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The director shall perform the duties of authorising officer. He shall be an official subject to the Staff Regulations. He shall implement the budget in revenue and expenditure in accordance with this Regulation, on his own responsibility and within the limits of the appropriations authorised.
The director may delegate his powers of budget implementation to staff of the agency subject to the Staff Regulations. These members of staff may act only within the limits of the powers expressly conferred upon them.
All financial actors within the meaning of Chapter 2 of this Title shall be prohibited from taking any measures of budget implementation which may bring their own interests into conflict with those of the agency or of the Communities. Should such a case arise, the actor in question must refrain from such measures and refer the matter to his superior. The director must refer it to the management board. There is a conflict of interests where the impartial and objective exercise of the functions of a financial actor in the implementation of the budget or an internal auditor is compromised for reasons involving family, emotional life, political or national affinity, economic interest or any other shared interest with the beneficiary.
The duties of authorising officer and accounting officer shall be segregated and mutually incompatible.
The authorising officer shall be responsible for implementing revenue and expenditure in accordance with the principles of sound financial management and for ensuring that the requirements of legality and regularity are complied with. He shall conserve the supporting documents relating to operations carried out for a period of five years from the date of the decision granting discharge in respect of implementation of the budget. The authorising officer by delegation shall put in place, in compliance with the relevant minimum standards adopted by the Commission for its own departments and having due regard to the specific risks associated with his/her management environment, the organisational structure and the internal management and control procedures suited to the performance of his/her duties, including where appropriate ex post verifications. Depending on the nature and scope of the duties, the authorising officer may establish within his/her departments an expertise and advice function designed to help him/her control the risks involved in his/her activities. Before an operation is authorised, the operational and financial aspects shall be verified by members of staff other than the one who initiated the operation. Initiation and the ex ante and ex post verification of an operation shall be separate functions. The authorising officer shall report to the management board on the performance of his duties in the form of an annual activity report, in accordance with Article 9(7) of Regulation (EC) No 58/2003, by 15 March of the financial year in question.
The management board shall appoint an accounting officer, who is an official subject to the Staff Regulations and who shall be responsible for: (a) proper implementation of payments, collection of revenue and recovery of amounts established as being receivable; (b) drawing up the agency's accounts in accordance with Title VI; (c) keeping the accounts in accordance with Title VI; (d) implementing the accounting rules and methods and the chart of accounts in accordance with the provisions adopted by the Commission's accounting officer; (e) treasury management. The accounting officer shall obtain from the authorising officer, who shall guarantee its reliability, all the information necessary for the production of accounts which give a true image of the agency's assets and of budget implementation. The accounting officer is alone empowered to handle monies and other assets. He shall be responsible for their safekeeping.
Any member of staff involved in the financial management and control of transactions who considers that a decision he is required by his superior to apply or to agree to is irregular or contrary to the principles of sound financial management or the professional rules he is required to observe shall inform the director in writing and, if the latter fails to take action within a reasonable period, the panel referred to in Article 35 and the management board. In the event of any illegal activity, fraud or corruption which may harm the interests of the Community, he shall inform the authorities and bodies designated by the applicable legislation.
Without prejudice to any disciplinary action, authorising officers by delegation may at any time have their delegation withdrawn temporarily or definitively by the authority which appointed them, by a reasoned decision and after having been heard. The director may at any time withdraw his agreement to a specific delegation. Without prejudice to any disciplinary action, the accounting officer may at any time be suspended temporarily or definitively from his duties by the management board, by a reasoned decision and after having been heard. The management board shall appoint an interim accounting officer.
The provisions of this chapter are without prejudice to the criminal-law liability which the authorising officer and his delegates may incur as provided in the applicable national law and in the provisions in force on the protection of the Communities' financial interests and on the fight against corruption involving officials of the Communities or officials of Member States. Every authorising officer and accounting officer 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 Community, the matter will be referred to the authorities and bodies designated by the applicable legislation.
