pursuant to point (c) of Article 58(1) or in delegation agreements; (f) contributions to executive agencies referred to in Article 62, made by virtue of each agency's constitutive act; (g) expenditure relating to fisheries markets as referred to in point (f) of Article 3(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 of 21 June 2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy ( 19 ) ; (h) repayment of travel and subsistence expenses incurred by, or where appropriate any other indemnities paid to, persons invited or mandated by the institutions; (i) prizes given as rewards for a contest, to which Title VII of Part One applies. 3. Interest rate rebates and guarantee fee subsidies shall be treated as grants, provided that they are not combined in a single measure with financial instruments as referred to in Title VIII of Part One. Such rebates and subsidies shall be subject to the provisions of this Title, with the exception of the following: (a) the co-financing principle as set out in Article 125(3); (b) the no-profit principle as set out in Article 125(4); (c) for actions where the objective is to reinforce the financial capacity of a beneficiary or to generate an income, the assessment of the financial capacity of the applicant as referred to in Article 132(1). 4. Each institution may award grants for communication activities where, for duly justified reasons, the use of public procurement procedures is not appropriate.
Article 122 Beneficiaries
1. Where several entities satisfy the criteria for being awarded a grant and together form one entity, that entity may be treated as the sole beneficiary, including where the entity is specifically established for the purpose of implementing the action to be financed by the grant. 2. For the purpose of this Title, the following entities shall be considered as entities affiliated to the beneficiary: (a) entities forming the beneficiary in accordance with paragraph 1; (b) entities that satisfy the eligibility criteria and that do not fall within one of the situations referred to in Article 131(4) and that have a link with the beneficiary, in particular a legal or capital link, which is neither limited to the action nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the minimum content of grant agreements or decisions, in particular, where a grant is awarded to several entities, the specific obligations of the coordinator, if any, and of the other beneficiaries, the applicable responsibility regime and the conditions for adding or removing a beneficiary.
Article 123 Forms of grants
1. Grants may take any of the following forms: (a) reimbursement of a specified proportion of the eligible costs, referred to in Article 126, actually incurred; (b) reimbursement on the basis of unit costs; (c) lump sums; (d) flat-rate financing; (e) a combination of the forms referred to in points (a) to (d). 2. When determining the appropriate form of a grant, the potential beneficiaries' interests and accounting methods shall be taken into account to the greatest possible extent. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning rules for the different forms of grants, including low value grants.
Article 124 Lump sums, unit costs and flat-rate financing
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of the basic act, the use of lump sums, unit costs or flat-rate financing shall be authorised by way of a Commission decision ensuring respect for the principle of equal treatment of beneficiaries for the same category of actions or work programmes. Where the maximum amount per grant does not exceed the amount of a low value grant, the authorisation may be given by the authorising officer responsible. 2. The authorisation shall at least be supported by the following: (a) justification concerning the appropriateness of such forms of financing with regard to the nature of the supported actions or work programmes, as well as to the risks of irregularities and fraud and costs of control; (b) identification of the costs or categories of costs covered by lump sums, unit costs or flat-rate financing, which shall exclude ineligible costs under the applicable Union rules; (c) description of the methods for determining lump sums, unit costs or flat-rate financing, and of the conditions for reasonably ensuring that the no-profit and co-financing principles are complied with and that double financing of costs is avoided. Those methods shall be based on: (i) statistical data or similar objective means; or (ii) a beneficiary-by-beneficiary approach, by reference to certified or auditable historical data of the beneficiary or to its usual cost accounting practices. 3. Where recourse to the usual cost accounting practices of the beneficiary is authorised, the authorising officer responsible may assess compliance of those practices ex ante with the conditions set out in paragraph 2 or through an appropriate strategy for ex post controls. If the compliance of the beneficiary's usual cost accounting practices with the conditions referred to in paragraph 2 has been established ex ante , the amounts of lump sums, unit costs or flat-rate financing determined by application of those practices shall not be challenged by ex post controls. The authorising officer responsible may consider that the usual cost accounting practices of the beneficiary are compliant with the conditions referred to in paragraph 2 if they are accepted by national authorities under comparable funding schemes. 4. The grant decision or agreement may authorise or impose, in the form of flat-rates, funding of the beneficiary's indirect costs up to a maximum of 7 % of total eligible direct costs for the action, except where the beneficiary is in receipt of an operating grant financed from the budget. The 7 % ceiling may be exceeded on the basis of a reasoned decision of the Commission. 5. SME owners and other natural persons who do not receive a salary may declare eligible personnel costs for the work carried out under an action or work programme, on the basis of unit costs determined by way of a Commission decision. 6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules regarding lump sums, unit costs and flat-rate financing.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL In the framework of the negotiations on the Financial Regulation, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission agreed to revise the Financial Regulation in order to take into account the outcome of the negotiations on the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020. Therefore, the adoption of the new Financial Regulation was accompanied by the following joint statement of the European Parliament, Council and the Commission: " The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission agree that the Financial Regulation would be revised in order to include amendments made necessary by the outcome of the negotiations on the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020, including on the following issues: - the carry-over rules for the Emergency Aid Reserve and for projects financed under the Connecting Europe Facility; - the carry-over of unused appropriations and of the budgetary balance, as well as the related proposal to enter these in a reserve for payments and commitments; - the possible inclusion of the European Development Fund in the Union budget; - the treatment of funds resulting from the agreements on the fight against the illegal traffic in tobacco products." On 27 June 2013, a political agreement was reached between Parliament, the Council Presidency and the Commission on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 (MFF) package and on the draft Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council establishing the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The proposal modifies Article 13 of the Financial Regulation in order to include the carry-over rules for the Emergency Aid Reserve and for projects financed under the Connecting Europe Facility. New flexibilities for unused commitment and payment appropriations have been introduced in the draft Council Regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (MFF Regulation). They will be implemented by means of the technical adjustments of the MFF as provided for in the draft MFF Regulation and mobilised in the framework of the budgetary procedure pursuant to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Therefore, no further modifications of the FR are required for those flexibilities. Concerning the European Development Fund (EDF) and as noted by the European Council of 8 February 2013, the Commission intends to propose the budgetisation of the EDF as of 2021. No further agreement was reached in the context of the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 concerning the treatment of funds resulting from the agreements on the fight against the illegal traffic in tobacco products. Therefore, the Commission will continue implementing the agreements and propose, as it has done in its proposal for the Hercule III programme, appropriate financial means necessary to fight cigarette smuggling and counterfeiting by the EU, in addition to efforts undertaken by the Member States.
