1.   For each financial year, the budget of the Union body shall forecast and authorise all revenue and expenditure considered necessary for the Union body. It shall comprise the revenue and expenditure of the Union body, including administrative expenditure.

2.   The budget of the Union body shall contain the following:

3.   The appropriations authorised for the financial year shall consist of:

4.   Revenue consisting of fees and charges shall only be assigned in exceptional and duly justified cases provided for in the constituent act.

5.   Commitment appropriations shall cover the total cost of the legal commitments entered into during the financial year, subject to Article 75(2).

6.   Payment appropriations shall cover payments made to honour the legal commitments entered into in the financial year or preceding financial years.

7.   Paragraphs 3 and 5 of this Article shall not prevent appropriations being committed globally or budgetary commitments being made in annual instalments as respectively provided for in point (b) of Article 74(1) and in Article 74(2).

1.   Contribution agreements and grant agreements may be exceptionally concluded between the Commission and a Union body provided that the following conditions are met:

2.   Where contribution agreements and grant agreements referred in paragraph 1 and service-level agreements are concluded for services offered by the Union body to the Commission, the Commission may establish a financial framework partnership agreement with the Union body in line with Article 130 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046.

3.   The choice by the Commission of the Union body shall take due account of the cost efficiency of entrusting those tasks.

4.   Where the Commission exceptionally signs a contribution agreement with the Union body, the rules applicable to indirect management laid down in Titles V and VI of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 shall apply to the Union body in respect of funds allocated to that agreement and Articles 105 and 106 of this Regulation shall not apply.

5.   The tasks referred to under paragraph 1 should be included in the Single Programming Document of the Union body, referred to in Article 32, for information purposes only. Information on the agreements referred to under paragraph 2 shall be included in the consolidated annual activity report referred to in Article 48.

6.   The authorising officer shall inform the management board before signing any agreement referred to in paragraph 2.

1.   All revenue and expenditure shall be booked to a budget line in the budget of the Union body.

2.   No expenditure may be committed or authorised in excess of the appropriations authorised by the budget of the Union body.

3.   An appropriation may be entered in the budget of the Union body only if it is for an item of expenditure considered necessary.

4.   Interest generated by pre-financing payments made from the budget of the Union body shall not be due to the Union body except as otherwise provided in the contribution agreements referred to in Article 7.

1.   The Union body's revenue of a financial year, as referred to in Article 6, shall be entered in the accounts for that financial year on the basis of the amounts collected during that financial year.

2.   The revenue of the Union body shall give rise to an equivalent amount of payment appropriations.

3.   Commitments shall be entered in the accounts for a financial year on the basis of the legal commitments entered into up to 31 December of that year. However, the global budgetary commitments referred to in point (b) of Article 74(1) shall be entered in the accounts for a financial year on the basis of the budgetary commitments up to 31 December of that year.

4.   Payments shall be entered in the accounts for a financial year on the basis of the payments made by the accounting officer by 31 December of that year.

5.   Where a constituent act provides that clearly defined tasks are financed separately or where the Union body implements agreements concluded in accordance with Article 7, the Union body shall have specific budget lines on the revenue and expenditure operations. The Union body shall clearly identify each group of tasks in its resource programming included in the single programming document drawn up pursuant to Article 32.

1.   The appropriations entered in the budget of the Union body may be committed with effect from 1 January, once the budget of the Union body has been definitively adopted.

2.   As of 15 October of the financial year, routine administrative expenditure may be committed in advance against the appropriations provided for the following financial year, provided that the expenditure has been approved in the last budget of the Union body duly adopted, and only up to a maximum of one quarter of the appropriations decided upon by the management board on the corresponding budget line for the current financial year.

1.   Appropriations which have not been used by the end of the financial year for which they were entered shall be cancelled, unless they are carried over in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 4.

2.   The following appropriations may be carried over by a decision taken pursuant to paragraph 3, but only to the following financial year:

3.   The management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board, shall take its decision on carry-overs as referred to in paragraph 2 by 15 February of the following financial year.

4.   Appropriations shall be automatically carried over in respect of:

5.   Appropriations for staff expenditure shall not be carried over. For the purposes of this Article, staff expenditure comprises remuneration and allowances for the staff of Union bodies who are subject to the Staff Regulations.

6.   Non-differentiated appropriations legally committed by the end of the financial year shall be paid until the end of the following financial year.

1.   The commitment appropriations and the non-differentiated appropriations referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 12(2) may be carried over only if the commitments could not be made before 31 December of the financial year for reasons not attributable to the authorising officer and if the preparatory stages are sufficiently advanced to make it reasonable to expect that the commitment will be made by no later than 31 March of the following financial year, or, in relation to building projects, by 31 December of the following financial year.

2.   Appropriations carried over in accordance with point (a) of Article 12(2) which have not been committed by 31 March of the following financial year or up to 31 December of the following year for amounts relating to building projects shall be automatically cancelled.

3.   Appropriations carried over which have been cancelled shall be identified in the accounts.

1.   Where budgetary commitments are decommitted in any financial year after the year in which they were made as a result of total or partial non-implementation of the actions for which they were earmarked, the appropriations corresponding to such decommitments shall be cancelled.

2.   This Article shall not apply to external assigned revenue referred to in Article 20(2).

1.   If the budget of the Union body has not been definitively adopted at the beginning of the financial year, the rules set out in paragraphs 2 to 6 shall apply.

