Drawing-up of the budget
1. Estimates of all the revenue and expenditure of the Centre shall be prepared for each financial year, corresponding to the calendar year, and shall be shown in the budget of the Centre.
2. The revenue and expenditure shown in the budget of the Centre shall be in balance.
3. The revenue of the Centre shall, without prejudice to other resources, comprise:
(a)
a subsidy from the Community entered in the general budget of the European Union (Commission section);
(b)
payments received for services rendered;
(c)
any financial contributions from the competent bodies referred to in Article 5;
(d)
any voluntary contribution from the Member States.
4. The expenditure of the Centre shall include staff remuneration, administrative and infrastructure costs, operating expenses and expenses resulting from contracts entered into with the institutions or with third parties.
5. Each year the Management Board, on the basis of a draft drawn up by the director, shall produce an estimate of revenue and expenditure for the Centre for the following financial year. This estimate, which shall include a draft establishment plan, shall be forwarded by the Management Board to the Commission by 31 March at the latest.
6. The estimate shall be forwarded by the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council (hereinafter referred to as the “budgetary authority”) together with the preliminary draft budget of European Union.
7. On the basis of the estimate, the Commission shall enter in the preliminary draft general budget of the European Union the estimates it deems necessary for the establishment plan and the amount of the subsidy to be charged to the general budget, which it shall place before the budgetary authority in accordance with Article 272 of the Treaty.
8. The budgetary authority shall authorise the appropriations for the subsidy to the Centre. The budgetary authority shall adopt the establishment plan for the Centre.
9. The budget of the Centre shall be adopted by the Management Board. It shall become final following final adoption of the general budget of the European Union. Where appropriate, it shall be adjusted accordingly.
10. The Management Board shall, as soon as possible, notify the budgetary authority of its intention to implement any project which may have significant financial implications for the funding of its budget, in particular any projects relating to property such as the rental or purchase of buildings. It shall inform the Commission thereof.
Where a branch of the budgetary authority has notified its intention to deliver an opinion, it shall forward its opinion to the Management Board within a period of six weeks from the date of notification of the project.
Implementation of the Centre’s budget
1. The director shall implement the Centre’s budget.
2. By 1 March at the latest following each financial year, the Centre’s accounting officer shall communicate the provisional accounts to the Commission’s accounting officer together with a report on the budgetary and financial management for that financial year. The Commission’s accounting officer shall consolidate the provisional accounts of the institutions and decentralised bodies in accordance with Article 128 of the Financial Regulation.
3. By 31 March at the latest following each financial year, the Commission’s accounting officer shall forward the Centre’s provisional accounts to the Court of Auditors, together with a report on the budgetary and financial management for that financial year. The report on the budgetary and financial management for that financial year shall also be forwarded to the European Parliament and the Council.
4. On receipt of the Court of Auditors' observations on the Centre’s provisional accounts, pursuant to Article 129 of the Financial Regulation, the director shall draw up the Centre’s final accounts under his/her own responsibility and forward them to the Management Board for an opinion.
5. The Management Board shall deliver an opinion on the Centre’s final accounts.
6. The director shall, by 1 July at the latest following each financial year, forward the final accounts to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, together with the Management Board’s opinion.
7. The final accounts shall be published.
8. The director shall send the Court of Auditors a reply to its observations by 30 September at the latest. He/she shall also send this reply to the Management Board.
9. The director shall submit to the European Parliament, at the latter’s request, any information required for the smooth application of the discharge procedure for the financial year in question, as laid down in Article 146(3) of the Financial Regulation.
10. The European Parliament, on a recommendation from the Council acting by a qualified majority, shall, before 30 April of year N + 2, give a discharge to the director in respect of the implementation of the budget for year N.
Application of the Financial Regulation
Article 185 of the Financial Regulation shall apply to the discharge of the Centre’s budget, its audits and accounting rules.
Combating fraud
1. In order to combat fraud, corruption and other unlawful activities, the provisions of 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) ( 9 ) shall apply without restriction to the Centre.
2. The Centre shall accede to the Inter-institutional Agreement of 25 May 1999 concerning internal investigations by the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) ( 10 ) and shall issue, without delay, the appropriate provisions applicable to all of its staff.
3. The decisions concerning funding and the implementing agreements and instruments resulting therefrom shall explicitly stipulate that the Court of Auditors and OLAF may carry out, if necessary, on-the-spot checks of the recipients of the Centre’s funding and the agents responsible for allocating it.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