Revised version (Article 124 Lump sums, unit costs and flat-rate financing):
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of the basic act, the use of lump sums, unit costs or flat-rate financing shall be authorised by way of a Commission decision ensuring respect for the principle of equal treatment of beneficiaries for the same category of actions or work programmes. Where the maximum amount per grant does not exceed the amount of a low value grant, the authorisation may be given by the authorising officer responsible. 2. The authorisation shall at least be supported by the following: (a) justification concerning the appropriateness of such forms of financing with regard to the nature of the supported actions or work programmes, as well as to the risks of irregularities and fraud and costs of control; (b) identification of the costs or categories of costs covered by lump sums, unit costs or flat-rate financing, which shall exclude ineligible costs under the applicable Union rules; (c) description of the methods for determining lump sums, unit costs or flat-rate financing, and of the conditions for reasonably ensuring that the no-profit and co-financing principles are complied with and that double financing of costs is avoided. Those methods shall be based on: (i) statistical data or similar objective means; or (ii) a beneficiary-by-beneficiary approach, by reference to certified or auditable historical data of the beneficiary or to its usual cost accounting practices. (c) description of the methods for determining lump sums, unit costs or flat-rate financing, and of the conditions for reasonably ensuring that the no-profit and co-financing principles are complied with and that double financing of costs is avoided. Those methods shall be based on: (i) statistical data or similar objective means; or (ii) a beneficiary-by-beneficiary approach, by reference to certified or auditable historical data of the beneficiary or to its usual cost accounting practices. 3. Where recourse to the usual cost accounting practices of the beneficiary is authorised, the authorising officer responsible may assess compliance of those practices ex ante with the conditions set out in paragraph 2 or through an appropriate strategy for ex post controls. If the compliance of the beneficiary's usual cost accounting practices with the conditions referred to in paragraph 2 has been established ex ante , the amounts of lump sums, unit costs or flat-rate financing determined by application of those practices shall not be challenged by ex post controls. The authorising officer responsible may consider that the usual cost accounting practices of the beneficiary are compliant with the conditions referred to in paragraph 2 if they are accepted by national authorities under comparable funding schemes. 4. The grant decision or agreement may authorise or impose, in the form of flat-rates, funding of the beneficiary's indirect costs up to a maximum of 7 % of total eligible direct costs for the action, except where the beneficiary is in receipt of an operating grant financed from the budget. The 7 % ceiling may be exceeded on the basis of a reasoned decision of the Commission. 5. SME owners and other natural persons who do not receive a salary may declare eligible personnel costs for the work carried out under an action or work programme, on the basis of unit costs determined by way of a Commission decision. 6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules regarding lump sums, unit costs and flat-rate financing.
Article 125 General principles applicable to grants
1. Grants shall be subject to the principles of transparency and equal treatment. 2. Without prejudice to Article 130, grants shall not be cumulative or awarded retrospectively. 3. Grants shall involve co-financing without prejudice to the specific rules laid down in Title IV of Part Two. Unless otherwise specified in this Regulation, the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding are laid down in Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding ( 20 ) . 4. Grants shall not have the purpose or effect of producing a profit within the framework of the action or the work programme of the beneficiary (‘no-profit principle’). The first subparagraph shall not apply to: (a) actions the objective of which is the reinforcement of the financial capacity of a beneficiary, or actions which generate an income to ensure their continuity after the period of Union financing provided for in the grant decision or agreement; (b) study, research or training scholarships paid to natural persons; (c) other direct support paid to natural persons most in need, such as unemployed persons and refugees; (d) grants based on flat rates and/or lump sums and/or unit costs where these comply with the conditions set out in Article 124(2); (e) low value grants. Where a profit is made, the Commission shall be entitled to recover the percentage of the profit corresponding to the Union contribution to the eligible costs actually incurred by the beneficiary to carry out the action or work programme. 5. For the purpose of this Title, profit shall be defined as a surplus of the receipts over the eligible costs incurred by the beneficiary, when the request is made for payment of the balance. The receipts referred to in the first subparagraph shall be limited to income generated by the action or work programme, as well as financial contributions specifically assigned by donors to the financing of the eligible costs. In the case of an operating grant, amounts dedicated to the building up of reserves shall not be taken into account for the purpose of verifying compliance with the no-profit principle. 6. If a political party at Union level realises a surplus of income over expenditure at the end of a financial year in which it received an operating grant, the part of that surplus corresponding to up to 25 % of the total income for that year may, by derogation from the no-profit principle laid down in paragraph 4, be carried over to the following year provided that it is used before the end of the first quarter of that following year. For the purpose of verifying compliance with the no-profit principle, the own resources, in particular donations and membership fees, aggregated in the annual operations of a political party at Union level, which exceed 15 % of the eligible costs to be borne by the beneficiary, shall not be taken into account. The second subparagraph shall not apply if the financial reserves of a political party at Union level exceed 100 % of its average annual income. 7. Grants may be awarded without a call for proposals to the EIB or the European Investment Fund for actions of technical assistance. In such cases Articles 131(2) to (5) and 132(1) shall not apply. 8. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 complementing the general principles applicable to grants, including the no-profit principle and the co-financing principle. Furthermore, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning the definition of technical assistance.
Article 126 Eligible costs
1. Grants shall not exceed an overall ceiling expressed in terms of an absolute value which shall be established on the basis of estimated eligible costs. Grants shall not exceed the eligible costs. 2. Eligible costs are costs actually incurred by the beneficiary of a grant which meet all of the following criteria: (a) they are incurred during the duration of the action or of the work programme, with the exception of costs relating to final reports and audit certificates; (b) they are indicated in the estimated overall budget of the action or work programme; (c) they are necessary for the implementation of the action or of the work programme which is the subject of the grant; (d) they are identifiable and verifiable, in particular being recorded in the accounting records of the beneficiary and determined according to the applicable accounting standards of the country where the beneficiary is established and according to the usual cost accounting practices of the beneficiary; (e) they comply with the requirements of applicable tax and social legislation; (f) they are reasonable, justified, and comply with the principle of sound financial management, in particular regarding economy and efficiency. 3. Calls for proposals shall specify the categories of costs considered as eligible for Union funding. Without prejudice to the basic act and in addition to paragraph 2, the following categories of costs shall be eligible where the authorising officer responsible has declared them as such under the call for proposals: (a) costs relating to a pre-financing guarantee lodged by the beneficiary of the grant, where that guarantee is required by the authorising officer responsible pursuant to Article 134(1); (b) costs relating to external audits where such audits are required in support of the requests for payments by the authorising officer responsible; (c) value added tax ("VAT") where it is not recoverable under the applicable national VAT legislation and is paid by a beneficiary other than a non-taxable person as defined in the first subparagraph of Article 13(1) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax ( 21 ) ; (d) depreciation costs, provided they are actually incurred by the beneficiary; (e) salary costs of the personnel of national administrations to the extent that they relate to the cost of activities which the relevant public authority would not carry out if the project concerned were not undertaken. 4. Costs incurred by entities affiliated to a beneficiary as described in Article 122 may be accepted as eligible by the authorising officer responsible under the call for proposals. In such a case, the following conditions shall apply cumulatively: (a) the entities concerned are identified in the grant agreement or decision; (b) the entities concerned abide by the rules applicable to the beneficiary under the grant agreement or decision with regard to eligibility of costs and rights of checks and audits by the Commission, OLAF and the Court of Auditors. 5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning further specifications on eligible costs.