2.   Commitments may be made per chapter up to a maximum of one quarter of the total appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the budget of the Union body for the preceding financial year plus one-twelfth for each month that has elapsed.

The limit of the appropriations provided for in the statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure shall not be exceeded.

Payments may be made monthly per chapter up to a maximum of one twelfth of the appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the budget of the Union body for the preceding financial year. However, that sum shall not exceed one twelfth of the appropriations provided for in the same chapter of the statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure.

3.   The appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the budget of the Union body for the preceding financial year, as referred to in paragraph 2, shall be understood as referring to the appropriations voted in the budget of the Union body, including by amending budgets, and after adjustment for the transfers made during that financial year.

4.   If the continuity of Union body action and management needs so require, the management board may, at the request of the director, authorise expenditure in excess of one provisional twelfth but not exceeding a total of four provisional twelfths, except in duly justified cases, both for commitments and for payments over and above those automatically made available in accordance with paragraph 2.

The additional twelfths shall be authorised in full and shall not be divisible.

5.   If, for a given chapter, the authorisation of four provisional twelfths granted in accordance with paragraph 4 is not sufficient to cover the expenditure necessary to avoid a break in continuity of action by the Union body in the area covered by the chapter in question, authorisation may exceptionally be given by the management board, at the request of the director, to exceed the amount of the appropriations entered in the corresponding chapter of the budget of the Union body for the preceding financial year. However, the overall total of the appropriations available in the budget of the Union body of the preceding financial year or in the statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure, as proposed, shall in no circumstances be exceeded.

1.   Revenue and payment appropriations shall be in balance.

2.   Commitment appropriations may not exceed the amount of the Union contribution, plus own revenue and any other revenue referred to in Article 6.

3.   For bodies for which the revenue is constituted by fees and charges in addition to the Union contribution, fees should be set at a level such as to avoid a significant accumulation of surplus. Where a significant positive or negative budget result, within the meaning of Article 99, becomes recurrent, the level of the fees and charges shall be revised.

4.   The Union body shall not raise loans within the framework of the budget of the Union body.

5.   The Union contribution to the Union body shall constitute for the budget of the Union body a balancing contribution and may be divided into a number of payments.

6.   The Union body shall implement rigorous cash management, taking due account of assigned revenue, in order to ensure that its cash balances are limited to duly justified requirements. With its payment requests it shall submit detailed and updated forecasts on its real cash requirements throughout the year, including information on assigned revenue.

1.   If the budget result within the meaning of Article 99 is positive, it shall be repaid to the Commission up to the amount of the contribution paid during the year. The part of the budget result exceeding the amount of the Union contribution paid during the year shall be entered in the budget of the Union body for the following financial year as revenue.

The first subparagraph shall also apply when the revenue of the Union body is constituted by fees and charges in addition to the Union contribution.

The difference between the contribution entered in the budget and that actually paid to the Union body shall be cancelled.

2.   In exceptional cases, where the constituent act provides that the revenues arising from fees and charges are assigned to particular items of expenditure, the Union body may carry-over the balance of fees and charges as assigned revenue for the activities related to the provision of the services for which the fees are due.

3.   If the budget result within the meaning of Article 99 is negative, it shall be entered in the budget of the Union body for the following financial year as payment appropriations or, where appropriate, offset against positive budget result of the Union body in the following financial years.

Where the fees and charges are assigned revenue the negative result related to this assigned revenue can be offset against the accumulated surplus from previous years, if available.

4.   The revenue or payment appropriations shall be entered in the budget of the Union body during the budgetary procedure using the letter of amendment procedure set out in Article 42 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 or, while implementation of the budget of the Union body is under way, by means of an amending budget.

An estimate of the budget result from year N – 1 will be provided by the Union body no later than 31 January of the year N. This information shall be duly taken into account by the Commission when assessing the financial needs of the Union body for the year N + 1.

1.   The budget shall be drawn up and implemented in euro and the accounts shall be presented in euro. However, for the cash-flow purposes referred to in Article 49, the accounting officer and, in the case of imprest accounts, the imprest administrators, and, for the needs of the administrative management of the Union body, the authorising officer responsible, shall be authorised to carry out operations in other currencies.

2.   Without prejudice to specific provisions laid down in sector-specific rules, or in specific contracts, grant agreements, contribution agreements and financing agreements, conversion by the authorising officer responsible shall be made using the daily euro exchange rate published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union of the day on which the payment order or recovery order is drawn up by the authorising department.

If no such daily rate is published, the authorising officer responsible shall use the one referred to in paragraph 3.

3.   For the purposes of the accounts provided for in Articles 82, 83 and 84 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 conversion between the euro and another currency shall be made using the monthly accounting exchange rate of the euro. That accounting exchange rate shall be established by the accounting officer of the Commission by means of any source of information regarded as reliable, based on the exchange rate on the penultimate working day of the month preceding that for which the rate is established.

4.   Currency conversion operations shall be carried out in such a way as to avoid having a significant impact on the level of the Union co-financing or a detrimental impact on the budget. Where appropriate, the rate of conversion between the euro and other currencies may be calculated using the average of the daily exchange rate in a given period.

1.   External assigned revenue and internal assigned revenue shall be used to finance specific items of expenditure.

2.   The following shall constitute external assigned revenue:

3.   The following shall constitute internal assigned revenue:

4.   Assigned revenue shall be carried over and transferred in accordance with the provisions of points (a) and (b) of Article 12(4) and Article 27.

