Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
The budget shall be implemented in accordance with the principle that the authorising officer and the accounting officer are different individuals. The duties of authorising officer, accounting officer and financial controller shall be mutually incompatible.
1. The task of authorising officer for revenue and expenditure shall be carried out by a Director-General at the General Secretariat of the Council. The authorising officer shall implement the budget on behalf of the Deputy Secretary-General and within the limits of the appropriations allotted he may delegate his powers to a Director. 2. The authorising officer may decide on transfers between articles within each chapter. With the agreement of the SIS Working Group, he may decide on transfers between chapters within the same title. The SIS Working Group shall give its agreement under the same conditions as for adopting its opinion on the budget.
The task of financial controller shall be carried out by the Council's Financial Controller in accordance with the rules applicable to the latter's duties.
The receipt of revenue and the disbursement of expenditure shall be carried out by an accounting officer from Directorate-General A at the General Secretariat of the Council.
1. For the collection of any amount owing pursuant to Article 25, or of any debt due to the States concerned by a third party relating to the conclusion, installation and functioning of Sisnet, the issue of a recovery order by the authorising officer shall be required. Recovery orders shall be forwarded to the accounting officer, who shall submit them to the financial controller for approval. 2. The purpose of this approval shall be to establish that: (a) the revenue has been booked to the correct budget item; (b) the recovery order is in order and conforms to the relevant provisions; (c) the supporting documents are in order; (d) the debtor, or the competent authority of the debtor State, are correctly described; (e) the due date is indicated; (f) the principles of sound financial management referred to in Article 4 have been applied; (g) the amount and currency of the sum to be recovered are correct. 3. The accounting officer shall assume responsibility for the recovery orders duly drawn up.
Notwithstanding Articles 5 and 6: 1. the following deductions may be made from all bills, invoices or statements, which shall then be passed for payment of the net amount: (a) fines imposed on a party to a contract on an accepted tender; (b) adjustment of amounts paid in error, which may be achieved by means of deduction beforehand when another validation of the same type is being effected under the title, chapter, article and financial year in respect of which the excess payment was made. Discounts, refunds and rebates on invoices and bills shall not be recorded as separate revenue; 2. the following sums may be reused under the heading to which the initial expenditure was charged: - revenue arising from refund of amounts paid in error against appropriations entered in the budget. Sums must be reused before the end of the financial year following that in which the revenue was collected.
1. Any measure likely to involve expenditure against the budget must first be the subject of a proposal for a commitment of expenditure from the authorising officer to the accounting officer, showing the purpose, the amount involved, the budget item to which the expenditure is to be charged and the creditor. The proposal shall be submitted by the accounting officer to the financial controller for approval. 2. The purpose of this approval shall be to establish that: (a) the proposal for commitment has been presented in accordance with paragraph 1; (b) the expenditure has been charged to the correct budget item; (c) the appropriations are available in the budget; (d) the principles of sound financial management referred to in Article 4 have been applied; (e) the expenditure is in order and conforms to the relevant provisions.
1. The purpose of validation of expenditure by the authorising officer shall be: (a) to verify the creditor's claim; (b) to determine or verify the existence and the amount of the sum due; (c) to verify the conditions under which the payment falls due; (d) to verify that purchases or services rendered are as ordered. 2. The authorising officer may have the verifications carried out under his responsibility.
1. The authorising officer shall authorise the accounting officer, by the issue of a payment order ("authorisation"), to pay an item of expenditure which has been validated. 2. The authorisation shall state: (a) the financial year against which the payment shall be charged; (b) the budget title, chapter and article; (c) the amount to be paid, in figures and in words, and the currency of payment; (d) the name and address of the creditor; (e) the purpose of the expenditure; (f) the method of payment; (g) the numbers and dates of the relevant approvals of commitment. 3. The payment order shall be dated and signed by the authorising officer. 4. The accounting officer shall submit the payment order, together with the original supporting documents, to the financial controller for approval. 5. The purpose of this approval shall be to establish that: (a) the payment order was properly issued; (b) the payment order agrees with the commitment of expenditure and the amount thereof is correct, taking account of the principles of sound financial management referred to in Article 4; (c) the expenditure is charged to the correct item in the budget; (d) the appropriations are available in the budget title or article concerned; (e) the supporting documents are in order, and (f) the creditor is correctly named and described. 6. Any expenditure must be covered beforehand by contributions from the States referred to in Article 25 or, failing those, by a bank loan. The costs of a pre-financing loan in the event of non-payment of contributions shall be divided among the States in default, pro rata to their unpaid contributions and taking into account the length of arrears.
Payments shall be effected through the bank account opened in accordance with Article 17 of Council Decision 1999/323/EC(3) in the name of the Secretary-General of the Council. Bank transfer orders executed pursuant to this Financial Regulation shall require the joint signature of two officials nominated by the Deputy Secretary-General, of whom one shall be the accounting officer.
Should the financial controller refuse to give the approval laid down in Articles 16, 18 or 20 and the authorising officer maintain his proposal, the matter shall be referred to the Deputy Secretary-General. Except in cases where the availability of appropriations is in doubt, the Deputy Secretary-General may, in a duly reasoned decision, overrule the refusal and confirm the recovery order, expenditure commitment or payment order. The Deputy Secretary-General shall within one month inform the Court of Auditors of any such decision. The decision shall be enforceable as from the date approval was refused.
The liability to disciplinary action of the authorising officer, financial controller, and accounting officer in the event of failure to comply with the provisions of this Financial Regulation shall be as laid down in the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities.
The accounts shall be kept by the double-entry method on the basis of the calendar year. They shall show all revenue and expenditure for the financial year. CHAPTER IV States' contributions
Articles on this page are reproduced verbatim from official open data. See the attribution line.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.