Article 127 Co-financing in kind
1. For the purpose of calculating the profit generated by the grant, co-financing in the form of contributions in kind shall not be taken into account. 2. The authorising officer responsible may accept contributions in kind as co-financing, if considered necessary or appropriate. Where co-financing inkind is offered in support of low value grants and the authorising officer responsible has decided to refuse this, he or she shall justify why it is unnecessary or inappropriate. Such contributions shall not exceed: (a) either the costs actually incurred by third parties and duly supported by accounting documents; (b) or, in the absence of such documents, the costs that correspond to those generally accepted on the market in question. Contributions in kind shall be presented separately in the estimated budget to reflect the total resources allocated to the action. Their unit value shall be evaluated in the provisional budget and shall not be subject to subsequent changes. Contributions in kind shall comply with national tax and social security rules.
Article 128 Transparency
1. Grants shall be subject to a work programme, to be published prior to its implementation. That work programme shall be implemented through the publication of calls for proposals, except in duly justified exceptional cases of urgency or where the characteristics of the beneficiary or of the action leave no other choice for a given action, or where the beneficiary is identified in a basic act. The first subparagraph shall not apply to crisis management aid, civil protection operations or humanitarian aid operations. 2. Calls for proposals shall specify the planned date by which all applicants shall have been informed of the outcome of the evaluation of their application and the indicative date for the signature of grant agreements or notification of grant decisions. Those dates shall be fixed on the basis of the following periods: (a) for informing all applicants of the outcome of the evaluation of their application, a maximum of six months from the final date for submission of complete proposals; (b) for signing grant agreements with applicants or notifying grant decisions to them, a maximum of three months from the date of informing applicants they have been successful. Those periods may be adjusted in order to take into account any time needed to comply with specific procedures that may be required by the basic act in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 22 ) and may be exceeded in exceptional, duly justified cases, in particular for complex actions, where there is a large number of proposals or delays attributable to the applicants. The authorising officer by delegation shall report in his or her annual activity report on the average time taken to inform applicants, sign grant agreements or notify grant decisions. In the event of the periods referred to in the second subparagraph being exceeded, the authorising officer by delegation shall give reasons and, where not duly justified in accordance with the third subparagraph, shall propose remedial action. 3. All grants awarded in the course of a financial year shall be published annually in accordance with Article 35(2) and (3). 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the requirements regarding the work programme, the content of calls for proposals, the exceptions to calls for proposals, information for applicants and ex post publication.
Article 129 Principle of non-cumulative award
1. Each action may give rise to the award of only one grant from the budget to any one beneficiary, except where otherwise authorised in the relevant basic acts. A beneficiary may be awarded only one operating grant from the budget per financial year. The applicant shall immediately inform the authorising officers of any multiple applications and multiple grants relating to the same action or to the same work programme. In no circumstances shall the same costs be financed twice by the budget. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the principle of the non-cumulative award of grants.
Article 130 Principle of non-retroactivity
1. A grant may be awarded for an action which has already begun provided that the applicant can demonstrate the need for starting the action priorto signature of the grant agreement or notification of the grant decision. In such cases, costs eligible for financing shall not have been incurred prior to the date of submission of the grant application, except in duly justified exceptional cases as provided for in the basic act or in the event of extreme urgency for crisis management aid, civil protection operations and humanitarian aid operations, or in situations of imminent or immediate danger threatening to escalate into armed conflict or to destabilise a country, whereby an early engagement by the Union would be of major importance in promoting conflict prevention. No grant may be awarded retroactively for actions already completed. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the principle of non-retroactivity. 2. In the case of operating grants, the grant agreement shall be signed or notification of the grant decision given within six months of the start of the beneficiary's financial year. Costs eligible for financing may neither have been incurred before the grant application was submitted nor before the start of the beneficiary's financial year.