5.   Without prejudice to point (f) of the second paragraph, the relevant constituent act may also assign the revenue for which it provides to specific items of expenditure. Unless specified otherwise in the relevant constituent act, such revenue shall constitute internal assigned revenue.

6.   All items of revenue within the meaning of points (a) to (c) of paragraph 2 and points (a) and (c) of paragraph 3 shall cover all direct or indirect expenditure incurred by the activity or purpose in question.

7.   The budget of the Union body shall include lines to accommodate external assigned revenue and internal assigned revenue and wherever possible shall indicate the amount.

Assigned revenue may be included in the estimate of revenue and expenditure only for the amounts that are certain at the date of the establishment of the estimate.

1.   The structure to accommodate assigned revenue in the budget of the Union body shall comprise:

In the case referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph, a token entry ‘pro memoria’ shall be made and the estimated revenue shall be shown for information in the remarks.

2.   The appropriations corresponding to assigned revenue shall be made available automatically, both as commitment appropriations and as payment appropriations, when the revenue has been received by the Union body.

3.   By way of exception from paragraph 2, where assigned revenue stems from the implementation of a contribution agreement concluded pursuant to Article 7, the total amount of commitment appropriations may be made available upon entry into effect of the agreement concerned provided that the basic act with regard to the funds being delegated to the Union body provides for the possibility to make use of annual instalments.

1.   The director may accept any donation made to the Union body, such as foundations, subsidies, gifts and bequests.

2.   Acceptance of a donation of a value of EUR 50 000 or more which involves a financial charge or any type of obligation, including follow-up costs, exceeding 10 % of the value of the donation made, shall be subject to the prior authorisation of the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, of the executive board. The management board or executive board, as applicable, shall take a decision within two months of the date on which the request for authorisation is submitted to it. If the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board fails to take a decision within that period, the donation shall be deemed accepted.

3.   The director shall, at the request of the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board, analyse, estimate and duly explain the financial charges, including follow-up costs, and any other obligations as referred to in paragraph 1 that the acceptance of the donation entails.

1.   Appropriations shall be earmarked for specific purposes by title and chapter. The chapters shall be further subdivided into articles and lines.

2.   In the budget of the Union body, appropriations may only be transferred to lines for which the budget of the Union body has authorised appropriations or which carry a token entry ‘pro memoria’.

3.   The limits referred to in Article 26 shall be calculated at the time the request for transfer is made and with reference to the appropriations provided in the budget of the Union body, including amending budgets.

4.   The amount to be taken into consideration for the purposes of calculating the limits referred to in Article 26 shall be the sum of the transfers to be made on the line from which transfers are being made, after adjustment for earlier transfers made.

1.   The director may transfer appropriations:

2.   Beyond the limit referred in paragraph 1, the director may propose transfers of appropriations from one title to another to the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, to the executive board. The management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board shall have two weeks to oppose the proposed transfers. After that time limit, the proposed transfers shall be deemed to be adopted.

3.   Proposals for transfers and transfers carried out under paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be accompanied by appropriate and detailed supporting documents showing the implementation of appropriations and estimates of requirements up to the end of the financial year, both for the headings to be credited and for those from which the appropriations are drawn.

4.   The authorising officer shall inform the management board as soon as possible of all transfers made. The authoring officer shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of all transfers carried out under paragraph 2.

1.   Appropriations shall be used in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, and thus be implemented respecting the following principles:

2.   In line with the principle of sound financial management, the use of appropriations shall focus on performance and for that purpose:

3.   Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound objectives as referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 and relevant, accepted, credible, easy and robust indicators shall be defined where relevant. The indicators used to monitor the achievement of the objectives shall cover all sectors. The director shall provide the relevant information to the management board annually. It shall be included in the Single Programming Document referred to in Article 32.

4.   The Union body shall carry out a benchmarking exercise referred to in Article 38 of this Regulation.

The benchmarking exercise shall include:

When carrying out the benchmarking exercise referred to in the first and the second subparagraph the Union body shall make necessary arrangements to avoid any conflict of interests.

1.   Programmes and activities that entail significant spending shall be subject to ex-ante and retrospective evaluations (‘evaluation’), which shall be proportionate to the objectives and expenditure.

2.   Ex-ante evaluations supporting the preparation of programmes and activities shall be based on evidence, if available, on the performance of related programmes or activities and shall identify and analyse the issues to be addressed, the added value of Union involvement, objectives, expected effects of different options and monitoring and evaluation arrangements.

3.   Retrospective evaluations shall assess the performance of the programme or activity, including aspects such as effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, relevance and EU added value. Retrospective evaluations shall be based on the information generated by the monitoring arrangements and indicators established for the action concerned. They shall be undertaken periodically and in sufficient time for the findings to be taken into account in ex-ante evaluations or impact assessments that support the preparation of related programmes and activities.

4.   The director shall prepare an action plan to follow-up on the conclusions of the evaluations referred to in paragraph 3 and report on its progress to the Commission in the consolidated annual activity report referred to in Article 48 and regularly to the Management Board.

5.   The management board shall scrutinise the implementation of the action plan referred to in paragraph 4.

1.   Pursuant to the principle of sound financial management, the budget of the Union body shall be implemented in compliance with effective and efficient internal control.

