1. The Commission may delegate powers directly to one (or more) Director(s)-General or Head(s) of Service to adopt management or administrative acts of a routine and recurring nature on its behalf and under its responsibility.
2. The Director-General or Head of Service to whom delegated powers have been granted shall be accountable to the Commission for ensuring compliance with the conditions and rules for exercising the direct delegation of powers.
3. The President shall submit to the Commission the draft decision to grant a direct delegation. The agreement of the Member(s) of the Commission concerned shall be obtained in advance. The decision granting the direct delegation shall be adopted by oral procedure or, where appropriate, by finalisation written procedure.
4. The Commission shall retain the right to exercise itself the powers it has granted. It may also give instructions to the Director-General or Head of Service exercising the direct delegation.
5. Except in the cases referred to in Article 39, powers that have been delegated directly to a Director-General or Head of Service may not be subdelegated further.
6. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be without prejudice to the rules on delegation in respect of financial matters, adopted in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council (the Financial Regulation), and to the powers conferred on the appointing authority and the authority empowered to conclude contracts of employment.
1. A decision to grant a direct delegation shall specify:
(a)
the Director-General or Head of Service to whom the powers are directly delegated;
(b)
the precise subject-matter and scope of the direct delegation and the conditions for exercising it;
(c)
a clear justification as to why the measures to be taken by the Director-General or Head of Service to whom the powers are delegated can be regarded as management or administrative acts;
(d)
the rules for exercising the direct delegation, in particular as regards interservice consultation.
2. The requesting service shall send the preliminary draft decision granting the direct delegation to the Secretary-General. The Secretary-General shall then carry out the interservice consultation and take the appropriate steps for the decision to be adopted by the Commission.
Conditions and rules for exercising a direct delegation
1. Before exercising a direct delegation, the Director-General or Head of Service to whom the powers are delegated shall determine whether, on grounds of a political assessment or other circumstances, the act should be adopted by oral or written procedure. If there is any doubt, the Director-General or Head of Service shall consult the Member of the Commission to whom the field of activity has been assigned.
2. The positive opinion of the Legal Service, taking into account its comments, if any, made in virtue of its duties as described in Article 53(2), as well as the positive opinion of the other services consulted, shall be required before the adoption of acts by direct delegation. The opinions of the Legal Service and those of the other services consulted may be express or tacit.
3. The Director-General or Head of Service to whom the powers are delegated shall adopt the draft act and certify that the conditions and rules governing the acts being adopted have been complied with.
4. The act shall stand adopted once the signature – handwritten or electronic – of the Director-General or Head of Service, as affixed for the purposes of adoption, has been recorded in the information technology system provided for that purpose.
5. If the Director-General or Head of Service to whom a direct delegation has been granted is prevented from exercising it, it may be exercised by the official designated in accordance with Article 52.
Subdelegation for decisions awarding grants and contracts
1. The Director-General or Head of Service to whom delegated powers have been granted under Article 36 may in turn decide to subdelegate certain decisions selecting projects and certain individual decisions awarding grants and public procurement contracts to a Deputy Director-General, a Director or, in agreement with the Member of the Commission responsible, a Head of Unit.
2. The subdelegated Deputy Director-General, Director or Head of Unit shall act under the authority of the Director-General or Head of Service to whom delegated powers have been granted. The Director-General or Head of Service shall remain accountable to the Commission for ensuring compliance with the conditions and rules for exercising the direct delegation.
3. Subdelegations shall apply for the adoption of certain decisions selecting projects and of individual decisions awarding grants and public procurement contracts where the basic act provides that the Commission is to adopt a decision either on its own or after consulting a committee ( 18 ) and the committee has delivered a favourable opinion. Such decisions shall not be subject to interservice consultation.
4. The Deputy Director-General, Director or Head of Unit to whom powers have been granted by subdelegation shall adopt the draft act and certify that the conditions and rules governing the acts being adopted have been complied with.
5. The act shall stand adopted once the signature – handwritten or electronic – of the Deputy Director-General, Director or Head of Unit, as affixed for the purposes of adoption, has been recorded in the information technology system provided for that purpose.