Article 131 Applications for grants
1. Grant applications shall be submitted in writing, including, where appropriate, in a secure electronic format. The Commission shall provide, where it deems it feasible, the possibility of making online grant applications. 2. Grant applications shall be eligible if submitted by the following: (a) legal persons; or (b) natural persons, in so far as this is required by the nature or characteristics of the action or the objective pursued by the applicant. For the purposes of point (a) of the first subparagraph, grant applications may be eligible if submitted by entities which do not have legal personality under the applicable national law, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on behalf of the entity and offer guarantees for the protection of the Union's financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons. 3. The application shall state the legal status of the applicant and demonstrate his or her financial and operational capacity to carry out the proposed action or work programme. For that purpose the applicant shall submit a declaration on his or her honour and, unless the grant is a low value grant, any supporting documents requested, on the basis of a risk assessment, by the authorising officer responsible. The prerequisite documents shall be indicated in the call for proposals. The verification of financial capacity shall not apply to natural persons in receipt of scholarships, to natural persons most in need and in receipt of direct support, to public bodies or international organisations. The authorising officer responsible may, depending on a risk assessment, waive the obligation to verify the operational capacity of public bodies or international organisations. 4. Article 106(1) and Articles 107, 108 and 109 shall also apply to grant applicants. Applicants shall certify that they are not in one of the situations referred to in those Articles. However, the authorising officer responsible shall not require such certification in the following cases: (a) low value grants; (b) when such certification has recently been provided in another award procedure. 5. Administrative and financial penalties which are effective, proportionate and dissuasive may be imposed on applicants by the authorising officer responsible, in accordance with Article 109. Those penalties may also be imposed on beneficiaries who at the moment of the submission of the application or during the implementation of the grant, have made false declarations in supplying the information required by the authorising officer responsible or fail to supply that information. 6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the arrangements for grant applications, evidence of not falling within an exclusion situation, applicants without legal personality, legal persons forming one applicant, financial and administrative penalties, eligibility criteria and low value grants.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 131 Applications for grants):
1. Grant applications shall be submitted in writing, including, where appropriate, in a secure electronic format. The Commission shall provide, where it deems it feasible, the possibility of making online grant applications. 2. Grant applications shall be eligible if submitted by the following: (a) legal persons; or (b) natural persons, in so far as this is required by the nature or characteristics of the action or the objective pursued by the applicant. For the purposes of point (a) of the first subparagraph, grant applications may be eligible if submitted by entities which do not have legal personality under the applicable national law, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on behalf of the entity and offer guarantees for the protection of the Union's financial interests equivalent to those offered by legal persons. 3. The application shall state the legal status of the applicant and demonstrate his or her financial and operational capacity to carry out the proposed action or work programme. For that purpose the applicant shall submit a declaration on his or her honour and, unless the grant is a low value grant, any supporting documents requested, on the basis of a risk assessment, by the authorising officer responsible. The prerequisite documents shall be indicated in the call for proposals. The verification of financial capacity shall not apply to natural persons in receipt of scholarships, to natural persons most in need and in receipt of direct support, to public bodies or international organisations. The authorising officer responsible may, depending on a risk assessment, waive the obligation to verify the operational capacity of public bodies or international organisations. 4. Article 105a, paragraphs 1 to 4, 6 and 7, except point (b) of the first subparagraph and the second subparagraph of that paragraph, paragraphs 8, 9, 11 and 13 to 17 of Article 106 and Article 108 shall apply to grant applicants and beneficiaries. Article 107 shall apply to applicants. Applicants shall declare whether they are in one of the situations referred to in Article 106(1) or Article 107 and, where applicable, whether they have taken remedial measures as referred to in point (a) of Article 106(7). When carrying out the necessary verification in respect of its ongoing grant procedures and existing agreements in accordance with Article 108(4), the authorising officer shall ensure that the applicant or beneficiary has been given the opportunity to present its observations before adopting any measure adversely affecting its rights. 6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the arrangements for grant applications, evidence of not falling within an exclusion situation, applicants without legal personality, legal persons forming one applicant, eligibility criteria and low value grants.
Article 132 Selection and award criteria
1. The selection criteria announced in advance in the call for proposals shall be such as to make it possible to assess the applicant's ability to complete the proposed action or work programme. 2. The award criteria announced in advance in the call for proposals shall be such as to make it possible to assess the quality of the proposals submitted in the light of the objectives and priorities set. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on selection and award criteria.
Article 133 Evaluation procedure
1. Proposals shall be evaluated, on the basis of pre-announced selection and award criteria, with a view to determining which proposals may be financed. 2. The authorising officer responsible shall, on the basis of the evaluation provided for in paragraph 1, draw up the list of beneficiaries and the amounts approved. 3. The authorising officer responsible shall inform applicants in writing of the decision on their application. If the grant requested is not awarded, the institution concerned shall give the reasons for the rejection of the application, with reference in particular to the selection and award criteria. 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the evaluation and award of grants and information to applicants.
Article 134 Pre-financing guarantee
1. The authorising officer responsible may, if he or she deems it appropriate and proportionate, on a case-by-case basis and subject to risk analysis, require the beneficiary to lodge a guarantee in advance in order to limit the financial risks connected with the payment of pre-financing. 2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, guarantees shall not be required in the case of low value grants. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the pre-financing guarantee.
Article 135 Payment of grants and controls
1. The amount of the grant shall not become final until after the authorising officer responsible has approved the final reports and accounts, without prejudice to subsequent checks by the institution concerned, which shall be carried out in a timely manner. 2. Where the award procedure proves to have been subject to substantial errors, irregularities or fraud, the authorising officer responsible shall suspend the procedure and may take whatever measures are necessary, including the cancellation of the procedure. The authorising officer responsible shall inform OLAF immediately of suspected cases of fraud. 3. Where, after the award of the grant, the award procedure or the implementation of the grant proves to have been subject to substantial errors, irregularities, fraud, or breach of obligations, the authorising officer responsiblemay, depending on the stage reached in the procedure and, provided that the applicant or beneficiary has been given the opportunity to make observations: (a) refuse to sign the grant agreement or to give notification of the grant decision; (b) suspend implementation of the grant; or (c) where appropriate, terminate the grant agreement or decision. 4. Where such errors, irregularities or fraud are attributable to the beneficiary, or should the beneficiary breach his or her obligations under a grant agreement or decision, the authorising officer responsible may, in addition, reduce the grant or recover amounts unduly paid under the grant agreement or decision, in proportion to the seriousness of the errors, irregularities or fraud or of the breach of obligations, provided that the beneficiary has been given the opportunity to make observations. 5. Where controls or audits demonstrate systemic or recurrent errors, irregularities, fraud or breach of obligations attributable to the beneficiary and having a material impact on a number of grants awarded to that beneficiary under similar conditions, the authorising officer responsible may suspend implementation of all the grants concerned or, where appropriate, terminate the concerned grant agreements or decisions with that beneficiary, in proportion to the seriousness of the errors, irregularities, fraud or of the breach of obligations, provided that the beneficiary has been given the opportunity to make observations. The authorising officer responsible may, in addition, following an adversarial procedure, reduce the grants or recover amounts unduly paid in respect of all the grants affected by the systemic or recurrent errors, irregularities, fraud or breach of obligations referred to in the first subparagraph that may be audited in accordance with the grant agreements or decisions. 6. The authorising officer responsible shall determine the amounts to be reduced or recovered, wherever possible and practicable, on the basis of costs unduly declared as eligible for each grant concerned, following acceptance of the revised financial statements submitted by the beneficiary. 7. Where it is not possible or practicable to quantify precisely the amount of ineligible costs for each grant concerned, the amounts to be reduced or recovered may be determined by extrapolating the reduction or recovery rate applied to the grants for which the systemic or recurrent errors or irregularities have been demonstrated, or, where ineligible costs cannot serve as a basis for determining the amounts to be reduced or recovered, by applying a flat rate, having regard to the principle of proportionality. The beneficiary shall be given the opportunity to make observations on the extrapolation method or flat rate to be applied and to propose a duly substantiated alternative method or rate before the reduction or recovery is made. 8. The Commission shall ensure equal treatment of beneficiaries of a programme, in particular where it is implemented by several authorising officers responsible. Beneficiaries shall be informed of the means for challenging decisions taken under paragraphs 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of this Article, in accordance with Article 97. 9. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules for the payment of grants and controls, including rules concerning supporting documents and the suspension and reduction of grants.