2.   For the purposes of the implementation of the budget of the Union body, internal control shall be applied at all levels of management and shall be designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving the following objectives:

3.   Effective internal control shall be based on best international practices and on the Internal Control Framework laid down by the Commission for its own departments and shall include, in particular, the following elements:

4.   Efficient internal control shall be based on the following elements:

5.   Where the Union body runs also offices away from the main seat, the internal control system shall be designed in order to mitigate the specific risks of the activities of those offices.

1.   The budget of the Union body shall be established and implemented and the accounts presented in accordance with the principle of transparency.

2.   A summary of the budget of the Union body and any amending budget of the Union body, as definitively adopted, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union within three months of their adoption.

The summary shall show the aggregated figures for each Title of the budget of the Union body, the establishment plan and an estimate of the number of contract staff expressed in full-time equivalents for which appropriations are budgeted, and seconded national experts. It shall also indicate the equivalent information for the previous financial year.

3.   The budget of the Union body including the establishment plan and any amending budgets of the Union body, as definitively adopted, as well as an indication of the number of contract staff expressed in full-time equivalents for which appropriations are budgeted, and of the number of seconded national experts, shall be transmitted for information to the European Parliament and the Council, the Court of Auditors and the Commission, and shall be published on the website of the Union body within four weeks of their adoption.

4.   The Union body shall make available on its website, no later than 30 June of the year following the financial year in which the funds were legally committed, information on the recipients of funds financed from the budget of the Union body, including experts contracted pursuant to Article 93 of this Regulation, in accordance with Article 38 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 and following a standard presentation. The published information shall be easily accessible, transparent and comprehensive. The information shall be made available with due observance of the requirements of confidentiality and security, in particular the protection of personal data laid down in Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.

1.   In accordance with Article 40 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 the Union body shall send by 31 January each year to the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council its draft single programming document, as endorsed by its Management Board, containing:

The strategies referred to in the first subparagraph shall be assessed annually and updated as necessary.

The single programming document shall be drawn up taking into account guidelines set by the Commission.

2.   The multiannual work programme shall set out the overall strategic programming for the years N + 1 to N + 3, including the objectives, expected results and performance indicators to monitor the achievement of the objectives and the results.

This overall strategic programming shall also show, per activity, the indicative financial and human resources considered necessary to attain the objectives set and shall also demonstrate the contribution of the Union body to the achievement of the EU political priorities.

This strategic programming will be updated where appropriate, and in particular, to address the outcome of the overall evaluations referred to in the constituent act.

3.   The annual work programme shall set out for the year N + 1:

It shall clearly indicate which tasks of the Union body have been added, changed or deleted in comparison with the adopted annual work programme of the previous financial year. Evaluation results shall be taken into account as evidence of the likely merits of an increase or decrease of the proposed budget of the Union body in comparison with its budget of the previous financial year.

The annual work programme shall be coherent with the multiannual programme referred to in paragraph 2.

Any substantial amendment to the annual work programme shall be adopted by the same procedure as the initial work programme, in accordance with the provisions of the constituent act.

The management board may delegate the power to make non-substantial amendments to the annual work programme to the authorising officer of the Union body.

4.   The estimate of revenue and expenditure of the Union body, supported by the general guidelines underlying that estimate, shall include:

The same information shall be provided on the number of contract staff and seconded national experts and shall be expressed in full-time equivalents.

5.   The resources programming shall include qualitative and quantitative information on the human resource and budgetary matters for the reporting purposes, in particular:

The resource programming document shall be updated annually.

6.   Information on the building policy of the Union body shall include:

7.   The Commission shall send its opinion on the draft Single Programming Document to the Union body in a timely manner in any case not later than 1st July of the year N.

If the Union body does not fully take into account the Commission's opinion, it shall provide the Commission with adequate explanations.

8.   The final single programming document shall be adopted by the management board.

9.   The Union body shall send any later updated version of the single programming document, notably to reflect the Commission's opinion and the outcome of the annual budgetary procedure, to the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council.

1.   The budget of the Union body shall be established in accordance with the provisions of the constituent act.

2.   As part of the procedure for adoption of the budget, the Commission shall send the Union body's statement of estimates to the European Parliament and the Council and propose the amount of the contribution for the Union body and the number of staff it considers the Union body needs.

The Commission shall provide the draft establishment plan of the Union bodies and an estimate of the number of contract staff and of seconded national experts expressed in full-time equivalents for which appropriations are proposed as soon as the Commission has established the draft budget.

3.   The European Parliament and the Council shall adopt the establishment plan of the Union body and any subsequent amendments thereto, in accordance with Article 34.

4.   After adoption of the draft budget by the Commission, the single programming document shall be adopted by the management board. It shall become definitive after final adoption of the Union budget setting the amount of the contribution and the establishment plan. If necessary the budget of the Union body and its establishment plan shall be adjusted accordingly.

5.   When proposing to entrust new tasks to a Union Body, the Commission shall, without prejudice to the legislative procedures for the modification of the constituent act, submit to the European Parliament and to the Council the necessary information to assess the impact of the new tasks on the resources of the Union body so as to review, where necessary, its financing and its staffing level.

1.   The establishment plan referred to in Article 32(4) shall show next to the number of posts authorised for the financial year, the number authorised for the preceding year and the number of posts actually filled. It shall constitute an absolute limit for the Union body. No appointment may be made in excess of the limit set.

