Protection of the financial interests of the Union
Article 23
1. In implementing the Facility, the Commission and the beneficiaries shall take all the appropriate measures to protect the financial interests of the Union, taking into account the principle of proportionality and the specific conditions under which the Facility will operate, the preconditions set out in Article 5(1) and conditions set out in the specific Facility Agreements, in particular regarding the prevention, detection and correction of fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest and irregularities as well as the investigation and prosecution of offences affecting the funds provided under the Facility. Each beneficiary shall commit to progressing towards effective and efficient management and control systems and ensure that amounts wrongly paid or incorrectly used can be recovered. 2. The Facility Agreement shall provide for the following obligations of the beneficiary: (a) to regularly check that the financing provided has been used in accordance with the applicable rules, in particular regarding the prevention, detection and correction of fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest and irregularities; (b) to protect whistleblowers; (c) to take appropriate measures to prevent, detect and correct fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest and irregularities as well as to investigate and prosecute criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the Union, to detect and avoid double funding and to take legal actions to recover funds that have been misappropriated, including in relation to any measure for the implementation of reforms and investment projects or programmes under the Reform Agendas and to take appropriate measures to treat mutual legal assistance requests by EPPO and Member States’ competent authorities concerning criminal offences affecting the funds under the Facility, where applicable and without delay; (d) for the purpose of paragraph 1, in particular for checks on the use of funds in relation to the implementation of reforms in the Reform Agendas, to ensure the collection of, and access to, in compliance with Union data protection principles and with applicable data protection rules, adequate data on persons and entities receiving funding, including beneficial ownership information, for the implementation of measures of the Reform Agenda under Chapter III; (e) to expressly authorise the Commission, OLAF, the Court of Auditors and, where applicable, EPPO to exert their rights as provided for in Article 129 of the Financial Regulation. 3. The Facility Agreement shall also provide for the right of the Commission to reduce proportionately the support provided under the Facility and recover any amount spent to achieve the objectives of the Facility or to ask for early repayment of the loan, in cases of irregularities, fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest affecting the financial interests of the Union that have not been corrected by the beneficiary, or of a serious breach of an obligation resulting from such agreements. When deciding on the amount of the recovery and reduction, or the amount to be repaid early, the Commission shall respect the principle of proportionality and shall take into account the seriousness of the irregularity, fraud, corruption or conflict of interest affecting the financial interests of the Union, or of a breach of an obligation. The beneficiary shall be given the opportunity to present its observations before the reduction is made or early repayment is requested. 4. Persons and entities implementing funds under the Facility shall report any suspected cases of fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest and irregularities affecting financial interests of the Union without delay, to the Commission and to OLAF.