Article 136 Periods for record-keeping
1. Beneficiaries shall keep records, supporting documents, statistical records and other records pertaining to a grant for five years following the payment of the balance, and for three years in the case of low value grants. 2. Records pertaining to audits, appeals, litigation, or the pursuit of claims arising out of the performance of the project shall be retained until such audits, appeals, litigation or claims have been disposed of.
Article 137 Implementation contracts and financial support to third parties
1. Where implementation of an action or a work programme requires financial support to be given to third parties, the beneficiary may give such financial support provided that the following conditions are met: (a) before awarding the grant, the authorising officer responsible has verified that the beneficiary offers adequate guarantees as regards the recovery of amounts due to the Commission; (b) the conditions for the giving of such support are strictly defined in the grant decision or agreement between the beneficiary and the Commission, in order to avoid the exercise of discretion by the beneficiary; (c) the amounts concerned are small, except where the financial support is the primary aim of the action. 2. Each grant decision or agreement shall provide expressly for the Commission and the Court of Auditors to exercise their powers of control, concerning documents premises and information, including that stored on electronic media, over all third parties who have received Union funds. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on implementation contracts and financial support to third parties.
Article 138 General rules
1. Prizes shall respect the principles of transparency and equal treatment and shall promote the achievement of policy objectives of the Union. 2. For this purpose, prizes shall be subject to a work programme to be published prior to its implementation. The work programme shall be implemented through the publication of contests. Contests for prizes with a unit value of EUR 1 000 000 or more may only be published if they are provided for in the statements or any other relevant document referred to in point (e) of Article 38(3). The rules of the contest shall at least lay down the conditions for participation including the exclusion criteria provided for in Article 106(1) and Articles 107, 108 and 109, the award criteria, the amount of the prize and the payment arrangements. Prizes may not be awarded directly without a contest and shall be published annually in accordance with Article 35(2) and (3). 3. Entries in a contest shall be evaluated by a panel of experts on the basis of the published rules of the contest. Prizes shall then be awarded by the authorising officer responsible, on the basis of the evaluation provided by the panel of experts who shall be free to decide whether to recommend the award of prizes, depending on their appraisal of the quality of the entries. 4. The amount of the prize shall not be linked to costs incurred by the winner. 5. Where implementation of an action or work programme requires prizes to be given to third parties by a beneficiary of a Union grant, that beneficiary may give such prizes provided that the minimum content of the rules of the contest, as laid down in paragraph 2, is strictly defined in the grant decision or agreement between the beneficiary and the Commission, with no margin for discretion. 6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on prizes, including programming, rules of contest, ex post publication, evaluation, information and notification of winners.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 138 General rules):
1. Prizes shall respect the principles of transparency and equal treatment and shall promote the achievement of policy objectives of the Union. 2. For this purpose, prizes shall be subject to a work programme to be published prior to its implementation. The work programme shall be implemented through the publication of contests. Contests for prizes with a unit value of EUR 1 000 000 or more may only be published if they are provided for in the statements or any other relevant document referred to in point (e) of Article 38(3). The rules of the contest shall at least lay down the conditions for participation including the exclusion criteria, the award criteria, the amount of the prize and the payment arrangements. Article 105a, paragraphs 1 to 4, 6 and 7, except point (b) of the first subparagraph and the second subparagraph of that paragraph, paragraphs 8, 9, 11 and 13 to 17 of Article 106 and Article 108 shall apply to participants and winners. Article 107 shall apply to participants. Prizes may not be awarded directly without a contest and shall be published annually in accordance with Article 35(2) and (3). 3. Entries in a contest shall be evaluated by a panel of experts on the basis of the published rules of the contest. Prizes shall then be awarded by the authorising officer responsible, on the basis of the evaluation provided by the panel of experts who shall be free to decide whether to recommend the award of prizes, depending on their appraisal of the quality of the entries. 4. The amount of the prize shall not be linked to costs incurred by the winner. 5. Where implementation of an action or work programme requires prizes to be given to third parties by a beneficiary of a Union grant, that beneficiary may give such prizes provided that the minimum content of the rules of the contest, as laid down in paragraph 2, is strictly defined in the grant decision or agreement between the beneficiary and the Commission, with no margin for discretion. 6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on prizes, including programming, rules of contest, ex post publication, evaluation, information and notification of winners.
Article 139 Scope
1. Financial instruments shall be authorised by means of a basic act. Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, financial instruments may be established, in duly justified cases, without being authorised by means of a basic act, provided that such instruments are included in the budget in accordance with point (e) of Article 49(1). 2. Where Union support is provided by means of financial instruments and combined in a single measure with elements directly related to financial instruments targeting the same final recipients, including technical assistance, interest rate rebates and guarantee fee subsidies, this Title shall apply to all elements of that measure. 3. Where financial instruments are combined with grants funded from the budget under Title VI of Part One for elements not directly related to financial instruments, separate records shall be maintained for each source of financing. 4. The Commission may implement financial instruments under direct management, or under indirect management, as set out in the basic act, by entrusting tasks to entities pursuant to points (ii), (iii), (v) and (vi) of Article 58(1)(c). The entities entrusted pursuant to points (ii), (iii), (v) and (vi) of Article 58(1)(c), when implementing financial instruments, may further entrust, under their responsibility, part of that implementation to financial intermediaries provided that those entities ensure that the financial intermediaries satisfy the criteria laid down in Article 140(1), (3) and (5). Financial intermediaries shall be selected on the basis of open, transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory procedures, avoiding conflicts of interests. The Commission shall remain responsible for ensuring that the implementation framework for financial instruments complies with the principle of sound financial management and supports the attainment of defined and timed policy objectives, measurable in terms of outputs and results. The Commission shall be accountable for the implementation of financial instruments without prejudice to the entrusted entities' legal and contractual responsibility in accordance with the applicable law. 5. Where financial instruments are implemented under shared management with Member States, the provisions applying to those instruments, including rules for contributions to financial instruments managed directly or indirectly in accordance with this Title, shall be laid down in the Regulations referred to in Article 175. 6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on financial instruments, including the selection of entities entrusted with the implementation of financial instruments, the content of delegation agreements, management costs and fees, the specific rules for fiduciary accounts, the direct implementation of the financial instruments and the selection of managers, of financial intermediaries and of final recipients.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Following the adoption of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC[1] (“the Directive”) and of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts[2], provision should be made for the rules contained in these Directives to apply to contracts awarded by the European institutions on their own account. 
