Accounting officer
Article 23
1. The Steering Board shall appoint an accounting officer covered by the Staff Regulations of the Agency, who shall be totally independent in the performance of his or her duties within the Agency and responsible to the Steering Board. The accounting officer shall be responsible in the Agency for: (a) properly implementing payments, collecting revenue and recovering amounts established as being receivable; (b) keeping, preparing and presenting the accounts in accordance with Chapter 6 of this Title and with Articles 19, 20 and 21; (c) implementing, in accordance with Chapter 6 of this Title, the accounting rules and the chart of accounts; (d) validating systems laid down by the Authorising Officer to supply or justify accounting information; in this respect, the accounting officer shall be empowered to verify compliance with validation criteria at any time; (e) treasury management. 2. The accounting officer shall obtain from the Authorising Officer all the information necessary for the production of accounts which give a true and fair view of the Agency's financial situation and of budgetary implementation. The Authorising Officer shall guarantee the reliability of that information. 3. Before the adoption of the accounts by the Chief Executive, the accounting officer shall sign them off, thereby certifying that he or she has a reasonable assurance that the accounts present a true and fair view of the financial situation of the Agency. For the purpose of the first subparagraph, the accounting officer shall verify that the accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting rules referred to in Article 39 and that all revenue and expenditure is entered in the accounts. The authorising officer or his/her delegates shall remain fully responsible for the proper use of the funds they manage, the legality and regularity of the expenditure under their control and the completeness and accuracy of the information forwarded to the accounting officer. The accounting officer shall be empowered to check the information received as well as to carry out any further checks he or she deems necessary in order to sign off the accounts. The accounting officer shall make reservations, if necessary, explaining exactly the nature and scope of such reservations. Subject to paragraph 4, only the accounting officer shall be empowered to manage cash and cash equivalents. The accounting officer shall be responsible for their safekeeping. 4. The accounting officer may, in the performance of his or her duties, delegate certain tasks to staff members subject to the Staff Regulations of the Agency where this is indispensable for the performance of his or her duties in accordance with the financial rules of the Agency. 5. Without prejudice to any disciplinary action, the accounting officer may at any time be suspended temporarily or definitively from his or her duties by the Steering Board. In such a case, the Steering Board shall appoint an interim accounting officer.