However, save in the case of grades AD 16, AD 15, AD 14 and AD 13, the management board may modify the establishment plan by up to 10 % of posts authorised, subject to the following conditions:

2.   By derogation from the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, the effects of part-time work authorised by the appointing authority in accordance with the Staff Regulations may be offset by other appointments. Where a staff member requests the withdrawal of the authorisation before expiry of the granted period, the Union body shall take appropriate measures to respect the limit referred to in point (b) of the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 as soon as possible.

1.   The director shall perform the duties of authorising officer. He or she shall implement the revenue and expenditure of the budget in accordance with the financial rules of the Union body and the principle of sound financial management under his or her own responsibility and within the limits of the appropriations authorised.

2.   Without prejudice to the responsibilities of the authorising officer as regards prevention and detection of fraud and irregularities, the Union body shall participate in fraud prevention activities of the European Anti-fraud Office.

1.   The director may delegate the powers of budget implementation to staff of the Union body covered by the Staff Regulations, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the financial rules of the Union body adopted by the management board. Those so empowered may act only within the limits of the powers expressly conferred upon them.

2.   The delegatee may subdelegate the powers received with the explicit agreement of the director.

1.   Financial actors within the meaning of Chapter 3 of this Title and other persons, including the members of the Management Board, involved in budget implementation and management, including acts preparatory thereto, audit or control shall not take any action that may bring their own interests into conflict with those of the Union body. They shall also take appropriate measures to prevent a conflict of interest from arising in the functions under their responsibility and to address situations which may objectively be perceived as a conflict of interest.

Where there is a risk of a conflict of interest, the person in question shall refer the matter to the competent authority. The competent authority shall confirm in writing, whether a conflict of interest is found to exist. In that case, the competent authority shall ensure that the person concerned ceases all activities in the matter. The competent authority shall take any further appropriate action.

2.   For the purposes of paragraph 1, a conflict of interest exists where the impartial and objective exercise of the functions of a financial actor or other person, as referred to in paragraph 1, is compromised for reasons involving family, emotional life, political or national affinity, economic interest or any other direct or indirect personal interest.

3.   The competent authority referred to in paragraph 1 shall be the director. If the member of staff concerned is the director, the competent authority shall be the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board. In case of a conflict of interest involving a member of the management board, the competent authority shall be the management board, exclusive of the member concerned.

4.   The Union body shall adopt rules on the prevention and management of conflict of interests and shall publish annually on its website the declaration of interests of the management board members.

1.   The budget of the Union body shall be implemented by the director in the departments placed under his or her authority.

2.   In order to facilitate the implementation of their appropriations, Union bodies may conclude service-level agreements as referred to in Article 59 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046.

3.   Technical expertise tasks and administrative, preparatory or ancillary tasks not involving the exercise of public authority or the use of discretionary powers of judgement may be entrusted by contract to external private-sector entities, where this proves to be indispensable.

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.

1.   The authorising officer shall set up paper-based or electronic systems for the keeping of original supporting documents relating to budget implementation. Such documents shall be kept for at least five years from the date on which the European Parliament grants discharge for the financial year to which the documents relate.

2.   Documents relating to operations not definitively closed shall be kept for longer than provided for in paragraph 1, namely until the end of the year following that in which the operations are closed.

3.   Personal data contained in supporting documents shall, where possible, be deleted when those data are not necessary for budgetary discharge, control and audit purposes. Article 88 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 shall apply to the conservation of data.

1.   The authorising officer shall report to the management board on the performance of his or her duties in a form of a consolidated annual activity report containing:

The consolidated annual activity report shall indicate the results of the operations by reference to the objectives set and performance considerations, the risks associated with the operations, the use made of the resources provided and the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal control systems, including an overall assessment of the costs and benefits of controls.

The consolidated annual report shall be submitted to the management board for the assessment.

2.   No later than 1 July each year the consolidated annual activity report together with its assessment shall be sent by the management board to the Court of Auditors, to the Commission, to the European Parliament and the Council.

3.   Additional reporting requirements may be provided in the constituent act in duly justified cases, in particular when it is required by the nature of the field in which the body operates.

1.   The management board shall appoint an accounting officer, covered by the Staff Regulations, who shall be completely independent in the performance of his or her duties. The accounting officer shall be chosen by the management board on the grounds of his or her particular competence as evidenced by diplomas or by equivalent professional experience.

2.   Two or more Union bodies may appoint the same accounting officer. In such case, they shall make the necessary arrangements in order to avoid any conflict of interest.

Union bodies may also agree with the Commission that the accounting officer of the Commission shall also act as accounting officer of the Union body.

Union bodies may also entrust the accounting officer of the Commission with part of the tasks of an accounting officer of the Union body, taking into account the cost-benefit analysis referred to in Article 28.

3.   A trial balance shall be drawn up without delay in the event of termination of the duties of the accounting officer.

The trial balance accompanied by a hand-over report shall be transmitted by the accounting officer who is terminating his or her duties or, if it is not possible, by a member of staff in his or her department to the new accounting officer.

The new accounting officer shall sign the trial balance in acceptance within one month from the date of transmission and he or she may make reservations.

The hand-over report shall also contain the result of the trial balance and any reservations made.

1.   A budgetary commitment shall be preceded by a financing decision. Administrative appropriations may be implemented without a prior financing decision.