Revised version (Article 139 Scope):
1. Financial instruments shall be authorised by means of a basic act. Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, financial instruments may be established, in duly justified cases, without being authorised by means of a basic act, provided that such instruments are included in the budget in accordance with point (e) of Article 49(1). 2. Where Union support is provided by means of financial instruments and combined in a single measure with elements directly related to financial instruments targeting the same final recipients, including technical assistance, interest rate rebates and guarantee fee subsidies, this Title shall apply to all elements of that measure. 3. Where financial instruments are combined with grants funded from the budget under Title VI of Part One for elements not directly related to financial instruments, separate records shall be maintained for each source of financing. 4. The Commission may implement financial instruments under direct management, or under indirect management, as set out in the basic act, by entrusting tasks to entities pursuant to points (ii), (iii), (v) and (vi) of Article 58(1)(c). The entities entrusted pursuant to points (ii), (iii), (v) and (vi) of Article 58(1)(c), when implementing financial instruments, may further entrust, under their responsibility, part of that implementation to financial intermediaries provided that those entities ensure that the financial intermediaries satisfy the criteria laid down in Article 140(1), (3) and (5). Financial intermediaries shall be selected on the basis of open, transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory procedures, avoiding conflicts of interests. The Commission shall remain responsible for ensuring that the implementation framework for financial instruments complies with the principle of sound financial management and supports the attainment of defined and timed policy objectives, measurable in terms of outputs and results. The Commission shall be accountable for the implementation of financial instruments without prejudice to the entrusted entities' legal and contractual responsibility in accordance with the applicable law. 5. Where financial instruments are implemented under shared management with Member States, the provisions applying to those instruments, including rules for contributions to financial instruments managed directly or indirectly in accordance with this Title, shall be laid down in the Regulations referred to in Article 175. 5a. Article 105a, paragraph 1, except points (e) and (f) of that paragraph, paragraphs 2 to 4, 6 to 9 and 13 to 17 of Article 106, and Articles 107 and 108 shall apply to dedicated investment vehicles or to financial intermediaries. Final recipients shall provide financial intermediaries with a signed declaration of honour confirming that they are not in one of the situations referred to in points (a), (b), (c) and (d) of Article 106(1) or points (b) and (c) of Article 107(1). 6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on financial instruments, including the selection of entities entrusted with the implementation of financial instruments, the content of delegation agreements, management costs and fees, the specific rules for fiduciary accounts, the direct implementation of the financial instruments and the selection of managers, of financial intermediaries and of final recipients.
Article 140 Principles and conditions applicable to financial instruments
1. Financial instruments shall be used in accordance with the principles of sound financial management, transparency, proportionality, non-discrimination, equal treatment and subsidiarity, and in accordance with their objectives and, where applicable, the duration established in the basic act for those financial instruments. 2. Financial instruments shall comply with the following: (a) addressing market failures or sub-optimal investment situations, which have proven to be financially viable but do not give rise to sufficient funding from market sources; (b) additionality: financial instruments shall not be aimed at replacing those of a Member State, private funding or another Union financial intervention; (c) non-distortion of competition in the internal market and consistency with State aid rules; (d) leverage effect: the Union contribution to a financial instrument shall aim at mobilising a global investment exceeding the size of the Union contribution according to the indicators defined in advance; (e) alignment of interest: when implementing financial instruments, the Commission shall ensure that there is a common interest in achieving the policy objectives defined for a financial instrument, possibly fostered by provisions such as co-investment, risk-sharing requirements or financial incentives, while preventing a conflict of interests with other activities of the entrusted entity; (f) financial instruments shall be established on the basis of on an ex ante evaluation, including an evaluation of the possible re-use of additional resources referred to in point (f) of paragraph 8. 3. The budgetary expenditure linked to a financial instrument and the financial liability of the Union shall in no case exceed the amount of the relevant budgetary commitment made for it, thus excluding contingent liabilities for the budget. 4. The entities entrusted pursuant to points (ii), (iii), (v) and (vi) of Article 58(1)(c) and all financial intermediaries selected to participate in the execution of financial operations under a financial instrument shall comply with relevant standards and applicable legislation on the prevention of money laundering, the fight against terrorism and tax fraud. For the implementation of financial instruments in accordance with this Title, the entities entrusted pursuant to points (ii), (iii), (v) and (vi) of Article 58(1)(c) shall not be established, and shall not maintain business relations with entities incorporated, in territories whose jurisdictions do not co-operate with the Union in relation to the application of the internationally agreed tax standard and shall transpose such requirements in their contracts with the selected financial intermediaries. 5. Entities entrusted pursuant to points (ii), (iii), (v) and (vi) of Article 58(1)(c), financial intermediaries as referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article involved in managing Union financial instruments, and final recipients of Union support under this Title shall afford the Court of Auditors all the facilities and give it all the information which the Court of Auditors considers necessary for the performance of its task, pursuant to Article 161. Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 and Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) ( 23 ) shall apply to Union support under this Title. 6. Amounts corresponding at least to the Union contribution, or, where applicable, multiples thereof shall be used for the attainment of the specific policy objectives pursued through the financial instrument and shall not generate undue advantages, in particular in the form of undue dividends or profits for third parties. Without prejudice to sector-specific rules for shared management, revenues, including dividends, capital gains, guarantee fees and interest on loans and on amounts on fiduciary accounts paid back to the Commission or fiduciary accounts opened for financial instruments and attributable to the support from the budget under a financial instrument, shall be entered in the budget after deduction of management costs and fees. Annual repayments, including capital repayments, guarantees released, and repayments of the principal of loans, paid back to the Commission or fiduciary accounts opened for financial instruments and attributable to the support from the budget under a financial instrument, shall constitute internal assigned revenue in accordance with Article 21 and shall be used for the same financial instrument, without prejudice to paragraph 9 of this Article, for a period not exceeding the period for the commitment of appropriations plus two years, unless specified otherwise in a basic act. 7. Payments to fiduciary accounts shall be made by the Commission on the basis of payment requests that are duly substantiated with disbursement forecasts, taking into account the balances available on the fiduciary accounts and the need to avoid excessive balances on such amounts. In the event of the amounts on the fiduciary accounts being sufficient to cover the contractually stipulated minimum reserve on the fiduciary accounts, as increased by the disbursement forecasts for the current financial year, and to cover the amounts needed to exclude contingent liabilities in relation to payment obligations in currencies other than euro, no further payment to the fiduciary accounts shall be made. Disbursement forecasts are to be provided on an annual or, where appropriate, on a semi-annual basis. 