Powers and duties of authorising officer
Article 45
1. The authorising officer shall be responsible for implementing revenue and expenditure in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, including through ensuring reporting on performance and for ensuring compliance with the requirements of legality and regularity and equal treatment of recipients of Union funds. 2. The authorising officer shall put in place the organisational structure and the internal control systems suited to the performance of the duties of authorising officer, in accordance with the minimum standards or principles adopted by the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, by the executive board, on the basis of the Internal Control Framework laid down by the Commission for its own departments and having due regard to the risks associated with the management environment, including where applicable specific risks associated to decentralized offices, and the nature of the actions financed. The establishment of such structure and systems shall be supported by a comprehensive risk analysis, which takes into account their cost-effectiveness and performance considerations. The authorising officer may establish within his or her departments an expertise and advice function to help him or her control the risks involved in his or her activities. 3. To implement expenditure, the authorising officer shall make budgetary and legal commitments, shall validate expenditure and authorise payments and shall undertake the preliminary steps for the implementation of appropriations. 4. To implement revenue, the authorising officer shall draw up estimates of amounts receivable, establish entitlements to be recovered and issue recovery orders. Where appropriate, the authorising officer shall waive established entitlements. 5. In order to prevent errors and irregularities before the authorization of operations and to mitigate risks of non-achievement of objectives, each operation shall be subject at least to an ex ante control relating to the operational and financial aspects of the operation, on the basis of a control strategy which takes risk and cost-effectiveness into account. The extent in terms of frequency and intensity of the ex ante controls shall be determined by the authorising officer taking into account the results of prior controls as well as risk-based and cost-effectiveness considerations, on the basis of his or her own risk analysis. In case of doubt, the authorising officer responsible for validating the relevant operations shall, as part of the ex ante control, request complementary information or perform an on-the-spot control in order to obtain reasonable assurance. 6. 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. 7. For a given operation, the verification shall be carried out by staff other than those who initiated the operation. The staff who carry out the verification shall not be subordinate to the members of staff who initiated the operation. 8. The authorising officer may put in place ex post controls to detect and correct errors and irregularities of operations after they have been authorized. Such controls may be organised on a sample basis according to risk and shall take account of the results of prior controls as well as cost-effectiveness and performance considerations. 9. The ex post controls shall be carried out by staff other than those responsible for the ex ante controls. The staff responsible for the ex post controls shall not be subordinate to the members of staff responsible for the ex ante controls. The ex post controls may take the form of financial audits at the premises of the beneficiaries. The rules and modalities, including timeframes, for carrying out audits of the beneficiaries shall be clear, consistent and transparent, and shall be made available when signing the grant agreement. 10. Authorising officers and staff responsible for budget implementation shall have the necessary professional skills. They shall respect a specific code of professional standards adopted by the Union body and based on standards laid down by the Commission for its own departments. 11. If a member of staff, involved in the financial management and control of transactions, considers that a decision he or she is required by his or her superior to apply or to agree to is irregular or contrary to the principles of sound financial management or the professional rules which that member of staff is required to observe, he or she shall inform the director who shall, if the information is given in writing, reply in writing. If the director fails to take action within a reasonable time given the circumstances of the case and in any event within a month or confirms the initial decision or instruction and the member of staff believes that such confirmation does not constitute a reasonable response to his or her concern, the member of staff shall inform the relevant panel referred to in Article 143 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 and the management board in writing. 12. In the event of any illegal activity, fraud or corruption which may harm the interests of the Union, a member of staff or other servant, including national experts seconded to the Union body, shall inform their immediate superior, the director or the management board of the Union body or the European Anti-Fraud Office or the European Public Prosecutor's Office directly. Contracts with external auditors carrying out audits of the financial management of the Union body shall provide for an obligation of the external auditor to inform the director or, if the latter may be involved, the management board of any suspected illegal activity, fraud or corruption that may harm the interests of the Union.