2.   The annual and multi-annual work programmes of the Union body included in the single programming document referred to in Article 32 shall be equivalent to a financing decision for the activities it covers, provided that the elements set out in Article 32(2) and (3) are clearly identified. A multiannual financing decision shall specify that the implementation of the decision is subject to the availability of budget appropriations for the respective financial years after the adoption of the budget or as provided for in the system of provisional twelfths.

3.   The financing decision shall also set out the following:

1.   Every item of expenditure shall be committed, validated, authorized and paid.

At the end of the periods referred to in Article 75, the unused balance of budgetary commitments shall be decommitted.

When executing operations, the authorising officer shall ensure that the expenditure complies with the Treaties, the budget, this Regulation and other acts adopted pursuant to the Treaties as well as with the principle of sound financial management.

2.   The authorising officer shall make a budgetary commitment before entering into a legal commitment with third parties.

The first subparagraph shall not apply to legal commitments concluded following a declaration of a crisis situation in the framework of a business continuity plan, in accordance with the procedures adopted by the Union body.

3.   The authorising officer shall validate expenditure by accepting that an item of expenditure is charged to the budget of the Union body, after having checked the supporting documents attesting the creditor's entitlement as per the conditions set in the legal commitment when there is a legal commitment. For this purpose, the authorising officer responsible shall:

Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, the validation of expenditure shall also apply to interim or final reports not associated with a request for payment in which case the impact on the accounting system will be limited to the general accounts.

4.   The validation decision shall be expressed through electronically secured signature in accordance with Article 146 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 by the authorising officer or by a technically competent member of staff, duly empowered by a formal decision of the authorising officer or, exceptionally, for paper workflow, take the form of a stamp incorporating that signature.

With the endorsement ‘certified correct’, the authorising officer or a technically competent member of staff, duly empowered by the authorising officer, shall certify that:

In the case referred to in point (c) of the second subparagraph, cost estimates shall not be deemed to comply with the eligibility conditions set out in Article 186(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046. The same principle shall also apply for interim and final reports not associated to a payment request.

5.   In order to authorize the expenditure, the authorising officer shall, after having verified that the appropriations are available, issue a payment order to instruct the accounting officer to pay an amount of expenditure that has been previously validated.

6.   Where periodic payments are made with regard to services rendered, including rental services, or goods delivered, the authorising officer may, subject to that officer's risk analysis, order the application of a direct debit system from an imprest account.

1.   Budgetary commitments shall fall into one of the following three categories:

2.   Budgetary commitments for actions extending over more than one financial year may be broken down over several years into annual instalments only where the constituent act or basic act so provides or where they relate to administrative expenditure.

3.   A global budgetary commitment shall be made on the basis of a financing decision.

The global budgetary commitment shall be made at the latest before the decision on the recipients and amounts is taken and, where implementation of the appropriations concerned involves the adoption of a work programme, at the earliest after that programme has been adopted.

4.   The global budgetary commitment shall be implemented by the conclusion of one or more legal commitments.

5.   Each individual legal commitment adopted following a global budgetary commitment shall, prior to signature, be registered by the authorising officer in the budgetary accounts and booked to the global budgetary commitment.

6.   Provisional budgetary commitments shall be implemented by entering into one or more legal commitments giving rise to an entitlement to subsequent payments. However, in cases relating to expenditure on staff management, they may be implemented directly by payments.

1.   Without prejudice to Articles 73(2) and 109(2) legal commitments relating to individual or provisional budgetary commitments shall be entered into by 31 December of year n, year n being the one in which the budgetary commitment was made.

2.   Global budgetary commitments shall cover the total cost of the corresponding legal commitments concluded up to 31 December of year n + 1.

3.   At the end of the periods referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the unused balance of such budgetary commitments shall be decommitted by the authorising officer.

4.   The individual and provisional budgetary commitments for actions extending over more than one financial year shall, except in the case of staff expenditure, have a final date for implementation set, in accordance with the conditions in the legal commitments to which they refer, and taking into account the principle of sound financial management.

5.   Any parts of budgetary commitments that have not been executed by payments six months after the final date for implementation shall be decommitted in accordance with Article 14.

6.   The amount of a budgetary commitment for which no payment within the meaning of Article 76 has been made within two years of the signing of the legal commitment shall be decommitted, except where that amount relates to a case under litigation before judicial courts or arbitral bodies or where there are special provisions laid down in sector-specific rules.

1.   Payment of expenditure shall be made by the accounting officer within the limits of the funds available.

2.   Payment shall be made on production of proof that the relevant action is in accordance with the contract, the agreement or the basic act and shall cover one or more of the following operations:

The payment of the balance shall clear all preceding expenditure. A recovery order shall be issued to recover unused amounts.

3.   A distinction shall be made in budgetary accounting between the different types of payment referred to in paragraph 2 at the time each payment is made.

4.   The accounting rules referred to in Article 51 shall include the rules for clearing the pre-financing in the accounts and for the acknowledgment of the eligibility of costs.

5.   Pre-financing payments shall be cleared regularly by the authorising officer responsible, according to the economic nature of the project and, at the latest, at the end of the project. The clearing shall be performed on the basis of information on costs incurred or confirmation of the conditions for payment being fulfilled in accordance with Article 125 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 as validated by the authorising officer in accordance with Article 73(3) of this Regulation.