8. The Commission shall report annually to the European Parliament and the Council on the activities relating to financial instruments. The report shall include, for each financial instrument supported: (a) an identification of the financial instrument and the basic act; (b) a description of the financial instrument, implementation arrangements and the added value of the Union contribution; (c) the financial institutions involved in implementation, including any issues relating to the application of paragraph 5; (d) the aggregate budgetary commitments and payments from the budget for each financial instrument; (e) the performance of the financial instrument, including the investments realised; (f) an evaluation of the use of any amounts returned to the instrument as internal assigned revenue under paragraph 6; (g) the balance on the fiduciary account; (h) revenues and repayments under paragraph 6; (i) the value of equity investments, with respect to previous years; (j) the accumulated figures for impairments of assets of equity or risk-sharing instruments, and for called guarantees for guarantee instruments; (k) the target leverage effect, and the achieved leverage effect; (l) itscontribution to the achievement of the objectives of the programme concerned as measured by the established indicators, including, where applicable, the geographical diversification. 9. Where the European Parliament or the Council consider that a financial instrument has not achieved its objectives effectively, they may request that the Commission submit a proposal for a revised basic act with a view to the winding down of the instrument. In the event of the winding down of the financial instrument, any new repayments of that instrument pursuant to the third subparagraph of paragraph 6 shall be considered as general revenue. 10. The purpose of the financial instruments and, where applicable, their specific legal form and legal place of registration shall be published on the Commission website. 11. For financial instruments the authorising officer responsible shall ensure that financial statements, covering the period 1 January to 31 December and in compliance with the accounting rules referred to in Article 143 and the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), as well as any information necessary to produce financial statements in accordance with Article 68(3), will be provided by the entities entrusted pursuant to points (ii), (iii), (v) and (vi) of Article 58(1)(c) by 15 February of the following year. The authorising officer responsible shall also ensure that audited financial statements for financial instruments are provided by those entities by 15 May of the following year. 12. The Commission shall ensure a harmonised management of financial instruments in particular in the area of accounting, reporting, monitoring and financial risk management. 13. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the implementation of financial instruments, including the conditions for their use, the leverage effect, the ex-ante evaluation, the monitoring and the treatment of contributions from the Funds referred to in Article 175.
Article 141 Structure of the accounts
The accounts shall comprise: (a) the consolidated financial statements, which present the consolidation of the financial information contained in the financial statements of the institutions financed by the budget, those of the bodies referred to in Article 208 and of other bodies whose accounts are required to be consolidated in accordance with the accounting rules referred to in Article 143; (b) the aggregated budgetary accounts which present the information contained in the budgetary accounts of the institutions.
Article 142 Report on budgetary and financial management
1. Each institution and body referred to in Article 141 shall prepare a report on budgetary and financial management for the financial year. They shall send the report to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors, by 31 March of the following financial year. 2. The report referred to in paragraph 1 shall give an account, both in absolute terms and expressed as a percentage, at least, of the rate of implementation of appropriations together with summary information on the transfers of appropriations among the various budget items. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the report on budgetary and financial management.
Article 143 Rules governing the accounts
1. The accounting officer of the Commission shall adopt rules based on internationally accepted accounting standards for the public sector. The accounting officer may diverge from those standards if he or she considers this necessary in order to give a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities, charges, income and cash flow. Where an accounting rule diverges materially from those standards, the notes to the financial statements shall disclose this fact and the reasons for it. 2. The budgetary accounts referred to in Article 141 shall respect the budgetary principles laid down in this Regulation. They shall present a true and fair view of the budgetary revenue and expenditure operations.
Article 144 Accounting principles
1. The financial statements referred to in Article 141 shall present information, including information on accounting policies, in a manner that ensures it is relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable. The financial statements shall be drawn up in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles as outlined in the accounting rules referred to in Article 143. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts concerning the establishment of the framework for the implementation by the accounting officer of his or her tasks under this Article and Articles 145, 146, 148, 151, 154, 156 and 157.
Article 145 Financial statements
1. The financial statements shall be presented in millions of euro and shall comprise: (a) the balance sheet and the statement of financial performance, which represent all assets and liabilities, the financial situation and the economic result at 31 December of the preceding year; they shall be presented in accordance with the accounting rules referred to in Article 143; (b) the cash-flow statement showing amounts collected and disbursed during the year and the final treasury position; (c) the statement of changes in net assets presenting an overview of the movements during the year in reserves and accumulated results. 2. The notes to the financial statements shall supplement and comment on the information presented in the statements referred to in paragraph 1 and shall supply all the additional information prescribed by internationally accepted accounting practice where such information is relevant to the activities of the Union.
Article 146 Budgetary implementation reports
1. The budgetary implementation reports shall be presented in millions of euro. They shall consist of: (a) reports which aggregate all budgetary operations for the year in terms of revenue and expenditure; (b) explanatory notes, which shall supplement and comment on the information given in the reports. 2. The structure of the budgetary implementation reports shall be the same as that of the budget itself.
Article 147 Provisional accounts
1. The accounting officers of the other institutions and bodies referred to in Article 141 shall send their provisional accounts to the accounting officer of the Commission and to the Court of Auditors by 1 March of the following year. 2. The accounting officers of the other institutions and bodies referred to in Article 141 shall also send by 1 March of the following year a reporting package to the accounting officer of the Commission, in a standardised format as laid down by the accounting officer of the Commission for consolidation purposes. 3. The accounting officer of the Commission shall consolidate those provisional accounts with the Commission's provisional accounts and shall send to the Court of Auditors, by 31 March of the following year, the provisional accounts of the Commission and the consolidated provisional accounts of the Union.