1. The authorising officer shall be liable to payment of compensation as laid down in the Staff Regulations. Accordingly, he may be required to make good, in whole or in part, any damage suffered by the Communities as a result of serious misconduct on his part in the course of or in connection with the performance of his duties, in particular if he determines entitlements to be recovered or issues recovery orders, commits expenditure or signs a payment order without complying with this Regulation. The same shall apply where, through serious misconduct, he fails to draw up a document establishing an amount receivable or if he fails to issue a recovery order or is, without justification, late in issuing it, or if he fails to issue a payment order or is late in issuing it, thereby rendering the agency liable to civil action by third parties. 2. An authorising officer by delegation who considers that a decision falling under his responsibility is irregular or contrary to the principles 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 to implement the decision in question, the latter must implement it and may not be held liable.
1. The panel set up by the Commission to determine whether a financial irregularity has occurred and what the consequences, if any, should be, in accordance with Article 66(4) of the general Financial Regulation, may exercise the same powers in respect of the agency as it does in respect of Commission departments. On the basis of the opinion of this panel, the director shall decide whether to initiate disciplinary proceedings or proceedings for the payment of compensation. If the panel detects systemic problems, it shall send a report with recommendations to the authorising officer and to the Commission's internal auditor. If the opinion implicates the director, the panel shall send it to the management board and the Commission's internal auditor. 2. Any member of staff may be required to make good, in whole or in part, any damage suffered by the agency as a result of serious misconduct on his part in the course of or in connection with the performance of his duties. The appointing authority shall take a reasoned decision, after completing the formalities laid down by the Staff Regulations with regard to disciplinary matters.
An accounting officer may be liable to disciplinary action and payment of compensation, as laid down in the Staff Regulations, in particular where: (a) he/she loses or damages monies, assets and documents in his/her keeping or causes them to be lost or damaged by his negligence; (b) he/she alters bank accounts or postal giro accounts without notifying the authorising officer in advance; (c) he/she recovers or pays amounts which are not in conformity with the corresponding recovery or payment orders; (d) he/she fails to collect revenue due.
An estimate of the amount receivable shall first be made by the authorising officer responsible in respect of any measure or situation which may give rise to or modify an amount owing to the agency.
Establishment of an amount receivable is the act by which the authorising officer: (a) verifies that the debt exists; (b) determines or verifies the reality and the amount of the debt; (c) verifies the conditions in which the debt is due. Any amount receivable that is identified as being certain, of a fixed amount and due must be established by a recovery order given to the accounting officer, accompanied by a debit note sent to the debtor. Both of these documents shall be drawn up and sent by the authorising officer responsible. Without prejudice to the provisions laid down in the rules, contract or agreement applicable, any debt not repaid on the due date laid down in the debit note shall bear interest in accordance with Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002.
The authorisation of recovery is the act whereby the authorising officer responsible instructs the accounting officer, by issuing a recovery order, to recover an amount receivable which he has established. The accounting officer shall act on recovery orders for amounts receivable duly established by the authorising officer or authorising officer responsible. He shall exercise due diligence to ensure that the agency receives its revenue and shall see that its rights are safeguarded. Amounts wrongly paid shall be recovered.
Where the authorising officer responsible is planning to waive recovery of an established amount receivable, he shall ensure that the waiver is in order and complies with the principle of sound financial management. He shall report his intention to waive an established amount receivable to the management board. Such a waiver shall be by decision of the authorising officer, which must be substantiated. The authorising officer may delegate this decision only for amounts receivable of less than EUR 5 000. The waiver decision shall state what action has been taken to secure recovery and the points of law and fact on which it is based. The authorising officer responsible shall cancel an established amount receivable when the discovery of a mistake as to a point of law or fact reveals that the amount had not been correctly established. The authorising officer may delegate this decision only for amounts receivable of less than EUR 5 000. Such cancellation shall be by decision of the authorising officer responsible and shall be suitably substantiated. The authorising officer responsible shall adjust the amount of an established debt upwards or downwards when the discovery of a factual error entails the alteration of the amount of the debt, provided that this correction does not involve the loss of the agency's established entitlement. Such an adjustment shall be by decision of the authorising officer responsible and shall be suitably substantiated.