For grant agreements or contracts above EUR 5 000 000, the authorising officer shall obtain at each year-end at least the information needed to calculate a reasonable estimate of the costs. That information shall not be used for clearing the pre-financing, but may be used by the authorising officer and the accounting officer to comply with Article 82(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046.

For the purposes of the second subparagraph, appropriate provisions shall be included in the legal commitments entered into.

1.   The Union body shall have an internal auditing function that shall be performed in compliance with the relevant international standards.

2.   The internal audit function shall be performed by the Commission's internal auditor. The internal auditor may be neither authorising officer nor accounting officer neither of the Union body nor of the Commission

3.   The internal auditor shall advise the Union body on dealing with risks, by issuing independent opinions on the quality of management and control systems and by issuing recommendations for improving the conditions of implementation of operations and promoting sound financial management.

The internal auditor shall be responsible, in particular, for:

4.   The internal auditor shall perform his or her duties in relation to all the Union body's activities and departments. He or she shall enjoy full and unlimited access to all information required to perform his or her duties, if necessary on the spot access, including in the Member States and in third countries.

5.   The internal auditor shall take note of the consolidated annual activity report of the authorising officer and any other pieces of information identified.

6.   The internal auditor shall report to the management board and the director of the Union body on his or her findings and recommendations. The Union body shall ensure that action is taken with regard to recommendations resulting from audits.

7.   The internal auditor shall also report in any of the following cases:

The management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board, and the director shall ensure regular monitoring of the implementation of audit recommendations. The management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board shall examine the information referred to in Article 48(1)(a) and whether the recommendations have been fully and timely implemented.

Each Union body shall consider whether the recommendations made in the reports of its internal auditor are suitable for an exchange of best practices with the other Union bodies.

8.   The Union body shall make available the contact details of the internal auditor to any natural or legal person involved in expenditure operations, for the purposes of confidentially contacting the internal auditor.

9.   The reports and findings of the internal auditor shall be accessible to the public only after validation by the internal auditor of the action taken for their implementation.

1.   The internal auditor shall enjoy complete independence in the conduct of his or her audits. Special rules applicable to the internal auditor shall be laid down by the Commission and shall be such as to guarantee that the internal auditor is completely independent in the performance of his or her duties, and to establish the internal auditor's responsibility.

2.   The internal auditor may not be given any instructions nor be restricted in any way as regards the performance of the functions which, by virtue of his or her appointment, are assigned to him or her under the Financial Regulation.

1.   The management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board may establish, with due regard to cost effectiveness and added value, an internal audit capability that shall perform its duties in compliance with the relevant international standards.

The purpose, authority and responsibility of the internal audit capability shall be provided for in the internal audit charter and shall be subject to the approval of the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, of the executive board.

The annual audit plan of an internal audit capability shall be drawn up by the Head of internal audit capability taking into consideration, inter alia, the director's assessment of risk in the Union body.

It shall be reviewed and approved by the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, by the executive board.

The internal audit capability shall report to the management board and the director on his or her findings and recommendations.

2.   If the internal audit capability of a single Union body is not cost-effective or is not able to meet international standards, the Union body may decide to share an internal audit capability with other Union bodies functioning in the same policy area.

In such cases the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board of the concerned Union bodies shall agree on the practical modalities of the shared internal audit capability.

3.   The internal audit actors shall cooperate efficiently through exchanging information and audit reports and, where appropriate, establishing joint risk assessments, and carrying out joint audits.

The management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board, and the director shall ensure regular monitoring of the implementation of internal audit capability's recommendations.

1.   Union bodies' contributions shall help achieve a Union policy objective and results specified and may take any of the following forms:

Union bodies' contributions under points (c), (d) and (e) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be established in accordance with Article 181 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 or sector specific rules. Union bodies' contributions under point (a) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be established in accordance with Article 181 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046, sector specific rules or a Commission decision.

2.   When determining the appropriate form of a contribution, the potential recipients' interests and accounting methods shall be taken into account to the greatest extent possible.

3.   The authorising officer responsible shall report on financing not linked to costs pursuant to points (a) and (f) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article in the annual activity report referred to in Article 48.

1.   The financial statements shall be presented in euro and in accordance with the accounting rules referred to in Article 51 of this Regulation and shall comprise the following:

2.   The financial statements shall present information, including information on accounting policies, in a manner that ensures it is relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable.

3.   The notes to the financial statements shall supplement and comment on the information presented in the statements referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and shall supply all the additional information prescribed by the accounting rules referred to in Article 51 of this Regulation and the internationally accepted accounting practice where such information is relevant to the Union body's activities.

The notes shall contain at least the following information:

4.   The accounting officer shall, after the close of the financial year and up to the date of transmission of the general accounts, make any adjustments that, without involving disbursement or collection in respect of that year, are necessary for a true and fair view of those accounts.

1.   The budget implementation reports shall be presented in euro and shall be comparable year by year. They shall consist of:

2.   The structure of the budget implementation reports shall be the same as that of the budget of the Union body itself.

3.   The budget implementation reports shall contain:

4.   The budget result shall consist of the difference between:

The difference referred to in the first subparagraph shall be increased or decreased on the one hand, by the net amount of appropriations carried over from previous financial years that have been cancelled and, on the other hand, by:

1.   The accounting officer of the Union body shall send the provisional accounts to the accounting officer of the Commission and to the Court of Auditors by 1 March of the following year.

2.   The accounting officer of the Union body shall also provide by 1 March of the following year the required accounting information for consolidation purposes to the accounting officer of the Commission, in the manner and format laid down by the latter.