Article 148 Approval of the final consolidated accounts
1. The Court of Auditors shall, by 1 June, make its observations on the provisional accounts of the institutions other than the Commission and each body referred to in Article 141, and by 15 June, make its observations on the provisional accounts of the Commission and the consolidated provisional accounts of the Union. 2. The institutions other than the Commission, and each of the bodies referred to in Article 141, shall draw up their final accounts and send them to the accounting officer of the Commission, the Court of Auditors, the European Parliament and the Council by 1 July with a view to drawing up the final consolidated accounts. The accounting officers of the other institutions and bodies referred to in Article 141 shall also send by 1 July, a reporting package to the accounting officer of the Commission, in a standardised format as laid down by the accounting officer of the Commission for consolidation purposes. 3. The accounting officer of each institution and body referred to in Article 141 shall also send to the Court of Auditors, with a copy to the accounting officer of the Commission, at the same date as the transmission of his or her final accounts, a representation letter covering those final accounts. The final accounts shall be accompanied by a note drawn up by the accounting officer, in which the latter declares that the final acccounts were prepared in accordance with this Title and with the applicable accounting principles, rules and methods. 4. The accounting officer of the Commission shall draw up the final consolidated accounts on the basis of the information presented pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article by the institutions other than the Commission and by bodies referred to in Article 141. The final consolidated accounts shall be accompanied by a note drawn up by the accounting officer of the Commission, in which the latter declares that the final consolidated accounts were prepared in accordance with this Title and with the accounting principles, rules and methods set out in the notes to the financial statements. 5. After approving the final consolidated accounts and its own final accounts, the Commission shall send them both to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors by 31 July. By the same date, the accounting officer of the Commission shall transmit a representation letter covering the final consolidated accounts to the Court of Auditors. 6. The final consolidated accounts shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union together with the statement of assurance given by the Court of Auditors in accordance with Article 287 TFEU and Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty by 15 November.
Article 149 Report on budgetary guarantees and risks
In addition to the statements and reports provided for in Articles 145 and 146, the Commission shall report to the European Parliament and to the Council once a year on the budgetary guarantees referred to in point (d) of Article 49(1) and the corresponding risks. That information shall be sent to the Court of Auditors at the same time.
Article 150 Information on budget implementation
1. In addition to the statements and reports provided for in Articles 145 and 146, the Commission's accounting officer shall send once a month to the European Parliament and to the Council figures, aggregated at chapter level at least, on the implementation of the budget, both for revenue and for expenditure against all appropriations. Those figures shall also provide details of the utilisation of appropriations carried over. The figures shall be sent within 10 working days of the end of each month. 2. Three times a year, within 30 working days of 31 May, 31 August and 31 December, the Commission's accounting officer shall send to the European Parliament and to the Council a report on the implementation of the budget, covering both revenue and expenditure broken down by chapter, article and item. Those reports shall also provide details of the utilisation of appropriations carried over from preceding financial years. 3. The figures and the report on implementation of the budget shall at the same time be sent to the Court of Auditors and published on the Commission's website. 4. By 15 September of each year, the accounting officer shall send to the European Parliament and to the Council a report containing information on current risks noted, general trends observed, new accounting issues encountered, progress on accounting matters, including those raised by the Court of Auditors, and information on recoveries.
Article 151 The accounting system
1. An institution's accounting system shall serve to organise the budgetary and financial information in such a way that figures can be entered, filed and registered. 2. The accounting system shall consist of general accounts and budgetary accounts. The accounts shall be kept in euro and on the basis of the calendar year. 3. The authorising officer by delegation may also keep analytical accounts.
Article 152 Common requirements for the institutions' accounting system
The accounting officer of the Commission shall, in accordance with Article 143, after consulting the accounting officers of the other institutions and of the bodies referred to in Article 141, adopt the accounting rules and the harmonised chart of accounts to be applied by all the institutions, the offices referred to in Title V of Part Two and all the bodies referred to in Article 141.
Article 153 The general accounts
The general accounts shall record, in chronological order using the double-entry method, all events and operations which affect the economic and financial situation and the assets and liabilities of the institutions and of the bodies referred to in Article 141.
Article 154 Entries in the general accounts
1. Balances and movements in the general accounts shall be entered in the accounting ledgers. 2. All accounting entries, including adjustments to the accounts, shall be based on supporting documents, to which the entries shall refer. 3. The accounting system shall be such as to leave a clear audit trail for all accounting entries.
Article 155 Accounting adjustments
The accounting officer shall, after the close of the financial year and up to the date of presentation of the general accounts, make any adjustments which, without involving disbursement or collection in respect of that year, are necessary for a true and fair presentation of those accounts. Such adjustments shall comply with the accounting rules referred to in Article 143.
Article 156 Budgetary accounting
1. The budgetary accounts shall provide a detailed record of the implementation of the budget. 2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the budgetary accounts shall record all budgetary revenue and expenditure operations provided for in Title IV of Part One.
Article 157 The inventory
1. Each institution and body referred to in Article 141 shall keep inventories showing the quantity and value of all the Union's tangible, intangible and financial assets in accordance with a model drawn up by the accounting officer of the Commission. Each institution and body referred to in Article 141 shall check that entries in the inventory correspond to the actual situation. 2. The sale of the Union's tangible assets shall be suitably advertised.
Article 158 External audit by the Court of Auditors
The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission shall inform the Court of Auditors, as soon as possible, of all decisions and rules adopted pursuant to Articles 13, 16, 21, 25, 26, 29 and 40.
Article 159 Rules and procedure on the audit
1. The examination by the Court of Auditors of whether all revenue has been received and all expenditure incurred in a lawful and proper manner shall have regard to the Treaties, the budget, this Regulation, the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation and all other acts adopted pursuant to the Treaties. 2. In the performance of its task, the Court of Auditors shall be entitled to consult, in the manner provided for in Article 161, all documents and information relating to the financial management of departments or bodies with regard to operations financed or co-financed by the Union. It shall have the power to hear any official responsible for a revenue or expenditure operation and to use any of the auditing procedures appropriate to the aforementioned departments or bodies. The audit in the Member States shall be carried out in liaison with the national audit institutions or, where they do not have the necessary powers, with the competent national departments. The Court of Auditors and the national audit institutions of the Member States shall cooperate in a spirit of trust while maintaining their independence. In order to obtain all the necessary information for the performance of the task entrusted to it by the Treaties or the acts adopted pursuant to them, the Court of Auditors may be present, at its request, during the audit operations carried out within the framework of the implementation of the budget by, or on behalf of, any institution. At the request of the Court of Auditors, each institution shall authorise financial institutions holding Union deposits to enable the Court of Auditors to ensure that external data tally with the accounts. 3. In order to perform its task, the Court of Auditors shall notify the institutions and authorities to which this Regulation applies of the names of the members of its staff who are empowered to audit them.
Article 160 Checks on securities and cash
The Court of Auditors shall ensure that all securities and cash on deposit or in hand are checked against vouchers signed by the depositories or against official memoranda of cash and securities held. It may carry out such checks itself.