Ex ante controls
Article 17
1. Each operation shall be subject at least to an ex ante control based on a desk review of documents and on the available results of controls already carried out relating to the operational and financial aspects of the operation. Ex ante controls shall comprise the initiation and the verification of an operation. Initiation and verification of an operation shall be separate functions. 2. Initiation of an operation shall be understood as all the operations which are preparatory to the adoption of the acts implementing the Agency's budget. 3. Ex ante verification of an operation shall be understood as all the ex ante checks put in place by the Authorising Officer in order to verify the operational and financial aspects. For a given transaction, the verification shall be carried out by staff other than those who initiated the operation. 4. Ex ante controls shall verify the coherence among supporting documents requested and any other information available. The extent in terms of frequency and intensity of the ex ante controls shall be determined by the Authorising Officer taking into account risk-based and cost-effectiveness considerations. In case of doubt, the Authorising Officer responsible for validating the relevant payment shall request complementary information or perform an on-the-spot control in order to obtain reasonable assurance as part of the ex ante control. The purpose of the ex ante controls shall be to ascertain that: (a) the expenditure and revenue are in order and comply with the applicable provisions; (b) the principle of sound financial management set out in Article 11 has been applied. For the purpose of controls, a series of similar individual transactions relating to routine expenditure on salaries, pensions, reimbursement of mission expenses and medical expenses may be considered by the Authorising Officer to constitute a single operation.