1.   In accordance with Article 246 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046, the Court of Auditors shall, by 1 June, make its observations on the provisional accounts of the Union body.

2.   The accounting officer of the Union body shall provide, by 15 June, the required accounting information to the accounting officer of the Commission, in the manner and format laid down by the Commission, with a view to drawing up the final consolidated accounts.

3.   On receiving the Court of Auditors' observations on the provisional accounts of the Union body, the accounting officer shall draw up the final accounts of the Union body in accordance with Article 49 of this Regulation. The director shall send them to the management board, which shall give an opinion on these accounts.

4.   The director shall send the final accounts, together with the opinion of the management board, to the accounting officer of the Commission, the Court of Auditors, the European Parliament and the Council, by 1 July of the following financial year.

5.   The accounting officer of the Union body shall also send to the Court of Auditors, with a copy to the accounting officer of the Commission, a representation letter covering those final accounts. The representation letter shall be established at the same date at which the final accounts of the Union body are drawn up.

The final accounts shall be accompanied by a note drawn up by the accounting officer, in which the latter declares that the final accounts were prepared in accordance with this Title and with the applicable accounting principles, rules and methods.

A link to the pages of the website where the final accounts of the Union body are disclosed shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union by 15 November of the following year.

6.   The director shall send the Court of Auditors a reply to the observations made in its annual report by 30 September of the following financial year at the latest. The replies of the director shall be sent to the Commission at the same time.

1.   Each Union body shall prepare a report on budgetary and financial management for the financial year.

2.   The director shall send the report to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, by 31 March of the following financial year.

3.   The report referred to in paragraph 2 shall give an account, both in absolute terms and expressed as a percentage, at least, of the rate of implementation of appropriations together with summary information on the transfers of appropriations among the various budget items.

1.   An independent external auditor shall verify that the annual accounts of the Union body properly present the income, expenditure and financial position of the Union body prior to the consolidation in the final accounts of the Commission.

Unless otherwise provided for in the constituent act, the Court of Auditors shall prepare a specific annual report on the Union body in line with the requirements of Article 287(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

In preparing that report, the Court of Auditors shall consider the audit work performed by the independent external auditor referred to in the first subparagraph and the action taken in response to the auditor's findings.

2.   The Union body shall send to the Court of Auditors the budget of the Union body, as finally adopted. It shall inform the Court of Auditors, as soon as possible, of all decisions and acts adopted pursuant to Articles 10, 14, 19 and 23.

3.   The scrutiny carried out by the Court of Auditors shall be governed by Articles 254 to 259 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046.

1.   The European Parliament, upon a recommendation from the Council, shall, before 15 May of year N + 2 save where otherwise provided in the constituent act, give a discharge to the director in respect of the implementation of the budget for year N. The director shall inform the management board of the observations of the European Parliament contained in the resolution accompanying the discharge decision.

2.   If the date provided for in paragraph 1 cannot be met, the European Parliament or the Council shall inform the director of the reasons for the postponement.

3.   If the European Parliament postpones the decision giving a discharge, the director, in cooperation with the management board, shall make every effort to take measures as soon as possible to remove or facilitate removal of the obstacles to that decision.

1.   The discharge decision shall cover the accounts of all the revenue and expenditure of the Union body, the budget result and the assets and liabilities of the Union body shown in the financial statement.

2.   With a view to granting the discharge, the European Parliament shall, after the Council has done so, examine the accounts and financial statements of the Union body. It shall also examine the annual report made by the Court of Auditors, together with the replies of the director of the Union body, any relevant special reports by the Court of Auditors in respect of the financial year concerned and the Court of Auditors' statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions.

3.   The director shall submit to the European Parliament, at its request, in the same manner as provided for in Article 261(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 any information required for the smooth application of the discharge procedure for the financial year concerned.

1.   The director shall take all appropriate steps to act on the observations accompanying the European Parliament's discharge decision and on the comments accompanying the recommendation for discharge adopted by the Council.

2.   At the request of the European Parliament or the Council, the director shall report on the measures taken in the light of those observations and comments. The director shall send a copy thereof to the Commission and the Court of Auditors.

1.   The EU body shall grant Commission staff and other persons authorised by it, as well as the Court of Auditors, access to its sites and premises and to all the data and information, including data and information in electronic format, needed in order to conduct their audits.

2.   The European Anti-Fraud Office may carry out investigations including on-the-spot checks and inspections, in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 (10) with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union.

1.   Administrative appropriations shall be non-differentiated appropriations.

2.   Administrative expenditure arising from contracts covering periods that extend beyond the financial year, either in accordance with local practice or relating to the supply of equipment, shall be charged to the budget of the Union body of the financial year in which it is effected.

3.   Expenditure which is to be paid in advance pursuant to legal or contractual provisions may give rise to payments from 1 December onwards to be charged to the appropriations for the following financial year. In this case, the limit referred to in Article 11(2) shall not apply.

1.   The proposed citizens' initiative entitled ‘Cohesion policy for the equality of the regions and sustainability of the regional cultures’ is hereby registered.

2.   Statements of support for this proposed citizens' initiative may be collected, based on the understanding that it aims at proposals from the Commission for legal acts setting out the tasks, priority objectives and the organisation of the Structural Funds and provided that the actions to be financed lead to the strengthening of the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the Union.