Monitoring and reporting by the beneficiary Member States
1. Beneficiary Member States shall monitor implementation of investments financed from the Modernisation Fund. By 30 April, beneficiary Member States shall submit to the Commission an annual report for the preceding year containing information specified in Annex II.
2. The annual report referred to in paragraph 1 shall be accompanied by the following information:
(a)
documentary evidence of the financing of investments from the Modernisation Fund in the preceding year;
(b)
the annual financial statement in respect of each investment, or in the case of a scheme, the financial statement providing for aggregated data on expenditures to the scheme in the preceding year.
Reporting by the Investment Committee
1. The annual report of the Investment Committee referred to in the first sentence of Article 10d(11) of Directive 2003/87/EC shall include the following information:
(a)
the number of investment proposals received, including the specification of the investment area;
(b)
the number of recommendations issued and summary conclusions of each recommendation;
(c)
an overview of the main conclusions regarding the proposed investments following from the technical and financial due diligence carried out by the EIB;
(d)
the practical experience on procedural aspects of issuing the recommendations.
2. On the basis of a draft prepared by the EIB, the Investment Committee shall adopt the final report for the preceding year by 15 March, and it shall forthwith submit it to the Commission.
Review and evaluation of the Fund
1. In the review referred to in the second sentence of Article 10d(11) of Directive 2003/87/EC, the Commission shall cover the following areas:
(a)
confirmation of priority investments by the EIB;
(b)
assessment of non-priority investments by the Investment Committee;
(c)
financing and monitoring of investments by the beneficiary Member States;
(d)
any relevant procedural aspects regarding the implementation of the Modernisation Fund.
Based on the results of the review, the Commission shall, where appropriate, make the relevant proposals.
2. At the end of the implementation of the Modernisation Fund, the Commission shall carry out a final evaluation of the implementation of the Modernisation Fund. In particular, the Commission shall evaluate the progresses towards the achievement of the Fund objectives as laid down in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Article 10d of Directive 2003/87/EC.
3. The Commission shall make the results of the review and evaluation publicly available.
Audits and protection of the financial interests of the Fund
1. The EIB shall prepare annual accounts of the Modernisation Fund for each financial year, which shall run from 1 January to 31 December, taking into account the financial statements provided pursuant to Article 13(2)(b). Those accounts shall be subject to an independent external audit.
2. The EIB shall submit to the Commission the following statements:
(a)
by 31 March, the unaudited financial statements of the Modernisation Fund covering the preceding financial year;
(b)
by 30 April, the audited financial statements of the Modernisation Fund covering the preceding financial year.
3. The accounts and financial statements referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be drawn up in compliance with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
4. The beneficiary Member States shall have the power to audit, on the basis of documents and on-the-spot checks, over all project proponents and scheme managing authorities, contractors and subcontractors to whom they provided support from the Modernisation Fund.
5. For the purpose of paragraphs 1 and 2, beneficiary Member States, project proponents and scheme managing authorities, contractors and subcontractors who have received the resources from the Modernisation Fund shall keep available, for a period of five years following the last payment in respect of any project or scheme, all supporting documents and information regarding the payment or expenditure made.
6. Beneficiary Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that, where activities financed under this Regulation are implemented, the financial interests of the Modernisation Fund are protected by the application of preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, by effective checks and, if irregularities are detected, by the recovery of the amounts unduly paid and, where appropriate, by effective, proportionate and dissuasive administrative and financial penalties. Recoveries shall be implemented in accordance with the legislation of the beneficiary Member States.
For any amounts recovered, the beneficiary Member State shall request a modification of a disbursement decision in accordance with Article 10(3).