Upon actual recovery of the sum due, the accounting officer shall make an entry in the accounts and shall inform the authorising officer responsible. A receipt shall be issued in respect of all cash payments made to the accounting officer. If actual recovery has not taken place by the due date stipulated in the debit note, the accounting officer shall inform the authorising officer responsible and immediately launch the procedure for effecting recovery by any means offered by the law, including, where appropriate, by offsetting and, if this is not possible, by enforced recovery. The accounting officer shall recover claims that the agency has on any debtor who himself has a claim on the agency that is certain, of a fixed amount and due by offsetting the equivalent amounts.
Further time for payment may be granted by the accounting officer, in liaison with the authorising officer responsible, only on written request, with due indication of the reasons, provided that the debtor undertakes to pay interest for the entire period of time allowed, starting from the date on which the payment was originally due and that, in order to safeguard the rights of the agency, he provides a financial guarantee covering both the principal sum and the interest.
Every item of expenditure shall be committed, validated, authorised and paid.
In respect of any measure which may give rise to expenditure chargeable to the budget, the authorising officer responsible must first make a budgetary commitment before entering into a legal obligation with third parties. The individual legal commitments relating to individual or provisional budget commitments shall be concluded by 31 December of year N at the latest. The unused balance of these budget commitments shall be decommitted by the authorising officer responsible.
When a budget commitment is adopted, the authorising officer responsible shall ensure that the expenditure has been charged to the correct item in the budget, that the appropriations are available and that the expenditure conforms to the relevant provisions, including compliance with the principle of sound financial management.
Validation of expenditure is the act whereby the authorising officer responsible verifies the existence of the creditor's entitlement, verifies the conditions under which payment falls due and determines or verifies the reality and the amount of the claim. The validation of any expenditure shall be based on supporting documents certifying the creditor's entitlement. The validation decision shall be expressed by the signing of a ‘passed for payment’ voucher by the authorising officer responsible. In a non-computerised system, ‘passed for payment’ shall take the form of a stamp incorporating the signature of the authorising officer responsible. In a computerised system, ‘passed for payment’ shall take the form of validation using the personal password of the authorising officer responsible.
Authorisation of expenditure is the act whereby the authorising officer responsible, by issuing a payment order, instructs the accounting officer to pay an item of expenditure which he has validated. The payment order shall be dated and signed by the authorising officer responsible and, where appropriate, it shall be accompanied by a document certifying that the goods have been entered in the inventories referred to in Article 64. Payment of expenditure shall be made by the accounting officer within the limits of the funds available.
The validation, authorisation and payment of expenditure must be carried out within the time limits specified in, and in accordance with the provisions of, the general Financial Regulation and its implementing rules.
The role of internal auditor in the executive agencies shall be exercised by the Commission's internal auditor. The Commission's internal auditor shall exercise the same powers over the executive agencies as over Commission departments under Articles 85 and 86 of the general Financial Regulation. He shall report to the management board and the director on his findings and recommendations. They shall ensure that action is taken on recommendations resulting from audits and inform the Commission. The internal auditor shall submit to the agency, and send to the Commission for information, an annual report indicating the number and type of audits carried out, the recommendations made and the action taken on these recommendations. The internal auditor's liability in the exercise of his duties shall be determined in accordance with Article 87 of the general Financial Regulation. Every year the agency shall transmit to the discharge authority and the Commission a report drawn up by the director of the agency summarising the number and type of internal audits made by the internal auditor, the recommendations made and the follow-up given to those recommendations.
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Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.